Little Women

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. And yes, I realize that most people feel the same way, but I would honestly be perfectly happy if every day was Christmas season. I love the lights. I love the music. I love curling up by the fire, drinking hot chocolate and watching It's A Wonderful Life. I love wrapping presents, and I bake enough cookies to feed a small army. I love the smells of cinnamon and pine. And I love taking my copy of Little Women down off my shelf, officially marking the beginning of the Christmas season.
I honestly can't remember the first time I read Little Women or how I started reading it every year, but I have been reading it every Christmas for as long as I can remember. I must have read the Great Illustrated Classic's version when I was 9 or 10, but it wasn't until I was in junior high that I read the original. And I guess I just fell in love.
Each year, I notice things that I never did before. Different quotes stick out to me depending on what is going in my life at the time I read it. I never get tired of it, because I never feel like I am reading the same book. This year was also different, because I read March. After reading so much about the absentee patriarch from Little Women, I felt him where he wasn't. When the girls received his letters, I knew what he was doing and where he was. It gave a story I was so familiar with a whole new depth. That is the best part about re-reading a book so often: it changes every time.
Little Women is like Sex in the City for bookworms. Girls that read it can tell you whether they are a Jo or Meg, or maybe they're an Amy, just as easily as a girl can tell you if she is a Carrie or a Charolette. They are characters that you bond and grow with. As a 10 year old who ran with the boys and needed to be called "Sam", Jo was my absolute favorite. I would sometimes even skip over the parts that weren't about her, and I no matter how many times I read the book I always wanted Laurie to end up with her. Then, as I grew, I became more of an Amy. It was as if one Christmas I picked up this book I had read a thousand times and was suddenly drawn to this character who used to be my least favorite. My miranda. And now, I'm a Meg.
The thing that makes Little Women so special is that it teaches real life lessons that will never be dated or irrelevant. Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy are characters that girls will always be able to relate to and grow with. They learn lessons of humility, honesty, and selflessness. They learn the value of hard work, the importance of family, and to realize their self-worth. Things that every girl should learn, whether it's 1864 or 2014.
It isn't easy finding a book that you are able to read over and over again. You can't just pick one that you like, or that is easy to read. You honestly can't just pick on at all. I think that that epic, life-altering book chooses you. You fall in love. It's feels easy. You just know. And those are the books that make you who are.