I am having a great reading year and want to share more of the books I have loved so far. Here is my top 10 list for fiction in the order in which I read them.
Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie Holmberg. This is the first in the Whimbrel House series. (I also really enjoyed the second book in the series.) Writer Merritt Fernsby inherits a house on an island and goes to make it his home. Once there, the house traps him inside. Hulda Larkin from the Boston Institute for Keeping Enchanted Rooms is sent out to rescue him. It is a charming story featuring a mystery and a found family.
The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett. I read this for Middle Grade March and loved it. It is a reimagining of Anne of Green Gables. Grace is so determined to learn how to use her magic that she runs away from her orphanage to a witch that lives in the wood. The witch agrees that she will take her on as an apprentice if Grace can master 100 1/2 spells from the witch's grimoire. Grace learns lessons and makes her first friends along the way. I enjoyed this book so much I also read Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries which I also liked. Heather Fawcett is my favorite new author for the first half of the year.
Half A Soul by Olivia Atwater. I read this for Alexandra Roselyn's patreon book club. The book is set in an alternate Regency England. Dora was attacked by a fairy as a child and as a result has only half a soul left. Her cousin is determined to get her help and enlists the aid of a powerful sorcerer. This was my first introduction to cozy fantasy and I was hooked.
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. This is the book that everyone recommends as an introduction to cozy fantasy and I can see why. Viv, an orc, decides to retire as a soldier and open a coffee shop. She begins in a culture and a town that has never even heard of coffee. As she opens her shop, she finds friends and a found family. It is a warm engaging story.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. This is another cozy fantasy set in an England where witches hide their magic and avoid meeting together to avoid accumulating too much magic in one place. Young witch Mika Moon has always followed the rules, camouflaging herself in a video series featuring magical tricks. One day she gets an urgent message asking her to come and tutor three young witches. Despite the rules, she goes and gains a found family and a love interest. It is a lovely story.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. This hit the top of my favorite book list immediately. The relationship between Tova, an cleaning lady at the aquarium, and Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus is touching as is the way they try to help one another. Marcellus is a wonderful character, snarky and counting down the remaining days of his life. I highly recommend this one. I wasn't sure how I would like a book with an octopus as a character, but I loved it.
Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah. I read this for Krista at Books and Jams patreon book club. I was very unsure going into it but ended up loving it. Joanna Teale discovers a young girl in the woods around her house. The girl claims to have come from the stars and occupied her current body. Somewhat reprehensibly, Jo ends up taking in the girl and offering her food and shelter. The mystery remains: is Ursula from the stars or simply a runaway little girl?
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore. Sloane Parker, a librarian, enjoys her daily exchanges with the elderly Arthur MacLachlan. When several days go by with no sight of him, she violates library rules by finding his address and going to see what has become of him. The book club results as a way to keep Arthur engaged with the world. This is a touching story and a very good read.
Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. This is a homage to Little Women. The four sisters in the story read that and compare themselves to the characters. Julia meets and marries William as part of her plan for a perfect life. When he succumbs to depression and leaves and divorces her she is devastated and moves to New York Citywith her infant daughter to begin a new life. In the meantime her sister Sylvie, who helped to find William when he disappeared from their apartment, continues to feel responsible and visits him in the asylum. Eventually he recovers and William and Sylvie fall in love. This book made me sob. As one of four sisters myself, I really identified with the Padavanos. Hello Beautiful may end up replacing Remarkably Bright Creatures as my favorite book.
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer. Lucy is a teacher's aide at an elementary school who loves and wants to adopt Christopher, a child in foster care. Unfortunately her financial status, living arrangement and lack of a car are blocking her from being able to foster and adopt him. They enjoy together a series of children's books by Jack Masterton. Jack has not released a new book in the series for several years. He anounces that there will be a contest and the winner will get the manuscript of his new book. Lucy is selected as one of the contestants and goes to his island home hoping to get the financial boost she needs to be able to adopt Christopher. It is a lovely story and in my top three books of the year.
I also want to mention two nonfiction books this year. I spent February reading books on aging to select some for a group at my church, I really enjoyed several of them, but my favorite was Aging Faithfully: The Holy Invitation of Growing Older by Alice Fryling.
Another favorite nonfiction was The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery. I read this after Remarkably Bright Creatures. It is about a real life relationship with an octopus.
