Quick Book Reviews Blog

Haruki Murakami is a name needing little introduction, widely regarded as one of the more prominent authors in the realms of magical realism. His recent novel, Killing Commendatore , follows in the same tradition, following a young portrait painter from Tokyo who ends up in the mountain home of a famous artist. The discovery of an unseen painting in his attic unleashes forth a set of mysterious and inexplicable events, one which can only be closed through perhaps the strangest journey the young painter will ever have in his life.

Alix Harrow had only published a few short stories in collaborative works and magazines until 2019, when she finally graced her readers with her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January . In it, we follow the eponymous January Scaller as she tends to an old recluse in his mansion, and in the process finds a mysterious book which tells tales of danger, adventure, love, and perhaps most intriguingly, secret doors.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is quickly gaining a reputation in the literary world as an author who dares to explore the tragic chapters in American history, never wanting them to be left forgotten. In The Water Dancer , he takes us to the immensely bloody calamity which was the American Civil War as we follow a young man named Hiram in search of his long lost mother, as well as his own place in a world torn asunder by conflict.

Alice Hoffman has quite the unique flair in telling her stories, and The World That We Knew only further affirms this, taking us to an alternate view of Europe in 1941, colored heavily by the author's own brand of magical realism. The story follows a twelve-year-old girl, Lea, sent away by her mother to hide her from the Nazi regime. With the help of a Rabbi's daughter, Ettie, and a magical golem made specially for Lea, the trio set out on their own unforgettable adventures where evil waits at every corner.

The world as we have come to perceive it on a daily basis is something we refer to as reality, something that we take for granted and established. We cannot even fathom the idea that things are not as they appear to seemingly all of us, and yet that is the underlying philosophy of a warrior that hunts for knowledge: what they perceive is referred to as a description of the world, rather than being a reality.

To begin with, I feel I must open with the statement that this series of books by Castaneda needs to be read in the order they were published in; otherwise, you are going to have a hell of a time comprehending, analyzing, following and being entertained. If you haven't read The Teachings of Don Juan yet, I would suggest you begin your journey into this wondrous world over there.

We read plenty of books throughout our lifetimes, and sadly, most of them end up being forgettable, with only the titles being retained by our minds. However, very rarely, we end up stumbling on a piece of writing that touches us to the very core, challenging our perceptions of the world and making us rethink about what is in front of our very eyes. For me, The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda is such a book.