Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Reread & Blanketflower

Blanketflower

First, a Garden Note

This week's star native is Gaillardia, known to her friends as Blanketflower. She loves full sun and is very low maintenance. She spreads quickly and is often used to restore damaged areas. And, she is so pretty.

Fun Fact: Gaillardia even has her own moth...

"A moth (Schinia masoni) camouflages itself for protection on the heads of blanketflower - the head and thorax of the moth blend with the ray flowers, while the crimson wings blend with the disc flowers." From Blanketflower

Now we can talk Top Ten 

Being in the middle of a bunch of books but not having finished anything since the Ina memoir, I thought I would do this week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This theme was super easy for me--only ten?! I am a rereader and so like to revisit favorites regularly.

1. The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame - this was one of several books my Dad would read to me and my siblings when we were young. I've reread it as an adult, but not in a few decades. Cannot wait to spend time with Ratty, Mole, Badger, and Mr. Toad.

2. Middlemarch, by George Eliot - one of my all-time favorite novels. I have read it either four or five times, and it is a treat every time. I reread it in 2016--can you believe that's already almost 10 years ago. Here's my post from that reading.

3. North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell - my favorite novel by a favorite novelist. I have 18 posts in which I discuss N&S to some degree, with an in-depth, multi-part series on how it compares to Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

4. The Girl with the Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier - Chevalier is a favorite author and this was the first book I read by her, decades ago. I would like to enjoy it again.

5. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon - I didn't actually finish the series, getting bogged down in book eight and never actually recovering. But...my husband and I are putting together a trip next summer that will take us on foot and by boat through the heart of Outlander country, from Oman to Inverness (along the Caledonian Canal), so rereading Outlander will be required reading before the trip.

6. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck - another favorite novel from a favorite novelist. I love the setting and the characters, the rich and varied plot, the historical stuff, and the heart and writing. Here's my post from 2014.

7. Favorite Dickens's novels - see, I am cheating because I want to reread Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby, Little Dorrit, and David Copperfield.

8. The Reluctant Widow, by Georgette Heyer - my first Heyer and so my sentimental favorite. I've read it at least three times and my copy is literally falling apart because it was well-used when I acquired it. Must get new, pretty copy!

9. The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien - I read this many times as a teen and for some reason have a hankering to revisit Middle Earth. Will see how long this yearning lasts, but I do want to spend time with Bilbo.

10. All of Austen - as an active JASNA member, rereading Austen is de rigueur and never a chore. I no longer keep track of how many times I have read each of the novels. Not enough fingers.

I love spending time with old friends. How about you?