“Impossible Creatures,” by Katherine Rundell (Alfred A.Knopf, 2024) Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post readers, to share their mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email [email protected]. “Impossible Creatures,” by Katherine Rundell (Alfred A.Knopf, 2024) Give yourself permission to read this marvelous, middle-grade book. A heroic quest, a coming-of-age story, an allegory — you decide. (It might be all.) Malun lives in the hidden Archipelago where “mythical creatures” abound, but are slowly disappearing due to the dwindling supply of mystical Glimourie. Mal is destined to help, but needs the aid of Christopher, who inhabits the Outerlands (the nonmagical world). Their mission is fraught with dangers and loss, but as they journey they meet friends and helpers and many magical creatures. Rundell has a keen sense of pacing that moves you quickly through the adventures. I am hopeful for a series. — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker “Shred Sisters,” by Betsy Lerner (Grove Press, 2024) ‘Shred Sisters’By Betsy Lerner (Grove) This novel depicts the impact of a child’s mental illness on family dynamics and the different, individual responses these family members have to the chaotic environment that that illness creates (notably tough love vs. unwavering yet enabling support). It also frankly examines what can lead a person to seek or reject treatment. Ultimately, it explores themes of enduring family ties, redemption and hope. — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver “Small Things Like These,” by Claire Keegan (Grove Press, 2021) It is Christmas 1985 in New Ross, Ireland, and coal and timber merchant Bill Furlong prepares to observe the holiday with his wife and five daughters.  As he makes his rounds so that his customers can have a warm house like the one he grew up in, he recalls the stroke of good fortune when his pregnant and unwed teenaged mother was shown mercy by her employer, Mrs. Wilson, who allowed her and her baby to stay on. After his young mother died suddenly, Bill was lovingly cared for by Wilson and her live-in handyman, a man who may or may not look a lot like Bill. An uneasiness comes over him in the days leading up to Christmas, a sadness that he cannot seem to shake. During a delivery to the local convent, he finds a young woman locked in a coal house, freezing and crying for her baby, who was taken from her by the nuns. He comes to understand that these “fallen women” at the convent were forced to work as slave labor at the brutal Magdalene Laundries, and give their babies up for adoption. Bill’s wife understands the power the church has over their lives and chooses to look the other way, but Bill must make a choice: to help her, perhaps as a tribute to Mrs. Wilson and the kindness she showed him and his mother, or to leave her to the fate that his mother might have suffered at the hands of the church. He knows that he will be in a world of trouble with his wife and family, but what indeed is the meaning of Christmas if we cannot help one another? (Note: Oprah chose this novel for her December 2024 Book Club, and a film released last year with the same name starred Cillian Murphy.) —  3 stars (out of 4); Karen Goldie Hartman, Westminster “The God of the Woods,” by Liz Moore (Riverhead Books, 2024) Themes of class, wealth, privilege, reputation and hubris run through this mystery novel. Two children of the same family go missing, a decade or so apart. Who is responsible? Who is covering for whom and why? Are the disappearances linked to one another? You’ll have to read this taut and tense novel to find the answers to these and other questions. (Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Award Nominee, 2024.) — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver