reading syllabus for spring
my reading list for march, april, & may: some rereads, a lot of new books, and a good mix of fiction and nonfiction.
Spring is here—aka Jane Austen month.
If you missed my winter post—I’m trying something new this year by making a reading syllabus for myself. The reason for this is mainly because I want to finish reading all the books on my shelf, but I also like having a schedule that I can stick to—it gives my life structure (I am a chronic planner if you can’t tell). After having a sort of nostalgic epiphany, I decided to model my reading list like a college syllabus this year, or at least give myself a few themes and a general sense of what I want to learn from books (fiction and nonfiction alike).
Obviously, in classic me fashion, I’m making a new syllabus each season because if you’re not consuming media seasonally, what are you doing? Everything is so fun when you’re living according to season, I promise. And it’s springtime, which is my favorite season (I swear it’s not because my birthday’s in April), so this is extra exciting!
Anyway, here is the syllabus I made for myself for winter (March-May), with a bunch of stills from some springtime movies. Also, here are some article recommendations for you if you like literature!
article recommendations: literature
Here are twenty or so articles about some classics, some of my favorite books and authors, and literature in general! I’ve written a short description / introduction of each article and added more supplementary reading to some of them.
SPRING SYLLABUS 2025
The dreariness of winter subsiding and pre-summer warmth filtering in through my curtains always makes March a hyper-productive month. I finally creep out of my hermit shell just as winter removes its stubborn clutch on the Northern Hemisphere. Early March is always a borderline disorienting time because I forget just how badly I need the early sunrise and single cardigan weather and how heavily they influence my mood. Nature reawakens in thick brushstrokes of vibrant pastel hues, and leaves suddenly seem greener as well. I always say that the true start of the year for me happens in mid-March—and the one month between mid-March and my birthday in mid-April usually sets the scene for how the rest of the year is going to go.
Spring is the only season in which I like going out more than I like staying in (not to sound like Goldilocks, but summer is too hot, fall is too cozy, winter is too cold). I read a lot on the balcony like a plant eager to photosynthesize, I take a lot of walks along the beach path, I cook a lot, sign up for a bunch of pottery and workout classes, rediscover new hobbies, and of course—open my windows every morning. Spring has a quality that is so easy to romanticize for me, the ephemeral interlude between the thaw of a bitter winter and the dense heat of summer.
For me, spring is all about sunshine, pastel tones, and flowers—the antithesis of winter, so I try to find such qualities in literature as well. I always find myself revisiting most of Jane Austen’s books across the seasons, as well as reading more contemporary literary fiction and nature-related books. My birthday falls in spring, so I also gravitate towards meditative nonfiction books that hopefully contribute to and even change the way I see the world because every good book should do that just a little bit.
My themes and specific characteristics in books that I am searching for this month are contemporary literary fiction, cool essay collections, memoirs that feel self-help-y in a non actual-self-help way, fiction about love and relationships, beautiful prose, nature-related books, regency era classics, books written by women, modern classics published in 1940-1980.
Here are the books that I am planning on reading for the three months of 2025’s spring, divided by week. Some are rereads, or books I finished halfway that I want to return to. Feel free to follow along and discuss!