The best novels to (re)immerse you in the magic of books

Reading Hamnet is like walking into an oil painting.

Maggie O’Farrell’s lyricism and attention to detail create a lush, fully imagined world as she tells the story of William Shakespeare’s wife, Anne, and the loss of their eleven-year-old son to the plague in 1596. It is a deep dive into grief, made beautiful by O’Farrell’s attention.

While technically not a book about books, it makes us consider the emotional undercurrent of writing, and it is one of the most radiant books I have ever read, so here it is.

Magical doors that appear out of nowhere, a fantastical book that may not be fiction, some truly sketchy villains, a quest, and an intrepid heroine.

The author had me at fantastical book, but what I love about this novel is the world and character building, that feeling of opening the cover and being somewhere that has nothing to do with ordinary life.

And yet, there is mystery. And romance. A lost father. A daring daughter. You’ll want to race through it, but slow down at the same time, just to savor the ride.

Natalie Jenner sets her story of post-World War II feminism in a bookstore in England.

Three women, each of whom has proved their worth during the war years, must now face the fact that men are taking the reins once again. And yet, as Jenner makes clear, it is the women who have the intelligence, the ideas, and the skills to make this stagnant bookshop a vibrant and thriving place.

Jenner has done her research, and I love the way the setting and characters come alive, as do some real-life literary characters (always wonderful when that works). It's never a question that things will change at the shop—but how that happens makes for a delightful and satisfying read.

I remember the first time I read this book, thinking how does she write sentences like that?

Thirty years later, I still do. Possession is the ultimate combination of literary geekiness and romance as two young scholars in the 1980s join forces to investigate a possible love affair between two Victorian poets. What starts as a mysterious letter found tucked into an old book in a stately British library becomes a cross-country adventure.

For those who ever wondered if it’s possible to combine the genres of romance and academic scholarship, Possession proves the point. Just make sure you’ve had your cup of coffee before reading.

An overworked editor. An egotistical bestselling author. A murder. A missing last chapter.

It might sound like something you’ve read many times, and yet, Anthony Horowitz takes it all to a new level. As our beleaguered editor, Susan Reyland, goes on a hunt for that last chapter, she uses clues from the manuscript—which quickly become clues that might help solve a real murder.

The book-within-a-book structure causes the reader to continually jump between fiction and reality (which is also, let’s remember, fiction). It’s a high-wire act, and Anthony Horowitz pulls it off brilliantly.