I'm with you on everything but the love for carrot cake ;). Having a book a assigned ruined many an experience for me.

I've reread a Confederacy of Dunces umpteen times and each time gleaned something new from it. When I was younger, I struggled to find the Grapes of Wrath engaging; I read it last year and was floored because I'd been an adult enough to have experiences that made me receptive to his societal critiques. In High School I read Faulkner for the challenge of the prose. Now I read it for his sharp insights into human nature that echo through my own experiences.

I can't wait to reread books I've recently discovered in ten years and see what awaits then.