Books We’d Love to Read for the First Time Again

Books We Would Love to Read Again for the First Time Blog Header

The change of seasons has got staff here at Borrow. Read. Repeat. feeling nostalgic. This week, we’re looking back at some of the books we’ll never forget—special books we wish we could go back and read for the first time again.
Check out our picks below.

Rachel’s Pick:

Sharp Objects Book Cover ImageSharp Objects: A Novel by Gillian Flynn

Rachel Says:

About Sharp Objects:

A young journalist returns home to cover a dark assignment—and to face her own damaged family history—in this haunting, fascinating, addictive read.

Sharp Objects isn’t one of those scare-and-retreat books; its effect is cumulative. I found myself dreading the last thirty pages or so but was helpless to stop turning them. Then, after the lights were out, the story just stayed there in my head, coiled and hissing, like a snake in a cave. An admirably nasty piece of work, elevated by sharp writing and sharper insights.”—Stephen King

Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.

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Miriam’s Pick:

Secondhand Time Book Cover ImageSecondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich

Miriam Says:

About Secondhand Time:

A symphonic oral history about the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia, from Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

“There are many worthwhile books on the post-Soviet period and Putin’s ascent . . . But the nonfiction volume that has done the most to deepen the emotional understanding of Russia during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union of late is Svetlana Alexievich’s oral history Secondhand Time.”—David Remnick, The New Yorker

Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.

Also Available in Spanish: Últimos testigos: Los niños de la segunda guerra mundial

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Sharnell’s Pick:

Intercepted Book Cover ImageIntercepted: A Novel by Alexa Martin

Sharnell Says:

About Intercepted:

Marlee thought she scored the man of her dreams only to be scorched by a bad breakup. But there’s a new player on the horizon, and he’s in a league of his own.

“Intercepted was so much fun to read! For anyone who has been yearning for a great, hilarious, and thoughtful romantic comedy about a black woman in the world of the NFL, you need this book . . . I finished this book with a big smile on my face and that gooey, good book feeling in my chest.”—Jasmine Guillory, USA Today bestselling author of The Wedding Date

Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.

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Check Out More Books in Playbook, The Series


Jen C.’s Pick:

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine Book Cover ImageEleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman

Jen C. Says:

About Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine:

Smart, warm, uplifting, the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes the only way to survive is to open her heart.

“Eleanor Oliphant is a truly original literary creation: funny, touching, and unpredictable. Her journey out of dark shadows is expertly woven and absolutely gripping.”—Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You

Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.

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Elizabeth’s Pick:

Gone Girl Book Cover ImageGone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn

Elizabeth Says:

About Gone Girl:

The “mercilessly entertaining” (Vanity Fair) instant classic “about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thrive in even the most intimate relationships” (Lev Grossman, Time “One of the Best Books of the Decade”)—now featuring never-before-published deleted scenes.

“It’s simply fantastic: terrifying, darkly funny and at times moving . . . [Gone Girl is] her most intricately twisted and deliciously sinister story, dangerous for any reader who prefers to savor a novel as opposed to consuming it whole in one sitting.”—Associated Press

Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.

Also Available in Spanish: Perdida

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Kelly’s Pick:

Nobody's Fool Book Cover ImageNobody’s Fool: A Novel by Richard Russo

Kelly Says:

About Nobody’s Fool:

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Empire Falls, this slyly funny, moving novel about a blue-collar town in upstate New York—and about Sully, one of its unluckiest citizens, who has been doing the wrong thing triumphantly for fifty years—is a classic American story.

“Russo is a master craftsman . . . Nobody’s Fool is a big, rambunctious novel with endless riffs and unstoppable human hopefulness.”—The Boston Globe

Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.

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Maureen’s Pick:

THE WOLF ROAD Book Cover ImageThe Wolf Road: A Novel by Beth Lewis

Maureen Says:

About The Wolf Road:

An indomitable young woman fights to escape her past and rejoin humanity in an intimate cat-and-mouse tale of revenge and redemption, from the author of The Origin of Iris.

“A white-knuckle trip through a gritty, frightening, and all-too-plausible postapocalypse.”—Paul Tremblay, author of The Pallbearers Club

Available in Trade Paperback and eBook Editions.

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Kate’s Pick:

Sweetbitter Book Cover ImageSweetbitter: A Novel by Stephanie Danler

Kate Says:

About Sweetbitter:

A thrilling novel of the senses and a coming-of-age tale, following a small-town girl into the electrifying world of New York City and the education of a lifetime at one of the most exclusive restaurants in Manhattan.

“Brilliantly written . . . Outstanding.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Outstanding.”—Gabrielle Hamilton, The New York Times Book Review

“Vivid and exquisite.”—NPR

“[A] heady first taste of self-discovery, bitter and salty and sweet.”—Entertainment Weekly

Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.

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