5 Books to Read During Spring 2022
The snow is melting, Omicron is waning, and if you’re like me, you’re starting to daydream about warmer days filled with less ice and more sunshine. Spring always makes me of new beginnings. Little green plants poking up out of the dirt, birds singing, you know what I mean. This spring I want to read books about starting fresh. Here are a few suggestions if you’re looking for the same.
1) Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
This is the first book in my all time favorite series about one of the cities that has my heart. Tales of the City begins with Maryanne Singleton’s decision to move across the country to San Francisco in the 70s. Follow her and her lovable, quirky group of friends as they deal with love, friendship, career changes, and all the other ups and downs of their 20s + 30s in beautiful San Francisco. If you like it, there are 10 more in the series. You can buy the book here.
2) All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
Molly, the daughter of the local gravedigger in a tiny town in Australia’s remote northern territory in the 1940s, has had a rough go at life. By age 11, she’s lost her mother and suffered pretty significantly at the hands of her alcoholic father and uncle. When Japanese bombs rain down on Darwin, where she lives, Molly makes a break for it. She and an unlikely trio of fellow escapees venture into Australia’s harsh, beautiful, otherworldly wilderness in search of buried treasure and a new start on life. The scenery and descriptions in this novel are truly breathtaking and magical. You can buy it here.
3) Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
At its core, this is a book about a breakup, but it doesn’t end the way Hollywood has trained our brains to expect a breakup story would. After Queenie, who the book is named for, is broken up with by her long-term boyfriend, she goes on a journey of self discovery and growth, with a refreshingly modern ending. You can read my full Queenie review here or buy the book here.
4) I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
This book begins with a tragedy: the unexpected, untimely death of teenage Olga, a perfect Mexican daughter who is survived by her younger sister Julia and their parents. As Julia grieves the loss of her sister, she also struggles to meet her parents’ expectations, assert her independence, figure out what she wants in life (even though that might not line up with what her parents want for her), and to also solve the mystery of who her sister really was before she died. Set in Chicago and Mexico, this is a great coming of age story that explores themes of mental health and family relationships. You can buy it here.
5) Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Another a coming of age story — this one involves an eccentric family, a cruise to the Arctic, and family love. Sometimes, you’re just in the mood for a light book with likable characters. This one is set in both Seattle and Antarctica, and Semple does a great job setting the scene and making you feel like you’re really there. I had never thought much about Antarctica before I read this, but now it’s on my travel bucket list. Buy it here.