This book club celebrates the genre of magical realism, where ordinary lives touch the extraordinary, and the line between the real and the mystical fades. Each month, we'll explore novels from around the world that reveal deeper truths through magical landscapes and characters.

January: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
A generational saga of the Buendía family, where the magical becomes everyday in the isolated town of Macondo, revealing love, tragedy, and fate in a surreal, dreamlike Latin American setting, brought Latin American literature to the forefront of the global imagination.

February: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
This sweeping family saga blends Chilean history with mystical elements, tracing the lives of the Trueba family across generations. The novel portrays the interplay of love, politics, and the supernatural as each generation confronts change.

March: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
In this Mexican tale, food becomes a vessel for emotions, as protagonist Tita’s unspoken desires influence her cooking. Family expectations clash with passion, leading to a bittersweet tale of love and tradition.

April: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Two magicians’ apprentices are bound to a mysterious duel within a circus that appears without warning and is filled with magical wonders. The circus becomes a stage for both love and rivalry, blurring the lines between illusion and reality.

May: Beloved by Toni Morrison
Haunted by the ghost of her deceased daughter, Sethe grapples with the trauma of slavery and motherhood in a world where the past is inescapable. Morrison uses the supernatural to delve into memory, loss, and identity.

June: Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian
Set in the vibrant Indian American community of suburban Atlanta, this novel follows Neil Narayan as he grapples with family expectations and his own ambitions. When he discovers his neighbor’s secret magical potion made from stolen gold that can grant success, his life takes a darkly humorous and thrilling turn.

July: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Toru Okada embarks on a mysterious journey of self-discovery as he searches for his missing wife, encountering bizarre characters along the way. Through surreal experiences, Murakami examines loneliness, love, and the boundaries of reality.

August: Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
This surreal and inventive short story collection brings readers into bizarre worlds from vampires attempting to quench their bloodlust in a lemon grove to girls transforming into silkworms in a Japanese factory. Russell's stories are darkly whimsical explorations of human desires, fears, and the unexpected.

September: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
In Soviet Moscow, the Devil arrives to expose hypocrisy and challenge societal norms through a mix of satire, fantasy, and romance. This novel blend dark humor with supernatural chaos, questioning the nature of good and evil.

October: Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
In a small town full of secrets, Roza, an immigrant, mysteriously vanishes, leaving her friend Finn as the only witness—yet he's unable to describe her kidnapper. This haunting, layered novel delves into themes of love, perception, and the unseen complexities of human nature, blending magical realism with a poignant exploration of belief and identity.

November: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
Rose, a young girl who can taste emotions in food, discovers hidden family secrets with each bite. This bittersweet story uses magical realism to explore family dynamics and the power of empathy.

December: Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Born at the moment of India’s independence, Saleem Sinai’s magical powers link him to the nation’s fate. Through his life story, Rushdie examines history, identity, and the intertwining of personal and political destinies.