After overdoing it on literary fiction in December, this month I decided to diversify the genres I read. I picked up two dystopian stories, two speculative novels filled with magical realism, and an advance reader copy of a Regency romance. I didn’t finish as many books as I usually do in a month, but I genuinely enjoyed and would recommend all of these. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Piranesi were my standouts. I really enjoy magical realism in books and these two did not disappoint.

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My Top Picks

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V.E. Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a beautiful love story that uses a deal with the devil as a frame to explore the deeply human needs to be remembered, to leave a mark, to be loved for who you are, to know that your life mattered. The prose engages every sense, from the smell of summer storms and damp forest earth to the gossamer wisp of touch on skin to a velvety voice whispering in the darkness. Despite her spirit of adventure and zest for life, Addie deeply feels the loneliness of drifting in and out of people’s lives, leaving behind only a fleeting sense of deja vu. The book is full of longing and resonant emotion and is absolutely gorgeous and devastating. I loved it. Get your copy from Bookshop.

Piranesi

Susanna Clarke

“The beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”

Piranesi’s house is an infinite labyrinth of halls, vestibules, and stairways filled with statues, oceans, and tides. The House is the only world he knows and its sole other occupant is the only other person he knows. He spends his days in wonder and respect for the gifts of nature, the knowledge of a distant world that he gleans from the statues in the House, and the way the House consistently gives to him and fulfills his needs. When another person arrives at the House, everything Piranesi understands about his world is shattered. Piranesi is an unusual, beautiful, immersive mystery filled with awe, curiosity, and gratitude. Get your copy from Bookshop.

Also Recommended

A Guardian and a Thief

Megha Majumdar

Set in a future Kolkata simmering with climate change, A Guardian and a Thief is a powerful story of the terrible lengths people will go to for their families when faced with the degradation of basic human needs like food, reliable shelter, clean water, and cool fresh air to breathe. Ma wants only to feed her young daughter and elderly father and get them safely on a flight to the United States. Boomba wants to provide for his little brother and prove to his family that he’s worthy. Over the course of a hot and hungry week, the two clash and cross moral boundaries in an increasingly desperate world. This is a well-written and thought-provoking but bleak story offering little hope as it explores themes of poverty, privilege, class, climate change, and immigration. Get your copy from Bookshop.

The Compound

Aisling Rawle

In The Compound, a beautiful young woman enters a reality show competition that is a mash-up of Survivor and Love Island. Unhappy with her life in an unexplained apocalyptic state, she is determined to be the final winner and spend her days living in luxury with every whim catered to. She is shallow, vain, and self-centered; maybe you have to be in order to win a competition like this. As the stakes rise and the number of competitors dwindles, she is pushed to increasingly extreme limits to achieve her goal. Will she find her morals or decide that it’s all worth it? It’s an entertaining dystopian thriller-ish book, if a bit slow. Read it for the same reasons you’d watch a show like this: unlikeable main characters behaving badly, creating highly entertaining, bingeable drama. Get your copy from Bookshop.