Books are a uniquely portable magic. A well-written book, plot lines that sink their hook into you, characters that make you care for them, they can all transport you into another world for a time. It’s a magic that you can carry around in your pocket — or handbag. It’s an escape portal from a doctor’s waiting room, a boring work meeting {I won’t tell}, a long commute.
And this month’s reading gave me a lot of magical portals — from escaping into fantastical worlds, to the homes of the ultra-rich, traveling back in time to 1800s New York, straddling a fairy tale world and reality, crashing through threatening forests, and even to outer space!
May reading wrap-up
From fantasy to historical fiction, science fiction, mystery and thrillers, and satire, there’s something here for almost every kind of reader!
The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
Rainy March is a proud third-generation book witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps into and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes. Book witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real word; fictional characters belong in works of fiction…. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.
Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven and forced to give up her magical gifts.
But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.
This was a delightful book, filled with magic and charm, heart and wit. Perfect for lovers of the written word!
Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum
Alan Anderson is a powerful advertising executive and he’s up for the biggest pitch of his career. But when an anarchist farmer tanks Alan’s presentation, Alan bombs the pitch but ends the day with an epiphany. No longer will he exploit the insecurities of others in the service of capitalism. Alan is opting out.
This development is anathema to his wife, Vivian. She’s just a few positive affirmations, a swimming pool, and an exacting series of social tests away from finally becoming part of an elite women’s club in their adopted town of Greenwich, Connecticut. But as Alan moves into their backyard playhouse to live off the land, his commitment to a less-is-more lifestyle seems to be catching on among the neighbours. Could everyone want what Alan’s not selling?
A really interesting premise, but somehow it fell woefully flat. I was expecting a witty take on consumer culture, living with less, and how Alan’s decision would impact his family. But it was really difficult to get into this book, because Alan and his family are already obnoxiously rich. Alan opting out isn’t really going to affect them much.
And then there was his wife, Vivian. Manifesting a pool, oblivious to almost everything happening around her; single-mindedly focused on getting into an ultra-elite women’s club.
I get that this was supposed to be satire, but it was hard to really care about any of these characters or what happens to them. If you can get over the pretensions of the obnoxiously rich, you may enjoy the book. It is very well written, I will give it that! I just wish it was a bit more relatable.
Expected release date: 2 June 2026
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone. Or does he?
I don’t usually read science fiction books; they’re too science-y for me. And this book has a lot of science! But it also has a lot of heart, and I thoroughly loved every minute of this space adventure!
Dove in an Iron Cauldron by Hadas Knox
1850, Hudson, New York — As America teeters on the brink of civil war, the spiritualist movement casts an eerie spell over a divided nation. Fleeing the Irish famine and betrayed by her huband, May Connally is forced into Hudson’s shadowed corners. There, her gift for speaking with the dead becomes both a fragile salvation and a dangerous curse. Known as “the pretty little spiritualist,” May’s growing fame draws believers and skeptics alike—none more determined than Clement Stoker, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, bent on exposing her as a fraud.
When their worlds collide, May and Clement are pulled into a web of secrets, betrayal, and forbidden desire. As May faces the threat of the asylum—and ghosts from the past—her gift may be the only way to save Clement’s life. But will it set her free, or bind her in darkness forever?
This was very a interesting book, but also rather bloated. Knox spends paragraphs describing things that could just as easily and evocatively have been accomplished in a sentence or two. That’s the only thing that kept it from being a real page turner. Still, if it sounds like something up your alley, give it a go!
The Shattered King + The Half Hearted Queen by Charlie N. Holmberg
The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock. Nym, a healer and beekeeper, is the sole provider for her family of seven now that her younger brother has been sent to the warfront. But when a letter comes from the queen, summoning Nym to the palace to heal Prince Renn, the kingdom’s ailing shut-in, Nym finds herself making the tumultuous journey from her family’s apiary to the capital city. Nym is determined to fail the queen’s mission and return to her younger siblings as soon as she can.
But escaping the castle’s hold isn’t as easy as failing a simple test. Prince Renn is cold and distant, and his illness is nothing like Nym has ever seen before. In a moment of connection with Prince Renn, Nym manages to remedy the faintest symptom of his ailment―only to discover that no healer before has made such progress. Forced to become the prince’s official healer and a ward of the castle, and with her only hope of returning to her family hinging on the prince’s recovery, Nym must navigate the castle’s cruel and twisted court and uncover the haunting truth behind Prince Renn’s illness―even as she finds herself irrevocably drawn to him.
But in a twist she didn’t see coming, Nym, now, a captive and political pawn to the ruthless King Nicosia, finds herself guarding more than her forbidden feelings for Renn. Her connection to Renn is magical, and King Nicosia will stop at nothing to find Renn’s weakness and claim the kingdoms as his.
With the succession of kings on the line and a dangerous prophecy unfolding, Renn faces his own impossible choice. The future of the throne hinges on a political alliance that means forsaking his love for Nym. If he can’t fulfill his destiny and unite the kingdoms, King Nicosia will destroy them all.
Holmberg is one of my favorite fantasy authors, and this duology was magnificient! I spent 5 days completely immersed in her world, and enjoyed every moment of it. If you enjoy fantasy — or romantasy — add this one to your TBR pronto!
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is 77 years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.
When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.
Another delightful book by Backman! More fantastical than his usual books, and it was somewhat far-fetched, sending a 7 year old on a quest like this, but it was still immensely readable and thoroughly charming. I loved the fairy tale world that Elsa’s grandmother built for her, and how all the fairy tales she told her related to the people living in the apartment building. I found myself totally under the spell of Miamas and the wurses and the cursed sea angel. If you haven’t read this yet, I highly recommend!
What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. 22 years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her 17 stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering 6 women. They were heroes.
For decades afterward, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods―no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.
Oh my word! I inhaled the book in 2 days! The plotting, the twists, the web of trauma, secrets, lies, and betrayal — it was absolutely brilliant. While one of the twists wasn’t too difficult to predict, the others kept proving my theories wrong, and that ending — I did not see that coming!
If you enjoy mysteries and thrillers, this has got to be on your TBR list!
Over to you: What was on your reading list this month?
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