Spring '20 Reading List

Be warned — once you pick up this book, you may not be able to put it down. Normal People, longlisted for the Booker Prize, is as consuming and absorbing as the relationship it details. Rooney draws her characters cleanly and clearly, bringing to the surface the deep and true emotions that keep Connell and Marianne desiring each other despite themselves. This character-driven novel will leave you pondering what makes us long to find homes in each other, and at what price. 

Anne of Green Gables will remind you of your childhood home (or the one you wish you had) and inspire you to take a chance on a fresh start. Anne was never supposed to be at Green Gables, but soon no one can imagine the place without her. Anne delights, makes impassioned speeches, errs, apologizes and forgives. By the end of the book, you’ll be inspired to do as Anne does: “blow a couple of airy kisses from her fingertips past the cherry blossoms and then, with chin in her hands, drift luxuriously out in a sea of daydreams.” Let Anne and the light of spring fill you with childhood wonderment.

Joy Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation and current American Poet Laureate, is back with a new collection of poems. In the 1800s, the Mvskoke Nation was forcibly removed from their ancestral lands to Oklahoma. Harjo returns to these lands and writes through the centuries of pain, removal, family bonds, survival and renewal. Even when forcibly removed from home, the resilience of Native peoples shines in An American Sunrise. This complex and striking collection emphasizes the spirituality inherent in our shared home and implores us to work to correct injustices against the land and its people.

Does all this time at home have you itching to redecorate? Do you have a weakness for stunning book covers? If those statements apply to you, How to Make a House a Home is a necessity. Ariel Kaye, founder and CEO of Parachute, has created a go-to guide for turning your space into a purposeful home that radiates YOU. Not only will you encounter practical advice and deceptively simple solutions, you’ll be enamored with Kaye’s writing. Kaye is not only an expert in her field, but a stunning example of the effectiveness of the practices she shares in this book. Pre-order and you’ll also score a complementary Parachute candle: a perfect start to transforming your space.

Buy this book for its stunning cover; read it for the compulsively engaging story between the pages. A Long Petal of the Sea is a timely novel by famed author Isabel Allende about the Spanish Civil War and the pain of exile. Populated with characters whose lives slowly begin to flow together, each act of compassion will carry you on a new wave of the story. Thoroughly researched and complex, Allende’s book is a masterful ode to Chile, the “long petal of the sea.” This prolific writer has penned a love story to refugees, dreamers and all people craving their homeland.

Set your phone aside and let yourself be absorbed by Homegoing. This compelling saga begins in Ghana and follows two half-sisters and their descendants through eight generations. Each chapter will transport you to a new and exciting setting where you’ll meet characters you won’t soon forget. Homegoing implores you to think about how radically home was altered for enslaved Africans, and how deeply the legacy of slavery continues to shape our shared home and country.