10 Books with Renewed Perspectives for Spring

I missed my first TTT promo last week and broke my streak! I had a lot going on last weekend, and I honestly I did try to do the prompt (Books You’d be a Fool Not to Read), but all the books I could think of are ones I’ve mentioned a lot recently already, so I wasn’t inspired enough to push through.

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This week’s prompt – Books with Springy Covers (Pastel colors, flowers, baby animals, sunshine, etc.) – is also not inspiring me. I don’t really like the cover-based prompts, so I thought I’d do a book set in Spring, or pastoral settings or themed around Spring, but then I realised it’s hard to think of ten, and I’d have to get more creative in my interpretation.

I do love this time of year! After a long, grey winter of cold weather and dark days it is such a relief to feel the warm sun on my skin again. My favourite time is when the spring flowers emerge and, with the bright blue skies, colour returns to the world. I always feel lifted by it, and my heart feels a little lighter.

To me, the feeling of Spring is a renewed appreciation for life and the beauty around me, so that’s the theme I’ve run with.

These are all books about women who get through a rough period feeling renewed… which I now realise is definitely a favourite sub-genre of mine because I could easily think of more than ten!

1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman is another book I’ve mentioned a few times lately. The subject matter is a little heavy, but ultimately, this book sees Eleanor come out of her dark isolation and find some light and renewed joy in life.
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is a book I personally did not love as much as others seem to have, but it was fine and is another uplifting book that follows a depressed Nora journey through the different paths her life could have taken if she had made different decisions.
3. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh is another book about a woman going through a Depressive period, but written by Ottessa Moshfegh so this is definitely not sweetly uplifting! In this the unnamed protagonist of this book decides to isolate herself in her apartment and tries to put herself to sleep for a year in an attempt to reset her outlook.
4. I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue is a book I wanted to have the bite of My Year of Rest and Relaxation but it’s potential was diluted with rom-com elements. Still I enjoyed it, and if Moshfegh is too dark for you, you might like it! In this one, an isolated and depressed Jolene has unprocessed grief, which manifests in some inadvisable workplace behaviour.
5. My (extra)Ordinary Life by Rebecca Ryan is one I picked up on a whim because it was 99p and I was really pleasantly surprised by it! After watching a documentary, Emily is horrified to learn that everything about her life is average. So she makes a list to rectify this and process her grief over the death of her twin sister. This was very moving and uplifting. I really recommend it!
6. Cat Lady by Down O’Porter explores how our pets can help us through difficult times. Mia goes to a support group for people who are grieving their animals, even though her beloved cat is still alive… It gets a little wacky, but I enjoyed this book, and even if it had a bit of a fairytale ending.
7. Lost Property by Helen Paris is about lonely and isolated Dot who has channeled all her grief over her father’s death in her twenties into a job in the TfL lost property office, and now that her mother is rapidly declining with dementia, she starts to go off the rails. I find this book quite disappointing in it’s execution, but the premise is novel and it does have an uplifting ending.
8. Why Did You Stay? by Rebecca Humphries is a non-fiction memoir that covers actress Rebecca’s very painful and public breakup when her comedian boyfriend was caught cheating on her with his Strictly Come Dancing partner, with photographs all over the tabloids. This memoir reflects on how this was the culmination of a relationship that had been toxic for a long time, and her path to rediscovering herself. It’s better than that sounds; it’s not your typical “celebrity” memoir (I’ll admit I did not know who Rebecca or her boyfriend were!), and she has some very relatable and insightful things to share.
9. Rouge by Mona Awad is a book I think about daily because I really have to write about it (and I have recently built a skin care routine)! Mirabelle is grieving the loss of her mother and finds herself sucked into the same Beauty cult. It’s Mona Awad so shit gets very weird and there are themes galore! I found the ending quite moving, and Belle has a renewed perspective.
10. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett might be the most “Spring” I’ve read, it’s literally about a garden that helps lonely and sick children find new life. Mary might be a child but like all the other  protagonists on this list, she’s lonely, isolated and bitter at the start of the book, and eventually finds joy in life again! I haven’t read this since I was a child, when it was my favourite audiobook to listen to when I was feeling unwell (on a cassette tape!), and I must revisit it.

I really need to get on top of the prompts because this was another one I’m finishing on Tuesday evening! I have to get back to being at least one TTT ahead in my scheduled posts to give myself some more thinking time! I do enjoy writing these, but sometimes it takes a while for the indexes in my brain to get working; I can’t write them on the fly!