The Keeper Shelf

Canadian author William Robertson Davies once said, "The great sin is to assume that something that has been read once has been read forever.”

If you have a "keeper shelf" either digitally or books on a real shelf, you know what he meant.

We have our favorites that we turn to again and again, and each time we discover something different in those well-read words.

The new Netflix production of Dune made me think about this. That book is my younger daughter's favorite. She reads it nearly every year since she first read it when she was fourteen.

For me, my keepers are a motley bunch with books from every genre. Here are a few of the books you'll find in my bookcases.

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

Watchers and Lightning, both by Dean Koontz

A Rose In Winter and Shanna, both by Kathleen Woodiwiss

The Ninja by Eric Von Lustbader

O. Henry Short Stories

Lord of Always by Cynthia Wicklund

Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Open Season by Linda Howard

my 12th grade English Lit book

Dark Corners by Elaine Raco Chase

Jane Austen's books

Zane Grey's books

and SO many more.

The interesting things about rereading books is the older you get, the more your vision of that book changes. The words haven’t changed, but the experience you’ve incurred with every additional year changes you so what you get from the book will be different each time.

Takeaway Truth

I always think that reading a book again is like meeting an old friend after a long absence and being amazed at how your friend has changed.