Books I Read This Spring

~ Tracy Erler

The books I read in March, April, and May of 2023

Happy Spring! It’s summer as this goes live *facepalm* but it’s finished and it makes me happy 🙂 Spring was a season of celebrating my birthday at the end of March, welcoming my nephew into the world mid-May, cheering on my first-ever published flash fiction. It was a real, true beautiful spring here in NorCal. And all these stories shared this season.

I read 15 books this season. Here they are in the order I read them:

  • Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly – DNF
  • The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
  • The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family By Ron Howard and Clint Howard
  • A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
  • You, Me, and Our Heartstrings by Melissa See
  • A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab
  • A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab
  • Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
  • Bard Tidings by Paul Regnier – ARC
  • American Gods by Neil Gaiman
  • Weeknight Baking: Recipes to Fit Your Schedule by Michelle Lopez of Hummingbird High
  • Dakota Bones by Linda M. Hasselstrom
  • Write Now, Here’s How! Insights from Six Decades of Writing by Linda M. Hasselstrom
  • Postcards from South Dakota by Chuck Cecil
  • The Wonder Switch: The Difference Between Limiting Your Life and Living Your Dream by Harris III

Of the 14:

  • Completed: 9
  • Still Reading: 5
  • Did Not Finish (DNF): 1

Books by the numbers:

  • Owned: 10
  • Library Books: 4
  • Borrowed: 1
  • Fiction: 8
  • Non-fiction: 6
  • My Shelves: 13
  • eBooks: 1
  • Ant’s Shelf: 0
  • Rereads: 0

Books by Readership and Genre:

  • Fiction: 9
  • Non-fiction: 6
  • Poetry: 1
  • Fantasy: 6
  • Memoir/Biography: 1
  • Writing: 1
  • YA: 4*
  • MG: 0

*Note: Didn’t count Tress in this category.

My Favorites of the Season:

  • Shades of London series
  • Tress of the Emerald Sea
  • The Boys memoir
  • Bard Tidings

There could be spoilers ahead!

8/30 // The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Dedication: To my wonderful husband, Gary, and my sister-in-law Joanne’s magical red hair

A favorite line: “Waves of heat rise off the asphalt driveway, distorting the figures of the people as they step into sunlight, blurring everybody’s edges… It’s as if we’re all spirits and the coffin with its dark horizontal lines is the only thing that has any true weight and mass” (61).

I picked this book up at a local coffee shop’s free book library. The synopsis is intriguing. Narrative spoiler: the unreliable narrator is tricky and I feel the ending fell flat. But I love the story for approaching trauma and humans and family history in this way.

Buy the Book | Meet the Author

9/30 // The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family By Ron Howard and Clint Howard

Dedication: To Rance and Jean Howard

Favorite quote: “On those walks, I find myself soaking up the ghosts and the atmosphere… I think of the people who worked in these placs, the conversations they had, the creative problems they solved, and the range if intense emotions that the talent and crew must have felt in these spaces. It’s soothing and settles my nerves…” (117-118).

This memoir was amazing! I borrowed this from a friend from church after she shared a part of it with us one night before Bible Study. It was so fascinating to read about how Ron and Clint grew up and were raised and became the renowned men we know them as today. I created an entire Lettrboxd list of the movies mentioned in the book. I wrote down a lot of quotes from this. Another one of my favorite parts was when Ron Howard wrote about working on The Shootist with John Wayne, who is one of my favorite actors.

If you’re into memoirs, love movies, interested in Hollywood, I recommend this book for you!

Ron Howard’s IMBD | Clint Howard’s IMBD | Buy the Book | Letterboxd

10/30 // A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

Dedication: “For the ones who dream of stranger worlds.”

A favorite line: “Kell wore a very peculiar coat. It had neither one side, which would be conventional, nor two, which would be unexpected, but several, which was, of course, impossible” (11).

The opening line is a classic, but there are so many gems in this one.

V.E. Schwab announced the return/continuation of this series in her newsletter sometime in March of this year or before and it seemed as good a times as any to start from the beginning. The magic, the four Londons, Kell and Lila and Holland and Rhy–I loved it. I borrowed the entire series from my library, so they’re on my to-buy list.

*Author and website links included after the third book’s entry.

Shades of Magic Readalong: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3

11/30 // You, Me, and Our Heartstrings by Melissa See

Dedication: To the friends who have helped me thrive: Tia Bearden, for our house in Tennessee and so much more. Jessica Lemmons, for the hug in Grand Central and the hot choclate at Max Brenner’s. Michelle Mohrweis, for the late-night chats and being my rock. I love you beyond words.

Since I spent the majority of my professional life working with adults with disabilities, I jump at the chance to read books where they are the main character. It must not have been the right season for me to read this–I ended up skimming it. But if you love Contemporary YA, I encourage you to try it 🙂

Buy the Book | Meet the Author

12/ 30 // A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab

Dedication: “For those who fight their way forward.”

A favorite line: “The dress was. . . hard to describe. It was something between blue and grey, and studded with drops of silver. Thousands of them. The light danced across the bodice and down the skirts, causing the whole thing to shimmer darkly. It reminded her of the sea and the night sky. It reminded her of sharp knives and stars and freedom” (435).

This is a fantastic sequel. I love how it begins, how Kell struggles with his place in the royal family, how Kell and Lila cross paths again, how Rhy is a much deeper character than I gave him credit for in the first book, the games–all of it.

Shades of Magic Readalong: Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 – To Be Released

13/30 // A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab

Dedication: “For the ones who found their way home.”

A favorite line: “Well Mother, you got your wish. You simply failed to realize that that kind of love, that bond, goes both ways. I would kill for him, and I would die for him, and I will protect him however I am able…” (115). – Rhy

A beautiful ending to this trilogy. Rhy, once again almost steals the show in this book as he more and more grows into the man, the king, his parents have raised him to be. It is sad and hard and hopeful. I loved it. I cried.

Anoshe.

Meet the Author | Buy the Books | Threads of Power

Shades of Magic Readalong: Week 1 | Video 2 | Video 3 – All yet to be released

14/30 // Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson, Illustrations by Howard Lyon

Dedication: “For Emily, who has all my love.”

A Favorite Line:

THOUGHTS

15/30 // Bard Tidings by Paul Regnier

Dedication: For Phil Whickham, your music is magic.

A Favorite line: “The treetops were framed with a muddy orange glow, as the last moments of sunlight slipped away” (222-23)

I signed up to read an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this book on a whim. I had just started American Gods and was determined to finish it before Stephen King Summer started in June, but I finished it in a weekend =D

A writer friend I follow shared the cover reveal a few months before May and I read the synopsis and laughed out loud it was so delightful. And I am so glad I read this! It was funny and has beautiful sentences and moments as shared above, and it’s also a beautiful story about faith and friendship and doing what’s right. It is perfectly described as The Princess Bride meets Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movies.

Meet the Author | Buy the Book

16/30 // American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Dedication: For absent friends–Kathy Acker and Roger Zelazny, and all the points in between.

A favorite line: “Shadow had done three years in prison. He was big enough, and looked don’t-f-with-me enough that his biggest problem was killing time” (3).

This novel was intersting.

Wait. Let me start with this: I’ve read exactly two Neil Gaiman books: Neverwhere (fiction) and The View from the Cheap Seats (esays, non-fiction). I read the essays first and they piqued my interest in Neil’s novels.

This one was different. It is an epic undertaking and an epic story (as in a journey of a tale), but I’m not sure if it was for me. I saw it all the way through to the end because I’m more comfortable these days with not understanding everything I read and I knew there would be a payoff at the end. I was left feeling a little confused and not as invested as I wanted to be. But, I’m glad I read it and we’ll see if Ant’s interested in it.

Meet the Author | Buy the Book

Currently Reading:

  • Weeknight Baking: Recipes to Fit Your Schedule by Michelle Lopez of Hummingbird High
  • Dakota Bones by Linda M. Hasselstrom
  • Write Now, Here’s How! Insights from Six Decades of Writing by Linda M. Hasselstrom
  • Postcards from South Dakota by Chuck Cecil
  • The Wonder Switch: The Difference Between Limiting Your Life and Living Your Dream by Harris III

Final Thoughts

What I’m looking forward to reading during summer:

  • Stephen King Summer–in it’s third summer, but it’s my second =D
  • More Brandon Sanderson!
  • The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti – This will be a re-read, but I received this as a birthday present from my mom back in Spring and it’s one of my favorite YA books 🙂

We are well into summer as I post this, so I’ll start the Summer Reads post soon to try and catch up and post it on time 🙂

What are you currently reading?

Writing Process Notes:

3/31/23 // 6:15pm-6:24pm. Writing Desk. Listening to evermore album by Taylor Swift. Trying to get a head start on this.

4/12/23 // 11:25am – added titles to the list.

4/30/23 // 4:17pm-4:39pm. Dining room table, Hobbit Hole quiet.

6/13/23 // 10:34am-10:52am. at the dining room table; Hobbit Hole quiet.

7/15/23 // 4:17pm-7:04PM. Hobbit Hole, at the dining room table. 101 degrees outside. Taylor’s version of Speak Now and then eventually Dave Barnes’s Song Catalogue on Spotify.

7/16/23 // 5:25pm-6:20pm. Dining room table.

7/21/23 // 1:10pm-1:40pm.

7/21/23 // 6:35pm-7:37. Dining room table. Listening to Chris Stapleton’s Starting Over album.

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