My favorite books have changed. If I am honest with myself, the books I loved ten years ago, or sometimes even five years ago, aren’t on my favorites list anymore.
It doesn’t mean I no longer like the books, I still love them, I just don’t see them as my favorites anymore.
In some cases, I just grew out of them.
For example, my favorite Jane Austen novel used to be ‘Northanger Abbey.’ I related with Katherine so much. I was halfway in love with Mr. Tilney, and I wished ardently I would find a man just like him.
The last time I read it, I didn’t have the same draw. I still love the book, I still find it funny and relatable. However it doesn’t tug on my heart the same way. The last time I read it, I found I had grown beyond Katherine. I no longer saw the world quite the same way she did. I had grown up, I was different, and so I read the book differently.
Now, my favorite Austen is ‘Persuasion’. I appreciate Anne’s steady kindness, and her willingness to do the things no one else wants to do. I feel more like the grown up Anne, mature and steady (I hope anyway), than I do the flighty Katherine.
There are plenty of books on my shelves which I loved to pieces (sometimes literally) as a preteen and teen. I read and reread them, I daydreamed endlessly about the characters and the adventures. Now, I look back on them fondly, but I don’t count them among my favorites.
Some of the books I love now I wouldn’t have understood or cared about as a teenager. They aren’t exciting enough, they aren’t happy enough. But as I have grown up, what speaks to my heart is different now. This, I think, is a natural and normal part of growing up. We will all grow and change as the years pass by. Different books will speak differently to us at various times of our life.
I wonder what my favorite books will be ten years from now.
Shaina Merrick
The Beauty of a Story 