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4.57 AVERAGE
4.57 AVERAGE
Gorgeous short story about the power of librarians and the books they lend.
A contender for a 2019 Hugo: What a wonderful story about a lonely and desperate kid and the librarian/witch who gives him books to ease his loneliness. And the power of a story to transform a mood or a life.
Read for 2019 Hugos.
This was a really good story about how libraries can give us escape. Harrow gives a lot of emotion for such a short story, and brings us into two characters and how they change.
This was a really good story about how libraries can give us escape. Harrow gives a lot of emotion for such a short story, and brings us into two characters and how they change.
“Books need to be read quite as much as we need to read them.”
This is one of those perfect short stories: one more word, and it would have been too much. The pleasure of reading it has to be furtive, a stolen quarter of an hour, hiding the screen of your smartphone from colleagues so they can’t see what you are doing instead of working. If they are the book and library-loving type, they’d forgive you.
I very strongly believe books can save people, can change them, can give them the tools they need to live better lives. A story like “A Witch’s Guide to Escape” encapsulates that idea and brings it to life in a handful of pages, where a very special librarian helps a lonely child find the book he needs the most.
I like to think that books really do have a life of their own, that they enjoy being in our hands just as much as we like to hold them, and sniff them and cry into them. So this lovely, opinionated unnamed narrator had me on her side instantly.
I think missed my calling : I should have been a librarian witch. Few things make me happier than to find a loving home for good books. I love browsing a messy used bookstore, find a weird thing and think to myself: “Oh, Jason/Erika/Amanda would love this!” and taking it home, as if I was sneaking a priceless treasure in my old tote bag. I push books on my nephews as if they were life-saving tools, which, you know, they are! I can’t be there to read with them, sadly, but I’m counting on those books to keep an eye on the boys for me.
I can’t give a story like this anything less than 5 stars. Ms. Harrow, I hope you get all the awards! I’m going home to sniff my books now…
https://www.apex-magazine.com/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/
This is one of those perfect short stories: one more word, and it would have been too much. The pleasure of reading it has to be furtive, a stolen quarter of an hour, hiding the screen of your smartphone from colleagues so they can’t see what you are doing instead of working. If they are the book and library-loving type, they’d forgive you.
I very strongly believe books can save people, can change them, can give them the tools they need to live better lives. A story like “A Witch’s Guide to Escape” encapsulates that idea and brings it to life in a handful of pages, where a very special librarian helps a lonely child find the book he needs the most.
I like to think that books really do have a life of their own, that they enjoy being in our hands just as much as we like to hold them, and sniff them and cry into them. So this lovely, opinionated unnamed narrator had me on her side instantly.
I think missed my calling : I should have been a librarian witch. Few things make me happier than to find a loving home for good books. I love browsing a messy used bookstore, find a weird thing and think to myself: “Oh, Jason/Erika/Amanda would love this!” and taking it home, as if I was sneaking a priceless treasure in my old tote bag. I push books on my nephews as if they were life-saving tools, which, you know, they are! I can’t be there to read with them, sadly, but I’m counting on those books to keep an eye on the boys for me.
I can’t give a story like this anything less than 5 stars. Ms. Harrow, I hope you get all the awards! I’m going home to sniff my books now…
https://www.apex-magazine.com/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/
I wish I had the words to adequately describe how utterly perfect this story is. It reached right down into the deepest corners of my self.
[For clarity, this is just a review of "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" by Alix Harrow.]
There's a point where books (or, well, short stories) about books tip into self-congratulatory rhapsodizing, and a point where well-intended social justice slips into a white savoir complex, and this stands at the intersection of both. I love it in theory, and the increasing inclination in portal fantasy metanarratives to interrogate the ethics of escapism is hugely relevant to my interests. And in practice, it's sympathetic--but also sanctimonious and twee in ways that directly undermine the intended themes.
There's a point where books (or, well, short stories) about books tip into self-congratulatory rhapsodizing, and a point where well-intended social justice slips into a white savoir complex, and this stands at the intersection of both. I love it in theory, and the increasing inclination in portal fantasy metanarratives to interrogate the ethics of escapism is hugely relevant to my interests. And in practice, it's sympathetic--but also sanctimonious and twee in ways that directly undermine the intended themes.
I love Alix E Harrow’s writing. I actually read this story first a couple of years ago, when I was deciding if I wanted to pick up a copy of The Ten Thousand Doors of January without borrowing it from the library first, as I usually do. I loved this story enough to just go for it, and I loved it (have since read her second book too and loved it also), and decided to go back and read all of her short stories I could get my hands on. It helps that this now has a Goodreads entry, so I can review it.
This one was as lovely as I remembered. Harrow has such a wonderful, gentle way of providing social commentary, but really packing a punch at the same time. Here, a librarian of the second kind (i.e. a witch), tries to help a Black teenage boy escape his troubles through reading. Soon, she discovers that escaping for a while isn’t enough, and decides to disobey her training in order to really help the boy.
This is a commentary on teenage desperation, broken systems, and the adults who could help, but don’t because of rules. It’s so uplifting and warm, and just kind. A worthy Hugo winner. I really hope Harrow collects all her short stories into a volume some day. Rating: 9/10
Blog: awonderfulbook.com | Instagram: katiemotenbooks | Twitter: katiemotenbooks
Merged review:
I love Alix E Harrow’s writing. I actually read this story first a couple of years ago, when I was deciding if I wanted to pick up a copy of The Ten Thousand Doors of January without borrowing it from the library first, as I usually do. I loved this story enough to just go for it, and I loved it (have since read her second book too and loved it also), and decided to go back and read all of her short stories I could get my hands on. It helps that this now has a Goodreads entry, so I can review it.
This one was as lovely as I remembered. Harrow has such a wonderful, gentle way of providing social commentary, but really packing a punch at the same time. Here, a librarian of the second kind (i.e. a witch), tries to help a Black teenage boy escape his troubles through reading. Soon, she discovers that escaping for a while isn’t enough, and decides to disobey her training in order to really help the boy.
This is a commentary on teenage desperation, broken systems, and the adults who could help, but don’t because of rules. It’s so uplifting and warm, and just kind. A worthy Hugo winner. I really hope Harrow collects all her short stories into a volume some day. Rating: 9/10
Blog: awonderfulbook.com | Instagram: katiemotenbooks | Twitter: katiemotenbooks
This one was as lovely as I remembered. Harrow has such a wonderful, gentle way of providing social commentary, but really packing a punch at the same time. Here, a librarian of the second kind (i.e. a witch), tries to help a Black teenage boy escape his troubles through reading. Soon, she discovers that escaping for a while isn’t enough, and decides to disobey her training in order to really help the boy.
This is a commentary on teenage desperation, broken systems, and the adults who could help, but don’t because of rules. It’s so uplifting and warm, and just kind. A worthy Hugo winner. I really hope Harrow collects all her short stories into a volume some day. Rating: 9/10
Blog: awonderfulbook.com | Instagram: katiemotenbooks | Twitter: katiemotenbooks
Merged review:
I love Alix E Harrow’s writing. I actually read this story first a couple of years ago, when I was deciding if I wanted to pick up a copy of The Ten Thousand Doors of January without borrowing it from the library first, as I usually do. I loved this story enough to just go for it, and I loved it (have since read her second book too and loved it also), and decided to go back and read all of her short stories I could get my hands on. It helps that this now has a Goodreads entry, so I can review it.
This one was as lovely as I remembered. Harrow has such a wonderful, gentle way of providing social commentary, but really packing a punch at the same time. Here, a librarian of the second kind (i.e. a witch), tries to help a Black teenage boy escape his troubles through reading. Soon, she discovers that escaping for a while isn’t enough, and decides to disobey her training in order to really help the boy.
This is a commentary on teenage desperation, broken systems, and the adults who could help, but don’t because of rules. It’s so uplifting and warm, and just kind. A worthy Hugo winner. I really hope Harrow collects all her short stories into a volume some day. Rating: 9/10
Blog: awonderfulbook.com | Instagram: katiemotenbooks | Twitter: katiemotenbooks
The world needs more librarians of the second sort, who deeply care about their communities and patrons.
I found this to be a great interpretation of Ranganathan's laws (https://www.librarianshipstudies.com/2017/09/five-laws-of-library-science.html), which are the sort of thing you only learn about in library school.
I found this to be a great interpretation of Ranganathan's laws (https://www.librarianshipstudies.com/2017/09/five-laws-of-library-science.html), which are the sort of thing you only learn about in library school.
Posting for my review of "A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" by Alix Harrow. Lovely short story about the power of books, and of librarian witches. Won the 2019 Hugo for short story.
Read "A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies", which can be found here:
https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/
It's a cute short story about the lost souls that so desperately need to escape to somewhere else.
https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/
It's a cute short story about the lost souls that so desperately need to escape to somewhere else.