I’ve always been drawn to fantasy stories as an escape from real life. In my fourth year of university, my children’s literature professor pointed out that this interest might be tied to my experience as an immigrant moving between worlds. I was hooked on comings-and-goings, strange lands, and stubborn heroines. While I love to read across genres, fantasies (especially children’s stories) hold a special place in my heart as a reminder of the wonder of reading. These books capture that magic that drew me to books in the first place, and I revisit them when I need to fall in love with the world again.
Lan, who recently came to Canada from Vietnam, spends every day searching for a sense of belonging. Books are the only things that make her feel at ease. It comes as a shock when a mysterious wind whisks her right into the pages of her latest fantasy read! Once a homesick reader rooting for the characters that now stand before her, Lan grows as a budding witch who has the power to help their quest. As she faces off against tree guardians, moving corn mazes, heart-eaters, and thoughtless kings, she finds that Silva is not so different from Toronto: new homes can be messy. Now, torn between several places at once, Lan begins to confront an important question: how do you redefine a lost home?
I listened to this novel as an audiobook and drew it out over several nights as a bedtime treat.
The premise is intriguing: a desperate woman from 1741 in France makes a deal with the devil. The chemistry between the characters, drive of the protagonist, and charismatic Satan-like villain made this book a five-star read for me from the first chapter.
"For someone damned to be forgettable, Addie LaRue is a most delightfully unforgettable character, and her story is the most joyous evocation of unlikely immortality." -Neil Gaiman
A Sunday Times-bestselling, award-nominated genre-defying tour-de-force of Faustian bargains, for fans of The Time Traveler's Wife and Life After Life, and The Sudden Appearance of Hope.
When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she is convinced she's found a loophole-immortality in exchange for her soul. But the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone.
I brought a few books along for a beach vacation, read The Song of Achilles first, and then proceeded to re-read it for the rest of my week there.
Even when I’d finished, I couldn’t put it down. I am a big Greek mythology nerd, so the decision to tell Achilles’s story from Patroclus’s point-of-view caught my interest immediately. Their love story is so compelling I wanted to revisit every part, and of course, was sobbing by the end.
**OVER 1.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD** **A 10th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION, FEATURING A NEW FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR**
WINNER OF THE ORANGE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION THE INTERNATIONAL SENSATION A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'Captivating' DONNA TARTT 'I loved it' J K ROWLING 'Ravishingly vivid' EMMA DONOGHUE
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms…
I first fell in love with The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel (a NaNoWriMo book, just like mine!).
I picked up The Starless Sea eagerly when it came out and brought it to my book club for discussion. We agreed that though the plot is loose, the descriptions and world-building are so vivid and beautiful that it suffices to enjoy it for those reasons first and foremost.
Consider this book a walk through a museum and let yourself sink into the splendor.
Discover the enchanting, magical bestseller from the author of The Night Circus, now in a stunning new edition.
We are all stardust and stories...
When Zachary Rawlins stumbles across a mysterious book containing details from his own life among its pages, it leads him on a quest unlike any other.
Following the clues inside, he is guided to a masquerade ball, a dangerous secret club, and finally to an ancient library hidden far beneath the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their…
Roshani Chokshi is my author idol. I found out about her work years ago through the Rick Riordan Presents imprint and have read everything she’s written.
As we write in similar genres, she gives me hope that I will also achieve success like hers one day. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is her adult debut, a dark fantasy that draws on myths, legends, and fairytales across the cultures of her heritage.
I listened to the audiobook, often in bed late at night, and the darker parts sent chills down my spine. Be prepared for a twist at the end!
A sumptuous, gothic story about an obsessive female friendship cursed to end in tragedy, a marriage unraveled by dark secrets, and the danger of believing in fairy tales - the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Castenada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed…
This is the book I wish I’d written: a dreamy yet swashbuckling middle-grade portal fantasy with a gutsy protagonist, named September, who longs to escape from her dreary life in Omaha.
She takes off to Fairyland on the back of a flying leopard and embarks on an unexpected quest that defies the “chosen one” narrative, which my novel also seeks to do.
This book is written in fun, whimsical language that transports the reader to not only a magical setting but also an age of wonder and childhood mischief.
"One of the most extraordinary works of fantasy, for adults or children, published so far this century."—Time magazine, on the Fairyland series
Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can…
Dressed to kill and ready to make rent, best friends Lisa and Jamie work as “paid to party” girls at the Rose City Ripe for Disruption gala, a gathering of Portland's elite.
Their evening is derailed when Lisa stumbles across Ellen, a ruthless politician and Lisa’s estranged mother. And to make matters worse, Lisa’s boyfriend, Patrick, crashes the party to meet his new boss, Portland's food cart drug kingpin. Lisa makes a fateful choice that traps her, Jamie, and Patrick in Ellen’s web. In this gripping thriller, Lisa must reconcile a painful past and perilous present.
Suspected murder, eclectic food trucks, and artisanal cocaine: just another day in Thorn City.
It’s the night of the Rose City Ripe for Disruption gala—a gathering of Portland’s elite. Dressed to kill in sparkling minidresses, best friends Lisa and Jamie attend as “paid to party” girls. They plan an evening of fake flirtations, karaoke playlists, and of course, grazing the catering.
Past and present collide when Lisa stumbles across Ellen, a ruthless politician who also happens to be Lisa’s estranged mother. Awkward . . . When Lisa was sixteen, Ellen had her kidnapped and taken to the Lost Lake Academy—a…
