Monday Moods is a weekly bookish meme created and hosted by Unwrapping Words (aka, me!). The premise is simple: every week, there’s a new ‘mood’, ranging from tropes to genres or actual moods (happy, sad, etc). On a Monday, feel free to post about books on your TBR, books you’d recommend, or a mix – whatever you like – that fits the ‘mood’ prompt. And of course, you can use your own if you’re not fussed on a particular one!
Seeing as we’re at the end of March and Easter is rapidly approaching, it feels like a good time to look at springtime books! Though of course, with Monday Moods, ‘spring’ can mean almost anything. I love spring – spring and autumn are my favourite seasons, neither is too hot nor too cold, both are great for feeling a little cosy, spring brings a lot of promise! So, here are 5 books on my TBR that make me think of spring.
This Week, I’m in the Mood For…
Spring
Homegrown Magic
Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos
Genre: Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: 11th March, 2025
I Want to Read This Because Queer romantic fantasy with found family, rival family drama and cosy garden magic. Yes please! The garden aspect gives us this cute, botanical cover too, which absolutely makes me think of spring and warmer days ahead.
A Springtide Meeting
Emily E.K. Murdoch
Genre: Historical Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: 3rd January, 2018
I Want to Read This Because I quite enjoy regency romance (if you haven’t already guessed), and I think there are a number of authors doing wonderful things in this genre with shorter length fiction. This book is set during spring and at the seaside, and sounds very sweet. Plus it’s the first book in a series, and one of the greatest reading pleasures is finding a new series to love.
That Dark Spring
Susannah Stapleton
Genre: Non-Fiction – True Crime – History
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: 24th April, 2025
I Want to Read This Because bit of a shift in tone here, but I’m intrigued by the case at the heart of this book. April 1929, artist Olive Branson is found in a water tank outside her farmhouse, and although it was ruled suicide, questions remain. I’ve never heard of Olive Branson before, but when I saw this I instantly felt grabbed by it.
Spring in the City: A Collection of Dark Speculative Fiction
Edited by R.B. Wood and Anna Koon
Genre: Speculative
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: 2nd December, 2025
I Want to Read This Because I do quite enjoy anthologies, and this sounds especially intriguing – especially as one of the authors is DHR contributor Xan van Rooyen! What I really like about this is it’s beyond the USA and Europe, which I don’t often see! Looking forward to digging into this and reading lots of new-to-me authors.
Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling
Henry Lien
Genre: Non-Fiction – Writing
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: 1st February, 2025
I Want to Read This Because I’ve read a little about Eastern storytelling before (in Craft in the Real World, by Matthew Salesses – definitely recommend!) and this deeper dive into it grabbed my attention instantly.
As always, if you have any recommendations based on the above or have read any of these and want to let me know your thoughts, please do!
Unwrapping Words 