September 2025
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    I need some help choosing what to read next plus a couple of other oddly specific circumstances. I'm a mood reader and trying to do my best to not buy unnecessary books that don't match the vibes.

    Part 1

    Looking for some fantasy books that have spring vibes. The weather is finally warming up, the sun is setting later, the birds are singing and I need the book vibes to reflect the weather in some fashion.

    I am currently reading The Botanist's Daughter (historical fiction) and it's pretty good. I would love to pick from books I already have but my fantasy collection is sparse. I have Throne of Glass series, Emily Wilde's Guide to Fairies, Priory of the Orange Tree, Legendborn, What the River Knows and a couple others but can't recall them off the top of my head. I'll read romantasy but prefer a little more plot and less romance. I loved One Dark Window & Two Twisted Crowns, Heartless Hunter was ok, I liked all of the Fourth Wing series as well. And am excited to get into R.F. Kuang books because I think they will be right up my alley. In comparison the ACOTAR series does not sound up my alley.

    I have some springy/summery historical fiction, contemporary fiction and even a couple romance books but I'm trying to get into fantasy right now, I used to read a ton of fantasy as a kid but got out of it and am enjoying rediscovering it.

    Part 2

    We are going on a vacation to Greece and then visiting family in the Balkans this summer. I am trying to curate a reading list for the trip that combines mythological/ancient history books with summer travel & fun vibes.

    So far I have: Atalanta, A Spartan's Sorrow, Love and Olives

    I have read Song of Achilles, Circe, and Queens of Themiscrya. I am trying to avoid repeats of the same stories (so not interested in Ariadne or similar at this time). I have Babylonia and would bring it with me but it's hardcover and I need to stick to paperbacks for the trip.

    Bonus: A Spartan's Sorrow and Clytemnestra are I believe the same overall retelling but if you've read both which is better?

    Part 3

    Classic book recommendations, I don't really read classics but I want to give it a go. I particularly am invested in getting pretty ones to put on my bookshelf someday but want them to be ones I've read. I've read and disliked: Scarlet Letter, The Bluest Eye, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet (this and Scarlet letter were the worst), Ernest Hemingway, Beowolf, Oedipus and Antigone. I have liked The Three Musketeers, Frankenstein, Macbeth.

    Some of the ones that sound interesting are:

    • the Count of Monte Cristo, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The master and margarita (maybe?), Pride and Prejudice, The black tulip, The three musketeers + the man in the iron mask

    If you have even the most random suggestions for any of these let me know! I'm grateful to anyone who took the time to look through any of this long post.

    by Unusual-Vermicelli67

    5 Comments

    1. linestrider19 on

      A classic with lovely seasonal vibes (all seasons, so not just spring) is Anne of Green Gables. It’s a childrens novel, but I read it for the first time as a late twenties man and loved it enough to read it a second time. It’s a book lives by all sorts of people.

      Another classic you might enjoy is Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. It’s a short vampire story that predates Dracula.

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