Spring is finally here! Spring is the perfect time to get out of your house (or dorm room) and soak in the sun. If you’re like me, however, and tend to avoid doing outdoor activities, it may be difficult to find a time to get some much-needed sunshine. While doing homework outside is one option, it isn’t necessarily the stress-free activity that would be beneficial to do in the spring. My favorite option for destressing outside in the spring is reading a good book. It is fun, interesting and helps you stay mentally fit, while being easy to do just about anywhere. Springtime reading can also help revitalize you in time for finals. Therefore, I put together a list of some good books that you may want to read this spring.
“Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman may be the most well-known and critically-acclaimed American poets of all time, and “Leaves of Grass” may be his most famous collection of works. Many of the poems in the book have nature imagery that makes it perfect to read outdoors in early spring. As a bonus, it will help you strengthen your knowledge and experience with the classics!
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë
Continuing with the classics, Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” is another book that just about anyone could enjoy and devour in a short amount of time. The work, which was Brontë’s only novel and was published a year before her death, is, at its core, a tragic romance, but it explores many topics that weren’t often portrayed in other published works in the mid-1800s. “Wuthering Heights” has also had many adaptations and is a major part of the popular culture even today.
“Girls Burn Brighter” by Shobha Rao
This new and highly anticipated novel tells the story of female friendship between two impoverished young women in India. Despite some of the hardships they face, there’s always a hopeful nature in the novel. Besides being a beautiful story of these female friends, “Girls Burn Brighter” also shows what life is like on the other side of the world, especially in regard to feminism. It is a great book to read outdoors in the spring to reenergize and restore you in time for finals.
“The Female Persuasion” by Meg Wolizter
Another new novel, “The Female Persuasion”, was published earlier this month. The novel discusses female relationships, similar to the previous novel, but focuses more on mentorship than friendship. The novel also has a strong focus on feminist ideals and beliefs and often discusses them in-depth, which will help you learn about different types of feminist beliefs, while also being entertaining to read.
“Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng
One of the most highly-acclaimed and popular novels of 2017, “Little Fires Everywhere” is a riveting novel about secrets in a small, suburban town. With a focus on motherhood and what that means for women along with the social dynamics that exist in everyday life, the novel is about a neighborhood of individuals and the twisting paths their lives take them on with no shortage of controversy, conflict or complex characters. This will be a book that you’ll want to finish in one sitting.
“Turtles All the Way Down” by John Green
The latest novel by the already-popular John Green and one of the most highly-acclaimed books from last year, “Turtles All the Way Down” focuses on a teenage girl trying to figure out the whereabouts of a fugitive for the prize money while also dealing with her own anxieties. The novel stands out for its ability to put you in the mind of the main character, allowing you to experience all of her insecurities and worries.