MAGIC? BELIEVE YOU ME!

It arose unexpectedly in reviews across this issue, in genres far-flung from one another, and from reviewers reading miles apart: magic. The term recurred in an endorsement, a surprise, a gift. Yes, magic came out in the expected places—stories of enchanted emporiums and dragons under spells, of surly Santa pairing with a patience-dry witch, and of trips to the underworld and other fantastical undertakings. But it also appeared in places we didn’t expect—where plays on genres surprised our reviewers, where daring suggestions emerged from everyday recommendations, in the life stories of our neighbors.

Magic—which is, as Stephanie Burgis’s The Girl With the Dragon Heart heroine names it, an astonishing and eerie phenomenon—is everywhere in these pre-winter selections, releasing in the storied space between the orange autumn and the December holidays. Find it in our features, which recommend new, provocative approaches to health and fitness, wherein your best self often starts within. Find it in the self-help section, where we are encouraged to defy expectations: to age with delight, or to self-care by cultivating our communities. Find it in the foreboding warnings of our history selections, which call out across time to prickle our senses and alert us to recurrent dangers in the poor treatment of immigrants and inattention to political rumblings.

We evoked it in our cover, too—a near fairy tale image from a photography book replete with pictures that tell whole, winsome, and surprising tales. As cozy weather descends and we look toward the escape of fireside reading, with snowflakes falling just a window away, you can turn to these books to find the magic that fits your desires best. Just remember the catch when it comes to enchantment: you may not emerge from the magical space unchanged.