What’s magical realism?
Magical realism is a literary genre in which magical or supernatural elements appear in an otherwise ordinary world.
The only magic realism books I’ve read are pretty popular: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab, The Night Circus and The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I need to read more of them, so that’s where this list is coming from.
24 magical realism book recommendations
Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck
A newlywed couple’s life is shattered when the husband begins transforming into a white shark.
How can this be boring?
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
A man imagines his dog’s terminal illness as a battle with a monstrous octopus. It depicts the pain of inevitable loss through humor.
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez
A writer buries her unfinished manuscripts in a cemetery, where the characters refuse to stay silent and demand resolution.
Threadneedle by Cari Thomas
Raised in a strict magical family, a girl is forbidden from using her powers. When she defies the rules to save a friend, she unleashes dangerous consequences.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Fleeing a cult, a pregnant teenager escapes into the woods and begins a mysterious transformation. As she builds a new life, she confronts both systemic oppression and supernatural forces.
The Binding by Bridget Collins
In a world where painful memories can be removed and bound into books, a young apprentice learns the cost of this practice.
The Memory Garden by Meg Donohue
A grieving woman retreats to her childhood home, where a mysterious garden seems to blur past and present. As memories resurface, she uncovers long-buried family secrets.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
After his death in civil war–torn Sri Lanka, a photographer has seven moons to uncover who killed him.
All the Strange Folk by Alli Dyer
A woman who fled her Appalachian home returns with her children after her divorce to confront her estranged family and a mysterious death tied to her grandmother’s powers.
The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera
Two sisters flee genocide in 1930s El Salvador and, haunted by the spirits of murdered friends, go from Hollywood to Paris and San Francisco trying to rebuild their lives.
The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo
In dual timelines, a woman with growing powers travels through time while her grandniece in the present awakens her own powers and is searching for a lost child.
My Mother Cursed My Name by Anamely Salgado Reyes
After her mother’s death, a woman and her daughter are haunted by the grandmother’s spirit as she tries to orchestrate their lives from beyond the grave.
Awayland by Ramona Ausubel
After losing her husband and son, a woman joins a community of women in the Florida Keys who believe they can reach the afterlife by launching messages to lost loved ones into the sea.
When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
A woman with a dark past flees to a remote village where she becomes convinced she can transform into a bird and seeks healing through a healer’s cure.
Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez
After her cousin’s murder and her mother’s betrayal in late-1800s Egypt, Inez Olivera must accept a marriage proposal from former British soldier Whitford Hayes to secure her inheritance.
A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes
A man born with ghost-pale skin grows up in Jamaica alongside his soulmate Arrienne, lives a lifelong and unconventional love story that spans from the island’s colonial era into modern times.
Catfish Rolling by Clara Kumagai
After an earthquake caused by a mythical giant catfish fractures time across Japan and kills her mother, teenage Sora must journey alone into the dangerous, time-warped zones when her scientist father goes missing to try to find him.
Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian
A second-generation Indian-American teen discovers his neighbor’s family brews a magical potion made from stolen gold that boosts ambition. He joins them to help pull off one last gold-stealing scheme.
The Rock Eaters by Brenda Peynado
A short-story collection including surreal and supernatural events like children levitating and eating rocks or citizens losing their body parts.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
A runaway teen and an elderly man who can talk to cats embark on separate, mysterious journeys that intertwine through dreams, talking fish, and metaphysical coincidences.
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
After a lonely bookseller inherits a strange book that can open real portals to imagined places, she and her friend must evade dark forces and decide how much power they’re willing to risk to control those limitless possibilities.
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
A Dominican-American family gathers as matriarch Flor, who can foresee death, insists on a “living wake” for herself.
All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva
This short story collection places characters in strange, speculative situations, from genetically altered septuplets facing a mysterious illness to kidnapped schoolgirls who discover a disturbing power.
Get in Trouble by Kelly Link
A collection of nine short stories where normal people encounter unexplained phenomena such as ghost boyfriends and pocket universes.
You can find all the magical realism books mentioned in this list here:
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