Fans pick 100 books like Lola

When I started this story, I honestly wasn’t sure where it was going. And to be honest, at the time, I wasn’t even sure I enjoyed fantasy all that much. But this story drew me in and made me fall in love with fantasy. I was floored by the intricacies of this enchanting and stunning tale of a found family featuring an elderly witch, a magical teen, a dragon, and a swamp monster.

Once I was in the story, it kept me breathless and stole my heart. Exploring themes of love, sacrifice, the cost of magic, and loss, this story is one I cannot wait to read again to discover new magical ways to be surprised.

This story is a winner, and I love it for so many reasons. It explores some tough themes in middle grade: poverty and classism, but at the root of the story, there is a boy who doesn’t feel like he’s good enough and a girl who can’t find her way in the world.

Through their eyes in an immersive and vibrant Thai village, you experience their journeys to finding who they really are. The writing is engrossing, and the plot keeps you guessing until the end. 

Reality and magic interweave with Korean folklore in this intergenerational family story that I couldn’t stop listening to. This deeply emotional story about a young girl trying to save her dying grandmother was captivating and magical.

Lily drew me in right away with her desperation, and the magical tiger didn’t let me leave. It was tense all the way to the end where I was left more heartbroken than I was prepared for. This is a story I’ll never forget and always recommend!

I knew I was going to love this book as soon as I saw the breathtaking cover. (Yes, sometimes I do judge a book by its cover!) This story takes place on a spaceship in the future that feels a bit too close to home in some ways, but I was completely drawn in by the mixing of science fiction, Mexican folklore, and storytelling.

Petra is a storyteller, like her abuelita, who was left on Earth when a comet destroyed it. I couldn’t get enough of the fast-paced stakes, heartbreaking realities, twists and turns, and beautiful storytelling. This is my ten-year-old's favorite book!

It’s rare to find a book that combines my two favorite horror subgenres–queer horror and parenting horror–but this book does that and more. With four different protagonists who are all, in one way or another, queer, this bizarre family saga delves into the surreality of grief and the questionable choices people make to protect themselves and the ones they love.

The true queerness of this novel goes beyond its characters’ various same-sex attractions and relationships; at its heart, it’s a queer story because it shows how we build families out of the rubble that’s left when the lives we expected to lead fall apart.

I loved everything about this book: the dreamy New York co-op apartment setting, the relatable main female character Clementine (a book publicist!), the lovable main male character Iwan (a chef!), and the fact that they lived seven years apart. I found it had the perfect balance of witty banter, romantic yearning, depth of feeling, and a sense of place. It also deals with tougher issues, such as grief in Clementine’s loss of her beloved aunt and a sense of self in Clementine’s search for her future path and the aunt’s own background. 

And, like every true romance novel should have, that incandescently happy ending! This is my favorite book I’ve read so far this year.

Not strictly a book about talking animals, in that the animal that talks is actually a human when the story begins. Lewis and Wren are going about their unassuming married life when Lewis is told by a doctor that he has one year until he turns into a great white shark.

A wacky premise that delivers so much more than expected, this beautiful, tender fable about love and mortality is packed with lovesick ocean creatures and mothers masquerading as Komodo dragons.

I immediately loved this book for its alternate history, detailed folklore, and dark academic vibes. I connected with the complex characters and a strong female protagonist who was fearless of social expectations. The unique combination of folklore and an archaeology background that I share with the author Heather Fawcett was something I found familiarity with instantly.

I enjoyed the alternate history where dark academia met with the more traditional Gaslamp-style fantasy fiction to create something new. This combination of dark academia, marginalized voices, and alternate history is a style I enjoy delving into the past in new, unusual ways and revealing voices that otherwise remain unheard.  

I love the magical realism aspect of this novel, which Benjamin handles with such a deft hand you don’t question whether or not the impossible is possible. A fortune teller’s prediction and old-world superstition create a heavy weight that exquisitely-drawn characters must navigate. The power of belief and its effect on destiny is a complex topic. Is it good or bad to know our future? Should we act on what we’ve been told? Should we ignore it? If we believe something does that make it happen? If we disbelieve does it not happen? Every character is a gem, including Klara: an extraordinary magician who convinced me we must embrace the mysteries of the world even if we can’t comprehend them.   

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found… Who could resist that?

I was glad I found this book and its author Evie Woods. She seduced me with her lovely writing and compelling characters. I loved the magical moments when a tree takes over a bedroom just to supply the occupant with books the tree thinks will help her.

I like the idea that no matter what baggage we carry—betrayal, abuse, lost love—we can grow, face our personal truth, and step into a wondrous world.