A Considered Booklist for Spring
When I lived in Memphis, it seemed like spring arrived overnight. One morning, after weeks of drenching rain, I’d wake to find the world shrouded in a green mist, or so it seemed. Spring also arrived with a firmness: “I’m here. Enjoy me.” And then, in a month or so, the heat arrived, and that was it. Spring in Michigan is much more teasing and gradual in her advent. She drops in for brief visits, bringing warmth and sun and T-shirt weather for a day or two, then hides as the snow flurries you thought you were done with fill the air once more, as puddles freeze and you shrug back into your winter jacket and wrap a scarf around your neck to walk to the mailbox.
I find I need books that make me “think spring” more here in the Midwest than I did in the Midsouth. I want to imagine the greenness of spring and new life before it arrives. I want to inwardly turn my face toward the sun. Spring, too, is a time of spiritual rebirth as we close out the season of Lent and turn toward Easter and the Resurrection. In this vein, spring is a time, I believe, for books that uplift and encourage–lighter books, books that make me want to get outside and notice the beauty of God’s creation, books with hopeful messages, books that make me full-hearted and make me want to seek beauty and joy. This is a list of books for spring that does just that. I hope you’ll find a title or two here to explore or even revisit.
The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge – This was the first book I ever read by Elizabeth Goudge, and it remains my favorite. The main character leaves behind her busy London life for the country, which mystifies her city friends. In her new home, she finds new relationships, spiritual growth, and a wholeness she has never known before.
The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera – I read this book with a Lenten study group a few years ago and was captivated by its message of rebirth–or, as the title indicates, awakening. It left an indelible mark on my soul and stirred up my own desire to keep growing as a person, in my education, in my relationships with people and creation, and in my connection with God.
Kilmeny of the Orchard by L. M. Montgomery – This is a lesser-known Montgomery novella, a romance between two (to borrow from the Bard) star-crossed lovers, resulting in a miracle of joy. Love and fidelity win in this sweet story. A perfect spring read.
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter – Set in Indiana’s bygone Limberlost Swamp and in Michigan, this coming-of-age book is one my grandma read and loved and passed on to me when I was a teen. I’ve reread it many times. Porter was known for her writing on wildlife, but her novels are charming and capture both the spirit of the outdoors and the sweetness of an earlier time. This is one I can’t wait to share with my daughters.
Emma by Jane Austen – I think of Emma as the lightest and most tongue-in-cheek of Austen’s novels, and its lively characters and their foibles always seem like perfect the companions for spring.
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot – Spring seems incomplete without a mental trip to the Yorkshire Dales, and no stories have ever made me laugh more than James Herriot’s tales of his life as a young vet. Most notable is his account of the brakes going out on his elderly car on his way to a call. New life is a constant in Herriot’s stories, which seems fitting for spring reading.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver – This book was incredibly popular for a long time and still is, and for good reason. Kingsolver’s account of a year spent exploring what it looks like to be self-sustaining by cultivating one’s own food supply is fitting in spring, when green thumbs begin to itch and gardeners start seeds in preparation for the growing season. You may not want to follow in Kingsolver’s footsteps exactly, but her overall lesson is perhaps that we are all gardeners at heart and that cultivating life, or even just reading about it, is uplifting and satisfying to some part of the human soul.
Adventuring Together by Greta Eskridge – Written by a homeschooling mom, this is not a book on homeschooling, nor is it just for homeschoolers. Any parent can be inspired by Eskridge’s exhortation to spend time with our kids exploring the world around us. As the weather turns, I like to start thinking about how we will spend our free time during the warmer months, and this book is a source of both inspiration and encouragement to live an adventurous life in the out-of-doors.
Aggressively Happy by Joy Marie Clarkson – This is a newly released title that I literally just finished, and I found it so inspiring and encouraging that I had to include it here. Choosing happiness, especially on the heels of a pandemic (one which continues to threaten), is a challenging topic, and Clarkson digs into it well, sharing her own aggressive battle for happiness along with a plethora of suggestions for additional reading, listening, and observing. I loved this book, and coming out of winter was the perfect time for it.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – I would not automatically think of this as a spring read, but I’m reading it aloud to my daughters right now, and the adventures of Bilbo and the dwarves feel like just what we need in this season. Alternatively, if you’ve read The Fellowship of the Ring in autumn (see A Considered Booklist for Fall) and The Two Towers in winter, spring and Lent/Easter are the perfect time to wrap up The Lord of the Rings with a reading of The Return of the King, closing out the series as we near the time of “sun on the daisies” that always comes again.
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis – You may think of this as a children’s book, but Eastertide feels to me like the perfect time at any age to read about the Pevensies’ journey “further up and further in” to Aslan’s Country. It never fails to stir me to renewed devotion and hope in Christ.
Happy spring reading, friends! May your daffodils be abundant and your book stack be ample!
