Re-reading a favorite

I was tidying up downstairs the other day and found my copy of Practical Magic laying around. Someone must have taken it off the shelf and given up on reading it... so I felt compelled to read it again - it's one of my favorite books!

There are a few books I have read at different times in my life that made me wonder if that was how the story went the last time. I know I'm probably the one that has changed - or that it has been many years since I read it the first time and I forgot the details - but this feeling always baffles me while reading the book the second (or third) time around. I felt the same thing the last time I read The Princess Bride, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. I'm sure I will feel the same when I re-read The Neverending Story or Mists of Avalon, which I loved in my teens but haven't touched since. These are all books that I have kept on the shelf and moved with me from house to house. I wonder if they will still baffle me if I re-read them in another 10 or 30 years...