Feeling curiouser and curiouser? Then you’re in the perfect place! Wonderland is full of personalities just peculiar enough to match each of them with a book recommendation that is guaranteed to match their whimsy. Whether you fancy tea with a madman or an odd chat with a grinning cat, there’s a story waiting to pull you further down the reading hole.
No need to mind the time — just follow along for a fun-filled ride of good reads! Things are about to get wonderfully weird.
Alice — The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Harrow’s novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, takes place in the imaginative world of our main character, January, who mirrors Alice in many ways. Much like Alice, January is a girl caught between worlds. When January finds a strange book that tells tales of secret doors, she begins a magical journey through the mansion where she resides, moving through doors as she navigates the discovery of love, danger, and adventure.
This novel is brimming with rich metaphors and alternate universes, each door unlocking a new piece to the puzzle of January’s mind, similar to the landscapes of Wonderland that help Alice discover a world within herself. If you adore Alice’s perfect blend of whimsy and melancholy, The Ten Thousand Doors of January will be a perfect fit for you.
The White Rabbit — The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Secret History is a curious read, riddled with compulsive obsession that reflects the anxious nature of The White Rabbit. This novel follows a group of misfits who, with the help of their professor, become enlightened to a new way of thinking that leads them down a twisted path. The White Rabbit’s perspective is unique among the other characters wandering in Wonderland. While others seem to be caught in the bliss of the surrealism of their world, The White Rabbit is filled with nervous jitters that tint the scenes he appears in.
This eerie energy is consistent with The Secret History, a peculiar story that will leave you questioning your own reality. The group of students at the center of this story will step beyond the boundaries of humanity as we know it, entering an entirely new world as they fall deeper into their new perspective. The Secret History is guaranteed to be a perfect fit for any reader who enjoys being disturbed by the wonderfully peculiar.
The Mad Hatter — Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
Step right up to a peculiar world of bending logic and twirling time, where every character is mad in the best way. Like the Mad Hatter’s tea party, Nights at the Circus is an amazingly flamboyant and surreal spectacle led by Fevvers, the winged aerialist who is surely something far stranger than myth. As Jack, a journalist obsessed with Fevvers, follows her on her circus tour in search of the truth about her identity, the reader is taken on an unforgettable journey through life beyond our perception.
In Nights at the Circus, Carter serves up the same playful anarchy as the Mad Hatter, with a uniquely feminist flair. Get ready to relive the chaotic charm of the Mad Hatter in this gripping mystic novel.
The March Hare — Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin
Fever Dream reads like a trip to Wonderland gone truly mad, with jittery, fragmented urgency. Much like the March Hare, the characters of this novel speak in riddles that read like warnings that shift from nonsense to clarity in perfect timing. This novel will truly leave you on the edge of your seat as you try to keep up with its ever-evolving tone.
Exploring a complexly developing relationship between a woman named Amanda and a boy named David as they await their fates in hospital beds, this novel is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. If the March Hare’s frantic energy and nonsensical mutterings kept you on edge, you’ll be forever haunted by Schweblin’s Fever Dream.
The Cheshire Cat — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Smirking, cryptic, and never quite where you left it — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the Cheshire Cat in book form. Adams’ beloved novel refuses to take anything too seriously, sharing Wonderland’s love of the fantastical.
The book follows Arthur Dent, a man guided through a journey beyond life itself as he navigates through space with Ford Prefect, the researcher who took him from Earth. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy invites you to get lost in its immersive, irresistible magic. If you love the riddles that the Cheshire Cat has to offer, get ready for a step above with this cosmic novel.
The Queen of Hearts — A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers
Sharp-tongued and power-hungry, the Queen of Hearts would toast to Dorothy, the fierce food critic turned man-eater at the heart of A Certain Hunger. With each brutal bite, Dorothy strikes down society’s expectations of femininity and authority, much like Wonderland’s beloved queen screeches for heads with theatrical flair.
This novel is the Queen of Hearts with a sharpened knife, darkly witty and wickedly indulgent. If you reveled in the Queen of Hearts’ delicious rage, you’ll devour Summers’ A Certain Hunger.
The Caterpillar — After Dark by Haruki Murakami
Prepare to fall under the spell of Murakami’s After Dark, a novel that explores the hidden magic in everyday encounters. The Caterpillar’s questions linger in the haze of time, blurring the already faded line between illusion and reality in Wonderland. After Dark will leave you similarly dazed as Murakami’s characters drift through altered states of being.
Taking place in just one night, After Dark reveals how important it is to know when to question and when to leap. This novel, meditative and strange, is the perfect fit for any reader looking to embark on a beautiful, philosophical journey through time and space in their own home.
The Card Soldiers — Severance by Ling Ma
The characters of Ling Ma’s Severance share the order and control that center the lives of the Card Soldiers in Wonderland. While the Card Soldiers follow the strict orders of their Queen, the world of Severance follows a plague that quickly infects the world, creating zombie-like soldiers who live to work.
Following their orders to perform mundane tasks long after the collapse of modern society, the soldiers of Severance have the discipline that the Card Soldiers could only dream of. Disturbingly familiar and bleakly funny, Severance is the dystopian daydream you didn’t know you were already living.
From tea tables to talking cats, Wonderland has always served magic beyond our wildest dreams — and now you’re equipped with eight wonderful book recommendations that will help you explore the spirit of each character.
Whether you’re drawn to the wise, the chaotic, or the straight-up weird, there’s a little bit of Wonderland in every reader — here’s to finding yours!
Interested in the books that our team would recommend? Check out our Recommendations page!
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