There are some people who see little value in re-reading a book. After all, the world is full of books. There will never be time to read them all.
I am not one of those people.
One of my most re-read books is Barbara Abercrombie's Writing Out the Storm: Reading and Writing Your Way Through Serious Illness or Injury. (Barbara holds a special place in my heart. You can read my tribute post, For Barbara, by clicking here.)
Inside my copy of the book, is a print-out of a short email exchange between Barbara and me. I had written Barbara, thanking her for writing the book, and letting her know it had helped me put my thoughts on paper. That email was dated 2012.
This paragraph is taken from the back of the book:
"This powerful and deeply inspirational handbook is for anyone coping with serious illness or injury — be it theirs or that of a loved one — who wants and needs to help themselves through the healing process. Offering her own experiences with breast cancer, as well as stories from other authors who have suffered from illnesses or severe injuries…"
Though I have read this book several times, highlighting passages, marking pages with sticky notes, each read feels like a slightly new read. Each time I turn to this book, I'm surprised when a passage sticks out, a passage that in all my other reads had never really stood out to me before.
That's because I'm different. The book doesn't change. But I do. Each time I read this book, I am a slightly different version of myself. And each time I read this book, I find writing prompts and quotes that speak to me and serve as inspiration in my writing.
This time around, these are just a few of the sentences that jumped out at me.
"Once you've heard the unthinkable, you know it's possible to hear it again, or worse."
"I've stopped fighting the diagnosis. I now fight the disease."
"I suppose it's easy to be courageous when you don't know you are doing so."
Readers, I'm curious. Do you ever re-read books? Let me know in the comments.
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