I imagine Ravenclaw Tower to be filled with books. Ancient and long-forgotten library books that have never been returned to their rightful place; poetry books with underlined phrases and faint annotations; spell books with vivid illustrations; leather-bound muggle books filled with fairy tales and entire worlds; classics by the likes of Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Homer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dostoevsky; stacks and piles of well-loved children's books and of course notebooks decorated with drawings and filled with short stories, never quite finished.
I imagine Ravenclaw Tower to be a place where books wander off to. A place where no one questions the presence of a new book, seemingly appearing from thin air. And a place, where every paperback and torn piece of parchment is treasured.
So, in true Ravenclaw fashion, here's a bunch of book recommendations that I imagine would have a rightful place in Ravenclaw Tower.
"Emily of New Moon" by L. M. Montgomery. Everyone knows and loves Anne Shirley. But few know of Montgomery's other heroine, the introverted, poetic and thoughtful Emily Byrd Starr.
On the surface, Emily of New Moon is very similar to Anne of Green Gables. Both books are about orphaned girls, living with stern mother figures and growing up in the beautiful Canadian landscapes. Both are dreamers, pursuing the magic that hides in plain sight. And both are utterly charming tales. But the overall tone and portrayal of the two characters differs; resulting in two book series that feels worlds apart.
The Emily trilogy is more melancholic, more nostalgic than the Anne series. And Emily is the very definition of Ravenclaw to me; imaginative, full of wonder and striving uncompromising toward her dream of becoming a writer. This was the first book series I ever loved; years before I read Harry Potter.
"The Luminaries" by Eleanor Catton. The Luminaries is not a light read. Not only is it over 800 pages long, it's also based on a dark time in history and follows more than twelve characters, all moving through the pages with their own motives, heartbreaks and secrets.
Using a complex and dazzling structure, each main character represents a zodiac sign, while the supporting characters represents a planet. Every chapters begins with a moon chart in which the reader can see which zodiac signs will collide – and thereby interpret which characters will meet. Furthermore, the book is divided into twelve parts, each part half the length as the one before. Every word is counted and weighed, resulting in an incredible plot structure, the likes of which I've never seen before. The book is as rich and detailed as the starry night sky and the combination of history and astrology is a thing of beauty.
"Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen. Jane Austen was undoubtedly a Ravenclaw. Her books as well as her remaining letters ooze with intelligence and wit. While her novels can be enjoyed as beautiful love stories, they're also filled with satirical comments on wealth, manners and the 1800's general view on women.
Northanger Abbey is a tale of the young Catherine Morland who reads so many Gothic novels, that her imagination runs wild. She sees tragic love stories and ghosts everywhere she turns and cannot help turning even the most mundane happenings into dramatic scenes of horror. Catherine's imagination is tested thoroughly as she visits the handsome Mr. Tilney and his sister in their old and stately home; Northanger Abbey. Not only does Jane Austen set up a wonderful love story; she also crafts a satirical comment on how a book can colour your life – and your perception of the world.
"The Starless Sea" by Erin Morgenstern. I finished this book last week, and it still haunts me. Erin Morgenstern's words lingers in the air, like heavy perfume escaped from a precious crystal bottle.
The Starless Sea is a tale of a boy who opens a book and finds a door into a world he thought he had lost forever. A world of underground libraries, myths, ghosts, stories written on torn pages and people with ever-changing faces and names. A world of wonder, danger, adventure and love. And most of all; a world of ever-growing, ever-expanding stories.
Told through a hazy dream-like blur, this is a book for readers. People who have lost themselves in a book and never found themselves again – or perhaps only found themselves when reunited with pages and ink.
"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke. Reading this book felt like reading a historical document about real people and real magic. Filled with footnotes so long, they often take over an entire pages, this book is a brilliant new take on what fantasy can be.
Clarke tells a story of two gentlemen who consider themselves practical magicians in a version of England where theory has replaced the practice of magic. At first, the two title characters are comrades, then rivals and soon enemies. Their arrogance knows no boundaries and they gladly move rivers and rearrange entire countries with no regards to people or nature, in order to simply prove a point – everything set against a backdrop of the industrial revolution.
Not only is the book witty and enthralling, it also makes you feel like you're reading a biography of the history of magic in England. It is beautifully done and makes comparisons to Charles Dickens seem unavoidable. I've never seen anything quite like it – and I'm sure this book would belong in the Hogwarts library until it was kidnapped by a Ravenclaw student, hungry for reading material.
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