Spring is such a lovely season! The weather is warm enough to sit outside but it’s not too hot. And after months of cold, dark evenings – reading outside feels so good. Plus the blossoms on trees and flowers everywhere make it a beautiful landscape. With spring break upon us, it’s time to renew your energies and take this time to discover new places, live new romances, and even discover new recipes and skills. All this can be done through books. And as in Brazil, the beginning of spring happens on September 22nd, there is nothing better than putting together a reading list of books to read during the period. Check five unforgettable books with springtime vibes!
People We Meet On Vacation – Emily Henry
The book tells the story of Poppy and Alex, two friends who met in their first year of college because of an arranged ride back to their hometown. The two of them have absolutely nothing in common: while Poppy is adventurous and spontaneous, Alex is reserved and cautious.
He comes from a religious family in which he was the eldest son and, consequently, was responsible for his siblings, while she was the most spoiled younger sister in the family, the latter being very chaotic, open, and loving. Fascinated by the many differences, they become friends and unconditionally accept everything that makes the other person who they are. As the plot unfolds, they discover they have one thing in common: a love of travel.
For both of them, traveling means finding genuine joy in getting to know new places even on a tight budget, and only for a few hours traveling, whether it is going to second-hand book stores or thrift stores. From these outings and hours together, the greatest bond of this friendship is born.
From now on, every year they take a summer trip, just the two of them. No matter what is going on in their lives, no matter who they are dating, the summer trip is sacred.
One Italian Summer – Rebecca Serle
The author will portray the story of Katy, a young woman who finds herself lost after the unexpected death of her mother, Carol. She was not only Katy’s mother, but her best friend, who had all the answers, and now, when her daughter needs her most, she is gone. To worsen the situation, the planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime is approaching: two weeks in Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for her mother to take her, and now she’s tackling the adventure alone.
As soon as she sets foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Driven by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffs, delightful locals, and, of course, delicious food, she feels herself coming back to life.
But then the unexpected happens: Carol shows up – in the flesh, healthy, sunbathed, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how – all she can focus on is that somehow, impossibly, she has gotten her mother back. Throughout one Italian summer, Katy meets Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she was, and she holds several secrets that may reveal stories about her family and herself.
Only Mostly Devastated – Sophie Gonzales
When Ollie meets Will over the summer break, he thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After. But once summer’s ended, Will stops texting him back, and Ollie finds himself short of his fairy-tale ending.
Because of an emergency, Ollie and his family travel to North Carolina to help his aunt, Linda, who is in a very critical health situation and needs all the support of his family at this delicate moment.
What was supposed to be a few weeks, becomes a small change for a few months. As a result, Ollie finds himself having to change schools and, consequently, being away from all of his California friends. Ollie, trying not to be discouraged by this fact, remembers that his summer crush, Will Tavares, lives in the same neighborhood as him and coincidentally goes to the same school as him.
However, he discovers that Will is no longer that sweet, affectionate, and comfortably queer guy he knew from summer, but rather, a class clown, a basketball jock, and, well, a bit of a jerk.
Ollie says he is not going to fall in love with Will again, since he says he is not ready for a relationship. But, the universe seems to have other plans when in all jobs and events, the two are always placed together. And, later on, Ollie finds himself high over heels for him. Now, only one decision remains: The last time he gave Will his heart, he handed it back trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again. Right?
- Cinderella Is Dead – Kalynn Bayron
In this book, we meet Sophia, a young black woman who is totally against the laws of the Kingdom, where women are obliged to always follow the orders of men, be they husbands and/or fathers. She is in love with her friend Erin and several times asks her to run away with her and go live a life outside that prejudiced place, after all, being LGBT+ in this Kingdom is also forbidden. But unlike Sophia, Erin is afraid and wants to follow the rules, regardless of whether this will affect her life and her freedom.
Once every year, the Cinderella Ball takes place, at which the King summons all girls between the ages of 16 and 18 to participate since, at this event, the men will choose their future wives, who will not be able to contest the King’s decisions under any circumstances.
Sophia, not conforming to these rules – after seeing several women being forced into arranged marriages and toxic relationships – runs away from the Ball, afraid of having the same future. In her runaway trajectory, she meets Constance, the last descendant of Cinderella and her half-sisters, and, like Sophia, hates all these rules, hates the King, and lives in constant flight.
Now, both fugitives, decide it’s time to end all this reign. This is a new version of Cinderella, totally feminist, and where two young women want to destroy the patriarchy, in addition to it, they live a beautiful relationship.
One True Loves – Taylor Jenkins
Emma Blair and Jesse can be defined as that typical cliché couple, who met in high school and are extremely in love with each other.
They saw themselves in a marriage full of love and united by a free and adventurous spirit, allowing them to live an unconventional life, thirsty for adventures that would take them out of the quiet life of Acton, Massachusetts. However, on their first wedding anniversary, Jesse disappears in a helicopter crash and is presumed dead.
Such a situation makes Emma viscerally live the period of mourning, knowing a pain she had never felt before. She, therefore, decides to return to her hometown to reestablish herself.
Over the years, the protagonist, already with a new job and in a new house, finds herself engaged to a local boy. And at their engagement dinner, Emma receives a call that will change the course of her new life: her now-dead husband is alive and ready to come home to her.
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Giovana Lins Barbosa edited the article above.
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