Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time
The four books I'd read again for the first time, what each first read gave me, why no reread has let me down, and how to protect your next first read.
Lucas BewersdorffRelated reading
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The Four Books I'd Read Again for the First Time
The four books I wish I could read again for the first time are The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Krabat by Otfried Preußler, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, and Alchemy by Rory Sutherland. Each first read gave me something a reread can't repeat:
- The Alchemist: proof that I was a reader again
- Krabat: a kid's imagination at work
- Blink: a whole genre I didn't know yet
- Alchemy: an argument with my logic-first default
Still, I don't miss the first time as much as you'd think. The closest I get to it is when I recommend a book: if the other person starts it, I get excited for them, and then I want to reread it myself.
I defend rereading in Why Rereading Books Is Underrated and list the books worth going back to in 7 Books Readers Re-Read Every Few Years. This article is about the other side: what only a first read gives you.
Together, my four come to about 1,150 pages, or roughly 27 hours at my current pace. I'd spend every one of them again.
How many hours have your favorite books taken?
Add the books you've read to ShelfCheck and see how much time you've spent reading them.
Try ShelfCheckWhat Each First Read Gave Me
My filter for this list is simple: the first read itself had to be the experience.
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
An Andalusian shepherd boy dreams of treasure at the Egyptian pyramids and crosses the desert to find it. A short fable about chasing the one thing you're meant to do.
Est. read: 3h 38 min
Get your reading estimateSomeone close to me lent it to me after years without reading a single book. Finishing it was proof to myself that I could still be a reader. The read is also tied to the person who handed it over (my girlfriend), which makes it even more meaningful to me.
Krabat
by Otfried Preußler
A voice in his dreams calls a beggar boy to a mill. The Master there teaches his apprentices black magic, and every year one of them has to pay for it.
Est. read: 4h 49 min
Get your reading estimateI read it as a kid in Germany, in German, and my imagination built the mill, the Master, and the ravens on its own (the movie didn't even come close to what I was imagining!). I could reread the same sentences today, but I can't make a kid's pictures of them again.
Blink
by Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell on the judgments we make in just two seconds: when those snap decisions beat careful analysis, and when they go badly wrong.
Est. read: 5h 36 min
Get your reading estimateIt was my first pop-research book, and it turned studies into stories. The whole genre was new to me, and it sent me straight to The Tipping Point (what to read after a book you loved covers that kind of next pick). Now I know the format, and no book in it can surprise me like that again.
Alchemy
by Rory Sutherland
An advertising veteran collects cases where the 'irrational' idea beat the sensible one, from branding to train travel, and explains why they work.
Est. read: 6h 9 min
Get your reading estimateI studied computer science, so logic first is my default for almost every problem. Sutherland argues against that default chapter after chapter, which was another first for me. (It was my book of the month in July.)
No Reread Has Let Me Down
Every book I've reread so far has delivered again and again. One even got better the second time:
The Psychology of Money
by Morgan Housel
Short chapters on why how you behave with money matters more than what you know about it, from saving and luck to knowing when you have enough.
Est. read: 4h 29 min
Get your reading estimateI first heard The Psychology of Money as an audiobook, and I liked it. Its points only really took hold when I read the ebook (The One Book That Changed How I See the World tells that story). The second read is where the book became a set of frameworks I still think with.
Some rereads even feel like a first read again because so much time has passed since the last one.
So I don't rank the two. A first read happens once, a reread can happen over and over again.
How to Protect Your Next First Read
First reads only exist in books you haven't read yet. Three habits protect mine:
- Read the sample, not the reviews. Before I start a new book, I read the free ebook sample (or read a little in a bookstore). Reviews and summaries only tell you where a book is going; the sample shows you whether you want to go along.
- Skip the sample for trusted recommendations. When someone who knows me well recommends a book, I start reading right away.
- Take the book someone hands you. My most memorable books came from people close to me, The Alchemist and Blink among them. I'd never have picked them myself. Blind Date With a Book works the same way.
When nobody's handing you anything, How to Choose Your Next Book walks you through the process step by step.
Which Book Would You Wipe?
A first read can only happen once. So, which book would you wipe from your memory and start reading again for the first time today? Since you can't, hand that book to someone who hasn't read it yet. Their first read might send you back for a second one. It does for me.
Keep the books that got you
ReadingHabit logs every book you finish, every session, and every reread, so your best first reads stay on the record. Join the waitlist for early access.
