Flower Power Themed Books to Brighten Up Your Bookshelf

Spring is finally here, and what better way to celebrate the season of blooming flowers than with a collection of flower-themed books on your bookshelf? From celebrity florist memoirs to fiction with colorful covers, these books will add a pop of color and a touch of nature to your reading list. Whether you’re looking to add some color and joy to your reading list or just love the natural beauty of flowers, these books are sure to brighten up your bookshelf and your day. So, let’s dive in and discover the perfect books to celebrate the arrival of spring!

The Art of the Flower: A Photographic Collection of Iconic Floral Installations by Celebrity Florist Jeff Leatham 

Featuring celebrated florist Jeff Leatham’s favorite flower arrangements from throughout his renowned career, The Art of the Flower takes readers on a fragrant, floral journey of Jeff’s over-the-top and world-famous flower arrangements and installations.. Get an inside look at the arrangements and installations made for his A-list celebrity clientele, as well as for luxurious locations including the Four Seasons Hotels in Beverly Hills, Philadelphia, and Paris; the New York Botanical Gardens; the Philadelphia Flower Show; and Bloomingdale’s.

The Art of the Flower vividly showcases Leatham’s most famous and award-winning floral tapestries using full-color photography accompanied by commentary that reveals his creative inspiration. Leatham also includes insider flower-arranging tips and tricks that he has used to create his signature jaw-dropping arrangements for celebrity events.

It Is Wood, It Is Stone 

by Gabriella Burnham

With sharp, gorgeous prose, It Is Wood, It Is Stone takes place over the course of a year in São Paulo, Brazil, in which two women’s lives intersect.

Linda, an anxious and restless American, has moved to São Paulo, with her husband, Dennis, who has accepted a yearlong professorship. As Dennis submerges himself in his work, Linda finds herself unmoored and adrift, feeling increasingly disassociated from her own body. Linda’s unwavering and skilled maid, Marta, has more claim to Linda’s home than Linda can fathom. Marta, who is struggling to make sense of complicated history and its racial tensions, is exasperated by Linda’s instability. One day, Linda leaves home with a charismatic and beguiling artist, whom she joins on a fervent adventure that causes reverberations felt by everyone, and ultimately binds Marta and Linda in a profoundly human, and tender, way.

An exquisite debut novel by young Brazilian American author Gabriella Burnham, It Is Wood, It Is Stone is about women whose romantic and subversive entanglements reflect on class and colorism, sexuality, and complex, divisive histories.

Things We Never Got Over 

by Lucy Score

Naomi Witt is on the run. Not just from her fiancé and a church full of well-wishers, but from her entire life. Although if you ask her, Naomi’s riding to the rescue of her estranged hot mess of a twin, Tina, to Knockemout, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi, her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves behind something unexpected: the niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s a guardian to an eleven-year-old-going-on-thirty with no car, no money, and no plan.

There’s a reason this bearded, bad-boy barber doesn’t get involved with high-maintenance women, especially not Type-A romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least Knox can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble, he can leave her alone and get back to his quiet, solitary life.

At least, that’s the plan.

Probably Ruby 

by Lisa Bird-Wilson

This is the story of a woman in search of herself, in every sense. When we first meet Ruby, a Métis woman in her thirties, her life is spinning out of control. She’s angling to sleep with her counselor while also rekindling an old relationship she knows will only bring more heartache. But as we soon learn, Ruby’s story is far more complex than even she can imagine.

Given up for adoption as an infant, Ruby is raised by a white couple who understand little of her Indigenous heritage. This is the great mystery that hovers over Ruby’s life–who her people are and how to reconcile what is missing. As the novel spans time and multiple points of view, we meet the people connected to Ruby: her birth parents and grandparents; her adoptive parents; the men and women Ruby has been romantically involved with; a beloved uncle; and Ruby’s children. Taken together, these characters form a kaleidoscope of stories, giving Ruby’s life dignity and meaning.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Retold: Classic Love Poems with a Modern Twist 

by William Shakespeare – James Anthony – Stephen Fry

James Anthony has long enjoyed poetry with a strict adherence to beat, rhythm, and rhyming patterns, which he likens to the very best pop songs. This drew him to the rewarding 14-line structure of Shakespeare’s sonnets, yet he often found their abstract language frustratingly unintelligible. One day, out of curiosity, he rewrote Sonnet 18–Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day–line-by-line, in the strict five-beat iambic pentameter and rhyming patterns of the original, but in a contemporary language a modern reader could easily understand. The meaning and sentiment–difficult to spot, initially–came to life, revealing new intricacies in the workings of Shakespeare’s heart.

And so, James embarked on a full-time, year-long project to rewrite all 154 of the Bard’s eternal verses creating SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS, RETOLD. This collection of masterful reinterpretations brilliantly demystifies and breathes new life into Shakespeare’s work, demonstrating the continued resonance of a playwright whose popularity remains over 400 years after his death. Now, the passion, heartbreak, deception, reconciliation, and mortality of Shakespeare’s originals can be understood by all, without the need to cross reference to an enjoyment-sapping study-guide. Coming with a foreword by Stephen Fry, this is a stunning collection of beautiful love poems made new.

The Sun and Her Flowers 

by Rupi Kaur

Divided into five chapters and illustrated by kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.

this is the recipe of life
said my mother
as she held me in her arms as i wept
think of those flowers you plant
in the garden each year
they will teach you
that people too
must wilt
fall
root
rise
in order to bloom

The Encyclopedia of Cut Flowers: What Flowers to Buy, When to Buy Them, and How to Keep Them Alive Longer 

by Calvert Crary – Bruce Littlefield

The Encyclopedia of Cut Flowers dives deep into the world of fresh-cut flowers, featuring unique entries for 143 different varieties of commonly available cut flowers that readers can buy at their local grocery store or flower market.

An introductory section offers basic tips for styling arrangements at home. And for keeping flowers hydrated and alive for as long as possible. By the time readers are done flipping through the pages of The Encyclopedia of Cut Flowers. Which features more than 150 gorgeous color photographs of flowers, they’ll be experts in the field!

Hardy Succulents: Tough Plants for Every Climate 

by Gwen Moore Kelaidis – Saxon Holt

Add a touch of the unexpected to your garden. This comprehensive guide offers clear growing instructions accompanied by vivid photography of these durable and beautiful plants. With tips on choosing the right varieties for every North American hardiness zone. You can enjoy all the quirky vibrancy of succulents wherever you live.

From love poems to explorations of modern culture, discover the harmony of classic prose and a new generation’s best poetry voices. Explore and connect with fellow lovers of poetry here.