Discover my favorite April reads and why I found them uplifting.

How many times have you read a novel, an article or just saw an ad and thought: this gives me a great idea for my writing? It happened to you too. Well, great ideas sometimes come from unexpected sources. I must confess, there was a time when I was reading only Italian literature or mystery books, a time when I preferred books about language studies, and a time when I only read books on copywriting.

While there is nothing wrong with reading only a specific type of book, as I got deeper into my copywriting journey, I noticed I needed more diversity from my reading list – think of it as more fuel for my creativity. Therefore, a while back I decided that each month, I would follow a simple structure for my reading list and stick to it as much as possible. My monthly reads would now have a book connected to my craft – copywriting, editing, writing – a novel, and a book connected to a hobby or interest, in my case either gardening or personal growth either health and nutrition. More reading diversity equals more space and more fuel for creativity.

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot…reading is the creative center of a writer’s life…you cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.”– Stephen King

This month I chose three inspiring books, completely unrelated and utterly uplifting in such different ways. Let’s take a look and maybe you’ll give them a try as well.

Unexpectedly captivating…

Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman is a beautiful thrilling story of three teenagers celebrating their last summer together in Greece, just before heading off to college. Three completely different personalities, followed in detail by Ella Berman, underlining all the insecurities, heartaches, jealousy bursts, and happiness moments that take an unforeseen twist and keep you swirling until the end of the story. It’s fresh, light but also edge-of-the-seat captivating by an unexpected murder and continuous weaving of past and present.

Transformational and vibrant…

A while back, I joined the amazing Reese’s Book Club and follow them monthly for reading and writing inspiration. While not all of the Club’s recommendations suit everyone, as expected, I appreciate the diverse palette of contemporary literature and I’m always up for trying out new releases. Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Gonzalez Xochitl is one of these priceless gems, taking you from a story anchored deeply in the art world and real love stories to spiritual journeys, intertwining these worlds almost seamlessly through different timelines.

There should be no women’s art or men’s art. There should simply be art – genderless, makerless – left to stand on its own and be whatever the viewer thinks it is.

 The beauty and roughness of the art world weaves together with the daily life of artists and art students, defining a world full of creative excitement, and inspiration but also unfulfilled relationships, disappointment, death, and spirituality.

I believe in energy, you know? Energy is a real thing. The energy an artist imbues into their work, the energy that transforms two strangers into lovers. People carry their energy with them when they enter a room. These spaces, these events: are pockets of it.

 

The story of Anita de Monte brings richly developed female characters, with complex feelings and carrying vibrant internal dialogs that shape them as powerful heroines on their journey to artistic and personal affirmation.

Everything worth doing hurts a little bit.

 

It can feel so important to matter to someone. To just know there is someone who cares where your physical person is on this giant wretched earth. To matter to another human being is the basis of having a life.

 

Simply lifechanging…

I must confess that in the past few years, I’ve gotten more and more into health and nutrition literature mostly because of a personal health issue that proved to be connected to food additives and chemicals that fill nowadays even the most unexpected products on supermarket shelves. This made me dig deeper into labels, ingredients, and gut-healthy products. For those of you interested in this topic I cannot recommend higher Zoe Science & Nutrition (Podcast/Blog) and the books by Tim Spector, be it Spoon Fed or Food for Life. They are absolute eye-openers!

There are many more books I enjoyed in the past few weeks and many more wonderful writers that I would like to mention here. I will save them all for the next reading round-up. Happy writing!

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