Do you love libraries? Some of my fondest reading moments have been curled up in a chair with a heartwarming romance or heart stopping adventure or running my fingers along the spines of tightly packed books to find the one that calls to me next. When I was a child, I wouldn’t go home with just one or two books. I took ten at a time because I loved to read and read and read.

The Astral Library is all of your favorite moments and so much more. Alix Watson is a financially broke young woman from a foster care background, trying to find her way in life and failing miserably. Her only refuge is the reading room at the Boston Public Library, where she can put aside her woes for a few hours. Until the day she accidentally escapes her struggles through a hidden door and lands in the Astral Library, guarded by the Librarian, who’s dealing with an enemy that’s threatening everyone the Library has sworn to protect.

Kate Quinn may be well-known for her historical fiction, but she also has enormous talent for fantasy. The Astral Library comes to life with all of your favorite books and thousands of others, cozy chairs and snacks, and the ability to jump into stories. The Librarian’s no-nonsense attitude combines and clashes with Alix’s often sassy nonstop wonder and eagerness to know everything. The layers of the astral world create a rich compendium of departments and characters, some helpful, some doing their utmost to destroy. The descriptions for the Library and the story jumps are vivid and rich in detail and flavor. There were so many times I wished I could take part in the tea parties or wander through the historical scenes. And the costumes . . . those magnificent works of art are so splendid I could count the stitches and beads and pearls.

The Astral Library will draw you in, prop you in a comfy chair, feed you scones and tea, and take you on a page-turning, roller coaster ride that plummets and soars and has you rooting for Alix while praying that she can defeat the enemy and save her magical world. A wonderful, thrilling story for book lovers everywhere, written with so much love and hope.