I talked about high fantasy. I talked about urban fantasy. Now it’s time to give you a list of books with magical realism.
Magical Realism is a subgenre of fantasy, but it is also realism. The setting is still the real world but there may be magical elements–elements that are considered normal in this world.
Genre: Fiction
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.09
Nora Seed has had it with her life. She wants to end it. But in her suicidal attempt, she discovers a library that only exists the minute between 11:59-12:01. When she is in the library, all time stops, and the books on the shelves are all her possible lives. By revisiting a regret, Nora could have seen all the different lives she could have had if she made different choices: if she didn’t break up with her fiancé, or didn’t quit the band. An inspiring story about the potential of our lives.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Genre: Classic
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.09
The book that defined magical realism. The story of the Buendia family and their conflicting desires for solitude and love.
- The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Genre: Short Stories
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.98
Eva Luna is a Latin American woman with brilliant powers as a storyteller. This collection of short stories is in response to Eva’s lover’s request to be told a story she had never told anyone.
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Genre: Horror
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.00
A man returns to his childhood home for a funereal. It is a place where, when he was seven, he encountered Lettie Hempstock, and being back brings back memories. Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide, scaring the then boy whom Lettie promised to protect.
- Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Genre: Historical Fiction
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.98
Saleem Sinai was born the midnight of India’s independence. He is one of a thousand children born at midnight, each born with a special power that makes them both a master and a victim. Saleem’s gifts are inner ear and sensitive sense of smell, giving an interesting look at India in the 20th century.
- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Genre: Romance
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.95
An all-female family in turn-of-the-century Mexico. Tita, the youngest, is forbidden to marry and must look after her mother. But Tita falls in love with Pedro and the magical food he makes. Pedro is desperate to stay close to Tita and does the only thing he can think of–marries her sister.
Living For Literature 