If we’re talking about the book I’ve read most often, I suppose I’ll have to hop aboard the Bible train. Toot toot, spiritually speaking.

It has been read to me, taught to me, studied by me, questioned by me, and—on more than one occasion—stared at by me while I tried to figure out what life was doing and whether there might be a footnote for that.

I’ll admit, the deeper reading came in the second half of my life. As a child, I knew it as something familiar. Later, I came back to it with questions, curiosity, and the occasional need to put a few restless thoughts to bed.

But the Bible isn’t the only book I’ve returned to. There’s also The Earth’s Children series, along with a handful of other beloved stories I’ve read and reread simply because they still have magic in them. They speak to my imagination, my heart, and that little corner of my soul that apparently enjoys moving into fictional worlds and refusing to leave.

A good book does not have to do just one thing. It can teach, comfort, inspire,  entertain, challenge, or hand you a daydream so lovely you carry it around for years. And if a book can do that? Well, it has more than earned another read…