Spring is the perfect season for reading because it mirrors the themes of renewal, growth, and fresh beginnings. Here’s why it’s an especially great time to pick up a book:
🌱 A Season of Renewal – Just as nature comes back to life, spring can be a time to refresh your mind with new stories, ideas, and perspectives.
☀️ Ideal Weather for Outdoor Reading – The mild temperatures and longer daylight hours make it perfect for reading outside, whether in a park, garden, or by an open window.
🌸 Inspiration for Personal Growth – Spring encourages self-improvement, whether through fiction that sparks creativity or nonfiction that offers new insights.
📖 Spring Themes in Literature – Many books capture the essence of spring—rebirth, transformation, and adventure—making them feel extra magical when read during the season.
🐦 A Slower, More Reflective Pace – Unlike the busy holiday season or the intense heat of summer, spring offers a balance—an opportunity to slow down, reflect, and enjoy the present moment with a good book.
So, maybe this spring is the perfect time to renew your reading habit and start making time to make reading part of your daily routine. If you are not sure what to read next, check out my reading reviews below or reach out to me for a personal recommendation.
Until Next Month!
Happy Reading! 🤓📚🍀
The Snowbirds By: Christina Clancy
This was a fast paced novel that I devoured in 5 days. In this book, Kim and Grant are at a crossroads in their mid-life when they are offered a free place to stay in Palm Springs, CA. for the winter. Packing up their belongings in Madison, Wisconsin, they travel across the country only to be greeted by some quirky characters, a second chance on life, and some new hobbies. As Grant takes up hiking in the mountains, he goes missing on a solo trip he takes on New Year's Day. This forms the "action" of the book as we spend the rest of the book reading the backstory of Kim and Grant's life with every other chapter taking us back to the past through flashbacks of the couple's life. If you like books with alternating timeline chapters, character-driven plots, and a bit of a mystery, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale.
Sea of Tranquility By: Emily St. Hohn Mandel
I am not one to usually read sci-fi/time travel type books but I read this one for a book club I am in. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how much the book kept me entertained. The story takes the reader from a Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon fiver hundred years later with some stops in between. During this journey, you will encounter different characters in the first part of the book that will come together in a surprising way in the second part of the book. If you like books with time travel, twisty turns, and a hope for humanity, then this is a book for you. Being around 250 pages, I devoured it in 3 days and gave it 🤩🤩🤩1/2 on the devour scale.
How to Sleep at Night By: Elizabeth Harris
This was a book that I kept hearing about on different book podcasts, so I was curious to read it when it came in as a recent library hold. Ethan and Gabe are a married couple when Ethan announces he wants to run for congress as a Republican. Gabe, being a proud Democrat, wants to support his husband but knows this will be difficult to do. The other chapters and storyline, focus in on Ethan’s sister, Kate, and her past relationship/friendship with Nicole. Not only does the book focus around political turmoil but it is a story that tells of our divisions and what brings us together through the lens of love, identity, and finding yourself again. If you like character driven stories, family drama, and LGBTQ+ representation , then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩on the devour scale.
Penitence By: Kristin Koval
Penitence= feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentance. This is the perfect title for this book as it's dual time line demonstrates this theme various times throughout it. The story starts off with Angie and David raising their teenage son and daughter, when tragedy strikes. One child dead...the other arrested for murder. Due to lack of funds and resources, they hire the local lawyer Martine to help with the case. Martine, is also the mother of Angie's first time love, Julian. The book alternates between the past when Angie and Julian are together and the present with the pending trial looming.Angie and Julian are both hiding secrets from the past, which makes this book even more of a page turner. If you like books with family secrets, themes with forgiveness, and fast paced, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale.
Good Dirt By: Charmaine Wilkerson
I was excited to read this one after really liking the author's debut novel, Black Cake. Good Dirt, follows the story of the Freeman family and the history of a treasured heirloom. The chapters weave together a tragedy that happened in the past with the aftermath effects it has brought to the present. After Ebby Freeman is jilted at the altar, she escapes to France to try and run from her past. Here she is met with her past catching up with her while also discovering some other family secrets. If you like books with dual timelines, family sagas, along with learning some history, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩 🤩 🤩 🤩 on the devour scale.
Bonus Backlist Book: Long Bright River By: Liz Moore
I read this book back in the summer of 2021 and I still remember it today. It was also just made into an 8 part series on Peacock. (See info in the "Watching Lately" section.) Here's the setup, in a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling. Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit--and her sister--before it's too late. Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the dawndevourscale.
Discounted E-Books with Book Bub
BookBub is a free service that helps you discover books you'll love through unbeatable deals, handpicked recommendations, and updates from your favorite authors. BookBub doesn't actually sell books. We simply introduce you to books you'll love that are available on retailers like Amazon's Kindle store, Barnes & Noble's Nook store, Apple Books, and others.
Handpicked deals on books you'll love BookBub notifies you about free and deeply discounted ebook recommendations selected by our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems. You choose the types you'd like to get notified about — with categories ranging from mysteries to romance to cookbooks — and we send you great deals in those genres. BookBub features books ranging from top-tier publishers to critically acclaimed independent authors. Our experts ensure that we're only featuring great deals on quality books you'll love.Real-time updates from your favorite authors BookBub also notifies you about discounts, new releases, and preorders from your favorite authors. You choose the authors you want to follow, and we'll alert you when they have book news to share.Recommendations from people you trust BookBub helps you spend less time searching and more time reading by surfacing recommendations from people you trust. You can browse recommendations from your favorite authors, BookBub editors, and your friends and family to discover books you'll love. Link: https://www.bookbub.com/
The White Lotus - HBO/Max
An all-star cast head to a resort and unleash their worst, most privileged impulses. The series is a sharp social satire following the exploits of various guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose stay becomes affected by their various dysfunctions. A week in the life of vacationers is unravelled as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise. With each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel's cheerful employees, and the idyllic locale itself. Season 3 Trailer Here
Long Bright River - Peacock (8 Episodes)
Mickey Fitzpatrick is a police officer who patrols a Philadelphia neighborhood hard-hit by the opioid crisis. When a series of murders begins in her district, she realizes that her personal history might be related to the case. With an empathetic vision of those struggling with addiction and their families, Mickey's journey illustrates the collective power of an underserved community and, through several unexpected twists, subverts expectations around whom society perceives as heroes and villains. Watch Trailer Here
The Residence - Netflix
132 rooms. 157 suspects. One dead body. One wildly eccentric detective. One disastrous state dinner. The Residence is a screwball whodunit set in the upstairs, downstairs, and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world's most famous mansion. Amid all the twists and turns, detective Cordelia Cupp partners with skeptical FBI special agent Edwin Park to untangle an intriguing murder mystery. Watch Trailer Here
Book Gang Podcast - New Episodes Dropped on Fridays
Are you looking for your next book recommendation? This book podcast celebrates debuts, backlist, and under-the-radar-book selections. Expand your book stack with these recommendations and look at the book industry behind the scenes with Amy Allen Clark (https://momadvice.com/). Listen in, every Friday, as she shares the microphone with her favorite writers and bookstagrammers to help you have your best reading life.
Nokbox (Next of Kin Box for Organizaiton)
The Nokbox is a complete system that helps you organize all of your accounts, possessions, social media presence, communities, kids, pets, personal history, and estate plans (even if you don't have estate plans yet!). It's an estate planning tool AND a home organization system: if you have a household, you need a Nokbox.
