List

The Secret Garden

By Amber Ilisie

For lovers of the cottage-core lifestyle and aesthetic, these titles explore the joys of simple living and the magic that can be found when we take a step back from the rush of city life.

  • The Secret World of Arrietty

    2012

    Based on Mary Norton's popular children's novel The Borrowers, this gorgeous animated fantasy tells a colorful tale of family, friendship, and the relationship between humans and nature. Being only four inches tall makes Arrietty's world feel endless, while 12-year-old Sho's world feels like it shrinks each day. The two forge an unlikely friendship as they try to navigate growing up and their differences in size.

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  • A Far Wilder Magic

    2022 by Saft, Allison

    Alchemist apprentice Weston Winters and sharpshooter Margaret Welty form an unlikely alliance in a magical fox hunt competition. Weston wants to further his political aspirations, while Margaret just wants her mother to come home.

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  • Summerland

    2020

    Set in 1940's England, Summerland is a story simple in its execution but great in its impact. Alice is a reclusive writer who has decided to live out her days in her seaside haven away from the war raging across the seas. After initially resisting taking in a young London evacuee named Frank, Alice goes through a journey of self-discovery and love as she learns to open up her heart to change.

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  • Flowerheart

    2023 by Bakewell, Catherine

    Teen angst meets magical hijinks in this breezy romantic fantasy. After accidentally cursing her father with wild magic, 16-year-old Clara must make a bargain with the local wizard to save his life—the local wizard being her childhood best friend. This is the perfect book for when you're craving a cozy night in and a friends-to-lovers tale.

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  • This Beautiful Fantastic

    2017

    Life blooms in enchanting ways, and the very strange Bella Brown is the most charming reclusive protagonist of all the titles on this list. All Bella wants to do is write a children's book, but after being threatened with eviction due to her wild garden, she strikes up a friendship with her cantankerous next-door neighbor, who wants to fix her garden and show her the beauty of nature.

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  • The Secret Garden

    1997

    A young, recently orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly isolated surroundings, and the secrets.

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  • Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

    2023 by Fawcett, Heather

    A Cambridge professor, scholar, and researcher on the study of faeries visits the hardscrabble village of Hransvik, where she gets closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones and resists her insufferably handsome academic rival.

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  • Over the Garden Wall

    2015

    Welcome to the Unknown. Two brothers, Wirt and Greg, find themselves lost in some strange woods that seem to transcend any laws of time. Bluebirds can speak and pumpkins can dance, and with a shadowy beast trying to lure them deeper into the forest, the two brothers don't know who to trust. This title is a little spooky but features jazz-singing frogs and the sweetest brotherly bond.

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  • WolfWalkers: The Graphic Novel

    2020 by Sattin, Samuel

    You're a Wolf when you sleep and a girl when you're awake. WolfWalkers is a beautiful Irish fairy tale that is a gift for fans of folktales and mythologies from other cultures.

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  • A Botanical Daughter

    2024 by Medlock, Noah

    Two Victorian gentlemen hiding their relationship in a botanical garden embark on a Frankenstein-style experiment, with unexpected consequences. This book is a little spookier since it ventures into horror, but it is an extraordinary tale about family and their gorgeous green sanctuary.

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