Name: Linda Hacker

Job title: Circulation assistant at the Jackson County Public Library

What’s the name of the book and author you are recommending?

“The Spellshop” by Sarah Beth Durst

What made you want to pick up this book in the first place?

The cover is beautiful, and I had picked out a few words while scanning what it was about — librarian, introvert and magic.

Once you got into the book, what made you want to keep reading it?

I wanted to see if Kiela and her new friends would be able to use the illegal magic from the spellbooks to restore the island to its former peace and bounty. And, how the love interest played out at the end.

Once you finished the book, what did you like about it?

The magical aspect, but mostly because Kiela found acceptance from the kind islanders who were willing to help her along the way. Reading The Spellshop was like reading a charming, magical adult fairytale. I didn’t want it to end!

What is the book about?

As librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, Kiela hasn’t had to deal with many people. Kiela and her assistant, Caz, a magically sentient spider plant, have spent the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving the magic for the city’s elite. But when a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz save as many books as they can carry and flee to a faraway island, Kiela’s childhood home. Kiela hopes to lay low in the overgrown cottage her late parents left her and figure out a way to survive without drawing the attention of the empire. The empire had been neglecting the island people who depended on their magical intervention to maintain healthy livestock and crops. This neglect has taken its toll on the island and Kiela is determined to find a way to make things right for these quirky islanders. Her plan comes with great risk because the consequences of sharing illegal magic with commoners is death. But Kiela and her new friends decide to help themselves by using illegal magic in secret. Along the way Kiela learns to open herself up to these wonderful islanders and even learns to love them and herself.