Five challenge- Great Re-Reads (a day late)

Before I start, I'd better say: Merry Christmas!  to the rest of the blogosphere.  I hope you're all having a day of varying degrees of awesomeness.

Now I can get on.  I was something of a blogging fail yesterday, because I never had time to post my entry for day four of the  Persnickety Snark FIVE challenge- books that I love to re-read. So, here's that entry now, and later this evening I'll probably post the entry for today, which I think is my most anticipated novels of 2011.

Anyway.  On with my list for today.  In no particular order;

ICHIGO MASHIMARO/STRAWBERRY MARSHMALLOW by Barasui

I could read these five volumes over and over am  I love slice-of-life manga, and these kawaii escapades of four tween girls and their sixteen-year-old friend Nobue never cease to amuse me.  It's silly and plotless, and that's precisely why I love it.  The girls get up to many comical comings-and-goings, but whatever they do, laughter and cuteness ensues. 

SABRIEL by Garth Nix
is the first novel in the Old Kingdom trilogy.  I'm not sure if it's the best- Lirael is probably my favourite- but it's certainly still excellent re-reading material, because it offers something new each time you read it. 

A LITTLE PRINCESS by Frances Hodgson Burnett

It's hard to say quite why I love this book so much.  I mean, Sarah's too good to be true, Becky is a walking stereotype, and how I want to beat Ermengarde round the head with a hardcover copy of Crime and Punishment.  The whole thing with her initial despair and the happy ending is hugely overdone, and Lavinia is to my mind the only character who's any fun.  So why do I love it so much, then?  Hmm.  I think just because it's so universal.  Everyone can feel hard done by, and anyone could lose a relative.  And anyone could rise above all the bad things in their lives. 

IF I STAY by Gayle Forman
The first time I read this was in May, and I've read it about three times since then.  I obsess over this book for many reasons; the subject matter, the writing style, the characters, all the classical music and just the sheer amazingness that results when these factors are all put together.  Much, much love for this novel and everything about it.

JINX by Margaret Wild

Same goes for Jinx as If I Stay.  Stunning poetry, plot, protagonists, and fragile portrayals of suburban life, that anyone and everyone should be able to connect with.

That's all for this list.  More from me...well, in a little bit, actually, when I post my list that's meant to be for today.