Howl's Moving Castle

This book is a warm blanket on a cold day. It's a balm against troubled times and was the perfect thing to read while dealing with this stressful season. It's one of those books that ostensibly gets shelved for children, but is really for the parents to enjoy reading aloud. The prose is lyrical and beautiful. The characters are rich and vivid. And there's a snarky fire demon. I first read this book way back when the Studio Ghibli movie came out, and I think I appreciate it more now just because of my current headspace. Every night when I picked this book up to read, I got a healthy dose of escapism that let me actually sleep. I'd never not recommend this book, but right now, I think it should be required reading for all us anxiety-crippled, pandemic fatigued folks out there.