A Springtime Reading List

A Note from the Editors: At The Attic we are always sensitive to the world around us, and while we can’t solve the current crisis, we hope to remain a source of calm and comforting escape for our readers. Our content may be less frequent at the moment, but will remain more or less the same in coverage and style. Our submissions will remain open for anyone wishing to take part.

Photo by C.K. Dawson.

When the hills turn green and the blue jays are once again fluttering from tree to tree, our thoughts turn to Spring. Spring! Spring reading is blankets on verdant lawns, friendly bees investigating the colorful cover of your book, juice from the first fruits of the season dribbling on the page. It’s taking a book down to the bench by the river or creek, staying there all afternoon warming in the sun, shivering at each breeze and relishing the sound of the water. It’s curling up by a window with a blanket on those occasional rainy, green days, the lushness of which are such a contrast to the wet gray of winter. Whether your spring is warm or cold this year, here are ten titles to keep you feeling light, bright, and floral inside. 

The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart

A young English girl working at the Embassy in Athens takes a holiday to a Greek isle. On an impulsive solitary hike, she stumbles into intrigue among the wildflowers. All of Mary Stewart’s novels expertly blend suspense and beauty: they are full of pastoral, descriptive prose and allusions to Shakespeare and ancient myths. Her heroines are delightful, at once refined as well as courageous. The Moonspinners is one of her finest: adventuresome, thrilling, and sweet in all the right places. 

Circe by Madeline Miller

If you’re in the mood for literary fiction that pulls you along at a relatively quick pace, check out this first-hand account of the Greek myths from Circe’s perspective. Get the dish on the gods, the mortals, and Odysseus in the witch’s own words. This novel is deliciously rich in scenic description, and every sentence has been crafted to perfection. An absolute pleasure to read. It is also set on a Greek island, obviously. 

A Few Figs from Thistles by Edna St. Vincent Millay

This poetry collection just feels like green grass, damp moss, and bright sunny days. Poems The Singing Woman from the Wood’s Edge, and Recurdo in particular, teem with imagery delighting in the earth’s provisions. 

Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

This classic begins with a sexual awakening described as a “blossoming pear tree kissed by bees in spring.” Hurston’s stunning tale contains difficult subject matter, such as race, class, and assault, but the language is a masterclass in metaphor, and imagery, making this an ideal selection for a heavier Spring read.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Short Stories

Fitzgerald’s wrote great novels, sure, but despite their greatness, they’re also tragic. However, his short stories are pure fun. A Diamond as Big as the Ritz, the Offshore Pirate, and Bernice Bobs Her Hair are some of my favorites. 

The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart

Reading about plants and flowers just feels right in spring. Reading about plants and flowers and how they can get you sauced is even better.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Wilde’s most famous play is the embodiment of the season, overflowing with wit, gaiety, and mischief. The film adaptation starring Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon and Frances O’Connor has all the spring aesthetics to boot. 

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt

Well-known for being the best non-fiction novel since In Cold Blood, Berendt describes the endless eccentricities of the residents of Savannah, Georgia, alongside a sensationalist tale of murder and supernatural retribution. You’ll have a hard time believing this is a true story –  the characters, language, and plot are that interesting. 

My Life in France by Julia Child

If you’re in the mood for an easy read, I cannot recommend Julia Child’s memoir enough. It’s light but substantive, detailing the French lifestyle of which we’ve all dreamed, whilst recounting her rather impressive transformation from diplomat’s wife to famous cook.  Each chapter overflows with charm and nostalgia, as well as delightful food descriptions and accounts of the beauty of Paris and the French countryside.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

What else to continue your childhood re-reads after Little Women? There’s no better balm for a winter-weary soul than a tale of the transformative power of nature and beauty. Like the protagonist orphan Mary, you’ll discover hidden depths, only yours will be in the rich prose and insightful accounts of human nature. 

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C.K. Dawson is a poet and writer with her MFA from Seattle Pacific University. Her work has appeared in Verily Magazine, Poetry International, Breakwater Review and Ruminate Magazine. She has a deep fondness for literary-themed cocktails and walls of classical art in gilded frames. She lives with her husband and daughter in the hills just outside Los Angeles.