Penny Magic
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Fill your days with fiction. Helping readers read more and writers write more. Find us at pennymagic.co. Browse our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/pennymagicpress.
Whatever you loved about Frankenstein—the setting, the science, or the horror—we’ve got recommendations for what you should read next.
Five More Books Like Frankenstein — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
If you loved Frankenstein, here are five more suggestions of books you might enjoy. Whatever you loved about Frankenstein—the setting, the science, or the horror—we’ve got recommendations for what…
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What gets stirred up when we move to a new place? What do we leave behind in the old one? Read The Time Taster, a story by Matt Mills from Fairytales for Grown-Ups.
The Time-Taster — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
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Wondering where to start reading speculative fiction? Here are five classic books that make a great launching point into this wide and difficult-to-define genre!
Genre Jumpstart: 5 Books to Get Started Reading Speculative Fiction — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Wondering where to start reading speculative fiction? Here are five classic books that make a great launching point into the genre!
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Looking for a novel you can read in a weekend this summer? Check out our current favorite Bookshop recs. What other compact classics are we missing on our list? bookshop.org/lists/short-...
Short Novels You Can Read in a Weekend
From Henry James to Eudora Welty, spend two days reading a classic book that will stick with you long past the weekend.
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“Caroline flinched as the needle went into her arm.” This month, we're going back to our very first volume of stories, Fairytales for Grown-Ups, and bringing them out of the vault for you to read again, starting with You Should Be Alive, by Natalie Mills.
You Should Be Alive — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
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"A young woman in the street, walking in sandals with straps that were loosening and letting the dirt in, paused in an alleyway to fix her shoe when she sniffed the air, forgot about her shoe, and hurried the rest of the way home."
Raincatcher — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
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"At the edge of the town of Moorwick was the lake. There was always mist on the lake. But every once in a while, on a clear night when the moon was full, the mist parted and you could see the island.”
We Keep the Lamps Lit — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
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A dragon and a mug of hot cocoa. A stack of magical books and a tower you can’t see the top of. Sparks flying off the surface of a simmering cauldron and your feet curled under you in a warm chair. If you understand why all these things make sense together, these books are for you.
5 Classic Cozy Fantasy Novels for Adults Who Love Children's Books — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
A dragon and a mug of hot cocoa. A stack of magical books and a tower you can’t see the top of. Sparks flying off the surface of a simmering cauldron and your feet curled under you in a warm chair.…
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What happens when your dour cousin comes to town, dragging down your social life? One of our most popular classic short stories on Penny Magic, this story proves that some things never change, even 105 years after a story was written.
Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Read this influential short story from author F. Scott Fitzgerald, as Bernice visits her sophisticated cousin Marjorie and attempts to make her way upward in a changing society.
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Looking for a great gift for a new parent or an imaginative child? Why not give them a beautiful fairy tale collection that will work for the littlest child all the way up through the adult who loves to read? Here are five beautiful collections of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales.
5 Beautiful Collections of Fairy Tales from Hans Christian Andersen — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Looking for a great gift for a new parent or an imaginative child? Why not help them fill their bookshelves with a beautiful fairy tale collection, one that will work for the littlest child all the…
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“It was one of the dry years, the kind of year where the sun sucks even the dew out of the earth through a straw.” When a young boy hears the story of magic bones that can bring rain, he is determined to find them in this Penny Magic story from our first volume, Fairytales for Grown-Ups.
Rain Bones — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
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Inhabit worlds. Clear your mind. Make space. Looking for more great books that will inspire you to become a better writer? Here are a few of our favorites, from the more obscure to the well-loved.
Five More of the Best Books on Writing: Ursula K. Le Guin, Stephen King, and Virginia Woolf — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Inhabit worlds. Clear your mind. Make space. Looking for more great books that will inspire you to become a better writer? Here are a few of our favorites, from the more obscure to the well-loved.
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“Etta stood on her porch with her hands in her pockets. Behind the house, clouds rumbled with their burden of rain. No amount of wind could blow the storm past them tonight. It simmered above her, waiting to boil and break.”
One Good Storm: A Short Story from Penny Magic — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Read this contemporary short story with a touch of magic, the final story in our collection, Fairytales for Grown-Ups.
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Whether you’ve read a handful of short stories here and there over the years, or you have authors whose short stories you devour, here are four immensely satisfying collections of classic short stories to add to your shelf from classic authors like James Joyce and Shirley Jackson.
Four Satisfying Collections of Classic Short Stories from Famous Authors — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Whether you’ve read a handful of short stories here and there over the years, or you have authors whose short stories you devour, here are four immensely satisfying collections of classic short…
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"It was a hot, dry afternoon when Christina’s husband did that extraordinary thing, that thing no one else in Rustvale had done for as long as anyone could remember: He left."
The Star Map — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
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Have you ever been so swept up in someone else’s fictional fantasy world that you finish their story and find yourself desperate to write your own? Here are five starting points for telling a story or building a world that other people will want to inhabit too.
Five Fantasy Writing Prompts and World Building Ideas — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Have you ever been so swept up in someone else’s fictional fantasy world that you finish their story and find yourself desperate to write your own? Have you ever wished that you could build your own…
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A group of friends spend a last memorable summer night together, thinking of an enchanted bluff they plan to find someday, in this wistful short story by Willa Cather.
The Enchanted Bluff by Willa Cather — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Read this classic short story from author Willa Cather.
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“It was the summer of ’98 when all the magical creatures of the famous Fable Hotel went on strike.” The labor movement takes a fantastical turn in this Penny Magic original, The Fable Hotel.
The Fable Hotel — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
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Looking to meet some other love interests besides Mr. Darcy? Here are five authors similar to Jane Austen and the books or other writing we recommend from each of them.
If You Like Pride and Prejudice: Authors Like Jane Austen — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
For avid readers looking for more writers like Jane Austen, here are a few of our favorites, from E. M. Forster to Elizabeth Gaskell to Dodie Smith, along with recommended novels from each author. If…
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“Sharing a booth is the most personal thing in the world, aside from sharing a kiss or a mausoleum.”
Sunburn — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
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For those of us who are book-hungry, those mighty tomes can add up to more dollars than we’d like to spend. If you’re looking for a way to add books to your reading list without adding to your book budget, here are a few places you can find books online cheap or even free.
Best Sites to Read Books for Free: Libraries, Project Gutenberg, and More — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
If you’re looking for a way to add books to your reading list without adding an extra zero to your book budget, here are a few places you can find books online cheap or even free.
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“It was on the prince’s first voyage out, when he was only ten years old, that he first saw the oyster girl.” Sail away and fall in love with this Penny Magic throwback story from 2019, Oyster Girl.
The Oyster Girl — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
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One of the best ways to get your writing brain moving is by reading. Here are five flash fiction writing prompts to tackle based on famous short stories that you can read for free on Penny Magic.
5 Flash Fiction Writing Prompts and Ideas — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
One of the best ways to get your writing brain moving is by reading. Here are five flash fiction writing prompts to tackle based on famous short stories that you can read for free here on Penny Magic.
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"In Sylvia’s village, all roads leading away eventually led back again. You could leave, but the road would only hold you for a few hours before you ended up back in the village where you started."
On the Long Road — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Truthful stories of unreal things. A short story anthology website.
pennymagic.co
What kind of books does the new year hold for you: Penguin Classics, the BBC, or Rory Gilmore? We look at classic literature book lists to answer the question: What classic novel should you read next?
Classic Literature Book Lists: What Classic Novel Should I Read Next? — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Looking for classic literature book lists to guide you as you expand your bookshelf? Look no further. This is a list of lists for you to choose from as you look for your next classic novel to read.
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With all the other things that need to be done for the holidays, don’t worry about tackling a giant novel. Sit with a quick book (most of these have audiobooks under five hours), and get all the satisfaction of a novel well-read.
Another 5 Short Novels You Can Read in a Weekend — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
With all the other things that need to be done for the holidays, don’t worry about tackling a giant novel. Sit with a quick book (most of these have audiobooks under five hours), and get all the…
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“The worst part of the storm was that she couldn’t see her friend’s face anymore.” Climb a snowy mountain with a friend. Read White Vida from Penny Magic.
White Vida: A Short Story from Penny Magic — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
"Every step up the mountain got harder. At first she couldn’t feel her hands or her legs as she moved, and eventually she couldn’t even see them."
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Don't forget to support Penny Magic and independent bookstores by shopping on Bookshop.org this holiday season!
Penny Magic Press Bookshop
Delightful stories of literary & speculative fiction. Take a break from your everyday life and step into fictional worlds you've never visited before. Publishing original short stories and shining a…
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"Eagerly the wanderer spoke. She started at the sound of his voice. He could not see her well, because she was turned towards the darkness of the cave." Travel through the darkness with this classic short story from George MacDonald.
The Gray Wolf: A Classic Short Story from George MacDonald — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Read the story on Penny Magic. "One evening-twilight in spring, a young English student, who had wandered northwards as far as the outlying fragments..."
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Looking for a Christmas present for the person in your life who is always tucked behind a book? Look no further! Here are seven ideas for Christmas gifts, from big presents to simple stocking stuffers.
Christmas Gift Ideas for Bookworms and Readers — Penny Magic - Delightful Literary & Speculative Fiction
Looking for a Christmas present for the person in your life who is always tucked behind a book? Look no further! Here are seven ideas for Christmas gifts, from big presents to simple stocking…
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