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14 Book Club Reads with a Touch of Magic
By Melissa Flandreau•March 11, 2022
Searching for your next book club pick? If your group is the mood for something with a little magic mixed in, these compelling novels fit the bill. Read on to see which one you should read — and discuss — next.
With Sarah Addison Allen’s newest novel, Other Birds, set to hit shelves in September, it’s the perfect time to pick up an old favorite for your next book club read. In Bascom, North Carolina, Claire Waverley tends to the magical garden that’s belonged to her family for generations and uses the plants that grow there in the dishes she makes as a caterer. But when her sister, Sydney, returns to …Show More ›
Midnight at the Blackbird Café
Searching for a heartwarming read? This charming novel, which explores friendship, forgiveness, and love, fits the bill. After her beloved grandmother’s death, Anna Kate returns to Wicklow, Alabama, to settle her estate. Anna Kate doesn’t want to stay long in Wicklow, where Granny Zee owned the Blackbird Café, but she soon finds that the town and its residents have a way of changing her plans.
Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop
Vanessa Yu has the ability — albeit an unwanted one — to read people’s fortunes in their tea leaves. But after a few especially ill-timed predictions, she moves to Paris with her aunt Evelyn, who’s opening a tea shop there. Evelyn, who shares Vanessa’s gift, also promises to help her get her power under control. But will France bring Vanessa the happiness she’s hoping for? Filled with vivid …Show More ›
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Night Watchman comes a profound and captivating story that explores identity, racism, grief, and ghosts. After years of incarceration, Tookie, an Ojibwe woman, is working at a Minneapolis bookstore haunted by one its former customers, Flora. As Tookie deals with the shop’s resident ghost, Louise Erdrich weaves a tale that a starred review from …Show More ›
In this powerful novel, bestselling author Alice Hoffman paints “a spellbinding portrait of what it means to be human in an inhuman world.” In 1941 Berlin, Hanni Kohn knows she must get her 12-year-old daughter, Lea, out of Germany and to safety. Then Lea meets a rabbi’s daughter named Ettie, everything changes when Ettie creates a mythical golem to protect Lea.
If your book club loved Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years, you won’t want to miss her latest novel. After her mother’s death, Katy decides to go alone on the Italian vacation that the two of them had planned to take together. But when she arrives in Positano, she’s shocked to find a 30-year-old version of her mother there, too. Heartfelt and poignant, One Italian Summer delivers a moving look at …Show More ›
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina
Described as a perfect read for fans of Alice Hoffman, Isabel Allende, and Sarah Addison Allen, this is a spellbinding story filled with family, magic, and secrets. When the Montoyas are invited to the funeral of their matriarch to collect their inheritance, they don’t get the answers they’ve been waiting for. But years later, the gifts they do receive have manifested and put them in danger. …Show More ›
The Boy with a Bird in His Chest
This moving coming-of-age story follows Owen Tanner, a young boy born with a bird in his chest. Because of his condition, his mother has kept him hidden away. But when a rare trip outside puts him in danger, Owen is sent to live with his uncle. “Embrace magic and suspend disbelief,” Kirkus Reviews says, “and this novel may just take you on a beautiful, necessary journey.”
Sharp and funny, this coming-of-age story is being adapted for television by Mindy Kaling. Compared to his older sister who’s heading to Duke, Neil Narayan isn’t particularly driven. But when his neighbor Anita reveals she and her mother are brewing a magical gold elixir that allows the drinker to take on the ambitions of the jewelry’s original owner, Neil joins them. And nothing goes quite as …Show More ›
When Lillian Breaker’s old boarding school roommate, Madison, invites her to Franklin, Tennessee, and offers her a job watching her stepchildren, Lillian agrees. But there’s one catch — twins Bessie and Roland burst into flames when they’re upset. Publishers Weekly says, “Wilson captures the wrenching emotions of caring for children in this exceptional, and exceptionally hilarious, novel.”
If you like your magical realism mixed with mystery, pick up Shea Ernshaw’s page-turning adult debut. Private investigator Travis Wren has a gift for finding people: All he needs is to touch an object that belonged to them. When he’s hired to locate missing children’s author Maggie St. James, the case brings him to a reclusive community called Pastoral — and ends in his own disappearance. Dark …Show More ›
Librarian Sarah Dove doesn’t just love books — they also talk to her, telling her who needs to read them. And when the books reveal that Dove Pond’s newest arrival, Grace Wheeler, can help save the dying town, Sarah knows she and Grace will have to find a way to come together for the community. With its small-town setting, memorable characters, and dash of magic, The Book Charmer is a delightful …Show More ›
When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve 1982, Oona Lockhart is expecting that the moment — which also marks her 19th birthday — will be the start of an important year. Instead, Oona faints and wakes up 32 years in the future, where she discovers that each passing year will send her somewhere else in time. Publishers Weekly says, “this witty, fantastical exploration of life’s inevitable …Show More ›
The Book of Form and Emptiness
After his father dies, 14-year-old Benny begins to hear the voices of objects, from sneakers to lettuce. Meanwhile, his mother, Annabelle, begins hoarding things. Seeking peace and quiet, Benny spends time at the public library, where the objects are calmer. The Midnight Library author Matt Haig describes Ruth Ozeki’s latest as “heart-breaking and heart-healing — a book to not only keep us …Show More ›
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