CRP's Blog

This week CRP staff members share what book they wish they could read again for the first time. Let us know your choice in the comments below or on Twitter @ChiReviewPress.

Of all the plot twists I’d love to relive for the first time, I think The Fingersmith by Sarah Waters takes the cake. I was blindsided by that one. Blindsided! I’ve been reading Waters ever since, hoping her subsequent novels would provide the same level of complete and utter disorientation. I have enjoyed her other works, but none of them have quite been able to rally that same effect for me (I recently read her latest, The Paying Guests, which was a snooze in comparison). —Caitlin Eck, publicity manager

*THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS* Like so many ’90s kids, my adolescence centered around when the next Harry Potter book was coming out. When Goblet of Fire was released I stayed up way too late one night to finish it. The first three books had been exciting and magical and fun, but at the end of book four Cedric is abruptly murdered, Voldemort materializes out of a cauldron, and my world was turned upside down. My eleven-year-old self, reading by the glow of my nightlight, was horrified, shocked, and unable to put the book down. I knew it was a game-changer, and the anticipation waiting for Order of the Phoenix nearly killed me. —Ellen Hornor, project editor 

If memory serves, I found Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves in the Barnes & Noble near Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The opening epigraph/warning—“This is not for you”—and the mishmash of texts inside, meant to look like the loose clippings of a found manuscript, drew me in immediately, and I spent most of the fall semester of my senior year of high school lugging it from class to class and to and from school, reading whenever I had a spare moment. It was my first introduction to radically experimental narrative strategies, and it didn’t hurt that the central story (of a house with a mysterious door leading into a dark, massive labyrinth) was completely gripping. I’d love to be able to read it again for the first time, just to be surprised and caught in its maze once more. —Geoff George, publicist

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It’s one of my favorite books, if not my top favorite and if you know me, you know I love that book. I have a Good Omens tattoo, a collection of various editions (much like the angel Aziraphale has his collection of the Infamous Bibles), and there are passages that still give me goosebumps no matter how many times I’ve read or listened to the book. I’d love to go back and read the book again for the first time to capture that first ineffable moment of discovering the story.  —Mary Kravenas, marketing manager

I would love to read Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game again for the first time to re-experience that absolutely shocking plot twist. I also wish I could read it again without knowing the author’s personal opinions because that will for sure scar the book the next time I read it. —Emily Lewis, marketing intern

Actually I have five books: the diaries of Virginia Woolf. I read the five volumes bit by bit over the course of a couple years and when I finished the last one I felt really sad—knowing she ended her life a few days later—as though I’d lost a close friend. I think people familiar with her from one or two of her books or maybe from Nicole Kidman’s portrayal in The Hours might think of her as this cold, tortured, humorless genius. But her diaries (and letters) reveal so much humor and the importance of her relationships with family and friends, and an incredible work ethic. It struck me she’d just had it, eventually, with her mind’s total inability to rest.  —Lisa Reardon, senior editor

My friend who worked at a bookstore insisted I read his ARC of The Hunger Games.  I didn’t really think it was my thing, but I stayed up until nearly four in the morning to finish the book. Not knowing it was the first in a trilogy, I expected some solid resolution. I kept turning pages and getting closer to the end, thinking “How is this possibly going to work?” When I reached the last page, I threw the book across the room before I even read it. I would love to experience that feeling again—of anticipation, and of such a powerful throw. —Meaghan Miller, senior publicist

My pick would definitely be Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.  It is hands-down my favorite book. In short, artist and aspiring magician Joe Kavalier flees Nazi-occupied Prague to New York, where he and his cousin Sammy Clay begin a comic book series. A supreme example of an epic novel, Amazing Adventures doesn’t rely on literary gimmicks—just a compelling story of escape and belonging, of family and loss. You can’t help but emotionally attach to the characters, and Chabon’s writing is so stunning it’s almost painful. I’d love to be able to take it all in for the first time again. — Lindsey Schauer, project editor

All of the books featured in this blog post can be found on CRP’s Staff Reads bookshelf on Goodreads. 

Fun Fact: Altogether, the CRP staff has read 27 of the 30 books from ELLE’s “30 years of 30 Books” list. What three titles have we collectively ignored? Hmmmm…