Books have always been an important part of my life. When I was little the first thing I did on the first day of summer break was head to the library and check out a stack of books. Having all summer to read what you want to read instead of what you have to read was pure bliss.
Reading a good book is one of my favorite things to do next to gardening. Re-reading a book that I know well is like having a cozy chat with an old friend.
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So today, with the icy winds howling around the house, I’m going to lose myself in a much loved book that I read every year.
I’m going to nibble on my sugar cookies while I read and be more grateful than usual that I have a warm home and plenty to eat.
What books do you re-read?
I don’t re-read very many, but I have read “A Girl of the Limberlost” by Gene Statton Porter several times. I discovered it in Jr. High and loved it somuch I searched for it as an adult.
It sounds like a charming book (just looked it up on Amazon).
Manuela
Sweet post, warm and cozy:) Have a blessed weekend, I think we are going to snuggle in with a warm fire tonight! HUGS!
I adore the Little House on the Prairie Books and also remember peddling my bicycle down to the library to sign up for the summer reading program. Visiting the library is still one of my favorite things to do. Every few years, I re-read Les Miserables and have a great sob at the end. I also re-read a few of my Jane Austen favorites. And, of course, I love to revisit classics such as Little Women. (Many thanks again for your gardening book recommendations. I was able to locate two of them at our library.)
I love Gene Stratton Porter as well, and I am always re-reading Louisa May Alcott’s books. I always read the Lord of the Rings at least once a year as well.
I too re-read the Alcott books. You’re the second person to mention Gene Stratton Porter. I’ve never read any of her work. Must see if my library has any.
Manuela
Oh good! You’re going to have to tell me which two. I’m going to have a garden book giveaway and hopefully it’s not one of them!
I re-read Austen too. Thankfully there have been so many movie adaptations of her books that I can get my Austen fix by watching one of those. I love, love, love Sense and Sensibility!
Manuela
With homeschooling 4 girls (2 still at home) with a span of 12 years from oldest to youngest, I have had plenty of occasion to reread old favorites a number of times to the girls: The Little House books of course, Little Women and Eight Cousins, Great Expectations, The Little Princess and The Secret Garden, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, All of a Kind Family, gosh — I could go on and on.
(we had snow flakes yesterday and this morning, but bright clear sunshine this afternoon, not getting above low 30’s — good “book and chai” weather)
Those are all so good! I often re-read the Alcott books and The Secret Garden.
My husband swears he saw a few flakes this morning! The house is shaking with this crazy wind we’re having! Wish I had some chai!
Manuela
I don’t re-read books because they are mostly books on people I love but to me there is nothing like getting my hands on a one Like Katherine Hepburn’s, Me. That was great I could hear here voice in my head.
My husband John is the big reader in our family and he reads so heavy stuff.
That’s such a nice idea to have a book you read every year! I might have to take that up. 😉 ENJOY it!
I’m going to echo Girl of the Limberlost. I own two copies because I love it so much. My all time favorites are To Kill a Mockingbird and Pride and Prejudice. Haven’t read the Laura Ingalls Wilder series since I was a child and something tells me I should read them again.
xo
Claudia
I remember my trips to the library during the Summer months when in elementary school. The smell of the library – old building and old books. Laying on a pallet under a shade tree reading. I use to read a lot more than I do now.
Enjoy your weekend. Cold here!
I love the Little House books and haven’t read in them in sooo long.
I bet you would like “A Place Called Sweet Shrub” by Jane Roberts Wood,
it is a charming book. I am a HUGE fan of the Miss Julia books by Ann B. Ross.
Thank you for the book recommendation Molly! I’ll look for that one.
Manuela
Don’t have too many books I re-read every year, but I did just read the Mitford Series by Jan Karon Again! JUST as good the 2nd time around…love those books. *(right now I am reading for the first time Bleak House by Charles Dickens…very vintage copy I found thrifting…I am really getting in to it.) Enjoy your “you” time!! 🙂
I’ve never read Bleak House. I did watch the TV adaptation.
Manuela
We woke up to snow and -3 windchills this morning. Quite a shock after such a mild winter.
I love to re-read old favorites and The Long Winter is one of mine. I’ve found I love to re-read the Goudge books because there are so many layers there that I’ve found something new in the re-reading.
I also have nonfiction books I like to read like those by Edith Schaeffer, Elizabeth George, etc.
I’m thinking of getting Exodus by Leon Uris off the shelf and re-reading soon. It was the first BIG book I gave my daughter to read when she was old enough and the Mandie books no longer satisfied. 🙂
Oh, if you have not read any Gene Stratton Porter, you are missing out. I’d start with Girl of the Limberlost (especially as one who loves planting gardens). Porter was a Hoosier and her original land is near Ft. Wayne. Hubby and I visited one of his best friends there a few years ago, he owns acreage next to the GSP land.
First time I have commented, love you site!! Also love Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. Also love to read anything written by Miss Read. When life gets so hectic, its nice to read about a simple time and a simple life. God Bless, D.
I read a wide range of books Manuela, and yes do re-read old friends. Give me a proper book though and please don’t insult me with a ‘Kindle’!
I love books. My favorites have to be historical fiction and anything on the Civil War. I’d also have to say quilting books are a must in our home. Hugs
Winter has hit here for a brief bit. We have 40 – 45 mile an hour winds and it is supposed to be 20 degrees in the morning, but wind chill will make it feel like 6. All winter it has felt mainly like Spring!
I don’t often re-read books. Sometimes I do like to read some of the Pooh stories because we spent many happy days on the beach, as kids, having time out after our lunch listening to my neighbor read these stories. We were not allowed to go into the water for an hour after eating and this was our parents’ way have blessing us with a contented spirit!
Oh –just remembered one book I have read more than once is AA Milne’s book of poetry–Love it!
I re-read Lori Wick, Jane Austen, Dee Henderson. I have re-read all the Little House books many times usually to my children!
I’ve reread the Miss. Read books several times. Another favorite is the Mitford series. The cozy mysteries like Laura Child’s books are ones I reread. I have a series I got, the Grace Chapel Inn series, that I reread all the time. It is a christian book series. I just read all the way through The Little House on the Prarie, this last year, but I think it is one I’ll want to read again.
Oh Manuela! What a great day you had…here in AZ we don’t have our stay inside and read a good book days till the dog days of summer!
Enjoy!
Caroline
Manuela, I just wrote a post yesterday about good books! 🙂
I don’t re-read books anymore, but I did when I was younger. Now my son takes over that job…he loves reading books over and over. And I don’t mean little kid books, either. He’s 12 and reads on a college level, so he’s into Frank Peretti and C.S. Lewis. These are okay by me to read and read again! 🙂
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and The Good Earth by Pearl Buck are two books I can pick up and read anytime. I love them both.
I love a good book, too. Christmas time is when I re-read my most loved books. Have a wonderful day and stay warm.
Hugs, Cindy
Love the plate,Manuela! What pattern is it?
I love reading too! I generally read a book every day – sometimes more if time allows. But for re-reading, I tend to stick to the classics: Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters, Wilkie Collins, Thackeray, and Edith Wharton. They’re like old friends!
I love the pretty plate of cookies and the idea of curling up with a good book. I love “the Little House on the Prairie “series, remember them fondly from my schooldays! Lately, I’m reading lots of children’s books to my little sweetheart, Tommy. I read lots of business books when I get a chance, like Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich but for sheer pleasure, I truly adored the Jan Karon books last winter.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love, Linda
Besides my own ;-p The Scent of Water, I cannot get enough of that book!! xox Clarice