Spring Reading Round-Up
From reading in the shipyard to reading in my cabin.
I’m writing this from my cabin in between my 12-4 watch shifts. My boat is finally out of the yard and back to normal operations! It’s great to be on the water again, even as we’re facing a choppy passage with 3-6-foot head seas.
Here’s my March-through-May reading list in chronological order.
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
I finally got around to this one after hearing stellar reviews for years. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, given the contemporary abundance of post-apocalyptic fiction. Would this one really stand out and live up to the hype? In short, yes. The braided narratives and multiple timelines—from both before and after the disaster—create an immersive masterpiece that ultimately reminds us of human resilience and interconnectedness.
Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (narration by Frankie Corzo)
After reading The Bewitching, I wanted to delve into the book that put Moreno-Garcia on the map. I wasn’t able to get my hands on the print version, but I enjoyed Frankie Corzo’s lively audiobook narration. Mexican Gothic tells the story of a glamorous young socialite who, in response to a plea for help from her newly-married cousin, finds herself in a remote and foreboding house where secrets grow from the walls. (Literally.)
The Other Valley, Scott Alexander Howard
Even though it’s only May, I can confidently say this will be one of my favorite books of the year. Scott Alexander Howard’s grounded speculative novel follows a young woman growing up in one of a series of valleys identical but for their position in time: the valley to the west is twenty years in the past, and the one to the east is twenty years in the future. Howard’s masterful prose and achingly poignant characters create a story by turns spellbinding and heartbreaking that I can’t recommend enough.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow
I finally had the chance to read one of my favorite author’s debuts after a dear friend lent me her copy. Lush, inventive, and richly imagined, this novel is a tribute to storytellers, dreamers, and anyone who chafes against the bonds of what life “should” be. I’m surprised this book didn’t get more attention at the time of its release, but I’m glad people are going back to it as Alix E. Harrow receives all the literary recognition she deserves.
The Ballerinas, Rachel Kapelke-Dale
This was another recommendation that came to me via the fabulous CeCe Lyra, this time during her Writing Interiority and Psychological Acuity course. (CeCe’s next class, Starting It Right, begins in June!) Rachel Kapelke-Dale’s debut follows three women through their careers at the Paris Opera Ballet and beyond, confronting female worth, agency, beauty, aging, friendship, rage, forgiveness, and power. Described as Black Swan meets Dare Me, The Ballerinas features dazzling line-level writing, heartwrenching twists and betrayals, and beautiful descriptions of Paris.
Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy
Probably another of my top books for this year, Wild Dark Shore merits all the accolades it has so rightly received. Featuring a shipwrecked woman, a man struggling to raise his three kids, a lonely lighthouse, an island full of ghosts, and pertinent environmental peril in the form of wildfires and rising sea levels, this novel is a tour de force in creating engrossing settings, painful stakes, and characters who are keeping secrets. If you have the chance, read it.
What was your favorite book this spring, and what are you excited to read next? Let me know in the comments.
