71 books like The Wishing Spell

I was privileged enough to be a part of the first wave of the Harry Potter phenomenon. Like many others I’m sure, those books irrevocably captured my imagination, and sparked the flame of my own story-telling pursuits. I didn’t think there’d ever be a story that would match the sheer wonder and imagination that Rowling created. Then I read Nevermoor. And my imagination was re-captured in the same invigorating, child-like wondrous way. This book is something truly special. It’s full of wonder and wit, including a Willy-Wonker-esque patron, a giant talking cat, and a magical, room-changing hotel. And the setting… the setting is marvelously whimsical, magical, with just the right amount of menace to leave you enraptured. You won’t regret following Morrigan into Nevermoor.

A book about books.

Who hasn’t imagined the books they read coming to life in their living room or being able to dive into the fictional world? A father and daughter have a magical ability to do just that.

Unfortunately, the villain of one story was released and this sets them off on an adventure typically only available in books.

Meggie and Mo are an endearing father/daughter team while they navigate the consequences and reaches of their magic.

Lemony Snicket is no stranger to unfortunate events, but this standalone book contains perhaps the worst of all: the news that he, the author, has consumed poison while eating the first meal of the day. Of course, this being a Snicket story, there’s more going on. This book is a bit mystery, and a bit philosophy (or is it the other way around?). More importantly, it is also a meditation on the wonderfulness of books and reading, a part of life that remains important even if one is quite sure one has been poisoned and now has an indeterminate amount of time to discover the truth of what happened.

Children will find this funny. How could they not, when the entire book is through the perspective of an actual imaginary friend, getting up to mischievous antics? For adults though, it's more like Toy Story 3 as you realise the imaginary friends are contemplating their own mortality, wondering how they could possibly survive when their friends literally disappear once the human stops 'believing' in them. So, look, 50/50 from a comedic level. Solid 90 for overall enjoyment. 

A blast from the past. I feel this book never got the attention it truly deserved. From a sassy, headstrong lead, to a fashionable neighbour akin to Moira Rose, this immersive story is about friendship, determination, and a mystery here and there. I adored this character who was ahead of her time and always wished we had a little more Hazel Green in our lives! 

This book had me at “Cinderella is a robot.” Oh yeah. I grew up on Asimov and the Three Laws of Robotics. Dr. Susan Calvin was an early heroine. Princess Leia wasn’t just a princess; she was a general in the rebel alliance. At my core, I want to flip the pervasive Cinderella story on its head and regain feminine agency.

This book fits right into my core values of autonomy and individualization while catering to my ‘out there’ imagination. Yes, there’s a rich prince. Yes, he and Cinder are attracted. But she saves herself and him, as well as nudging their world toward rights for cyborgs. I believe Cinder gives Leia and Dr. Calvin a run for their kick-ass money.

I read this a few years ago, thought it was cute, and moved on. I recently reread it on a much deeper dive, and I found a story that was so much more than it appeared initially.

Gidwitz’s humor is excellent—I laughed out loud reading this. But he also touches on so many themes that are present throughout fairy tales while not shying away from either the darkness or the light.

I loved the way he combined some of the lesser-known tales with Hansel and Gretel to make something that was more than any one story had been before. It was something I wanted to replicate in my own way, and he does it so well.

This is the first in a series about kids who’ve had their Wonderland experience—gone to another world where they fit in, only to be thrust back to Earth.

I devoured this book with all the needy fervor of a girl who spent her childhood looking for hidden doors in tree trunks and waiting for her to be summoned to her calling. This doesn’t call from any specific tales. Rather, it combines elements from fairy tales across cultures and authors to create a world that stole my breath.

It also incorporates another story element I’m a sucker for—the school for “special” or “gifted” children. Only I hope I’d never have to attend this school because it would mean I’d found my place and then lost it again.

Most novels, fantasy or otherwise, use portals to travel between worlds—but why stop there? Story Thieves certainly doesn’t! It takes the whole concept of fictional worlds and brings it one step further—characters can physically step in and out of books, and even influence their contents.

Sounds interesting? I certainly found it to be, and read through each novel in this series within days of its release, not to mention several times later throughout the years. Should you be looking for a bit of fresh air in your library, this is certainly one choice worth considering.

An epic in every sense of the word, it’s taken me a few months to get through this behemoth of a novel. Originally Chinese and serialized on the web (though with an English translation), it didn’t immediately jump out to me as an item for this list.

But Coiling Dragon deserves a spot here, being very well received from both its English and Chinese audiences. Its author takes familiar elements of Western mythology, such as schools of darkness and light or the four basic elements, and places them against the backdrop of an Eastern-inspired world. Within, one youth’s heart-warming journey to immortality is vividly described—in such an enthralling manner that I can’t put the book down despite reading it in my non-native Chinese.