Tag: practical magic

Hauls & Unboxings

Book of the Month | October 2020

bookishluna8 Comments

Hello and welcome to another BOTM unboxing! I think this month was the first month where I saw a book title and added it as my BOTM without looking at the other books. The book I picked I have been looking forward to for month since it is connected to a movie I love and have sentimental attachments to. Now, let’s talk about the book!

Picture of Magic Lesson by Alice Hoffman with a bookmark that says “Get Lost (In a story, that is).” propped up on pillows.

Description

“Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she’s abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the “Unnamed Arts.” Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. It is here that she learns her first important lesson: Always love someone who will love you back.

When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it’s here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. Love is the only thing that matters.” – goodreads.com

Why This Book

I already hinted a bit as to why I picked this book. But, incase you did not know this book is the prequel to the book Practical Magic. Now, since I was young I watched the Practical Magic movie that is based off that book with my mom and we continue to watch it from time to time. We always had a great time and made wonderful memories surrounding it. So, you can see why I jumped at the chance to know more about the background of the family. It is just one of those tales for me that is ingrained in my memories and has been a part of my life for some time.

Who would have thought sentimental reasons would be the cause for me to pick a BOTM? I sure didn’t think that would ever happen, but here we are. I am hoping to read it before the month is through. October is a good time to read a story about a witch!

Are you interested in the prequel to Practical Magic?

Sign Off 2020

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Wrap Up

Weeks in Review | November 11th-November 17th

bookishluna1 Comment

a week in review

Wow, another week has passed, I can hardly believe it. I feel like since November has started the year is going faster and faster. This week I was only able to finish one book, but I made good progress in my buddy read and I did end up DNFing another book. Not because it was a bad book, but because I didn’t really feel like reading it currently. So I don’t want to mention it because I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading it. Without further wait, here are my stats and reading wrap up from the pervious week.

Pages Read: 426 pages

Time Read: 4 hours

Reading Speed: 93 pages and hour

DividerBooks I Finished

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Rules of Magic

I absolutely loved this book! When I first started reading this book, I did find it enjoyable, but I did not expect it to be a 5 star read for me. While it was interesting the first few parts of the book were missing that spark that Practical Magic had. The by part 3 I was really dedicated to this book. I teared up, I felt for this family greatly. Then the ending came and I saw what Alice Hoffman did and I gasped “WHAT!?” when I realized who these characters were and answered so many questions that I had when I read Practical Magic is a wonderful show and not tell kind of manner. If you loved Practical Magic I highly recommend reading this, it does the story justice in my eyes. If you never read Practical Magic, you can start with this novel if you want a wonderful witch and magic filled read.

5stars

DividerI am Still Reading

A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay

A Noise Downstairs

I finally am caught up with this buddy read. So far I am on the fence as to what I think about it, but I am excited to see what happens next. The cliffhanger that I felt off on makes me want to read ahead, but I am going to control myself for the time being.

Divider

Books Added

The Witch Elm by Tana French

The Witch Elm

I have been hearing an awful or about Tana French and more specifically about The Witch Elm. I don’t know if it was because of all the witch talk around Halloween or just that it is a great book, but either way it caught my interest. Funnily enough I went to a few bookstores to find this book, so I am far from the only one interested in it.

“Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life – he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden – and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we’re capable of, when we no longer know who we are. “-goodreads.com 

Divider

Posts from the Week

Let’s Talk | TBR Jar Experiment

TAG | The Literary Dinner Part

Divider

What was the last book you read?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Lists & Recommendations

#Blogoween | Top 5 Books about Witches

bookishluna6 Comments

Blogoween

Prompt: Thursday 4th: Top 5 Books about Witches
List your five favourite books about witches.

This prompt is just wonderful! I love sharing books about witches, I don’t know what it is but I love reading about them all the time and throughout the year. I don’t know if it is because of my early love of the movies Practical Magic or Hocus Pocus, or just who I am and my beliefs. But, I just feel at home reading about witches. So I am here to share some of my favorite books that surround witches.

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

The Witches: Salem, 1692

So, this first book I always rave about. It is an amazingly written nonfiction account of the Salem Witch Trials. While this book does not deal with “real” witches, the theme and historical beliefs of what a witch are throughout this novel. This historical book is written in a manner that it makes you feel like you are reading a novel and I think it is perfect for people who are afraid to dive into nonfiction or have difficulties getting into the books they have tried.

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Many Authors and Editors

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

This is a great anthology dealing with witches stories. What I love most about this collection is the fact that each author either approached the idea of a witch from a different culture or different time period. Due to this it was a fast read that I loved. If you want more details I did write a full review here. I will add that I was given a copy by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

The Winter People

Now, this is not a typical witch book, but I think it deserves a place here. It is a mixture of  a thriller, paranormal, and horror. It really just depends on how you perceive it. I read this novel in one day and I really loved it. It went in a direction I did not think it was going to go at all.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic

Now, I know I only mentioned this book a few days ago, but it is the perfect fall book. The cover has fall colors and the book followed a family of witches, specifically two sisters who descend from a long line of witches. This story is heart follows twists and turns and the growth of these two sisters that is heart warming and filled with twists and magic.

Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe

Now I cannot make a list about books involving witches and not talk about the original witch according to greek mythology, Circe. This is a wonderful story that follows the life of Circle that is mentioned in Odyssey. I loved this book because it give humanity and life to this character I previously had no idea excited. It showed you the court of the gods and what happens when you are banished for something you cannot truly help. I really loved this novel and I can easily see myself rereading it in the future.

Divider

What book do you love that has to do with witches?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Lists & Recommendations

Blogoween | Fall Colored Covers

bookishluna3 Comments

Blogoween

Prompt: Tuesday 2nd: Favourite Halloween/Fall Coloured Covers
Gather your favourite covers with Halloween/Fall colours (Orange, Black, Yellow, Red, Brown) and share them in a post. You can also use books from your bookshelves to photograph and share on Instagram if you want

Todays prompt is something I am very excited about. I absolutely adore fall colors, plus it is a great way to jump into the month and really set the tone. So without more rambling, here are my favorite fall colored books!

Divider

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic

Not only does this book have an amazingly fall cover, it is a great book. I highly suggest reading this witch filled book even if you have watched the movie. It is very different and I love both the book and the movie.

Irena’s Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo

Irena's Children: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto

Irena’s Children is a perfectly yellow book that tells both a heart warming and heart breaking story of a women who travels into Nazi Germany to save young Jewish children from the horrible fate that seems to be inevitable. This is one of the best stories I have read of this kind. I vividly remember refusing to move from where I was to finish it even with others asking me to.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina not only looks liked a fall book, but it is great to read during the fall because the nights are getting longer and colder. I feel like this classic is best read during a cold evening with a blanket and a nice up of tea. This book is a timeless classic that tells a story of not only Anna, but those who meet and are related to her. I was very surprised to see that it held up so well so many years after publication.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist

This red, orange and yellow book is a short and wonderful read. It is thought provoking and tells a wonderful and mysterious story. For me this book led to a lot of self reflection and throughly enjoyed it.

Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard T. Chizmar

Gwendy's Button Box

This is a wonderful horror novel that is actually very short. I think it is a great one to pick up this month that will put you into a Halloween moon. I loved the concept of this book I really enjoyed these two writing together.

Divider

What is your favorite fall colored book?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

 

 

Lists & Recommendations

Recommendations | Fall Books 2018

bookishluna17 Comments

RecsSince the start of September, I have been wanting to share my favorite books I love to read in the fall. This time of the year I start to read more and hide away inside as the weather gets colder. The following books I think are perfect to read this time of year.

Divider

Little Women and Other Novels by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women and Other Novels

If you have been reading my blog for any time at all you will know that I love the Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott. Reading this series is like going home for me. It is cozy, warm, and full of love.

Divider

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic

While this novel is something I only read a few months ago, it has become one I really enjoy and I see myself rereading. When I was younger I would rewatch the movie adaptation of this novel a bunch of times in the fall so I see this as a perfect Fall read. Also, if you watched the movie, this is actually very different, but very good.

DividerLying in Wait by Liz Nugent

Lying in Wait

Lying in Wait is such an atmospheric novel, it is creepy, dark, and almost cold. It is a wonderful thriller. Liz Nugent has easily become one of my favorite authors when it comes to thrillers. Her writing style is very refreshing and different than others of her genera. If you want to know more about this specific book I write a review you can find here:REVIEW | Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent.

Divider

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favorite, if not my favorite horror novels. It is more psychological and leaves a lot of the monsters and surprises to your own imagination. I feel like that makes this novel so much more impactful. This is another novel that is atmospheric, you feel the story starting light and airy like Summer and it slowly morphs into something else. Just like Summer turns into Fall.

Divider

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

The Witches: Salem, 1692

While this is a non-fiction account of the events of the Salem witch trials, I think it is best to read in the Fall. The reason I see this is because I find that I always want to read more about dark periods of history this time of the year. I am not sure why, but I think it is because the days are getting darker and I want to read more intense reads. I will point out that this nonfictions read like a novel, it is not just a list of facts strung together. I think it is perfect for those who want to read more nonfiction, but tend to become bored or bogged down by these types of books.

DividerWhat book are you reading this fall?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

 

Hauls & Unboxings

Revisiting | Read 5, Buy 1 Challenge Vol. 2

bookishluna8 Comments

revisiting

Once again I am here with an update to my Read 5, Buy 1 challenge, you can find the original post here: Lets Talk | My Read 5, Buy 1 Challenge. I am still doing very well and I am very happy with my progress. This update I did find a bit of a loophole for my 5th book, but I am not mad about it since I still have removed 5 books from my TBR.

Books Acquired

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic

Description: When the beautiful and precocious sisters Sally and Gillian Owens are orphaned at a young age, they are taken to a small Massachusetts town to be raised by their eccentric aunts, who happen to dwell in the darkest, eeriest house in town. As they become more aware of their aunts’ mysterious and sometimes frightening powers — and as their own powers begin to surface — the sisters grow determined to escape their strange upbringing by blending into “normal” society.

But both find that they cannot elude their magic-filled past. And when trouble strikes — in the form of a menacing backyard ghost — the sisters must not only reunite three generations of Owens women but embrace their magic as a gift — and their key to a future of love and passion. Funny, haunting, and shamelessly romantic, Practical Magic is bewitching entertainment — Alice Hoffman at her spectacular best. –goodreads.com

I had to pick up this book when I saw it was on sale. I have loved the movie that is loosely based upon this novel since I was a young child and I have been curious about the book since I found out it was a book.

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

Emergency Contact

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other. –goodreads.com

I am curious to see if I end up liking this book. I hear either people are loving it or they end up really not liking it. This books seems like there is no middle ground.

DividerPrevious Updates

Revisiting | Read 5, Buy 1 Challenge

Divider

What was the most recent book you have acquired?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Wrap Up

A Week in Review | July 23rd – July 29th

bookishluna3 Comments

a week in review

This week I read a lot less than I have last week, but I am still very happy.  I read two books in full and one was a 5 star read. So I think overall, this week was a reading win.

Books I Finished

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic

5stars

So I ended up loving this book even though it is very different from the movie I love. I didn’t think I would react well to there being a difference, but it was nice. It kinda felt like the characters were maybe a different generation or something, it is kinda hard to explain. Either way, this is a lovely story of family, magic, and secrets.

DividerI am Still Reading

Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood

Rust & Stardust

 

I am still reading this eArc. I am enjoying it quite a bit, but it is so heart wrenching! I am happily reading away with some raw emotions.

Divider
NEXT BOOK

Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3: The War Years and After, 1939-1962

by Blanche Wiesen Cook

Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3: The War Years and After, 1939-1962

This is the third and final installment of the Eleanor Roosevelt trilogy I have been reading for the past year. I am excited to get to this stage in her life and I am looking forward to seeing how she is portrayed and what Cook focuses on.

“This is a sympathetic but unblinking portrait of a marriage and of a woman whose passion and commitment has inspired generations of Americans to seek a decent future for all people. Modest and self-deprecating, a moral force in a turbulent world, Eleanor Roosevelt was unique.” – goodreads.com

Divider

What are you currently reading?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads