lou's library

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’m writing this in the depths of the trenches, aka the beginning of February, when spring still seems to be an eternity away. It still gets dark outside early, it’s cold and grey and all I long for is a single ray of sunshine. When you’re reading this, however, spring will have arrived (if you live in the Northern hemisphere), and what a glorious feeling that is every year! I find I tend to have a new spring in my step (pun intended), everything seems a bit lighter and as though the colour is slowly coming back to the world. So, here are some books that reflect that mood. I hope you’ll enjoy them!

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Nothing screams spring like a falling-in-love-story where the stakes are objectively low but oh so very high subjectively. This trilogy was very popular a good few years ago (when I was much closer to its target audience aka being a teenager) and I recently listened to them on audiobook for the first time in ages. I was suprised how much they held up. In case you’re not familiar with the series, it centres on Lara Jean and Peter K, who pretend to be dating in High School. Lots of drama unfolds from there, as I’m sure you can imagine. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is goofy and light-hearted, funny and tender and I think that makes it perfect for spring. It gets me in a good mood and I think it’s so fun to read something fluffy and romantic at this time of year. The Netflix movie (adapted from the first book of the trilogy) is one of my ultimate comfort watches and as soon as I hear the first birds chirping outside, you better believe I’ll be hitting that play button!

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Twelfth Night is one of my favourite comedies by Shakespeare, and my favourite choice for the spring season! As is so often the case in his comedies, it is full of disguises and mistaking people for someone else, which always makes for great drama (in both senses of the word). It focuses on Viola and Sebastian, twins who got separated in a ship wreck. Viola then falls in love with a Duke, but while she is dressed as a boy, which makes things slightly more difficult. Also, said Duke is head over heels crazy for Countess Olivia, who ends up falling for Viola (still pretending to be a boy). You see, it’s messy and oh such great fun! Plus, all this falling in love (with the wrong person, but still) gives me massive spring energy. I find myself gravitating more towards Shakespeare’s comedies and poetry rather than his tragedies or history plays at this time of year, because when Shakespeare says tragedy, he usually means it. In the springtime, I prefer to read something that will cheer me up and make me laugh, and Twelfth Night fits that bill perfectly!

Bargain Bin Rom-Com by Leena Norms

Spring is the season to read poetry, for me! I do read poetry all year round, but there’s something poetical about the flowers blossoming again and the world coming back to life. One of my favourite poetry collections is Bargain Bin Rom-Com by Leena Norms, an author and content creator whose videos on Youtube you should definitely check out (she makes lots of content about books, but also climate change and fashion and I adore all of it!). I’ve chosen to recommend this specific collection because its titular poem always reminds me of spring, as it is (to me, at least) about falling in love and painting a picture of a possible future together, being grateful for your significant other and also a bit surprised this is actually happening to you. There are poems about heavy topics such as the impending catastrophe that is climate change in this collection, but I find that Leena always manages to add a little optimism into the mix, and so Bargain Bin Rom-Com is a great book to pick up if you’re feeling in want of a little poetry this spring!

Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan

Oh, Mayflies, I love you so! For me, this was one of those books where from the very first page, I knew I was going to love it. It centres on a group of British teenage boys in the 1980’s, who go on a road trip to Manchester to go to a concert. It’s about friendship and youth (and losing both), about music and love and being carefree and without responsibility. It’s written with such beauty, I did gasp mutiple times. Andrew O’Hagan really made me feel like I was there with those boys, and that’s such an incredible skill to have as an author. Mayflies is perfect for spring because of its ponderings on youth and immaturity, the lightness and fun that comes with those things and the sense that for those boys, life has only just begun. It has its more serious moments too (which make the book even better, in my opinion, as they stress the importance of the lighter days in life) and is essentially a portrayal of youth at its best. I adore this book, it made me both very happy and sad, and made me feel alive, for lack of a better word.

Dream A Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

Kerstin Gier is a highly successful German author who, in recent years, has been writing fantasy for young adults. She’s so successful that her books get translated into English, which is rare for a German author. Dream A Little Dream (German title: Silber) is the first book in a trilogy focusing on our protagonist Liv Silber, whose dreams start to get decidedly weird when she moves with her mother and sister (and nanny Lottie, who we adore) to her new stepfather’s house. I don’t want to spoil anything, so please just dive right in and get lost in this fantastical dreamworld! The entire trilogy is incredibly funny, but also exciting and dramatic, and there’s a great love story thrown in too, for good measure! I think it’s a great choice for spring as Liv experiences lots of new beginnings in this first book. That means a lot of adjusting, but also a lot of excitement. And it doesn’t hurt she also slowly falls in love, too! There’s also something about the focus on dreams that screams spring to me, although I find it difficult to pinpoint why, exactly. But the first slightly warmer and lighter months of the year are my favourite to reread this series (something I do almost annually). It’s just perfection to me!