Originally read in 2006 for a grade 10 English class, I suppose this was the first piece of 'literature' I read. Sure, I'd been through those 500 page Star Wars & Forgotten Realms books before, among other things, but this was literature. I didn't enjoy it for the first third or so, but then I felt in the groove, & by the end, of course, Atticus had changed my life forevermore. A friend drunkenly shoplifted me the book a couple of years later, & I've been intending to re-read it ever since, so I'm almost sad it's taken this long. After reading the 'sequel' earlier this year, however, I knew it was high time. I am so happy that circumstance finally led to this. 
 Re-reading this book made me realize a few things. For instance: I love it, & it means more to me than most books. I connect with it. Hemingway may be a kingly author, & The Sun Also Rises may be a better book (&, indeed, is one of my favourites), but I think I like this better. My favourite books are often crazy philosophical trips, with meta-leanings. Those are my favourites. & also, there are books I like greatly due to personality - Kerouac (in fact, all the Beats), Bukowski, HST, etc... but then, there is 'plain' literature. It surprises me to find, upon digging within myself, that I think my favourite books of 'plain' literature are Grapes of Wrath, Mockingbird, & Salinger's works. They trump the Great Gatsbys & the Sun Also Rises(es) to me. (Interesting also, I guess, that Mockingbird & Grapes both fit fairly snugly into a humble kind of realm, while Salinger - though being anti-intellectual in his own way - often radiates a self-aware intellectualism, differentiating his works rather dramatically.) 
 Anyway, recollections & realizations aside, this book is just great. It has everything. It has one of the greatest characters in literature, just about an archetype of morality & justice. It has suspense, sentimentality, humour, wit, charm, development, religion, sadness, friendship, family, history, & everything else. Scout's perspective is just so wonderful - it does any adult well to learn from children, but Scout makes it so easy & enjoyable. 
 Honestly, besides rather enjoying it, I remember little about Go Set A Watchman. I remember thinking it may have been possible for Atticus to become that person, but knowing I had to re-read Mockingbird to be sure. Reading this now, I just want to re-read Watchman, as I feel like I remember none of it - as if it was all too new, & that I would understand it more with this adult reading of Mockingbird in my mind. I think I will re-read Watchmen in the next two months, after I finally watch the classic Gregory Peck film. 
 Well, this drags on, but I plan on re-reading this every year or two for the foreseeable future, so will update it as thoughts come to me.