Book Recommendations for Spring

I don't know about you, but spending so much time at home alone has really benefitted my reading game this spring! Not only have I been indulging in more popular fiction novels, but also some poetry collections and non-fiction books, that I have been wanting to get to for quite some time.

My bookworm soul couldn't just choose one to recommend, so I have compiled a list of 3 titles, which might be interesting for you.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

This book blew me away! It is a love story, but not a romance novel, between the two main characters, Connell and Marianne, starting from when they were still at school in Sligo, Ireland, to when they go to university in Dublin. The relationship between the two changes due to shifts in their power dynamics in society and the book shows what effect this has on the characters in it. The two come from very different family backgrounds and express their feelings dissimilarly, which sometimes leads to distance between Marianne and Connell. But still, they keep coming back to each other throughout their lives when they need to, which I found really fascinating.

Released: August 28th 2018

Page count: 266

Quote:

"Their feelings were suppressed so carefully in everyday life, forced into smaller and smaller spaces, until seemingly minor events took on insane and frightening significance."

Somebody Give this Heart a Pen by Sophia Thakur

In my humble opinion, everyone should read poetry every now and then, because it let's you think about the significance of every single word the writer chose to use. This can help you in so many areas of culture, but also with understanding and expressing your own, as well as other's emotions.

This poetry anthology by Sophia Thakur (who's TedTalk "Inside Us All" you could also check out if you decide to read her work) is incredibly raw, which is why a lot of the poems hit so deep for me. She explores different themes and issues such as friendship, love, race and mental illness. The poems are divided into different parts, so that the poems in one section have a similar message. This makes it a little easier to understand and interpret, which is why I think this book could be very enjoyable for you, even if you don't have a lot of experience with reading the genre.

Released: October 3rd 2019

Page count: 112

Trigger Warning: Anxiety, Self-Harm

Quote:

"Try to find space to hear what your heart says,

make it your best friend

Slow down and clock back into yourself

Give your heart a pen."

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

I think it's safe to say that Haig is one of my all-time favourite authors, because I just love the way he incorporates his emotions and thoughts on the world and being human into fictional stories. "Reasons to Stay Alive" is a memoir, in which he tells us about his struggle with depression and how his battle with the illness taught him how he wants to live. It was actually the reason why he became a writer.

I think this book is especially important, because not only does Haig talk about his own experiences, but in my opinion, he also does a really good job of clarifying that depression is an illness, which is difficult to treat. The biological causes can be so different from person to person. The imagery used to describe some of the symptoms he experienced made me think about mental illness in a more understanding way, even though I know now, that it's not something you can, or want to, comprehend, if you have not experienced it yourself.

You also learn about ways to act around people with depression and general, sometimes quite funny, life advice, that Haig has collected on his way.

Released: March 5th 2015

Page Count: 256

Quote:

How to stop time: kiss.

How to travel in time: read.

How to escape time: music.

How to release time: breathe.