Public reader discussion about The Enchanted April in the WeRead Catalog by Elizabeth Von Arnim.
By riverjar5
I’ve been through a ton of the threads where people ask for the same recommendation, and I haven’t seen anything my book club would actually want to read. I think we’re looking for stuff that fits these rules: only female authors, and it should feel light and summery, but still give us something worthwhile to talk about. If anyone has ideas, please toss them my way—thank you!
By Eclipse_Imber
Anyone have any classic favorites they’d recommend? I’m especially looking for stuff that takes place in the summer, or just has that summer kind of vibe. Could be novels, plays, short stories—whatever. Any genre/time period is fine. Thanks a ton!
By Dusty
Lately I’ve just gotten way more sensitive as I’ve gotten older. If a story (books, TV, movies—whatever) is packed with real pain or conflict and there’s no kind of payoff or redemption, I can’t do it. I’m honestly too empathetic for my own good. TV/film is a little easier since it’s not as long of a commitment, but even then I have to be in the right mood or it’ll just wreck me. I haven’t read a novel in a while and I really do miss it, but the stuff I’ve found that’s less upsetting also somehow doesn’t feel very well written. For reference, I love Jane Austen because the writing is amazing, but the actual stories aren’t brutal. I’ve tried Jane Eyre a few times and I just can’t—how she gets treated is too awful. I’ve enjoyed some Barbara Kingsolver, but she can also end up being way too painful. I picked up Momo by Ende and I was into it for a bit, but the Grey Men stuff is just too much for me. Harry Potter is fun. Lord of the Rings is fine but it drags a lot for me. Life of Pi was pretty good. Anne of Green Gables was okay, but her constantly getting in trouble wasn’t really my thing. Earthsea was good too—there’s darkness, but it doesn’t feel like pure pain. I can read fantasy, I just don’t love it as a genre on its own. I can’t say I’ve tried much mystery. What have you got for me?
By Mug-Couplet
Thanks for sharing! Just a heads-up: this sub doesn’t allow AI images. If you want to post or ask for recs that use AI art/images, you can check out r/BooksLikeThis. I’m basically an automated message—if you’ve got questions or concerns, you’ll need to reach out to the mods.
By Ink_Tide
I listened to this recently and really liked it. The ending had me on edge.
By pervertStar
Maybe it’s *The Enchanted April* by Elizabeth von Arnim? I feel like there’s a bit of drama, but mostly it’s just the four women on a vacation in the Italian countryside.
By vector_wonder2
I started reading *The Spellshop* by Sarah Beth Durst and I’m not totally sure what I think yet, but it’s got me hooked.
By notebooktender24
Elizabeth von Arnim (Katherine Mansfield’s cousin) is usually remembered for her lighter stuff like *The Enchanted April*, so I was surprised by how different *Vera* feels. It’s kind of a grim story—this widower just keeps methodically messing with his young second wife emotionally, and even though his first wife Vera is gone, she’s still looming in the background. I’m not even sure whether her death was suicide or not, which makes it even creepier. I know *Rebecca* has the more direct vibe with things like *Jane Eyre*, but I’ve also heard that *Vera* was an inspiration. John Middleton Murry apparently called it something like “*Wuthering Heights* written by Jane Austen,” and that sounds about right—there’s a cozy edge to it, but also something genuinely frightening underneath. I read *Vera* before *Rebecca*, and while I like both, I think *Vera* hit me harder and pulled me in more just because it’s smaller and more focused. It also made me think of Browning’s “My Last Duchess” while I was reading. Has anyone else read *Vera*? I’d really like to hear what you thought, especially if you’ve also read *Rebecca*. I honestly can’t think of a better book for showing how emotional abuse can work.
By Folio_Sunny
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett felt like such a good spring read to me.
By annotation_duck2001
I’ve already read Call Me By Your Name, but I’ll check out the rest—thanks!
By black_bee1987
I’m trying to find more books with an older, well-thought-out female lead. I really liked The Haar, The Wall, and The Door (5 stars). Also Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead was one of my favorites, and I want more stuff like that. And I’ll always be into Murder, She Wrote—Jessica Fletcher is the best.
By shelfOld
Thanks for sharing! Just a heads up—please read the community rules. Also, AI posts aren’t allowed here and anything that’s AI will get taken down, so if you’re posting images, double-check they aren’t generated. And yeah, I’m just an automated message. If you’ve got any questions or issues, you can reach out to the mods.
By tenderharbor
Hey everyone! I just finished *The Enchanted April* and I’m honestly obsessed with it. I feel like I haven’t read something that made me feel warm and cozy in ages. I don’t even really read a lot of classic stuff, but this was such an easy, enjoyable read—short and sweet, exactly what I wanted. I liked basically all the characters, and the pacing was really good. It was exciting all the way through, even though the ending left me wanting a little more. Now I’m just hoping I can find more books that hit that same vibe. Honestly, this felt like a perfect way to kick off spring.
By kind_seal
I’m not totally sure what to think of *Dandelion Wine*—it left me kind of mixed, but I can’t stop thinking about it.
By lazy_deer1991
I’m kind of the “read by season” type—like, I’ll do something dark and bleak in the fall (The Road), and then go harder in the summer with Blood Meridian. Winter is more like The Bear and the Nightingale, and I usually end up grabbing Dostoyevsky around then too. But what would even count as a really spring book? I can’t really think of one…maybe Watership Down? I could probably ask AI, but I figured I’d start here first.
By reflexedField9885
I’m trying to figure out why the title feels weird to me, but it’s also stuck in my head.
By Saddle-Heather57
My friends and I do this book club thing where we read the book, watch the movie version, then get together and talk about both—like what lines up and what doesn’t. We don’t need the book and movie to match perfectly, we just want books that have a movie out there. Any good suggestions?
By tidebeacon1973
This book feels like it’s basically selling this “recipe for happiness” kind of idea—four women, a medieval Italian castle, lots of wisteria, and just enough being alone to get themselves straight. I liked that part, but I’m not sure how much I bought it at first. They end up meeting through a newspaper ad in London, and I expected it to be a pretty relaxing getaway. Instead, the time they spend in Portofino kind of drags their real personalities back up and reminds them what they actually want, which was honestly refreshing to read. I did laugh a little at the whole “if only the same could happen to the husbands and lovers” thing, because… maybe? Anyway, it’s been popular forever—best-seller in the UK and US, even picked for the Book-of-the-Month Club—and now it’s had a big film and a Broadway play too.
By AmberPanther
I’m up to 65 books for the year, which was my goal, and I went back to see what really stuck with me. Honestly, this year felt like a lot of misses—though there were a few that were genuinely great. The ones I loved most were: - *On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous* by Ocean Vuong - *Gilead* by Marilynne Robinson (and basically the whole series) - *Rusty Brown* by Chris Ware *On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous* is just… really lyrical and poetic, but it also has moments that are super sharp and honest. It follows an immigrant trying to figure out where he fits, like, living between two cultures, and it digs into his sexuality too—how it shapes him into who he becomes. *Gilead* really got me thinking. It keeps poking at what life even means, especially from the perspective of later years, like weighing it all and wondering if it mattered. The writing feels warm and familiar in a way, and it’s about an older preacher in the line of preachers from rural Iowa. He’s looking back and trying to explain his life in a letter to his son, who he won’t be around to see grow up. The rest of the series then shifts to other people who matter to that first book. *Rusty Brown* was probably the most memorable thing I read. It’s a graphic novel that took forever to make, and it feels like true craft. People usually talk about how it focuses on the disappointment and unfair stuff characters deal with in pretty normal, uneventful lives, but it’s shown with so much clarity and care. I think what makes it hit is the amount of detail and those quiet little moments you can actually relate to. And the artwork is just excellent. As for the ones that let me down, mine were: - *My Year of Rest and Relaxation* by Ottessa Moshfegh - *Apeirogon* by Colum McCann - *Weather* by Jenny Offill I did like *The Dept. of Speculation* from Jenny Offill, but *Weather* didn’t feel like it had the same depth or really gelled for me. By the end, it also felt like whatever it was trying to do just didn’t land the way it should have.
By looks_crow8
Okay, I need some help from the classics experts. I’m kind of a newb here—I've read maybe fifteen classics, mostly the usual big ones you see everywhere (Austen, Dostoevsky, Camus, the Brontë sisters, all that). They’ve been great, but now I’m realizing I don’t really know what else is out there. I just stumbled on this NYRB collection and I don’t recognize any of the authors, but the titles and even the cover art/descriptions caught my attention. So what should I read from that whole collection? Which ones would you actually recommend?