The author says in the acknowledgements "I wanted to write a book that reads like drinking hot chocolate." I think this is the perfect description of The Spellshop. I was warmed and comforted from the first page to the last. Keila escapes a burning city and returns to the remote island that was her home. She thinks she is not lonely because she has her books, but bit by bit, cinnamon roll by patched roof, the people of the island welcome her back. They help her create a home and a found family that I want to visit and be a part of.
Publisher's description:
The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst's romantasy debut -- a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love. Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz--a magically sentient spider plant--have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire's most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city's elite. When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she'd see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy--and very handsome--neighbor who can't take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she's fed and to help fix up her new home. In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn't have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries. But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island's first-ever and much needed secret spellshop. Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.
Publisher's description:
For as long as she can remember, Suleika Jaouad has kept a journal. She has used it to mark life's biggest occasions and to ride its roughest waves. It has buoyed her through illness, through heartbreak, and the deepest oceans of uncertainty. And Suleika is not alone. For so many people, journaling is a process of discovery, sometimes vulnerable and terrifying, always transformative. 'The Book of Alchemy' is based on the premise that journaling is an essential tool for navigating the challenges of modern life. We live in a world where we're not only forced to grapple with personal peaks and valleys but also global upheavals far beyond our control-political, social, economic, technological, environmental. More than ever, we need a space for puzzling through. Designed to be a companion through challenging times, 'The Book of Alchemy' will explore the art of journaling, offering encouragement, direction, and support to those looking for a way to navigate the in-between. It is designed to expand that space, giving readers tools to engage with discomfort, to ask questions, to peel back the layers, to uncover their truest self-and in doing so, to find clarity and calm, to hold the astonishingly beautiful and the often unbearable facts of life in the same palm.
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