Spring Book Recommendations

Carolyn Marie Wellstead
Mar 25
12 min read

Updated: Apr 3

Reading books which perfectly suit the current season you're in makes each story, and your time spent in its pages, feel extra special and immersive. It is for this exact reason why I love reading seasonally. If you're like me, then I hope you find this list helpful and inspiring!

(These titles are in no particular order)

Classic Literature:

1. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle at Misselthwaite Manor on England’s Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets the strict housekeeper, a kind-hearted lady's maid and her brother, a dour gardener, a friendly robin, and someone she doesn't expect.

With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, things at the Manor begin to change, brighten, and bloom.

2. Light: A Day in Monet’s Garden by Eva Figes

Light takes place on a single day and begins before the sun rises. Claude Monet awakens early and walks out into his lush garden to paint the pre-dawn light of Giverny.

As the sun moves through the sky, the reader moves along with it.

Although Claude Monet—like the sun itself—is the center of the story’s universe, we also hear the thoughts and feelings of the family, friends, and household staff who orbit around him. Each of them perceive Claude Monet, his artwork, their connection to him, and their place in “the household universe” differently.

The story closes as the day closes, with the setting of the sun and the disappearance of light.

3. Flower Fairies of the Spring by Cicely Mary Barker

Since the publication of Cicely Mary Barker's first book in 1923, the Flower Fairies have been ethereal companions to readers around the world. Her charming poetry and delicate illustrations have sparked the imaginations of children and adults for over ninety years and continue to inspire a life-long love for fairies, flowers, and all things magical.

This collection will make you peek under leaves, look inside bushes, and gaze up into trees, all in an effort to see if the flower fairies truly live among us.

4. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

This splendid story has captured the hearts of readers for generations, making everyone who steps inside of its pages feel at home at Green Gables.

Anne Shirley, an eleven-year-old orphan, has arrived in this verdant corner of Prince Edward Island only to discover that the Cuthberts—shy, caring Matthew and his stern sister, Marilla—want to adopt a boy, not a feisty redheaded girl. But Anne, who simply must have more scope for her imagination and a real home, tries to win them over. Will they send her back, or will she become Anne of Green Gables?

A much-loved classic that explores all the vulnerability, expectations, and dreams of a child growing up, Anne of Green Gables is also a wonderful portrait of a time, a place, a family… and, most of all, love.

5. Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

When her family begins to struggle financially, Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess in order to contribute to her family's income and assert her independence. But Agnes’s enthusiasm is swiftly extinguished when she discovers the brutal truth about her low position in the households she works in and in upperclass society itself.

Drawing on her own experience, Anne Brontë’s first novel offers a compelling personal perspective on the desperate position of unmarried, educated women for whom becoming a governess was the only respectable career open in Victorian society.

Through her stunning writing and captivating natural imagery, Anne Brontë shows the reader the power and importance of equality, kindness, and love.

6. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden

In 1906, Edith Holden recorded in words, ink, and paint the flora and fauna of the British countryside through the changing seasons. For 70 years, her enchanting journal lay undiscovered–until 1977, when it was first published with great success.

Inside her diary, you will have the pleasure of reading and seeing Holden's carefully handwritten favorite poems, her personal reflections, and her observations of the wildlife which surrounded her.

Her exquisitely rendered paintings, executed with a naturalist's eye for detail and an artist's sensitivity and skill, capture birds perched on branches, their mouths open in song; a tiny shrew mouse, sniffing the air; delicate butterflies and slithering snakes; fluttering leaves; and an array of flowers, from pink foxgloves and trailing roses to yellow water lilies. Each beautiful illustration reflects her deep love of nature.

7. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.

E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that continues to be cherished by generations of readers.

This story will melt your heart, brighten your days, and give you a greater appreciation for the creatures that live among us.

8. Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Heidi is a young orphan who is sent to live high in the Alps with her gruff grandfather. Soon after Heidi's arrival, her innocence and warmth melt her grandfather's icy exterior. Heidi thrives in the vast landscape which surrounds her, and treasures her friendship with Peter the goatherd and his blind grandmother.

But her life is changed once more when Heidi's Aunt takes her away to be a companion to Clara Sesmann, a wealthy invalid girl in Frankfurt, Germany. Heidi feels trapped in the city and misses the mountains terribly, but she finds comfort in her friendship with Clara.

Will Heidi return to the Alps and the grandfather she loves so dearly, or will she remain in Frankfurt forever?

9. Brambly Hedge: Spring Story by Jill Barklem

The mice of Brambly Hedge are in high spirits! Fair weather and blossoms along the hedgerow have coaxed the mice out of their snug tree-stump homes, and they're eager for sunny day adventures, with old friends and new.

In Spring Story, Mr. Apple takes advantage of an idyllic spring day to plan a surprise birthday party for a cranky little mouse who fears he's been forgotten.

Jill Barklem's stunning illustrations will enchant all who gaze upon them.

10. Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park

by Jane Austen

Of Jane Austen's six complete novels, these four (in my humble opinion) capture the beauty, excitement, joy, and romance of Spring. Each story not only celebrates the love between the characters but also the love the characters have for nature.

"What are men to rocks and mountains?" Mary Bennet asks in Pride and Prejudice.

"It was hot;" the narrator of Emma describes, "and after walking some time over the gardens in a scattered, dispersed way, scarcely three together, they insensibly followed one another to the delicious shade of a broad short avenue of limes, which stretching beyond the garden at an equal distance from the river, seemed the finish of the pleasure grounds."

"I have always preferred wild flowers," Marianne tells a potential suitor in Sense and Sensibility.

"I am so glad to see the evergreens thrive!" says Fanny in Mansfield Park. "My uncle’s gardener always says the soil here is better than his own, and so it appears from the growth of the laurels and evergreens in general. – The evergreen! – How beautiful, how welcome, how wonderful the evergreen! – When one thinks of it, how astonishing the variety of nature!"

11. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

Lucy Honeychurch has her rigid, middle-class life mapped out for her, until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance. Her eyes are opened by the beautiful Italian landscape and the unconventional characters she meets at the Pension Bertolini: flamboyant romantic novelist Eleanor Lavish, the Cockney Signora, curious Mr. Emerson and, most of all, his passionate son George.

Lucy finds herself torn between the intensity of life in Italy and the repressed morals of Edwardian England, personified in her terminally dull fiancé Cecil Vyse. Will she ever learn to follow her own heart?

12. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

This story is a classic of magical fancy and clever wit. Written in lush prose, is the adventures and misadventures of four friends–Mole, Rat, Badger, and, of course, the eccentric Toad.

Reflecting the freshness of childhood wonder, this story offers adults and children alike endless sophistication, substance, and depth.

The animals' world embodies the author’s wry, whimsical, and unfailingly inventive imagination. This wonderful tale will have you running through streams and climbing up trees.

To use the words of the estimable Mr. Toad himself: "Travel, change, interest, excitement!...Come inside."

13. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

This is the story of naughty Peter Rabbit as he goes against his mother's wishes and squeezes under the gate into Mr. McGregor's garden. Naturally, he finds himself in all kinds of trouble! But how does Peter Rabbit get himself out of this tricky situation?

Beatrix Potter's tale of one mischievous but ultimately endearing little rabbit will capture the hearts of all who read it.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, first published in 1902, is the first in the illustrious series that is 'The World of Beatrix Potter,' a collection of stories which has been read and re-read for generations.

14. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

To quote the first line of this brilliant book, "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."

Heralded as Virginia Woolf's greatest novel, this is a vivid portrait of a single day in a woman's life. When we meet her, Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of party preparation while in her mind she is something much more than a perfect society hostess.

As she readies her house, she is flooded with remembrances of faraway times. And, met with the realities of the present, Clarissa reexamines the choices that brought her there, hesitantly looking ahead to the unfamiliar work of growing old.

15. Nature Stories by Enid Blyton

A collection of thirty wonderful stories about nature and the countryside from one of the England's best-loved children's authors.

Nostalgic and sweet, this short story collection captures the beauty of the countryside and the magic of a life among creatures big and small.

Enid Blyton admired and cared for the natural world with all of her heart, which is evident in the way she wrote each and every one of these delightful stories.

16. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

Four mismatched women respond to an advert in The Times offering a beautiful medieval castle to rent on the Italian Riviera. Bashful Mrs. Wilkins, cheerless Mrs. Arbuthnot, widowed Mrs. Fisher and socialite Caroline Dester are each enchanted by the promise of 'wisteria and sunshine', and they arrive on tranquil Mediterranean shores full of hope for heavenly escape.

Tensions mount between the group at first, but, as the idyllic spring days tick by, each is slowly transformed by the warm sunshine and unexpected company.

First published in 1922, The Enchanted April is a light-hearted novel about unlikely female friendships and the power of a blissful escape.

(Classic) Nature Non-Fiction:

17. Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Originally published in 1854, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry David Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is seen as one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature.

By building his own cabin and living minimally, Thoreau pursued a deliberate, spiritual life in nature, urging readers to reject industrial materialism and "live deep" to discover life's essential truths.

The narrative tracks the four seasons around Walden Pond, highlighting the rejuvenation of the outdoors and encouraging a closer connection with the natural world over the pressures of urban life.

Modern Literature:

18. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, Ann Patchett's writing is rich and luminous.

19. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

What if you could live forever? In this timeless story young Winnie Foster learns of a hidden spring in a nearby wood and meets the Tuck family, whose members reveal their astonishing discovery of the spring’s life-changing power.

Now Winnie must decide what to do with her newfound knowledge—and the Tucks must decide what to do with her. But it’s not just the curious girl who is interested in their remarkable tale. A suspicious stranger is also searching for the Tucks, and he will stop at nothing until he finds them and uncovers their secret.

Tuck Everlasting is a timeless story, which gently carries its reader like a wooden rowboat on the rippling waters of a shining pond.

(Modern) Nature Non-Fiction:

20. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

In February 2021, Chloe Dalton stumbled upon a newborn hare—a leveret—which had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brought it home, only to discover how difficult it is to raise a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity.

Through trial and error, she learned to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it became her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton's house by day.

Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by other animals, or even people, she never tried to restrict it to her house. Each time the hare left, Chloe knew she may never see it again. Yet she also understood that to confine it would be its own kind of death.

This is a touching and unforgettable memoir about the powerful connection we, as humans, can have with the creates that live among us; but only if we respect and treat them in a way they deserve.

21. Upstream by Mary Oliver

"I never met any of my friends, of course, in a usual way—they were strangers, and lived only in their writings. But if they were only shadow-companions, still they were constant, and powerful, and amazing. That is, they said amazing things, and for me it changed the world." - Mary Oliver

Upstream is a collection of essays written by the beloved poet Mary Oliver, in which she reflecting on her astonishment and admiration for the natural world and the craft of writing.

As she contemplates the pleasure of artistic labor, finding solace and safety within the woods, Oliver intimately shares with her readers her quiet discoveries, boundless curiosity, and exuberance for the grandeur of our world.

22. How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals

by Sy Montgomery

Understanding someone who belongs to another species can be transformative. No one knows this better than author, naturalist, and adventurer Sy Montgomery. To research her books, Sy has traveled the world and encountered some of the planet's rarest and most beautiful animals.

This restorative memoir reflects on the personalities and quirks of thirteen animals and the truths revealed by their grace. It also explores the various ways we learn to love and become empathetic; how we find our passion; how we create our families; coping with loss and despair; gratitude; forgiveness; and most of all, how to be a good creature in the world.

23. The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing

In 2020, Olivia Laing began to restore a walled garden in Suffolk, an overgrown Eden of unusual plants. The work drew her into an exhilarating investigation of paradise and its long association with gardens. Moving between real and imagined gardens, from Milton’s Paradise Lost to John Clare’s enclosure elegies, from a wartime sanctuary in Italy to a grotesque aristocratic pleasure ground funded by slavery, Laing interrogates the sometimes shocking cost of making paradise on earth.

The Garden Against Time is a humming, glowing tapestry, a beautiful account of the abundant pleasures and possibilities of a garden, not as a place to hide from the world but as a site of encounter and discovery.

24. Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane

Landmarks is Robert Macfarlane's joyous meditation on words, landscape and the relationship between the two.

Words are grained into our landscapes, and landscapes are grained into our words. This book is about the power of language to shape our sense of place. It is a field guide to the literature of nature, and a glossary containing thousands of remarkable words used in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales to describe land, nature and weather.

Robert Macfarlane shows that language, well used, is a keen way of knowing landscape, and a vital means of coming to love it.

25. The Lost Spells and The Lost Words

by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris (Poetry)

The Lost Spells evokes the wonder of everyday nature, conjuring up red foxes, birch trees, jackdaws, and more in poems and illustrations that flow between the pages and into readers’ minds.

Robert Macfarlane's spell-poems and Jackie Morris's watercolour illustrations are musical and magical: these are summoning spells, words of recollection, charms of protection.

To read The Lost Spells is to see anew the natural world within our grasp and to be reminded of what happens when we allow it to slip away.