Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading.
Twitter: @MissLiberty
Hello, book lovers! We are up to our necks in fall reading, and so I thought I would lean into the fall feelings with today’s recommendations. These selections are cozy fantasy books with autumnal vibes about sustenance! Because he who controls the pumpkin spice, controls the universe. These aren’t the same fantasy books about food and drink that you see recommended all the time (but those are good, too), so hopefully you find some new-to-you books that you’ll love!
They’re Magically Delicious!
The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski
This is a new release out this week, and it’s giving off Practical Magic vibes. The Quigley sisters have gotten by reading tea leaves, ever since the death of their parents. But when the Council of Witches informs them that magic has left their city diviner, Anne, Beatrix, and Violet start to wonder about other lives outside their tea shop. Are they all destined to spend their days staring into the bottom of a cup, or can they break a family curse and take charge of their own futures? This is a heart-squeezy story of sisters, tea leaves, and destiny.
The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian
Fantasy and mystery—two great tastes that taste great together! In this series starter, we meet Zoe Faust, an alchemist. Zoe has just moved into a new home, and while unpacking, she finds something she definitely didn’t put into a box: a living gargoyle! His name is Dorian Robert-Houdin and he needs Zoe’s help deciphering a centuries-old text. But soon trouble is literally on Zoe’s doorstep, and the two will have to work together to solve a crime. And did I mention that Dorian is also a master of French cuisine? The book even includes recipes! If you love this, you’ll be happy to know that there are seven more.
Rutabaga the Adventure Chef by Eric Colossal
I adore this middle grade graphic novel with the heat of a thousand suns. Rutabaga is as advertised—he’s an adventure chef! He doesn’t just love to cook food, he wants to go out into the wilderness and forage for his own ingredients and create wild new recipes. While he’s out roaming around with his sentient kettle, who follows him like a dog, he meets several other adventurers and joins their quests. It’s a very Bone-like comic, but with much lower stakes, and it includes Rutabaga’s recipes for things like Ghost Mushroom Salad and Roasted Mud Leech.
Chai Jinxed by Emi Pinto (October 22)
This adorable fantasy is not available for a few more weeks, but it’s worth the wait. It will charm your striped socks off. Misha is pretty sure that she is unlucky. All her spells are disasters and she’s been ex-spelled from school again. (There was an incident with a frog. You know how it goes.) And now a rival teashop has opened its doors across the street from her family’s teashop, and if they can’t figure out what to do, they may have to pack up and leave. (Tea jokes, I got ’em.) So Misha finagles her way into the esteemed (es-tea-med?) Margaret’s Academy of Tea and Brewing to try and learn some magic to help her family. But a change of location doesn’t guarantee a change in luck, and Misha also must go up against the girl from the shop against the street. Can she turn her luck around when the stakes are this steep? (Lol, I hate myself.) Related: Pinto also has a scary middle grade book, Bee Bakshi and the Gingerbread Sisters, about a witch!
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What I’m Reading This Week
And Here’s a Cat Picture!
An orange cat fits in perfectly with today’s fall theme! It looks like Farrokh is posing for his senior portrait. Jk, he’s so badly behaved, he would have been expelled long before his senior year. Unless all cats are badly behaved at cat school, which would track, because they’re cats. If that is the case, he’d definitely rule the school. I may have to think about this some more.
That’s it for me today, star bits. I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me make lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.
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