Five books on the re-read pile

With the dawn of audio books, I've been rather slack at reading actual books, preferring to jam in my headphones to get me through the train trip every day.

Meanwhile, i've still been buying books from the local second-hand place! There's just something about holding a hardback in your hands that seems terribly romantic and 'old-fashioned'; it will always appeal to me. Recently i've been getting flashes of my highschool days, when we were told to pick books to read from a reading list, and then write an essay on the themes. Sadly, this took the fun out of reading the book for entertainment - you know it inside out, but because you know it so well, you don't enjoy it - there's no tense moment waiting to see what will happen next, because you already know! On the plus side, you got to read books you normally wouldn't even consider reading, and perhaps understand them more from all the study.

It appears i've been on a pursuit lately to read books that have had movies made from them, to look at it from different angles. Now i'm going to try something different - going back to books that I've read a long time ago, in order to recapture some of what made them so interesting in the first place. Here's my list of books to re-read:

• Tooth and Nail

This book is set in the 1930s depression era. Sadly it doesn't appear to have made it to any listings on the interweb, so I can't even tell you who the author is, but from what I remember it was set in New Zealand, about a teenage girl, and what it was like for her and the choices she had to make in terms of school and then work. I remember reading this several times during high school, so much so that I may have held onto a copy when school finished (they had plenty of other copies there!). There is a part in the book where the only work she can get is to paste up posters of upcoming shows - although disguised as a boy because girls weren't allowed to do that kind of work - and i'm reminded of this every time I walk through town and see people pasting up posters. I can't remember what happens in the end though, so this is definately a re-read, once i've found my copy!

• Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

I was quite suprised to find I had the urge to read these ones again. They come in the catergory of reading-too-much-then-picking-themes-to-study - so I really wasn't a big fan at the time (I think the black and white movie of '1984' put me off!) but for some reason they have stuck in my head, and i'm interested to read them again now that i'm older and see what I think...

• False Memory - Dean Koontz

I read this post-highschool - it was the first Dean Koontz book that I read, and made me want to read more of his work. Sadly I've found that none of his books were as good as what I remember of this one... I've been hunting around for a while for my own copy of it, and finally found one a couple of weeks ago, so that's made the list, so I can remind myself why it was so good.

• Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

I got this on audiobook a while ago [my review is here] and thoroughly enjoyed it - it was the unabridged version of it, so the hardcopy book should be the same, but i'm interested in seeing how I go with the constant change of narration between Henry and Clare, without the voices to guide me through the story.

• Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë

Ok, so I haven't read this one before. And to be honest, the only reason I want to read it is to be able to follow up the quotes they use in Twilight (yes, i'm slightly obsessed, this we know!). But going through my dad's old bookshelf a month ago, I spotted a copy, so i've added that to my pile too - why not! I figure a story that was also made into an opera, movie and song must be good!

Over to you:
What books did you have to study back in the day? Are you compelled to re-read any of them again, just to see if you enjoy them more now? I'd love to know your opinions!

~Happy reading!~