READ IT AGAIN by Marta Perry

Remember what it was like to read story books to your young children, or in my case, young grandchildren? As someone who loves books, you're always eager to introduce a new story to them. But will they let you? Oh, no! Read it again! The refrain goes up each time you reach "The End." The current favorite must be read again and again until you can do it by heart. And you don't dare to skip a word, because they'll be on you in an instant! Several of my grandkids loved Thomas the Tank Engine, and each one had a favorite story that must be read and reread until the book was dropping from my hands!

Still, I can't really complain, because I have my favorites, as well. They're the books we call "keepers," the ones we can't bear to lend because we might not get them back. I find I especially turn to those books in times of stress, when I want to re-visit the familiar characters and places instead of concentrating on someone new. One of my very favorite authors is DE Stevenson. I found a treasure trove of her books while visiting an aunt one summer, and I was hooked. In her tender stories, the romance involves more than the main couple, as family and friends and sometimes the whole community come into the story. And,writing in an earlier time, she could include her characters' faith as an accepted part of the story even though it was intended for a general market--something we struggle with today.

Of course I have other favorites, including Georgette Heyer and Agatha Christie. Each time I read Heyer's The Grand Sophy, I fall in love with both the hero and secondary hero even while I'm chuckling at the predicaments of the unorthodox Sophy.

And where would my library be without the inimitable Agatha Christie? I must revisit her stories over and over again, sometimes being surprised afresh at "who done it."

Those are some of my keepers. I've deliberately named earlier authors, both because I love the books and also because I wouldn't want to play favorites among the many contemporary authors whose work I love!

So tell us: what's on your keeper shelf?

And for a chance to win a complete set of my "Watcher in the Dark" series, stop by my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MartaPerryBooks.