Spring is starting to trickle in with its rainy mornings, sunny afternoons, and chilly evenings. The patch of months from February to June, tends to be tough in terms of motivation, productivity, academia, and such. The academic year is wrapping up, exams and projects are being crammed, and the pile of books sitting idly gets taller. I've recently finished reading all the books I had bought for winter. Since, then I had been out of engaging reading material. So to address that, I've recently ordered a fresh new stack of books for spring. These are titles I've has my eye on for a while. I usually read/watch book reviews and check GoodReads before ordering books. This method has helped me secure better books. However, it is not foolproof and sometimes I may not like a book even when its reviews are favorable. Here are the books I intend to read this spring!
The Bellwether Revivals (Benjamin Wood) - a Dark Academia, "The Secret History" inspired novel about a young man named Oscar. He is a bookish and bright fellow who makes a life for himself in the world of Cambridge University. He is fond of his job working in a nursing home nearby and has fallen in love with Iris Bellwether, a medical student. He follows her into the world of prestige, elite academia, and privilege. Her older brother, Eden, persuades his sister and her friends into a series of disturbing experiments involving music, blurring genius and madness.
Grave Mercy (Robin LaFevers) - 17 year old Ismae escapes the brutality of an arranged marriage and joins the convent of St. Mortain as a nun. Here she learns that Death has blessed her with gifts. She is recruited as a assassin and becomes the handmaiden of Death. She is sent into the high court of Brittany, into a world of deadly facades, politics, and power. Here she must return her target to Death. But how can she when he has taken her heart?
My Year of Rest & Relaxation (Ottessa Moshfegh) - This book follows the story of a young woman who is a Columbia University graduate, is from an affluent background, has a cool job in an art museum, and lives in Manhattan in the year 2000. She seemingly has everything, yet she is always depressed. Her life is a vicious cycle of psychiatric drugs and over-sleeping. This book follows her journey as she takes a year to reflect on why she feels the way she does.
The Atlas Six (Olivie Blake) - In an Alexandrian society where the Great Library of Alexandria still exists, 6 nominees with magical capabilities are pitted against each other in the race for the throne. The candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will.
A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini) - Mariam was only a teenage when she was forced into marriage. Several years later as war and turmoil descends upon Afghanistan, she forms a friendship with Laila, a teenage girl. As Taliban rule over Afghanistan grows, the streets of Kabul are loud with the sound of gunfire and bombs. Life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. The women's endurance tested beyond their worst imaginings.
The Midnight Library (Matt Haig) - Nora wakes up in a library that exceeds the bounds of space and time, stands between life and death. In this library, every book contains the possible outcomes of her life, the answer to every possible decision. As Nora explores the library she is faced with the possibility of changing her life and making it worth living.
The Silent Patient (Alex Michaelides) - Alicia's life is seemingly perfect. She is a famous painter married to a fashion photographer, living in a grand house in London. One evening when her husband returns from a photoshoot, she shoots him 5 times in the face and never speaks a word again. Her refusal to speak turns the case into a sensational phenomenon, capturing the public's interest, and casting her into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets as she is hidden away in a secure forensic unit in North London. A criminal psychotherapist named Theo Faber then launches on a journey to uncover the mystery.
As you can see, this is a diverse array of books spanning genres and themes. I am excited to start reading these books and hopefully writing reviews on them. A few of these books are widely popular amongst the TikTok book community and a few were popular on Goodreads. If you are interested in keeping up with what I have read and will be reading, here is my Goodreads:
Happy Spring Reading to you all!
Thank You,
Isbah xoxo
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