For women, madness is a rite of passage. Anne Sexton: “lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind./A woman like that is not a woman, quite./I have been her kind.”1 Taylor Swift: “And there's nothing like a mad woman/What a shame she went mad.”2 Florence Welch: “The magic and the misery, madness and the mystery/Oh, what has […]

What makes a story a fairy tale retelling? Some faithfully recast characters that we know well in modern-day settings, like the characters in Helen Oyeyemi's Gingerbread, who live in present-day England and use toxic gingerbread to travel to a distant, mystical land. Other retellings are set in the past and use the fairy tale as […]

It’s been over 15 years since Suzanne Collins published the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy, a fact that staggers its original readers. The series’ dystopian setting, teen love triangle, and hierarchal societal structure were ideas that once dominated the young adult genre, but today The Hunger Games has built a larger legacy on […]

Where to find your next haunted female protagonist Ghosts are, by far, the most versatile of the creatures who stalk English literature. In a clever writer’s hands, a specter can travel through time, remember the long-forgotten, revive long-dead secrets, all while bringing dread to the current narrative and its characters. But not all hauntings require […]

Within the umbrella of “creative nonfiction” there exists a subgenre known as “speculative nonfiction.” It’s not a widely-used term. You’re not likely to find it on Publisher’s Marketplace or the shelf labels of bookstores. But as the art of writing about life has become more popular, it’s an undeniable trend that memoirs are becoming less […]

As long as I can remember, I’ve been curious about fairies—faeries? Fae? (How do we address those tiny winged beings? Are they in fact winged? Tiny? Real?) Part of the draw for me is the mystery, which has followed fairies across the generations. As Jonny Dillon, archivist of the National Folklore Collection at the University […]

Have you ever felt a connection to something very deep, very old, and just beyond the grasp of the world you know? It's like you can sense, feel, and taste an opportunity for adventure (or is it danger?) a mile away. There's no doubt there's folklore in your blood. The best way to ignite that […]

As nonfiction writers, we know there is a certain magic in crafting what Lee Gutkind (the “father” of creative nonfiction) called “true stories, well told.” As readers, we know a similar magic exists in the reading experience of these tales, feeling the gap between our lives and the pages shorten until they feel one and […]

In the speculative fiction genre, everything is not what it seems. People shapeshift, time may or may not be real, and dystopia is ever near. Whether you read this genre for its creative commentary on modern systems or characters discovering magic in new forms, there’s plenty of recent and upcoming releases to choose from to […]

There is an incredible body of Holocaust memoirs and novels that has been built up over the past 80 years, from classics like Night by Elie Wiesel, originator of the phrase "never forget," to fiction like The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, also a 2013 feature-length film. Often disturbing and vivid, Holocaust-era books give us […]

Coming of (P)age in 2026 To come of age in this world is to realize that you don’t actually know much of anything, especially in the Age of Information. It’s already difficult enough to not know who you are or what you’re capable of: the things lost in the churning tides of youth. To find […]

Book Recommendations for Yuletide The clear, bright stars of a winter night have inspired centuries of people toward stillness, self-reflection, rest, and renewal as the new year approaches. Many modern pagans and Wiccans celebrate the ancient holiday Yule by participating in the tradition on the long night of the winter solstice, which is traditionally perceived […]

Is it really the holiday season for a literature lover unless it's merry, bright, and a little uncanny? As we near the longest night of the year in December, the veil between this world and the unknown feels just a little thinner—a refrain of Samhain, if you will. That's probably why ghost stories feel so […]

Susanna Clarke's debut novel sets the bar for world-building literature and alternative history cloaked in the mystique of Britain's ancient magical practices. Of course, we're talking about 2004's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Set during the Napoleonic Wars in 19th-century England, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell tells the tale of two rival magicians with opposing […]

Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist is a study in destiny that explores fear, love, and the obstacles that manifest on a personal journey. A modern and magical descendant of great works like Homer's Odyssey, The Alchemist rewrites the concept of the hero's journey by intertwining it with the universe conspiring to support personal destiny and the […]

We all know the genre of "fairy tale rewrite," in which a classic, familiar tale gets rewritten or recast from a new perspective. But there are other ways to riff on fairy tales in contemporary novels: by leaning on them for inspiration and peppering references to them in an original story. Some of these novels […]

Mediumship 101 Have you ever wondered what the origin story of a medium looks like? For most, the ability to communicate and interpret messages from the dead began in childhood. For others, it takes major life milestones or traumatic events for gifts to begin taking shape. There's no one size fits all way to become […]

Toto, I don't think we're in Hogwarts anymore. Hogwarts is over, for a variety of reasons (i.e. J.K. Rowling's political views, and the fact that it's been a minute since Harry Potter was novel). The books are distant childhood memories and the movies are outdated and overplayed (especially around Christmas--have you noticed?). Regardless of how […]

Magical realism is when elements of the fantastic, the otherworldly, the "unreal" slip into day-to-day life. "Unreal" is in quotes because reality is subjective, and good literature's purpose is to present a variety of perspectives and challenge our notion of what's "normal" and "accepted." When used like a lens with a blurring effect, magical realism […]

Disney's recent release of the live-action Snow White has us reflecting on the age-old tale of beauty, moral goodness, and purity. As Maria Tatar points out in The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton, 2nd edition, 2017), nearly every critical interpretation of the tale "identifies a stable core that turns on some kind of rivalry between mother […]

In magical realism, otherworldly elements often highlight political tensions, injustice, and oppression. Protagonists (and authors, for that matter) lean on magic as a coping mechanism to escape or re-contextualize the brutalities and all-too-familiar discrimination of the past, doing away with romanticized notions of bygone eras. When authors dive into magical historical fiction, the real or […]

When In the Dream House was published by Carmen Maria Machado in 2019, it rocketed into the limelight. Lauded for its literary experimentation and brave exploration of the taboos and complexities of queer identity, the book won the 2019 Bisexual Book Award, 2020 Judy Grahn Award, 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction, and 2021 Rathbones […]

Does the forest comfort or scare you? In literature, the woods are often portrayed as oases of freedom and clarity, where humans can shake off conformity and follow their natural instincts. But the woods can also be cautionary, a place to be wary of and avoid. Darker stories show the forest as a place of […]

In the mood for some stories that are short, sweet (OK, maybe not sweet), and leave you wondering about the very nature of reality? While magical realism can pull us into deeply dark, kaleidoscope-like versions of day-to-day life that change our perspective forever, the truth is that a mini dose of surrealism is sometimes all […]

Let's face it: parenting basically is magical realism. There are lovely moments that glisten like an iridescent bubble rising to the sky, yucky moments that slime like an otherworldly mold, and terrible moments that snarl like a creature in a cave. Novels and short stories that place parenthood under a distorted, almost familiar lens show […]

Need to leave the real world for a bit? Ever dreamt of getting lost in a magical library? (Were you one of those kids who watched the lesser-known Macaulay Culkin movie from 1994, The Pagemaster?) In addition to being the ultimate fantasy of all bibliophiles, the magical library trope is essentially its own genre. One […]

Why is the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale so compelling? In a world where we can easily feel like we're going through the motions, a tale that reminds us to "wake up" and begin participating in our own lives seems timelier than ever. Sleeping Beauty also appeals because of its commentary on the transition from childhood […]

Nothing tops a warm cup of tea and a little dystopia before bed (and no, we don't mean the nightly news). It can be weirdly soothing to read about another world's hot mess to either help contextualize or see loopholes in our own. Dystopian novels remind us of what's at stake. There are many dystopian […]

Is love more powerful than magic? (Are the two mutually exclusive?) In witch romance books, love and magic are often pitted against one another (see classic precedents like Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic). The best books about witchy romances put a spotlight on the struggles modern women face as they juggle self-identity with the pursuit of […]

It's a powerful thing when a book opens your mind to questions about the human condition, the self, and the nature of existence. Novels that are philosophical in nature take us to fictional worlds that somehow reflect and comment on the human condition better than reality, making you question where you stand and what you […]

Though most associate magic with fantasy books (i.e. dragons, spell-casting, witches, and vampires), magic can also be found in novels about the mundane, everyday world. This is the foundation for magical realism and speculative fiction. This post won't get into the technical or craft considerations for these two genres, but know that there are some. […]

If there was any silver lining to 2020’s lockdowns, it was the rediscovery of nature. There's something uniquely rejuvenating about being outside, feeling bare feet on grass, touching bark, tasting ocean spray. Whatever your preferred landscape, the books in this list will inspire and reinvigorate, intertwining drama and self-discovery with the howling call of the […]

This year in literature is proof that we're living in a romance and fantasy heyday. As we hit the halfway mark in 2025, readers are already settled in for wild, heart-tugging rides that open our imaginations and awaken our pining. Which reads count as the top fantasy and romance books of 2025? Here's a peek […]

Five hundred years ago, midwives were the leaders in reproductive health. Many of these healers were wise in the ways of plants and herbs, wombs and childbearing, and some were targeted as witches (Ehrenreich and English). Though these “witches” were the ones who understood bones, muscles, herbs, and drugs at a time when physicians “were […]

Have you always wondered about fairies (faeries, or "the fae")? Were you one of those kids who played in the backyard or the woods, talking to imaginary friends, and collecting treasures from nature as if they were gold? These book recommendations are for the brave souls who step off beaten paths and walk the margins […]

At the start of this tale, one Smoky Barnable sets off to marry Daily Alice—but first, he has to find her. Edgewood is off the beaten path, much like Little, Big itself—no ordinary dwelling place. The upstate New York mansion has three hundred and sixty-five stairs, seven chimneys, fifty-two doors, twelve (“twelve what? There must […]

Why are we so afraid of witches? What does it mean to be a witch? How does one get started with witchcraft? This list is geared towards answering these questions. If you’re ready to look deeper into witchcraft's history and complicated relationship with society, take a look at these fascinating nonfiction musings from a few […]

Do you love epic stories about gods and goddesses, but want a contemporary twist to the telling? One glance at this lineup of modern mythological fiction, and you'll notice that most of them have a couple things in common: they're written by women, about women. Maybe that's because mythology needs a female-centric recasting, a feminine […]

The word "witch" conjures a plethora of images: trick-or-treating children in pointy hats, a woman with a green face riding a broom, a trio of hags chanting over a cauldron. There are many interpretations of witches, and many many hundreds of books about witches in the world. Typically, this topic is owned by the fantasy […]

Need that perfect gift for the reader or writer in your life? Here's our lineup for 2023's best gift ideas, from classics to recent releases. Fiction For the Bibliophile Reading Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire is like stepping into an episode of Fawlty Towers or the British version of The Office, except in […]

Do you love magic, but don’t typically read fantasy? Fantasy isn’t everyone’s favorite genre, but the presence of magic in a book isn’t the genre-defining trait it once was. Literature-lovers rejoice: there’s enchantment to be found in the everyday world (of fiction). Supernatural and mythic abilities, creatures, beasts, and fairies, and even magic portals. You’ll […]