Spring is a time for new beginnings, exploring and embracing the outdoors, and finding new hobbies. It is also a great time to get back into reading. In anticipation of warm weather and beach reads, we asked local Indy booksellers to share their springtime recommendations. From highlighting Indiana authors, to sharing excitement for upcoming book releases, they covered just about everything you could hope for in a springtime book collection.
About the Booksellers
Amethyst Jones (she/her)
Digital Creator at Ujamaa Community Bookstore
Amethyst Jones loves reading everything from fiction to poetry. Her current favorite sub-genre is Ujamaa’s social justice section. Ujamaa Community Bookstore opened on Juneteenth 2021 with the goal of featuring black owned businesses and authors, supporting small businesses, and hosting events for the community.
On May 31, 2025, Ujamaa Community Bookstore will be opening a bookshelf inside of Mochi Joy that will be a permanent display within the store. To celebrate the opening of this collaboration, they will also be hosting a book fair that partners with a few small businesses. Jones said they hope to expand the business of including bookshelves in local stores, and that they are excited for this partnership.
Brooke Heffernan (she/her)
Co-owner of Chapter Book Lounge
Brooke Heffernan and Jen Todderud opened Chapter Book lounge in October 2024. They offer a twist on the classic bookstore by selling cocktails and coffee while also offering a variety of events and book clubs for customers to partake in. Heffernan described the store as having a ‘Moody Academia’ vibe that acts as a comfortable community space.
Once the weather warms up, Chapter Book Lounge will be opening a new patio space along with a new springtime menu featuring new drinks for customers to enjoy while lounging outside.
Dominique Weldon (she/her)
Bookseller at The Whispering Shelf
Dominique Weldon is a fan of all things literary fiction, horror, gothic literature, and graphic novels. Weldon also described the store as a welcoming space with a variety of genres and types of literature; essentially, there is something for everyone at The Whispering Shelf. With seating options in different rooms and space for people to hang out, it is a great place to find new bookish-friends and get involved in the Indianapolis community.
Springtime Reading Recommendations
“TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW”
Recommended by Dominique Weldon
“TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW”, a 2022 novel by Gabrielle Zevin and Book of the Year Nominee, is an exhilarating novel about relationships, failure, and redemption. The novel follows Sam and Sadie, two friends who begin a video game company together. Almost overnight, the two find success and are launched into stardom. The success of their company brings them fame and joy, but also tragedy, and regret. This intricate and imaginative novel explores identity, disability, and the need for human connection; and while it may be a love story, it is so much more than that.
“I’d recommend it because it’s a very intimate look at relationships, electronic relationships, and romantic relationships, which I think is very relatable to being human, because our connections with other people are what get us through life,” Weldon said. “It’s about two friends that work together to make a video game, but it’s more about just people coming together to create something, which is something I feel like a lot of people can relate to, whether creating art or music or writing poetry, but it’s something that’s very human and the book examines the struggles that come with working and making something that you care about deeply.”
“Hello Beautiful”
Recommended by Brooke Heffernan
“Hello Beautiful” is a vibrant, tender, and moving story about choosing to love someone for who they truly are despite their past. William Waters, a brooding college basketball star moves across the country to escape his tragic past when he finds warmth and comfort in Julia Padvano, a spirited, ambitious, and courageous young woman and her family, specifically her three sisters. Julia and her sisters are inseparable, but they welcome William as Julia’s boyfriend into the family with open arms and a chaotic household. Their whirlwind of an adventure doesn’t end when old wounds resurface, but it does shatter the tight-knit world they have created together and cracks the loyalty that the sisters have to one another. “Hello Beautiful” is a heartfelt saga of love, loss and the messy magic of a chosen family.
“It’s written from four different stories and characters’ vantage points,” Heffernan said. “I really enjoy a read that just kind of follows the same timelines and then unwinds it differently. This is a fresh way of looking at not a typical linear story, but a layered experience.”
“Imagination: A Manifesto”
Recommended by Amethyst Jones
This manifesto is a bold illustration of the power of imagination. While inviting its readers to block out the mental and social structures of our world today, it acts as a guide for the exploration of imagination. This revolutionary work calls on us to use imagination as an outlet for possibility in how we reshape our future.
“This book has helped me reframe every aspect of my life,” Jones said. “Whether it be events for the bookstore or in my personal life, I always think now about who would be most impacted, who is the most at the margins, and how [we can] make sure that they’re always included. [It also introduces] the idea of using our imaginations to do something incredible, instead of using our imaginations to think that there always has to be a certain way. It frees us from the limits of our imagination.”
“My Brilliant Friend”
Recommended by Dominique Weldon
“My Brilliant Friend” is a modern masterpiece that serves as a commentary on the nature of growing up and the effects of how childhood can shape who we become. This portrait of a lifelong friendship between Elena and Lila, two girls growing up in the 1950s who learn to rely on each other and trust each other more than anyone else. This literary saga captures the intimate impact of personal identity, social class, and the ever changing tide of history. As the two girls grow up and their lives change, repeatedly diverging and intertwining across time, Ferrante weaves together a richly detailed and emotionally resonant narrative about the evolution of friendship and the transformation of history.
“[It is the] perfect springtime novel because it centers on the beginning of these two characters,” Weldon said. “The [book follows the] struggles that these two characters deal with due to their age and also their gender, [as well as the] limits of society, and what they can and can’t be. The book has a bunch of beginnings; you have first friendships; you have first love; you have first betrayals.”
“Blue Sisters”
by Coco Mellors
Recommended by Dominique Weldon
“Blue Sisters” is a devastating book about death, grief and new beginnings. After the loss of their sister Nicky, three sisters try to navigate the world without her. They try to support each other through this mutual hardship as they begin to realize that Nicky was the sister that held the group together; the rest of the sisters are exceptionally different and struggling with their own battles. Avery, the eldest daughter is a prim and proper lawyer who lives in London with her wife, trying to move on from her past as a heroin addict. Bonnie is a former boxer who now works as a bouncer in LA following a loss in the ring that changed her life. Lucky, the youngest, is a model in Paris who is trying to escape her life of late-night partying. Each sister puts life on hold as they return to New York to mourn the loss of their sister and try to stop the sale of their childhood home. However, they realize that coming home isn’t as easy as it seemed.
“It looks at how the end of something can lead to a new beginning,” Weldon said. “These three sisters are learning how to navigate their ‘new normal’. Life is still moving forward but they have a beginning because they lose someone really close to them. There is a lot of heartbreak in it but there is also a lot of hope and redemption at the end which works really well and it is a good balance of emotion. It is a really fitting read because it is about how these characters grow.”
“The Wedding People”
Recommended by Brooke Heffernan
One bride, one inn, and one unexpected guest. When Phoebe Stone checks into the glamorous Cornwall Inn in Newport, she’s wearing gold heels, a green dress, and a broken heart. While Phoebe thinks that she is on a trip to cross it off her bucket list, everyone else is under the impression that she is a wedding guest. Surrounded by champagne toasts and perfectly curated chaos, Phoebe stands out as the only guest not here for the nuptials. But while the bride has planned for every possible disaster, she didn’t plan on Phoebe. As secrets spill and friendships bloom, this laugh-out-loud and deeply tender tale proves that sometimes the best love stories start in the middle of someone else’s. The Wedding People was a GoodReads Choice Awards Winner for the Fiction Category in 2024.
“It’s one of those [books] that starts off with a bang, and kind of you fall in love with the characters, and the story keeps unraveling all the way to the end,” Heffernan said. “So I feel like that’s an engaging read for the spring.”
Indiana Authors
“Suffer Well”
by Korie Griggs
Recommended by Amethyst Jones
Korie Griggs writes about the relatable struggles that everyone has dealt with in their life: grief. This book of poems is curated for the grieving, the lost, and the suffering as it takes a look inside the mind of the author in mourning. Each page is an accumulation of her survival story and her proposed survival guide. Grief is a sad reality that everyone must face within their lives, yet so many people don’t know how to cope with the all-encompassing sadness that comes with grief. Wherever you are in the grieving process, know that you are never alone. These poems are designed to bring hope and harmony amidst the pain of grief and whether you are seeking answers or seeking comfort there is something for every sorrowful person within these pages.
“It’s a book of poetry about her experience of living with grief, but I think it’s really relatable,” Jones said. “I lost my dad three years ago, and it’s a book that really helped me personally. It’s a book that could be shared really widely and help people in their life healing journey too.”
“The Rabbit Hutch”
by Tess Gunty
Recommended by Dominique Weldon
Blandine’s crumbling apartment complex located in the heart of a forgotten Indiana town is full of residents who are desperate to get by: connected and separated by the thin walls of their apartments. While each resident has their own unique story to tell, Blandine stands out from the rest. After recently aging out of the foster care system, and struggling to make sense of a world that has offered her little stability and even less love, Blandine lives with three former foster boys that she can barely tolerate and neighbors who are haunted by their own battles. The Rabbit Hutch is a haunting meditation on the hunger for meaning, the human craving of connection, and the failures of the foster-care system and its institutions. With lyrical prose and wise insight, Tess Gunty delivers a bold and unforgettable portrait of modern American life—fractured, yearning, and grasping for something beyond the walls that contain us.
“‘The Rabbit Hutch’ by Tess Gunty is a tragic, yet beautiful book,” Weldon said. “The novel centers on several characters, but at the heart of the book is Blandine, a young woman who lives with three teenage boys in an apartment. The four of them have all aged out of the foster care system and are also involved in an extreme act of violence. The Rabbit Hutch is a brutal look at humanity and of course, Indiana. There’s a reason this brilliant book won the National Book Award.”
“Better Luck Next Time”
Recommended by Brooke Heffernan
Tatum Morgan’s life changed forever the summer before her freshman year of college. Now, she yearns to explore the opportunities of her new life at USC. Starting with a clean slate, Tatum tries to ignore her past — including her ex-boyfriend who is persistent about hindering her healing progress. She battles to focus on her new life and plan for her future while her past keeps crawling back to haunt her. Bridgeforth’s novel gives a fresh college perspective all about new beginnings and starting over.
“Bridgeforth works at our shop and she’s been a really awesome employee for us, but she has a really interesting way of looking at the world,” Heffernan said. “I like picking her brain for how a story comes together. It’s a story about the past [and how] her main character has to accept the future.”
“Martyr!”
by Kaveh Akbar
Recommended by Brooke Heffernan
Kaveh Akbar’s “Martyr!” is a testament to the meaning of life through the personal exploration of faith, art, and self-identity. Cyrus Shams is a newly sober poet and orphaned son of Iranian immigrants who is haunted by the loss of his family and the impacts of historical violence. Driven by an obsession with martyrdom and guided by addiction, art, and ancestry, Cyrus embarks on a journey of self-discovery that leads him to a revelation that upends everything he thought he knew. Guided by the ghosts of poets, martyrs, and myths, Cyrus digs through his inherited pain and fractured faith to uncover unexpected truths that approach the complexities of life. Both wildly innovative and deeply human, “Martyr!” is an impactful debut novel that thrives on sorrow, spiritual yearning, and a lost sense of personal identity.
Heffernan mentioned this book sells well at Chapter Book Lounge and that she would recommend it to anyone looking to read and support a local author.
New and Upcoming Releases
“Say You’ll Remember Me”
by Abby Jimenez
Recommended by Brooke Heffernan
Release Date: April 1, 2025
Samantha believes that there is no such thing as true love or the perfect match, but Xavier Rush is doing his best to prove her wrong. The drop-dead gorgeous veterinarian who is basically the next best thing to a Greek God might be the exact thing that she needs. After what is possibly the best date of her entire life, she is forced to admit to Xavier — and herself — that she is absolutely not in the position to be starting a relationship with someone and the two part ways at her request. However, no amount of time or space allows her to forget the sparks she felt between them, but did he feel the same way?
“I can’t speak to her newest book: I just know that all of her books are popular in our store,” Heffernan said. “Specifically, we tend to draw a more female audience, so our romance and our fantasy books sell the best, and that’s one [book that] I know that has a lot of enthusiasm behind it.”
“Can’t Get Enough”
by Kennedy Ryan
Recommended by Amethyst Jones
Release Date: May 13, 2025
Hendrix Barry has it all— an amazing and supportive group of friends, a dream career as a bad-ass powerhouse entrepreneur, and a vision-board life that most can only manifest in their journals. She is a woman of ambitions, passions, and dreams who is always striving to complete her goals and cross something off her to-do list while also taking care of an aging parent. With that life, who has time for love? She has spreadsheets to manage and parents to care for. Love just doesn’t fit into her perfectly curtain world… That is until Maverick Bell comes into play.
Maverick Bell is tech royalty in a tailored suit, all smolder and swagger, and he just happens to be the first man who actually understands her. He’s also completely off-limits—which, of course, only makes him more irresistible. Sparks fly, rules blur, and suddenly Hendrix is asking herself: what if the one thing she thought she didn’t need is exactly what she’s been missing? Steamy, sharp, and deliciously fun, this is a romance where ambition meets its match and demonstrates that sometimes breaking your own rules is needed in order to pursue happily ever after.
“[Kennedy Ryan] is my absolute favorite romance author, because it’s really a combination of being kind of spicy, but also really smart and really fun,” Jones said. “And of course, with romance, you always have a happy ending.”
“Great Big Beautiful Life”
by Emily Henry
Recommended by Dominique Weldon
Release Date: April 22, 2025
She’s sunshine with a laptop, he’s a storm cloud with a Pulitzer-prize — and they’re both stuck on a dreamy island, chasing the same story. Alice Scott is a hopeful writer with big dreams and an even bigger smile. Hayden Anderson, on the other hand, is a grumpy literary legend who thinks charm is a character flaw. They would prefer to ignore each other’s existence, the only problem is that they have one month to win over Maragret Ives, a reclusive icon who no one has heard from in years. The scandal-soaked heiress has many secrets to share and only one of them will get the story. The tension between Alice and Hayden sizzles during their battle of wits, words, and wildly inconvenient attraction as they fight for the book deal of a lifetime.
The Whispering Shelf is hosting a book launch party for Emily Henry’s new book on April 22 from 8 to 10 a.m. Tickets include a copy of the book and a morning filled with pastries, coffee, tea and great company. There will also be trivia and other games to celebrate Henry’s latest book.
Elle Rotter is an intern and contributing writer at Indy Maven who loves to cover all things books. Elle is currently a student at Butler University studying journalism and strategic communications. She is also a freelance writer and photographer. You may also see her frequently covering events happening throughout Indianapolis.
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