My Spring TBR for 2022 | Contemporary, Mystery and Nonfiction

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The trees are starting to turn green and the sun is blessing us with the first warm days. Spring is here! To celebrate this wonderful season, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to create a seasonal list of books I want to read. So welcome to my spring TBR! There’s a colourful mix of books because I am after all a mood reader. I have some contemporaries, a touch of romance, some mysteries and quite a few nonfiction books. Maybe some of these books can make it onto your spring reading list as well! Without further ado, here are the books on my spring TBR!

Contemporary, Mystery and Generally Good Vibes

When compiling this list, I noticed some trends in my book choices. When I think of spring books, I think of YA Contemporaries, Romance and books that seem fast-paced, exciting and perfect to read outside on the first warm days. So while I wish I could have a more succinct title for this section, these vibes will have to do!

These Witches Don’t Burn – Isabel Sterling

Witches in spring? Don’t mind if I do! These Witches Don’t Burn has sat on my shelf for far too long and it’s finally time for me to read it. I reread The Ravens earlier this year and have been yearning for more witchy vibes. I also really enjoyed The Coldest Touch by this author which has made me even more excited to finally read this one!

My Review of The Coldest Touch

Perfect on Paper – Sophie Gonzales

When I think of books with spring vibes, queer YA contemporaries come to mind. I recently bought Perfect on Paper because friends of mine loved it! It sounds delightfully queer and chaotic, just what I need.

Ophelia After All – Racquel Marie

This is cheating a little because I’ve actually already started reading Ophelia After All! It’s another queer YA contemporary and so far, it’s absolutely delightful. Ophelia is known for being boy-crazy, so when she develops feeling for a girl in her class, her whole world turns upside down. As a gay teen who loved Shakespeare, I know I would’ve appreciated the questioning representation of this book so much! Bonus points because it has flowers on the cover for extra spring vibes!

Not Here to Be Liked – Michelle Quach

“Unlikeable” female main characters are some of my favourites. Give me all the grumpy, mean, and rightfully angry girls in the world, please. Not Here to Be Liked seems to tick all those boxes while also being nuanced and complex! I’m super curious about this story and can’t wait to read it!

City of Shattered Light – Claire Winn

Disaster sapphics in space! After recently reading and loving Bluebird, I want to read more queer sci-fi. City of Shattered Light has been on my TBR embarrassingly long (I actually got an eARC for it). It’s time for me to read it!

My Review of Bluebird

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The Turning Pointe – Vanessa L. Torres

I love ballet books. One of my favourite books of 2021 was The Other Side of Perfect and I’ve been on the hunt for more dance books ever since. The Turning Pointe is also historical fiction, I guess? It’s set in 1980s Minnesota, which is before I was born so I’m counting it as historical fiction! The main character is a ballet dancer but finds herself drawn to other styles of dance, inspired by Prince. The Turning Pointe sounds like the perfect mix of topics I love and ones I’m unfamiliar with.

My Review of The Other Side of Perfect

Less – Andrew Sean Greer

I bought Less a few years ago, back when my university bookstore still existed. It’s a really short book so who knows why I still haven’t read it yet! I know almost nothing about it which seems like a good way to go into it.

How to Kill Your Family – Bella Mackie

I got the audiobook version of this because Jaz from Travels in Fiction talked about it! The main character is in prison for a murder she did not commit…but she actually killed her whole family. Except nobody knows that she did it. The premise just sounds right up my street and I’m curious to see where this book takes me.

The Red Palace – June Hur

I’ve heard so many good things about all of June Hur’s writing, but especially about The Red Palace. It’s a historical murder mystery. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction but I do love a good mystery! So I’m excited to explore how those two genres intersect.

Sadie – Courtney Summers

Sadie has been on my audiobook TBR since 2019 or something ridiculous like that. It’s one of the audiobook recommendations everyone has and I’m ready to see what the fuss is about! All I know is that it’s about a missing girl and there’s a true-crime podcast involved somehow! I’ve loved thrillers with podcasts in them in the past, so I have high hopes for Sadie!

Nonfiction

It wouldn’t be my TBR without some nonfiction. Despite having a decently sized collection of nonfiction books, I’ve barely read any this year! Sure, with my final exams and my dissertation coming up, I might not want to do any more nonfiction reading than I already have to…but I’d like to try.

Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars – Kate Greene

I own a surprising number of space nonfiction books and this is one of them. Kate Greene is one member of a crew of people who lived in a Mars simulation…on earth! I love memoir type books and anything about unusual personal experiences, so this just had to come home with me.

Breath – James Nestor

Another book I picked up on a whim. I don’t think much about my breath on a daily basis but maybe I should! I love picking up nonfiction about topics I never even considered, so I’m curious about what I can learn from this book.

Life Undercover – Amaryllis Fox

Continuing this trend of specific nonfiction, we have Life Undercover. Amaryllis Fox talks about her time with the CIA and what she learned from it. I listened to a podcast episode with her and it seems like she talks a lot about communication and perspective in this book. I have no idea if I’ll like it, but it seemed like an interesting book to try.

18 Tiny Deaths – Bruce Goldfarb

18 Tiny Deaths is one of the death books that has been on my wishlist for a while. Recently, I finally caved and bought it! It’s about the life and work of Frances Glessner-Lee, the woman who created the nutshell murder studies! I’m really glad to have this book in my death books collection and can’t wait to read it.

How to Solve a Crime – Angela Gallop

And finally, the next book by Angela Gallop! I enjoyed her previous book When the Dogs Don’t Bark and am excited for this second one. I love books about forensic science and her last one was great in actually explaining the scientific processes, so I’m curious to see if this one delivers on that front as well. After all, what’s more fitting for a spring TBR than a book about murder?

Let’s Chat!

And that’s it for my Spring TBR! I don’t know how many of these books I’ll actually end up reading, but I’d like to think I have a good shot at reading at least half of them.

💀 What books are on your spring TBR?
💀 Have you read any of these yet? Which one should I start with?

I hope you have a lovely day,

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