Welcome to late Spring and the start of the Summer season! The relief I feel arriving with the warmer weather and sunnier skies feels like a huge boulder has been lifted from my shoulders. I love it when the natural world wakes up from Her slumber. How about you? This is my favorite time of year, but I know we all have different preferences. I have a longtime friend whose favorite season is winter and I love her, even though that feels impossible to me.
Let’s dive into what’s been inspiring me over the past couple of months, in the hopes of sparking something within you.
As usual, we’ll start with books, my favorite special interest.
Let’s begin with some books by a friend of mine, Winter Fox. Winter writes historical fiction, primarily, and after being gifted some of their newer books, I started re-reading the Flight of the Wren series (I’d already read two of the four books thus far). It’s so good! I love the storytelling, especially the way magick and healing are portrayed in these books. I’m currently on the second book in the series, Voyage of the White Bear. I also read the standalone book Dog Mountain Witch, which is set in Maine and based on a true story. It’s a well-told tale and I read it in a day. You can find Winter’s books on this website. I highly recommend them.
In other fiction, here’s what I’ve read:
One of my favorite movies was based on this book by the same name: Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois LeLord. I’m excited that I finally got to enjoy it. Not as hilarious as the movie, but a good read nonetheless.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman was powerfully written and touching, and also perhaps a bit manipulative. The reader was repeatedly led to believe one outcome, only to discover things were different. I liked it, but with reservations.
I enjoyed the Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. I think I liked it more having read the original trilogy, because there were lots of connections between the stories.
Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst was an adorable YA novel that I found at a library sale. Terrific for those of us who identify as queer and neurospicy.
I finally read The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. It was amazing. I love her writing. Lyrical, deeply touching, and full of symbolism. So great.
I read The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore - I know, I read it completely off season. It was a cute romance, if a little formulaic. I don’t think I need to read the rest of the series.
Another one where I’ve already seen the movie: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. A fun read. I do want to read more of the series, in this case.
The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig. My aunt gave me this one because she knows I like fantasy and faerie tales. It was great! I loved it and plan to read more by this author.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. This was an excellent dystopian novel that spoke eloquently to the need for art and creativity, no matter the outer circumstances of life. A wild ride.
I’m still loving the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. I read book 4, The Gate of the Feral Gods, and I’m looking forward to reading book 5 as soon as my guys are done with it (we take turns being first). Guess I’m going all-in on the dystopia this year. Hmm, I wonder why that could be…
One of my favorite authors for historical fiction is Susanna Kearsley. I read Bellewether and loved it. I especially enjoy how she adds a pinch of the supernatural to her novels.
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory was good, though not my favorite of hers so far. I have a stack of other books by her to get to soon.
In terms of nonfiction, here’s what I’ve read recently and am currently reading:
Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott was a short read and rather inspiring. I always enjoy her books, even though we don’t share the same religion.
The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life by Suleika Jaouad is one of those tomes that was lent to me, but I’m going to buy a copy to keep. I adore the inspiring tales of creativity against all odds, the juicy journaling prompts, and the author’s story of overcoming many obstacles. This should be on the bookshelf of anyone who considers themself an artist of any kind.
The Wisdom of Your Dreams by Jeremy Taylor is an expanded edition of one of his earlier books on dreaming, which I read years ago. This is well worth your time, if you’re interested at all in dreaming, archetypes, and personal growth. I very highly recommend it.
Excuses Begone! by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer was an interesting and inspiring self-help book. It isn’t one of his better ones, in my opinion, but I’m glad I read it.
I’m currently reading Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan. It’s about food. I love his books. He consistently makes what could be a dry topic into a compelling story.
I’m also reading A Modern Guide to Human Design by Rachel Lieberman. It’s more informal than other books I’ve read on this topic. I’m learning new things and enjoying her perspective.
Onward to shows and movies. I’m much more likely to watch a series than I am a movie, but we did enjoy Despicable Me 4. We also watched “season 3” of Good Omens, which turned out to be just one movie-length episode. I liked it. Mostly because of David Tennant, honestly.
We’re still loving Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, an anime series that both sets of adult kids recommended. It’s lovely and magickal.
Having finished rewatching The Big Bang Theory (an all-time favorite of mine, and one my Dad loved too), we’ve moved on to Modern Family. I never saw this show when it was airing on broadcast TV, as we didn’t have a television for quite a while. It turns out that it’s super funny, especially as you get to know the characters.
I’m watching season 2 of Beef. I started watching season 1 accidentally, but got sucked in. This one is also cringey but fascinating so far, with completely different characters. I’ve also just started watching Love on the Spectrum and I’m finding it so sweet.
In terms of games and other hobbies, we did play a few sessions of the RPG of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It’s a joy! We’re sort of pausing the gaming for a while due to the busy outdoor season.
I got a new Lego set for Mother’s Day, and so I’m now building a potted chrysanthemum. It’s fun, and a lot quicker than the Lego cat was.
I’m nearly done writing the additional material for my standalone novel, Persimmon’s Dream House. I’ll be handing it off to a couple dozen beta readers in mid-June. I can’t wait to see what their feedback will be! I’m happy with the story so far, but I know it needs some tinkering and I’m looking forward to hearing from some readers.
My adventures out in the world include lots of woods walks (and being devoured by ticks, ugh), as well as a couple of jaunts to the beach. We went to an awesome show by Bearly Dead (a Grateful Dead tribute band that we enjoy), I saw a puppet show for grownups with one of my besties, and I attended a wonderful Faerie Goddessmother retreat.
I’ve also run two weekend-long writing retreats in the past two months! Both were “small but mighty” in terms of attendance. In the virtual retreat, everyone got a ton of writing and editing done. The in-person retreat was at a new venue, and we loved it. I’ve booked the same space for a reader’s retreat in late September.
My son-in-law is starting a podcast and I’m going to be one of the co-hosts. We’ve already recorded one session, and we have tons of ideas for more. The theme is fairly eclectic, but his special interest is learning, so we’ll be learning about all kinds of topics from many different interesting folks. My segments will also have bookish and writing content, of course. Stay tuned for the launch updates!
What have you been up to this Spring? Comment below and share some of your creations and interests. I’d love to hear them!
It seems like the timing for these inspiration wrap-up posts is about every other month; that’s what has been happening (rather than monthly) so I’m going to embrace it. See, look at that, personal growth. No more forcing it to be monthly just because that’s how I envisioned it originally. Heh heh.
If you’re reading this article in email and enjoyed it, please click the heart symbol at the top or bottom so more folks can find it. Thanks!
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.