The best books that feel magical without actual magic

On the surface, this book is about a person haunted by a single incident from their past but beneath the surface, How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone is a gorgeous meditation on the moments in life that affect us, big and small.

The novel has a heavy subject but the stunning turns-of-phrase and imaginative world our narrator shares can make even the mundane and lived-in reality feel like the fantastical summed up in my favorite line, "Missing someone, they say, is self-centered. I self-center you more than ever."

Nicole Krauss creates a story that both speaks to and around the Holocaust while never really speaking about the Holocaust.

Instead focusing on the atrocities of the World War II, the novel talks about connection, misconnection, and the power of story. We get memorable characters like Bird, a boy whose nickname means more than his actual name because of how often he tries to fly, and Bruno, named for the Jewish writer and artist Bruno Schultz.

We look at age, how people can feel invisible young and old, but also how we can sink into grief without noticing, embodied by the line, “There are two types of people in the world: those who prefer to be sad among others, and those who prefer to be sad alone.” 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower makes you feel young again. It encapsulates the magic of youth, the struggle of youth, and the promise of youth.

I read it when young, scribbling notes in the margins for friends while reading the notes others had written for me. The novel asks you to become part of it simply by the narrator speaking directly to the reader, confiding in you.

Much more than a singular perspective, the story feels infinite, easily speaking to everyone in its specificity and showcased complexity featured in the idea, “…I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.”

The Instructions blew my mind from the moment I read the first page. At the time the novel was released, it took place in a near future recently reached.

We quickly dive into bullies, othering, and also the concept of judging without knowing focused on the lives of pre- and young teens, specifically Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee, our main character. The novel is over 1,000 pages but I will never forget diving deep into the story quickly and hungrily, wanting to devour every sentence.

“It is dangerous to exist in the world. To exist is to be threatened. We must live with threats.” The quote exudes Jewish anger, a possible messiah, but also fear, history, and violence making the pages feel magical and shocking, yet grounded firmly in our world. 

Three Assassins almost feels like the movie Bullet Train with Brad Pitt.

It’s a series of seemingly unrelated events that connect a network of assassins together and pit them against one another, knowingly or unknowingly. The novel itself is less about the action and pace and unfurls like a twisted puzzle, making every piece lean into a seemingly surreal universe.

We see all the characters, good and bad, their flaws, good and bad, and the ones we can stand up for, good and bad. “All the knowledge and science that human beings have, it only helps humans.” But even when we’re cheering, I didn’t necessarily know what to believe until I reached the end. Even then, I walked away holding doubts and a smile.