A Witch's Guide to Escape a Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E Harrow

 Link to short story: https://apex-magazine.com/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/

I've read this before.  Over and over and over.  It's a short story. that can be read in under ten minutes.  Shouldn't be anything worthy of a review, right?  WRONG.

Harrow has essentially written a beautiful love letter to books, libraries, and the special librarians who hold a special place in our hearts.  It's about the books people NEED, not the ones they or other people think they want.  It's about glorious escapism, coping, and finding and losing your place in the world all at once.

It is a short story.  It's perfect.  There's no reason to not give it the ten minutes of reading time and the mental space it will inevitably fill for the rest of your life.  This story sticks with you.  And rereading it is like catching up with an old friend.  You know it so well, but it's comforting to be aquainted with, once again.

PS: All of Harrow's writings are definitely worth your time.  The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a beautiful story with nods to classics like A Little Princess, Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, His Dark Materials.  The Once and Future Witches is historical fiction at it's finest, featuring women's suffrage and witches.  A proper review of both of these books will probably show up here at some point...