Book Pick for March 2026
Kate Quinn has appeared on my book picks before, and I have read others that I have never written about that continue to stick with me. Her usual genre is historical fiction – but The Astral Library is a complete departure from that genre. Instead, it is magical realism. The concept is beautiful to any book lover – a library that scurries you away to the land of a book of your choice. There are, of course, rules and one caveat is that the book has to be in the public domain.
Like all “book refugees,” Alix is invited to the library out of necessity. She finds herself kicked out of her apartment with less than fifty dollars to her name. She was brought up in the foster system and has no one to turn to nor any kindness to provide her with basic necessities. Books have been her only comfort as she has made her way through a difficult life, and she falls in love with the idea of the library immediately.
Her only dilemma is which book to pick to enter and how to dress for her abundant figure. At least that is what she believes, until she returns from a visit to a costumer friend properly attired to enter her chosen book, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne to find the librarian in a panic and the books rustling and alive, practically screaming in terror.
Unable to get answers amongst the chaos, Alix inadvertently latches herself to the librarian as the woman enters a book dragging Alix in the world of Sherlock Holmes and the mystery she had never wanted to escape into.
The situation becomes even more troublesome, as the librarian is alerted through the magic of the library to multiple book escapees in danger. As the pair hop from one classic book after the other, Alix finds herself as the protagonist of her very own book adventure as the pair race to save the library itself from destruction by the infiltrator thereby protecting the book refugees and even their own existence.
For anyone who has ever dreamed of living in a certain book world (Stoneybrook, Connecticut, I mean you) this book is pure magic. Even if you are only one who has ever dreamed from the life (and who doesn’t need that right now?) you will enjoy the ride. Truly it’s time to take a look; it is in a book.
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