Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Fever Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme created by The Broke and the Bookish blog, and now hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is: Spring Fever Reads

I don’t know about you all, but I am starting to come down with a major case of spring fever. I can’t decide if I want to indulge this feeling, or to try to keep it at bay a little while longer. However, these early symptoms got me thinking about some of my favorite books that scream spring.

 

The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden really is a quintessential spring read. This magical children’s classic with its themes of renewal, compassion, and hope is like a breath of fresh air. It’s the perfect way to usher in the season.

 

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

I have very fond memories of reading this cheerful novel a few Aprils ago. The Enchanted April tells the story of four ladies who escape rainy London for a stay in sunny Italy. A word of warning though, it will give you a major case of wanderlust.

 

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

Speaking of wanting to spend springtime in Italy, A Room with a View is another great antidote to last gasps of winter. Forster’s novel is funny, romantic, and full of sharp social commentary. It’s a luminous and uplifting read that will have you longing for your own field of violets.

 

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

I tend to crave modern classics set in the English countryside (even more than I normally do) during this time of the year, and Stella Gibbons’ pastoral satire is the perfect solution.  Cold Comfort Farm is utterly hilarious and full of unforgettable, quirky characters. I can’t get enough of the Starkadders and Flora Poste’s quest to transform their lives for the better.

 

The China Garden by Liz Berry

This mysterious young adult novel is actually set during an English summer, but there was a period of time as a teen in which I re-read it every spring. The China Garden features a country estate, first love, family secrets, forgotten gardens, and a touch of fantasy. A sentimental spring favorite for sure.

 

 

The Novels of Kate Morton 

I’d enjoy escaping with one of Kate Morton’s dual timeline novels at any point in the year, but there is something about them that is especially enticing during the spring. The blend of mystery, romance, descriptive settings and historical details make for engrossing reading that is made even better in lovely, warm weather.

 

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield

A light, optimistic, and laugh-out-loud funny epistolary novel, The Diary of a Provincial Lady is an instant mood lifter. The running joke about the flower bulbs always reminds me of spring as well.

 

Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell

Angela Thirkell’s witty Wild Strawberries is best appreciated on a warm, late spring day with a bowl of ripe strawberries on hand. It’s a delightful read full of endearing characters, romantic entanglements, and farcical hijinks.

 

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

Perhaps it’s the bright pink cover on my edition that makes me equate Wives and Daughters with spring; or perhaps it’s the focus on English village life, the natural world, and/or love and courtship. Whatever the reason, Gaskell’s final novel is very much a spring read in my mind. I also try to re-watch the BBC miniseries around this time each year.

 

The Montmaray Journals by Michelle Cooper

Instead of adding one of my favorite spring reads, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, to yet another of my Top Ten Tuesday lists, I wanted to add a series with a similar feel. The Montmaray Journals is a trilogy of YA books that focus on the lives of an eccentric family of young, penniless royals who inhabit an island kingdom on the eve of WWII. I devoured all three novels a few springs ago and loved the time I spent with the FitzOsborne clan. I will say that the first book, A Brief History of Montmaray is the most reminiscent of ICTC, but is also the weakest of the three in my opinion.

 

What books remind you of spring? 

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