Violet💜

The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor pulled me out of a years-long slump after I finished grad school. It’s simply a story. It’s not complicated. It has alternating timelines with the modern time period set in a quaint, Irish bookshop. It’s magical realism, and there’s a little bit of everything. It’s a perfect fall read. This book is perfectly acceptable for a YA audience.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is both a historical and magical realism work. It’s definitely one I’d recommend for winter. This book would work for a more mature YA audience.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is outstanding and is a dark, adult retelling of the Russian Jack Frost. It’s the first of a trilogy and one I highly recommend reading in winter for the full effect. I always recommend it to readers and gamers who like the type of world and myths found in The Witcher. This series, for whatever reason, is occasionally tagged as YA, and frankly, I strongly disagree with that. That said, if you do fall more into that YA category, I still think this series is a good option.

Harry’s Trees by Jon Cohen is one people seem to either love or hate. Personally, I loved it. It’s another magical realism piece that twists fairy tales in a very dark, adult way. Cohen’s sense of humor is twisted (and I’ve seen some readers be deeply offended by some of it), but it works for the story and Cohen doesn’t paint any of his characters as saints. He blatantly pokes fun at the more offensive ones. It’s one I’d recommend to anyone who’s given up on their dreams or have found themselves stuck in a dead-end job. Not recommended for a YA audience.

I’m always going to recommend Book Lovers by Emily Henry if you like contemporary romance. Smart, snappy, and sexy with genuinely well-rounded characterization. It’s as much a story about family and healing as it is a romance. Everything’s tasteful, but not recommended for a YA audience.

Would You Rather by Allison Ashley is another contemporary romance in the form of two thirty-something best friends who decide to get married (this is not a spoiler) so she can go back to school and still have insurance. It’s one of those I wasn’t sure I was going to like at first, but the longer it goes on, the more real the characters all become. Not recommended for a YA audience.

I’m actually going to throw a couple of juvenile fiction recommendations out there, too. 

One of which completely changes depending on the age you read it. That recommendation is Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle. It’s a Newberry Award winner and is more than deserving.

The other is Sharon Creech’s The Wanderer. There’s a timelessness to it, a sense of grounded adventure, and it’s centered around the bonds of hope, love, and family. It can appeal to anyone, really.