Spring Reading Roundup 2022
Today I wanted to share with you the books I read during the spring season. Once upon a time, I used to do the yearly Goodreads reading challenge. But felt I would read books too fast to keep up with my goal.
Whenever I fell behind I’d get super mad at myself. That’s why about two years ago, I stopped doing the Goodreads reading challenge. And it’s changed the way I read. While I do try to read every day, I don’t always, and that’s okay.
What’s important to me is soaking in the story and/or lessons. And this past season, I read several with some profound messages.
Here are the most recent books I read during the spring
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
I heard a lot about this book as it was released a few months before I left my job at Barnes & Noble. But I wasn’t particularly interested in it at the time.
In 2019, my mom bought a copy at a local bookstore in North Conway, New Hampshire called White Birch Books. She swears she always picks her favorite books from this store and she isn’t wrong. All the books she got from there have indeed become her absolute favorites.
I’ll admit that the only reason I finally picked this book up was because of the upcoming movie. I like to read the book before I see the movie. If you know, you know.
My brief thoughts on the book are this: I liked it. I didn’t love it. The writing is beautiful and Kya’s story is interesting. But I found I wasn’t fully invested until mid-way through. The last 100 pages are so gripping I turned them faster so I could see what happened.
I’m curious to see how the movie is going to adjust the timeline. My guess is they’ll focus more on the trial and use the rest as filler and backstory. Either way, I’m excited to see it.
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Whilst on my minimalism journey, I stumbled across this book. I bought it but didn’t dive right in. I was more focused on decluttering my physical possessions at the time.
But soon I needed this book as I was finding my time on social media and my phone in general to be a great time suck.
Cal Newport is a well-known productivity expert. His books and blog are read by thousands. What I loved most about his approach was his realistic notion that getting everyone to ditch their smartphones is impossible.
They’ve become such an integral part of our lives that they’ve replaced many landlines in homes. But Newport’s exercises in learning to curb your phone use make a ton of sense. And I was happy to participate (in most of them).
If you want to learn to limit your phone use, give this book a read. His methods may seem extreme, but they work as shown in the countless case studies he shares throughout the book.
Productivity for Creative Writers by Hannah Bauman
Hannah Bauman gave a workshop on editing to my writing community a few months ago. She’s an editor, writing coach, and author. I started following her Instagram where she shares a ton of valuable information on the writing/editing process.
When I saw she had a book focused on productivity for creative writers, I knew I had to give it a go.
This short, albeit comprehensive guide is a must for any writer struggling with time management. Bauman walks you through a variety of different techniques which you can mix and match. The whole point is to create a system that works for you.
She even gives you sample templates that you can download from her website. What I loved most about her book was how straightforward it was. She doesn’t waste time and gives you the tools you need without the fluff. Those are the types of how-to books I appreciate the most.
Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight
If you’re in the mood for a good laugh, Sarah Knight is the writer for you. Author of the No F*cks Given books, she is a natural at comedic, yet truthful writing. I picked up her Get Your Sh*t Together book after it was recommended by Dr. Kate Litterer. We’ll talk about her in a bit.
The subtitle of Knight’s book is “how to stop worrying about what you should do so you can finish what you need to do and start doing what you want to do.” Essentially, it’s a guide that teaches you no-frill techniques to help you get things in order. Or as she calls it, “getting your shit together.”
Knight breaks the book down into three categories:
Small shit
Tough shit
Deep shit
In each section she gives you tools and methods to help you cut through the bullshit, focus on yourself, and work on the important tasks.
Knight’s tone is candid, hilarious, and straight to the point. I learned so much while laughing my ass off in the process. So if you want a self-help book that’s full of humor, but also full of wisdom, this is the one for you.
Tend To It: A Holistic Guide to Intentional Productivity by Dr. Kate Litterer
Dr. Kate Litterer is a productivity coach, author, and independent researcher. Her website The Tending Year offers a ton of advice on what she calls “slow productivity.” Her book, Tend To It, branches off on that.
Also called “intentional productivity,” Dr. Litterer walks you through methods to help you better plan out your goals. Each chapter ends with an exercise that, together, leads you to create an achievable action plan for a major goal you have.
She also explains habit formation, task batching, the pulse and pause method, and more. Each one is meant to give you the necessary tools to help you achieve whatever you have in mind, but to do so intentionally.
If you haven’t already noticed a pattern, many of the books I read this spring revolved around productivity. I pride myself on being a pretty good time manager, but I’m always up for learning new techniques and methods.
All the nonfiction books I read this season were super helpful. Not just in my quest to better plan and achieve my goals, but also in my minimalism journey.
If there’s one thing I love most about reading it’s taking ideas and methods from various perspectives and adding my own personal touch to them. And although I tend to alternate between fiction and nonfiction, spring was a season of learning for me. And that means I gravitated toward nonfiction more. But I have some fun fiction titles lined up to read in the coming weeks.
What are some books you read during spring that you loved? Do you read more fiction or nonfiction? Do you have reading seasons where you read a certain subject more than another?
