I want to read something fantasy-adjacent, surreal, or whimsical, but I’m having a hard time finding the right book for me. I don’t want the kind of fantasy that has a map at the front, political intrigue, or ‘something sinister afoot’. But I also don’t want the kind of fantasy that’s about a warlock and a werewolf falling in love.
I think I like soft world building, magical realism, and a modern setting for magic. Maybe something with the aesthetic of Practical Magic (the movie, not the book).
Modern magic that I find too saccharine would be like: The Midnight Library, The House at the End of Hope Street, If Cats Disappeared From the World etc.
I liked A Tale for the Time Being and almost everything I’ve read by Murakami– those aren’t really the vibe I’m looking for now but they’re sort of next door to it.
I realize I have a better sense of what I don’t want than what I do want but I hope someone out there knows what I mean. Thanks!
by SchoolScout