Inspire Great Reading for Spring 2021

Ah, spring...A season of blooming flowers, spring cleaning, end-of-school festivities, picnics, and enjoying the warm weather. While soaking up the sun, it's fun to read a new book. This year, you might have more time to read books, and reading can be a perfect distraction from stress. 

Just like I always do with each season, I have five new book recommendations for the spring season. These books are entertaining, powerful, and insightful. There's a book for everyone and I hope you enjoy these new reading suggestions. It's time to sit outdoors with a good book, drink lemonade, and welcome the chirping birds that have returned from a long winter season. It's spring and these books have been worth the wait. 

1. "The Dictionary of Lost Words" - Pip Williams 

Pip Williams' The Dictionary of Lost Words (photo/Cristina Sanders' blog).

If you love words and dictionaries, you will love Pip Williams' debut novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, out now. The novel centers on Esme, the daughter of a male scholar. She has grown up with a love for language and words. She helps her father and his friends compile words for the Oxford English Dictionary. 

One day, she finds a slip of paper containing words relating to women and common people, like "bondmaid." She rescues these words and decides to create her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do this, she must leave her sheltered world and meet people whose words will help fill the pages. What does she learn? What does she read between the lines written by men who wanted to remove women from language? 

Set during the height of the women's suffrage movement, Williams' novel is lyrical, thought-provoking, and a delightful celebration of words and the power of language. How do words shape the world we live in? If we remove a group of words, how does this change our perspective? 

2. "Love in Color: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold" - Bolu Babalola 

Bolu Babalola's collection, Love in Color (photo/Amazon.com).

Bolu Babalola's debut collection, Love in Color: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold, is a short story collection retelling love stories from African and Asian mythologies, as well as fairy tales that have been left out of the romance narrative throughout history. The stories have a present-day Carrie Bradshaw voice that works to decolonize tropes of love in literature. 

Babalola has provided unique details of these stories, giving them a new audience in one of the most widely-anticipated books of the year. The author has created captivating stories that add a modern voice and perspective to these classic love stories. The collection (now available) is a celebration of romance in its many forms. 

3. "The Things We Leave Unfinished" - Rebecca Yarros 

Rebecca Yarros' The Things We Leave Unfinished (photo/Amazon.com).

In Rebecca Yarros' newest novel, The Things We Leave Unfinished (out now), 28-year-old Georgia Stanton has one mission in life: To finish her late great-grandmother's final story the way she would have wanted. Her great-grandmother Scarlett deserves a proper finish to her literary career, so Georgia leaves New York City after her brutal divorce (including all of her devoted friends) to stay at Scarlett's Colorado estate. 

That's where she meets Noah Harrison, the bestselling author of books where the cover is always two people nearly kissing. Think Nicholas Sparks. As soon as she meets him, Georgia can't stand his arrogant, cocky attitude. With book and movie deals galore, he knows he's a good writer and her great-grandmother's publishers want Noah to finish writing Scarlett's last novel. 

Nope. No way. Not to Georgia. Noah is not the perfect person to write her great-grandmother's story. She can't trust him--the "golden boy" of modern fiction. However, Noah isn't ready to walk away from his best project yet. He has always been a huge fan of Scarlett's writing and he refuses to let Georgia chase him away. He has to write this book and there's nothing Georgia can do. 

As they begin to read Scarlett's words in her last manuscript and box of letters, they learn why she never finished the book--because it's based on her real-life romance with a World War II pilot. It doesn't have a happy ending and she couldn't finish writing it. As Georgia and Noah work together, their chemistry is undeniable. However, Georgia wants to protect her heart. She's determined to learn from her great-grandmother's mistakes--even if it means destroying Noah's career. 

Yarros' novel is engrossing, romantic, and timeless. It will break your heart and put it back together again. What more could you want in a romance story?

4. "We Begin at the End" - Chris Whitaker 

Chris Whitaker's We Begin at the End (photo/Amazon.com).

No one ever really does the "right" or "wrong" thing. Life is always somewhere in between. That's the premise of Chris Whitaker's latest thriller, We Begin at the End (out now). Already receiving buzz as one of the best books of 2021, the story centers around Duchess Day Radley, a 13-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. To her, she doesn't have to follow rules. She protects her five-year-old brother, Robin, and she often parents her own mother, Star, a single mother who is incapable of taking care of herself or her children. Duchess Day must do everything. 

The town's chief of police, Walk, grew up with Star and he feels protective of her children. He still feels guilty for testifying against his best friend, Vincent, who was convicted of killing a young girl 30 years ago. Here's the plot twist: The girl was Star's sister. Do you understand why Star is a fragile woman? 

Now, Vincent is released from prison and Walk is hesitant about his interactions with Duchess Day and her family. Has Vincent changed? How does Duchess Day feel about this? She has had to grow up faster than most girls her age, much like Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. She's exposed to the harsh reality of drugs, poverty, murder, and prison. 

But, does she still see the good in Vincent? In this vibrant, gripping novel (which has already sold television rights), Whitaker explores the idea of "right" and "wrong," and if people can truly change from their past mistakes. You will fall in love with young Duchess Day, who will stay with you long after you finish reading the book. She's just that unforgettable. 

5. "Great Circle" - Maggie Shipstead 

Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle (photo/Amazon.com).

Do you love aviation? Well, good news. You will love Maggie Shipstead's new novel, Great Circle. First set in the Prohibition era, Marian Graves fell in love with aviation at a young age. At 14, she dropped out of school to take flying lessons. This was her dream. She was born to fly. So, when she's on a quest to fly over the North and South Poles, she takes the risk. 

Unfortunately, she went missing. Historians believe she disappeared in Antarctica. Much like Amelia Earhart's story, her disappearance remains a mystery. 

Now, a century later, Hadley Baxter is cast to play Marian in a biography film focusing on the aviator's disappearance. Hadley is ready to redefine herself as a dramatic, serious actress after spending years in the romantic film franchise. This is her big break and perhaps she'll even win an Academy Award. She immerses herself in Marian's biography. 

As she learns more about the woman, Hadley realizes they were more alike than she thought. Their two worlds collide. Shipstead's novel is a work of art about a daredevil female aviator and a determined actress who have an epic, emotional bondage through time. It's a breathtaking story, available on May 4.

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Reading is so important, especially now. It's a distraction from everything going on in the world, but books are also a reminder of the cultural, social issues we are facing. They provide new perspectives, imaginations, life lessons, etc., about the subjects we encounter. 

Relax this spring with a new book. You won't be sorry. 

-KJL-