Today’s Top Ten Tuesday question asked which books I could read over and over again. Since I’ve embarked upon a last-minute re-read of A Wrinkle in Time and feel the same warm feeling I get whenever I spend time with an old friend, I thought it a reasonable question to consider. In no particular order:
The Harry Potter series
Little Women
Anne of Green Gables
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
A Year in Provence
Ballet Shoes
Pride and Prejudice
The Eyre Affair
The Secret Garden
A Wrinkle in Time
I’ve only included books I’ve re-read as an adult and only ones I’ve actually read multiple times, as opposed to ones I intend to read again, which let out things like The Night Circus, A Man Called Ove, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Looking at the list, I’m unsurprised to find a combination of favorites from childhood and comfort reads from my adult years, but I do also see that the list is very white (and leans British), so I’m thinking I should make a point of re-reading some of my five-star favorites by authors of color to reacquaint myself with The Color Purple and The Joy Luck Club.
How about you? Do you re-read? And, if so, which books do you have the greatest affinity for?
Joan Baez today joined the ranks of senior citizen singers announcing that they’d be retiring from touring in the upcoming year.
This is the cover song from her 1975 Diamonds and Rust album. When I was growing up, it used to be the record I’d request for my birthday supper because it featured a song that contained a variant of my name (also my brother’s name, but he has a name that shows up on things like keychains and stationery and cute signs for your bedroom door, so that’s clearly less important). It’s neither pronounced nor spelled the same as mine, but was as close as I was likely to come to an eponymous song. (As a kid, I thought my parents had picked the name because they’d heard it in the song, but since the album came out more than a year after I was born, clearly I misunderstood.)
Joan’s tour does come to D.C., so I may see how much tickets are, since she’s one performer I don’t think I’ve ever seen as an adult. But even if I don’t get that chance, I’ll always have her recordings. Her new album, Whistle Down the Wind, drops Friday. You can stream it on NPR right now.
1. My friend Amani texted to say she and her baby are in town and would my work pal Sarah and I want to get together. Um, yes! Ayinde is seven months old, with chubby cheeks and stubby toes and four teeth and the most adorable pompadour of soft, auburn curls. I last saw him when he was a few weeks old and he’s grown a lot since then. He’s comfortable in public and happy to let strangers hold him. Amani is looking good, although she says she’s tired, which is understandable, given she only gets to sleep a couple hours at a time.
2. Rudi and I went to see Black Panther and it was so good. I was glad I’d read the Ta-Nehesi Coates reboot of the comic (although when I read it, I’d felt like it had dropped me into the story without sufficient back story), so I knew something about Wakanda and vibranium-based biotechnology and the Dora Milaje warriors. I got tired of the fight scenes toward the end, but otherwise I liked everything about it and would watch it a second time in the theater to take in the gorgeous scenery.
3. As expected the nearly 80-degree temperatures we had this week jump-started the daffodils. As we rode past Rose Park on the bike path below, we could see the clumps starting to emerge, and they’ve appeared in south-facing yards, as well. And I saw the pink tip of a hyacinth starting to poke out yesterday, too.
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
