Books you wish you could read for the 1st time again

[BusyTraybake]

I am currently in bed recovering from surgery. I can expect to be immobile for 6 weeks and I am already bored out of my mind. I actually had a little cry earlier as I am so claustrophobic already.

I have found reading helps. Please recommend any books you wish you could read again for the first time.

Thanks in advance. In desperate in need of mental stimulation as I have turned to food which is not something I usually obsess over. Probably would be best for my overall recovery if I don’t pile on a pad of weight.

My answer to the question: never let me go, love in a time of cholera and persuasion

All books by Tana French, Sharon Bolton, Karin Slaughter and Belinda Bauer. If I have worries in my life these 4 can really help me to enter other worlds (not necessarily nice ones but then I'm a cynic so it has to be disturbing to feel real:).

Thanks all. Looking up every suggestion

I would also add Anna Karenina as a fav of mine.

Yes! This one! Also his Bone Clocks (same author).

Arcadia by Iain Pears.

Reread it! It's even better on a second reading.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

A suitable boy by Vikram Seth. Nice and long!

Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr is just wonderful, the whole world is in it
This Thing of Darkness - Harry Thompson will keep you going for ages, especially if you are interested in Darwin & natural history
The Island of the Sea Women - Lisa See is moving & unforgettable

Everything by Ian McEwan. There are many writers that have never written a bad book, but Ian McEwan has never written a bad sentence. To be able to read them all again and get the same thrill as I did the first time would be wonderful. Re-reading them is pretty damn good though.

Also Pat Barker's "Regeneration" trilogy.

For the lols, Jerome K Jerome: Three Men in a Boat, which still makes me lol, but I'd love to read it with the freshness of the first reading.

I was also coming on to say Tana French, @arcticpandas! The Dublin Murders series got me through a really tough time last year.

Agree with Donna Tartt, The Secret History and The Goldfinch as well.

And would add Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies (not necessarily the third one though!)

If you want an audiobook, You Are Here by David Nicholls is lovely and a really easy listen.

A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute
Riders Jilly Cooper

I've had Hamnet on the bedside table for over 4 years. I bought it a few days before my partner died, and haven't felt up to reading a book about a bereavement since then. I think I may be scared that I might find it triggering.

Love Maggie O'Farrell though.

This is Happiness -Niall Williams - possibly the best book I have ever read , it was just so luscious, beautiful writing.
The shock of the fall (can’t remember the author but I immediately bought it for two friends) had me in bits.
Weyward and The Sirens - Emilia Hart , gripping and engaging both.

Also, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

MR James short stories
Conan Doyle short stories - he wrote a lot besides Sherlock Holmes - the horror & fantasy ones are very good, and his Professor Challenger books
Saki short stories
Heart of a Dog & The Fatal Eggs by Bulgakov
Feast by Nigel Slater is lovely and very uplifting

All the Ruth mysteries by Elly Griffiths..

The Wolf Hall trilogy. Have read them all 3 times, but still cannot bring myself to read the final page of The Mirror & The Light.

Everything by Mary Renault but especially The Persian Boy.

Everything by Rosemary Hawley Jarman. I've read her books over and over until they fell apart in my hands.

I love The House of Sleep! If I were ill I’d want to re-read The Cazalet Chronicles.

I only started reading late last year and omg I wish I could start the journey all over again already reading a court of throne and roses for the 2nd time as I loved it so much and I highly recommend forth wing as well. The rest of the ones iv read are dark romance books which have been amazing and will re read again

The Constant Gardener - John le Carre
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
The Lord of The Rings
Tiffany Aching series - Terry Pratchett
Watership Down - Douglas Adams
Endurance- Alfred Lansing

Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and its sequel The Wise Man's Fear. Just incredible.

A random selection from my read books on Kindle:

Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Aidichie
Any Human Heart - William Boyd
The Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor
An Infamous Army - Georgette Heyer
Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot

I see someone's already mentioned Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, so I'll leave you with her equally lovely My Cousin Rachel.

Enjoy and I hope you have a smooth recovery.

The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

Anything by Karin Slaughter
The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Jane Eyre
Atonement by Ian McEwan

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. You’ll never be the same again after reading this.