Good reading

This poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning was included in a book I just finished (The Mapping of Love and Death, a Maisie Dobbs novel). Today was a great day for curling up in a blanket and reading- cold and rainy. I absolutely love it, so I thought I'd share.

"The Best Thing in the World"

What's the best thing in the world?

June-rose, by May-dew impearled;

Sweet south-wind, that means no rain;

Truth, not cruel to a friend;

Pleasure, not in haste to end;

Beauty, not self-decked and curled

Till its pride is over-plain;

Love, when, so, you're loved again.

What's the best thing in the world?

--Something out of it, I think.

I would definitely recommend the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. Read them in order, or you'll be a bit lost as to character development. Great characters, plots, and themes abound in this series detailing the life of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator, set in England following WWI (20's & 30's).