The title The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic caught my eye on the Goodreads Best Books of 2013 Poll. Intrigued by the plot promise of a grad student in both academic and amorous turmoil who enters a parallel world and learns magic, I promptly made the mistake of checking the book out from the library at the beginning of holiday time. Consequently, I took ages to get through the hefty tome due to frequent interruptions of a festive nature. I'm not sure then whether or not other readers would find that the middle half of the book bogged down a great bit. I enjoyed the book overall, but I was surprised to spend most of the time in a medieval world of mucking hay and mending pottery. My biggest issue was (view spoiler)[ the story never really returned to Nora's initial first three wishes given to her by the mouse man. We learn at the end of the book that the mouse might likely be the friendly wizard hanging out in Nora's world, but we never learn why her final wish would open the portal to Illisa's territory. Perhaps this wizard-granting wizard will be Nora's gateway to magic in her world? I find this facet of the story more intriguing than the battle against the Faitoren and wish greater time were spent exploring it. (hide spoiler)] If you really like fantasy books for women, then this would probably sit well with you.