While I'm on the topic of magic...

I would love to see more needlecraft-related magic

Crocheting, knitting, sewing, thread- and yarn-making, weaving, embroidery, tatting... The whole nine yards

Every single time I see that post about feminine women who like to sew in fantasy stories I want to rec the Emelan books to every single person who reblogged it, but I know that isn’t the point.

But still the itch to rec this series I love and have loved dearly ever since I was a child is there whenever I see that post.

So uh.... if you are looking for a good fantasy series where one of the protagonists is a feminine woman who sews, and her sewing is quite literally the source of her immense magical powers, do I have the book series to rec to you!

The Emelan books are by Tamora Pierce.

You have probably heard her name before, but if you haven’t, you are in for a real treat because she basically wrote all of my very most favorite childhood series. I literally learned what menstruation is from one of her books when I was seven, her work means a whole lot to me. That wasn’t one of the Emelan books though, that was a Tortall book, but still, worth noting.

Pierce’s novels tend to be set in one of two fictional worlds, either Tortall or Emelan, and she loves to write quartets set in those worlds where in the next one the plucky young adolescent protagonists of the first quartet are the adult mentors people expect to know what they are doing.

Her Emelan books start with the Circle of Magic series, which is a great quartet about four misfit youth.

One of them is a homeless street kid who had to steal to survive and has been branded by their justice system with marks indicating that he is one conviction away from execution, one is a prickly fat merchant who was heavily bullied at her various boarding schools, one is an orphaned trader who was exiled from her people and culture after her family died and the fourth is a high ranking noble whose parents just recently died in a plague.

The four of them had all been assessed for magic at some point or another in their lives and deemed to be fully without it, but as it turns out each of them is extremely magically powerful in unusual ways that require different forms of teaching than regular magecraft.

They are all sent to live in a tiny cottage with two women (who are canonically a couple) who have similar magic and either can teach them themselves or know others who can, and the books are mainly focused on how they all became a family together (those two are far from being the only queer characters in these books. In fact, one of the four main protagonists is gay, and another is asexual. Although as of the most recent book in this series I have personally read that character’s asexuality is still a matter that is very heavily hinted at but only fully confirmed via word of god).

These are really really good books.

The magic these kids have only specifically works when concentrated on the element they specialize in. For example, the formerly homeless boy’s magic is focused on plants, the bullied girl’s on the weather, the exiled trader girl’s on metal.... and the noble’s on thread and cloth.

Most importantly for this specific book rec, large segments of the books are taken up with very loving passages about all of them working their craft, including the very feminine dress wearing noble lady whose magic is strongest when she’s sewing.

In short, if you are looking for a fantastic fantasy series where sewing is presented as a very badass and powerful form of magic, look no further.

The first book in the series is called The Circle of Magic: Sandry’s Book, and you are really in for a treat if you haven’t read these books before, they meant the world to me as a kid and continue to do so as an adult. In fact I find myself dwelling a lot on book four in the original quartet - about a deadly viral magically enhanced plague - these days.

IDK I just really love them and needed to get this rec out of my system because I see that post a whole lot and every single time I see it I really really REALLY want to rec these books.

Hermione Granger!

Hermione Granger: What is your favorite book, how many times have you read it, and why do you love it?

This is a tough one, because I’ve got like two I can’t pick between, so I’ll tell you about both!

Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) is a HUGE one for me. I first got those little abridged versions of books, and I struggled through that version of it when I was like… 6? 7? But my Nana had the VHS of the mini-series with Megan Follows (only like… the best adaptation ever in my opinion) and I was told I wasn’t allowed to watch it until I’d read the book. So, little me got through the book and got to watch it, and it remains one of my big reading accomplishments of childhood. I also just related so much to Anne, loving books and stories and it’s a feeling that hasn’t gone away. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it, because it was one I reread multiple times throughout school and I’ve got a digital form bought on my phone.

Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce is another one for me. No lie, her Circle of Magic series was also really high on my list of favorites (Only reason it’s not actually one of the two is because it’s a series). So when I was older and found out there’s more to the series, when the characters are older and I can still relate to them? YES PLEASE. I loved the found family aspects to the series, and the complications and troubles they’ve gotten as they’ve grown up -and been apart a while- were so important to me, because I’d grown up reading about how they joined together and I had to know. WotE also covers more mature content, so it’s a great example of a series aging with the readers. Also, I just love my main four. I grew up wanting to talk books with Tris, talk to Sandry about pretty much anything, hear all about smithing from Daja, and honestly, I wanted Briar to teach me to pick locks. Honestly, had a huuuuuge crush on Briar, which is a shame because you know… fictional? I’ve also lost track of how many times I’ve read it, because I’ve got a physical and digital copy, and whenever I’m really bored on the bus or something, I pull it out and reread it.