Floral-esque Book Recommendations for the Spring

An ode to spring & a few books I adore.

After getting home from grocery shopping for hours with my grandmother, I started the slow process of meal-making. It was around 6:30 and the sun had recently went to bed. A few birds were still awake, singing a sleepy song and I was chopping a small range of vegetables: tomatoes, mushroom, garlic, onion.

A pot of salted water was boiling mushroom Tortellini as I seared the vegetables in a separate skillet that I doused with olive oil. I was making a vegetable pasta sauce and garlic bread.

My strawberries and pots of flowers were sprouting in my garden and around my house. Yesterday we found out that a few birds had made a home on the top of our chimney. As the car pulled into the driveway, a tiny bird’s head poked out of the chimney and chirped.

I learned recently that it’s “theorized” that the songs of birds promote plant growth. The mystery of nature truly blows my mind every time I learn something new. I spent all night thinking about the fact that because birds talk to each other, flowers bloom.

My heart has been longing for spring and the possibilities of new adventures and new growth. Here’s my contribution to your reading list. These are books that I believe capture the giddy hopefulness that Spring brings along.

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Contemporary Romance & Fiction

If you’re the type of person that hates on the Romance genre, stop. And get into the content! The genre has so much to offer.

Historical fiction, romance, and magical realism are woven into one story and it was beautifully done. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde takes place in Harlem, New York and is predominantly following a florist named Ricki and a musical prodigy named Ezra. When Ricki meets a woman named Ms. Della, she is invited to come set up a flower shop in the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone. There she starts to consistently run into the mysterious, handsome enigma that is Ezra.

“To me, love is like listening to an album. Some people skip to their favorite songs and ignore the rest. Other people listen to the entire album over and over, until it’s familiar and cherished and they know every note by heart. That’s how [he] and I loved each other. He was music I could listen to forever.” (Williams, 15)

With the gorgeous background of Harlem along with the history of the Harlem Renaissance, a swoon-worthy romance, and two characters whom are chasing their dreams, it is safe to say that I fell head-over-heels in love with this book. I was extremely entertained throughout the entirety of this book because Williams does a fantastic job bringing everything full-circle, revealing truths, and fully developing both main characters.

Don’t get me started on the romance. This book and these characters had that old-soul, soulmates-type-of-love. Their banter was so cute and hilarious, both characters were so witty, and their ways of showing love were adorable.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde will definitely be one of my favorite books of the year and one of my favorite books of all time. Beautiful.

In every single book recommendation letter, I find a way to recommend Garden Spells. Simply because it’s one of my favorite books of all time. At some point very soon I will publish a full review on this book.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen follows the mundane, whimsical life of a woman named Claire Waverly. She lives in a Queen Anne cottage, has a generations-old enchanted apple tree, and a magical garden. Within this small town, she is known as the recluse, but she is also the neighborhood caterer. Claire has grown very fond of and comfortable with her simple life. However, her somewhat chaotic sister (Sydney) comes back in town with a daughter in hand, escaping an abusive relationship. As well, a new neighbor (Tyler) moves in and he is her age and extremely interested in her.

I cannot put words to how this book made me feel. I deeply resonate with Claire: her lifestyle, interests, habits, and fears. This book was a book that I read in a day because even though it feels like nothing is happening, I couldn’t stop reading! Garden Spells has the most beautiful spring/summer setting and descriptions. I highly recommend this book especially to my fellow softhearted gardeners.

This is one of the most underrated romance books that I’ve ever read. A Sweet Lowcountry Proposal is a second chance romance that follows Marcus, whom works at the local Black history museum and Jaslene, a wedding planner. They were about to get married but after the death of her sister, Jaslene calls off the wedding. It has been quite some time since they’ve seen each other and now Jaslene has been hired to plan and set up a wedding at the museum. Of course, that means working in close proximity with Marcus.

Even though they haven’t seen each other in some time, sparks still fly. The chemistry and the love is still there.

It is just such a sappy and cute romance novel. I stumbled upon this book while browsing the library’s app: Libby and I read it in a night.

Fantasy

The Hobbit is about a recluse named Bilbo Baggins who gets a visit from a wizard named Gandalf and is invited on an adventure to a dragon’s cave. That dragon being Smaug the Magnificent.

There’s singing, voyaging, and tons of hobbit-ing. Bilbo Baggins is such a unique main character because he is extremely shy and not at all the “ideal” main character for a fantasy novel. Though it’s a classic, it’s a very easy and humorous read. It’s also pretty short and extremely charming.

Nonfiction & Memoirs

Animal Allies is a Young Adult Nonfiction about 15 different women trailblazing in wildlife research. Each woman has a different animal interest or interest in nature. The book is written in essay/short story format which makes the information so much more accessible. Each essay/story is a woman’s job. Some of the women work with insects, some with penguins, others with birds and mammals.

It doesn’t matter what age you are, you will enjoy this book. Especially if you’re new to nonfiction. I read this book about a year ago and I rarely have the opportunity to recommend it.

Of Time and Turtles is one of my current reads. To be quite honest, books surrounding nature tend to be what I reach for the most often.

Sy Montgomery is a woman that works with people that help and heal injured or sick turtles and repair shells. Within the story she is also discussing her personal experiences with what was the years of 2019-2023 amid COVID, racial unjust, and so much more. Montgomery talks alot about what dealing with such slow-moving creatures feels like when you’re in a society that perpetrates hustle-culture everyday as well as when life gets interrupted and the concept of time is misconstrued.

This book is written in such an addictive way. There is so many facts about the life of turtles (one of my favorite animals), photos and illustrations of different types of turtles, and quotes about time and slowness. I am enjoying this book so much so far.

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A few books I’m planning to pick up this spring are Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer, The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi, The Waves by Virginia Woolf, Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka, and Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.

I’d love to know what you’re excited to read this season.

Happy reading and happy spring,

Yulani S.