Best Books to Read in Spring

Book Summary

Georgia May Jackson has always had one goal – to run her own Paris restaurant. After a decade of work in Parisian kitchens, everything comes crashing down. She loses her sous-chef position, her boyfriend, and even her sense of taste all in one night. She’s always been known for her daring use of bold flavors, so she’s devastated to discover that everything suddenly tastes bitter to her.

With her culinary gift seemingly vanished, Georgia accepts a surprise invitation from her estranged mother and goes to visit her on San Juan Island near Seattle. She hopes that the time away from Paris will allow her to regain her spark in the kitchen, but she’s surprised to find good luck charms appearing in the oddest places.

With the clock ticking on her dream job in Paris, Georgia will first need to unravel the secrets of her family legacy. And she might just discover that the recipe for a charmed life looks – and tastes – differently than she expected.

Book Summary

Leigh is the last person in her family line, and she knows this because she witnessed the death of everyone else. And when the transport bus to prison that she’s on crashes, she again witnesses the death of everyone but herself. The only option she sees is to do what she’s always done. She must find a way to survive.

As she searches for a safe place to hide, Leigh finds a flower farm, tucked away from the rest of the world. The owners have built it from the wreckage of their own lives, creating a peaceful found family. As she begins to heal and find redemption on the farm, she’s still at risk of her past catching up to her.

Book Summary

Georgie has been a personal assistant for a long time, which means everyone else’s needs have been prioritized over her own for years. However, when she has to leave LA and return to her hometown, she must confront the fact that she’s never actually been sure about her own needs or what she wants in life. 

When she comes across a diary she wrote as a teenager, she discovers that the ideas within it can be used as a guidebook to create a new version of adult Georgie. But this plan hits a snag when she runs into an unexpected roommate. Levi was once the small town’s troublemaker, but now he’s a grouchy hermit. Grouchiness aside, he begins to help Georgie with her journey, and if the duo can get past their past, maybe Georgie’s true desire can be found right beside her.

Book Summary

After the death of her husband a year ago, Emma feels no closer to moving forward with her life. In need of a distraction, she quits her job and begins working for a local garden center, but this just allows her to be a wallflower hiding among the blooms.

When a colleague invites her to a talk about the Titanic, she suddenly becomes interested in learning more about the stewardess who arranged all the flowers aboard the ship.

As Emma begins researching the lost story of the girl being the Titanic’s flowers, she realizes that flowers may also be the key to unlocking long-buried secrets in her own life, as well.

Book Summary

This collection brings together more than ten spring-themed short mystery stories from master storyteller Agatha Christie.

This collection includes: The Market Basing Mystery, The Case of the Missing Lady, The Herb of Death, How Does Your Garden Grow?, Swan Song, Miss Marple Tells a Story, Have You Got Everything You Want?, The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan, Ingots of Gold, The Soul of the Croupier, The Girl in the Train, and Greenshaw’s Folly.

Book Summary

Even as a child in 1910, Sara recognized that she was a gifted Jewish matchmaker and a seeker of soulmates. But on New York’s Lower East Side, this profession is dominated by devout older men who see a talented woman as a threat to their traditions and livelihood.

Two generations later, Abby is a successful Manhattan divorce attorney with some of the city’s wealthiest clients. When her beloved Grandma Sara dies, Abby inherits her collection of handwritten journals in which Sara recorded details of her matches. The pages seem to provide Abby with more questions than answers – including why the work she once found so compelling suddenly feels inconsequential and flawed.

Book Summary

Paige was widowed two years ago and still isn’t quite back to “normal.” Now, her trusted boss of 22 years is also gone, and his son has taken over. He’s radically changing everything at the advertising firm, including an announcement that he’s getting rid of 2 employees at the end of the summer.

Paige is trying to hold on to her job and sanity for her teenage son’s sake, but her formerly perfect house and yard are both a mess. 

As she tries to escape her new work problems on her back porch over a glass of wine, her nosy neighbor lectures her about the dandelions in her yard. In frustration, she pours another glass of wine and begins yanking out the dandelions one by one…and it feels GOOD. Before long, she was looking for a shovel for more yard therapy. 

Paige creates a bigger and bigger hole in her yard, much to the chagrin of her fancy suburban neighbors. But it’s helping her cope with the ongoing craziness at work and her lingering grief. Despite her inexperience in gardening and pushy neighbors, she finally begins to feel fully alive again.

Book Summary

After a teenage heartbreak, Beth marries a kind, gentle farmer named Frank, and they build a beautiful life together. Years later, Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog that is attacking sheep on the farm, and then they learn that the dog belonged to Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager, who has just returned to town. From that moment forward, nothing will ever be the same again.

Gabriel, now a famous author, has returned to his hometown with his young son. The child reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s orbit, the past is no longer in the past. Secrets and jealousies resurface, and tensions rise throughout the village. Beth will have to decide between the life she has and the life she once wanted.

Book Summary

Publicist Kate Sinclair had the perfect, glamorous life in London until her once charming boyfriend went behind her back to steal the promotion she’d been working for. Needing to escape, she trades in the office for a break in beautiful Copenhagen. As she discovers how to slow down and live life “the Danish way,” the city offers her a new perspective… one that might involve a tall, gorgeous Viking.

Book Summary

Young widow Lili is three years past the car accident that unexpectedly made her a single mom of two small children.

She works as an illustrator and has been chosen to create the drawings for a prestigious boutique vegetable guide. But that means she’s also been assigned to attend a 6-week vegetable gardening class for some real-world veggie experiences. Despite convincing her kids and sister to join her in the class, she’s still not overjoyed with this required course. However, one patient instructor and a cast of quirky classmates later, she’ll realize the class isn’t so bad. 

Book Summary

Victoria Jones spent her childhood bouncing around between no fewer than 32 foster homes, but in one of them, she met a woman named Elizabeth who instilled in her a love of flowers and their meanings.

At age 9, Victoria wanted nothing more than to be adopted by Elizabeth, but something went terribly wrong. Nine years later, having aged out of the foster care system at age 18, Victoria finds herself homeless on the streets of San Francisco.

While Victoria is unable to get close to anyone, she finds that she can communicate through flowers, which allows her to get a job working for a florist named Renata. When Victoria meets a flower farmer named Grant, her past and present begin to collide and she is forced to confront some painful secrets for a second chance at happiness.

Book Summary

It all began with a magazine article she read in the dentist’s office. Lou Winter starts decluttering, and soon she’s clearing out all the things! When she orders dumpsters (called a “skips” in England), her friends and family start to get concerned. Her husband starts to wonder why she’s clearing out cupboards rather than making his breakfast. And Lou wonders why she didn’t do this sooner.

The more she lets go of, the closer she comes to dealing with the issues that plague her. The room lovingly prepared for a baby that never arrived. The hole left by her best friend. The wound inflicted by her husband’s affair three years ago.

But as she continues to purge, even Tom Broom, the man who delivers her skips, starts to get worried about his best customer.

Book Summary

“We sat in silence, letting the green in the air heal what it could.”

There’s nothing better than stepping outside and discovering that finally, after a long winter, spring is in the air! Perhaps more than any other season, when we think of spring, we think of all the wonderful scents that come along with it – from rain and dew to flower blossoms and fresh-cut grass. And that’s why The Scent Keeper makes our list of the best books to read in the springtime.

This is a moving coming-of-age novel about how fragrances connect us to our memories and help us share our lives. Emmeline grows up on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the world through her sense of smell. Throughout her enchanted childhood, the one thing her father won’t explain, however, are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them.

As Emmeline gets older, her curiosity gets the better of her and she finds herself vaulted out into the real world, with all its ups and downs – love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge.

Book Summary

Kimi is a high school student who aspires to attend art school. Her mother is a well-known painter who wants Kimi to follow in her fine art footsteps, but Kimi has become much more drawn to fashion design – a field that her mother strongly disapproves of.

After an explosive fight with her mom, Kimi receives a letter from her estranged Japanese grandparents inviting her to visit them in Kyoto for spring break. Even though she’s never met them, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to escape her troubles at home.

When she arrives in Japan, the cultural customs and language and completely familiar to her – as are her grandparents. Soon she discovers that inspiration is everywhere – from Kyoto’s outdoor markets, art installations, and the cherry blossom festival. She meets a young man named Akira – an aspiring med student – who helps to show her even more of the city.

As the week goes on, Kimi gets to know her grandparents and learns so much more about her mother back in America, herself, and her art.

Book Summary

Kate moves from her hectic London life to a cottage on Nightingale Square to escape her almost-ex husband and start fresh. However, as soon as she arrives, she realizes that the village is not quite as quiet as she thought. 

Her neighbors take neighborliness to the next level, and before she knows what has happened, she’s assigned the job of convincing the local council to turn the Square’s green space into a community vegetable garden. But that’s not their only problem with the council. The historic manor at the end of the square is at risk. 

Will Kate and her new quirky neighbors be able to save the mansion?

Book Summary

For twenty years, Liv has run a successful NYC wedding-planning business with her husband, Eliot. When he dies unexpectedly, Liv is shocked to learn that he’s left his half of the business to his young girlfriend, whom Liv knew nothing about. Much to Liv’s chagrin, perky Savannah shows up on her doorstep, eager to be her partner and protege.

As Liv and Savannah struggle to find a way to work together, they each find new love in unexpected places. In addition to Liv and Savannah, we are introduced to many of the wedding vendors that they work with – the florists, caterers, servers, and musicians. In a Love Actually-style narrative, this book follows each of them as they navigate love and friendship, and we see their lives overlap at weddings throughout the city.

Book Summary

We found this highly-rated YA book for spring that tells the full story of fear and devastation, along with hope, love, and survival. The main character is 17-year-old Jersey, who has a pretty normal life and family in Missouri, including her mom, step-dad, and a baby sister. She’s not worried when she learns of a tornado warning; they happen a few times a year, but nothing ever happens. 

But this time is different. The town is leveled, and lives are lost, including her mother. Daily life is rough when she has to move in with her grandparents and father, who abandoned her. The book shows not only the original tragedy of the tornado but the ripple effects that often happen with natural disasters. Reviewers commonly call this short book both amazing and heartbreaking, so grab some tissues.

Book Summary

The social season emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries. The British aristocracy would leave their country estates for the spring and summer months for a series of balls, receptions, and other social events. The season culminated with debutantes – the daughters of the upper class – being presented to the King and Queen in London.

Last Dance of the Debutante is a historical fiction read that takes us back to 1958. When it’s announced that this will be the last year that debutantes will be presented to the royal court, thousands of eager parents flood the palace with letters seeking the coveted invitation for their daughters to curtsy before young Queen Elizabeth as they come out into society. 

The story follows three different young women – Lily, an aspiring university student who agrees to be a debutante to appease her traditional mother; Leana, whose apparent perfection hides a darker side; and ambitious Katherine who dreams of a career but is willing to help her parents find a place among the elite. But the season takes an unexpected turn when Lily learns a devastating secret that could destroy her entire family.

Book Summary

Annajane thinks she has totally moved on. Afterall, she’s engaged to a great new guy. In fact, she’s so over Mason that she has no problem attending his wedding. But when Mason’s wedding is called off as the bride is walking down the aisle, Annajane can’t help but wonder if everything happens for a reason.

And her unexpected feelings aren’t the only secret in this small town. 

Book Summary

The year is 1925, and Lord Edgington of Cranley Hall, England, has planned a grand ball to celebrate his 75th birthday. There will be a little music, a little dancing, and – as it turns out – a little murder. 

Lord Edgington, a retired Scotland Yard inspector, enlists the help of his teenage grandson to help him find the killer before any other family members turn up dead.

Book Summary

Julian is an eccentric artist in his 70s who is frustrated that more people aren’t honest with each other. He shares his feelings in a notebook and leaves it in a cafe. The owner, Monica, adds her thoughts and leaves the notebook across the street at a wine bar. As former strangers find the notebook and share their authentic selves, they begin to learn that instead of being scary, being yourself brings happiness.

Book Summary

Ari loves her job as a TV meteorologist, and she’s eager to learn from her boss Torrance, Seattle’s famed weatherwoman. But Torrance’s ex-husband, Seth, is also the station’s news director, so she’s too wrapped up in her own relationship drama to provide mentorship to Ari.

After a particularly disastrous office party, Ari commiserates with sports reporter Russell. Together, they hatch a plan to get their bosses back together to calm the office storms. Their scheming leads to unforecasted results when it turns out that they are the ones with the real chemistry. Despite their connection, both are skeptical about starting a relationship – Ari is struggling with her mental health, and Russell’s heart belongs to his tween daughter, and he’s not sure he’s ready to share it with anyone else.

Book Summary

Dellarobia had dreams of college, but she gave that up to marry Cub when she accidentally got pregnant at 17. After a difficult decade in an unhappy marriage on their failing Tennessee farm, she begins flirting with a younger man. One day, while hiking up a rural mountain road in Appalachia to meet this man, she spots what appears to be a lake of fire in the forested valley below. She soon learns that what she saw are actually millions of Monarch butterflies covering the trees. But why are these butterflies so far off course from their normal winter home in Mexico? Soon, scientists, religious leaders, tourists, and the media descend on the town, each offering their own explanations.

Book Summary

Each week, Conor O’Shea leads American tourists on a high-end tour of “The Real Ireland.” He’s a seasoned guide, but his most recent tour group is filled with a colorful cast of unintentionally hilarious characters that manage to leave him speechless for the first time in his life. As the tour continues, you won’t be able to help but fall in love with these tourists, as well as the locals they meet along the way.