
Mid-winter, post-Christmas, pre-parades is a tricky season: cold days with seemingly three hours of sunlight. How are y'all doing? While I'm not a huge fan of darkness descending at 4:30 p.m., I do love the seasonal distinction, which is rarer than you might imagine in Louisiana. We basically experience two seasons: summer and a little colder. Here, January also often brings rain (how I wish it were snow!).
Yet I think joie de vivre depends mostly on harvesting opportunity: what unique good abounds in this season? Personally, I thinks it's an ideal time of year for ducking into the intimate warmth of coffee shops and cafés, or lighting some candles and burying yourself on the couch in flannel pajamas and blankets—and reading.
These books form a special kind of list: I've reread each of them multiple times. These do not necessarily represent the best books of all time, but stories and histories that I've thoroughly enjoyed revisiting. There's something especially cozy about repeat reading a favorite book. You can savor those gorgeous wisps of wordcraft even more when you know they're coming. You can reunite with characters you love and missed. You can immerse yourself into the plot with delicious abandon since you don't have to stress about how things will turn out. I've also never reread a book without noticing something new, some fresh insight sparking from the page. If you've ever felt the absurd anxiety of choice in our weird, infinity-scrolling world, rereading a favorite book offers a certain bliss.
What books are on your repeat-read list?

The Power and the Glory (Graham Greene): The protagonist "whiskey priest" wrestles his own crisis of faith while being hunted by authorities in 1930s Mexico during a brutal crackdown on the Catholic Church. Gorgeous writing on guilt and redemption.
The Zion Covenant series (Brock and Bodie Thoene): I have read this whole series multiple times. The plot, set in pre- and beginning-stage World War II, reflects meticulous research, and multiple lovable characters have unique storylines that intersect in compelling blend of mystery, suspense, heartbreak, sacrifice, and triumph. I love how the authors don't rush the characters along, but let their stories and relationships unfold naturally over several books.
The Killer Angels (Michael Shaara): Some of the breathtaking sentences of this novel are seared into my memory. The story vividly recounts the Battle of Gettysburg from the perspectives of alternating Union and Confederate generals, exploring the human cost of war.
The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis): This allegorical novel is my lifelong favorite; I used to write selected quotes on my bedroom walls. Through the journey of a narrator who travels through the outskirts of heaven, it explores free will, redemption, and the nature of heaven and hell and reality.
The Red Tent (Anita Diamant): Every time I reread this novel that retells the biblical story of Dinah, I think for weeks about its rich and evocative imagery.
The Poisoners Handbook (Deborah Blum): A non-fiction narrative about the pioneering of forensic toxicology that revolutionized criminal investigations in Jazz Age New York. Utterly fascinating!
Isaac’s Storm (Erik Larson): This true story reads like a riveting novel as it chronicles the devastating 1900 Galveston hurricane through the personal drama of Isaac Cline, a meteorologist caught in the storm's path. Ironically, I first read this only a few months before Katrina. From the same author, I've also enjoyed The the Garden of Beasts and The Devil in the White City
The Secret Lives of Color (Kassia St Clair): This is a delightfully odd little book with 75 chapters that each tell the story of a colors—the history, science, and symbolism behind each color that have shaped culture and human perception. I like that it's not synchronous, so you can read any random chapter at a time. This is the kind of history I'm looking for.

Redeeming Love (Francine Rivers): A powerful retelling of the biblical story of Hosea, set during the California Gold Rush, that explores how unconditional love heals. It deals with some dark themes with sensitivity and grace. It's also been made into a mainstream movie (for older teens and adults).
The Nightingale (Kristen Hannah): Two French sisters navigate love, survival, and resistance in Nazi-occupied France. The writing sings. Let me know what you think of the ending—I can never decide how I feel about it!
The Hunger Games series (Suzanne Collins): Don't let the mega-popularity keep you away from this surprisingly pro-life, pro-human series. The dystopian story tracks a young woman as she fights a totalitarian regime. Easy to read, but compelling reflection on the dignity of the human person.
This Present Darkness (Frank Peretti): Have you ever read a supernatural thriller features angels and demons as main characters alongside humans? This gripping story explores the battle between good and evil as spiritual war rages over a small town, affecting the lives of its humans.
Empty Mansions (Bill Dedman): An endlessly entertaining account of the mysterious life of Huguette Clark, an American heiress and decades-long recluse. My mind boggled at the inventory of how vast American wealth and luxury was just a century ago, and the human dimension was deeply poignant.
Mothers of the Saints (Wendy Leifeld): This is one of my favorite books of all time, where I first read about St Zélie Martin and St Margaret of Scotland. It is now out of print, but you can usually find used copies. I love the very simple, no-frills biographies of about a dozen women who reared future saints or were canonized themselves. An annual reread.
The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis): A novel that presents a series of fictional letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, offering advice on how to tempt and corrupt a human soul. You'll find the insights into conversion, morality, faith, temptation, and your own experience deeply on target.
Silence (Shusaku Endo): Another troubled priest novel—this one follows a young Jesuit missionary in 17th-century Japan as he grapples temptation to apostasize during a savage persecution of Christians. I love the spare, quiet writing that's heart-piercing.
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