Yes

There are 3 books that I reread every year actually: the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have reread this series every single year since I was 11 years old, 23 years ago! For me, there is something in the series that captures a sense of nostalgia for me that I long for during the holidays every year. It is amazing, you would think after 23 times of reading the same book that I would get bored with it, but the truth of it is, I find something new with every rereading. There are parts that I love dearly, but those moments of discovery in the language or the nuance are what make the rereads a true joy and make it exciting. But I have to admit, there is something to be said for the truly familiar parts as well. There is this one part in Fellowship of the Ring where Bilbo and Frodo sit next to each other by the fire and Bilbo recites a poem. Part of me knows that the poem is trite. I am not an expert on poetry, but this stanza gets me every time:
"For still there are so many things that I have never seen:
In every wood in every spring there is a different green."
And in some ways, to me this truly exemplifies what I am talking about. At first thought, you would think that you would need to explore a lot more to find that new "green". But what I think it truly means is that you have to be an excellent observer and sometimes that means finding something new out of something you are intimately familiar with. I imagine Bilbo wandering down the same path he always wanders down with a keen ear out for Otho and Lobelia. I imagine him stopping and examining a tree branch with an especially beautiful leaf. The truth is, books that are reread become like dear friends. Treasured and irreplaceable, they become essential to your life and add...well joy along with the tradition. I actually added it to my will that I want that poem from the Fellowship of the Ring read as part of my eulogy. The book has truly become a part of me. In fact, I think I might reread it a little early this year. I just went and pulled it off the bookshelf!

Janet

Shawnee, Kansas