Month: October 2022

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My Favorite Witches (90’s edition)

Happy October!

I have been watching and reading lots of witchy things this season, and it has me feeling so nostalgic! I loved the new Hocus Pocus (which was done so well! The Sanderson Sisters haven’t aged a day!!) and have been watching Sabrina and Practical Magic on repeat all month. So I thought it would be fun to to honor some of my favorite witches for spooky season!

The Owens Sisters

Two is a magickal number: 2 is the very essence of duality, and Gillian and Sally Owens are the perfect duo – where Gilly is rebellious, Sally is prudent. Where Gillian is spontaneous, Sally is predictable. They are polar opposites, but together they complete each other.

Sabrina The Teenage Witch

Sabrina is the type of which many of us strive to be — navigating through the world, taking care of the people we love, and always using our powers for good. Yes, sometimes her magic causes more hijinx than heroism, but she can usually fix her mistakes and learn from them, and her heart is always in the right place.

The Sanderson Sisters

27 years later and the beloved movie Hocus Pocus is still watched every Halloween season, and the new sequel only solidifies this classic in witch lore. The Sanderson Sisters represent the quintessential trine, and are the youth-stealing monsters of myth that everyone loves to hate.

The Craft Coven

Nancy is who I think of when I think of the ultimate dark witch. She dabbles in shadow Magic, loves a good hex, and even taps into astral maniulation. But if Nancy is a dark witch, then Sarah is her opposite: a light witch.

Sarah Bailey is a witch who understands that right choices are not always easy to make. She could easily could’ve followed her coven into reckless and harmful magic, but instead she fights against them, even when they try to use her mental health struggles against her.

The Wicked Witch of the West

I can’t make a list of witches and not include her! She isn’t a 90’s witch, but she is a classic!

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Lighting The Wick

This is a really interesting book that glimpses into the ancient art and modern magic of candles. Packed full of wisdom and spells, this book is essential for witches of all paths.

Candle spells are one of the simplest form of magic. Fire helps to align yourself with the elements, focus your intentions and release your energy into the world.

This book offers a wonderful introduction to candle magic, and teaches readers how to harness the power of the flame. It covers everything from the history of candles to spells of all kinds: spells for love, money, career, health, and luck are just some of the things you will learn from this guide.

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Authors Sandra Mariah Wright and Leanne Marrama are professional psychics based in Salem, MA. You can follow them at @thepsychictea and @leannemarrama on Instagram.

Thank you to Tarcher Perigree for sending me an Advance Reading Copy of this title. All opinions are my own. #atpinfluencers

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The Watkins Book Of English Folktales by Neil Philip

These are some of the oldest stories, collected and told here in an effort to revive stories of the past. Some are old favorites and some are new to me, but I am looking forward to reading all of them! There are classics like The Three Little Pigs and Snow-White, and even more new stories like The Old Witch and The Gypsy Woman that I am so excited to read. And it is such a gorgeous copy, I am so proud to add this to my shelves!

There have been countless adaptations of these stories in literature, film, music, and performances across the ages. Even the ‘original’ stories that were written were adapted from stories that were passed down through oral tradition. Authors are drawn to revisiting literature and reworking stories in an effort to create a conversation between themselves and the great works of the past. This illustrates how literature adapts to a new age and its new media, making universal age-old ideas modern and relevant. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants. Giants here meaning major texts, “canonical texts”; texts that have withstood time; ancient texts that are still studied today; texts that offer ancient pearls of wisdom; texts that are referenced and made new by modern authors. These folk tales are those great texts.

Thank you to @watkinsbooks and @penguinrandomhouse for sending me this beautiful ARC of The Watkins Book Of English Folktales by Neil Philip. All opinions are my own.

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The OK Tarot

Tarot distracts your logical mind with a story. While your logical mind is distracted, your subconscious mind and intuition are engaged. Let your mind drift and allow the cards to speak to you.

If you chose:

Aᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ Sᴡᴏʀᴅs: 𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦， 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡， 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑓－𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
A hand bearing a sword. You are a leader, and are at the beginning of a victory. But beware of your own power: for a sword is double-edged, and can cut both ways.

Aᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ Pᴇɴᴛᴀᴄʟᴇs: 𝐺𝑜𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑， 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦， 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐿𝑢𝑐𝑘
A hand is filled with a coin. You have or will soon gain prosperity, financially or in business. Beware of letting your good fortune make you greedy.

Qᴜᴇᴇɴ ᴏꜰ Cᴜᴘs: 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛， 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑦， 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒
A crowned cup spilleth over. You have many talents and are admired by many. Let your cup overflow and use it to fill the cups of others.

This is my first time using the OK Tarot so I wanted to do an intuition test to break in the cards and give them a chance to speak to me. IMO all of these cards were probably cards I was meant to pull — tarot has a way of telling me what I need to hear, exactly when I need to hear it. I can also look at this spread as a personal past/present/future reading, or I can focus on the one card that called to me first. All methods are good methods of reading tarot: I like to use it as a tool for recentering, and I take the advice of the cards with the knowledge that the universe is on my side, in big and small ways.

Q: ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀʀᴅ ᴅɪᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴇᴛ?

If this is your first tarot reading, let me know what you think! And if you liked this reading lmk and if I should do more of them!

Thank you to @tarcherperigee for sending me the OK Tarot deck by @adamjk@oktarot#atpinfluencers

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The Five books that define your reading taste?

Five books that define your reading taste?
This was so much harder than I thought it would be! I went back and forth, but finally I pulled these together—I think they represent my favorite genres pretty well. I enjoy mythology, witchy fantasy, magical realism, nature poetry and classics. And of course my ultimate favorite is Jane.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It’s no secret that this is my favorite book. Anyone who knows me knows of my obsession with all things Jane Austen. (I wont go into it here because this is a post for the 5, but if you want to read more about how I fell in love with Jane read my blog post here!)

Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life

I love books about nature, because I want to gain a better understanding of our amazing home and how it works. We are all connected and I want to understand that relationship, and sustain it when I can. It is important as a human being to know about the world you live in. I believe it is our duty to protect the environment and hopefully make the world a better place, if possible. We affect nature, we are nature. Dickinson’s musings on nature give us all a great reason to remember and reestablish that relationship with Mother Earth, and I love coming back to the lines in this book when I need to realign myself with nature.

The Greek Myths by Robert Graves

I have loved Greek Mythology since I was a teen. I first read this book, along with Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, and they sparked a huge love of myths that I never could shake! I was lucky enough to be offered classes in both high school and college that taught me so much more about the myths, but I will never be done learning about them. C. S. Lewis’ Til We Have Faces was the first ‘myth retold’ that I ever picked up, but not the last.

Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott

I love this book. So so much! It is a lovely little collection of shorts, telling of all the good deeds done by the fairies of the flowers. Elves and Spirits, Kings and Queens, Roses and Clovers, Birds and Butterflies — nature spirits dwell all around us. “Few are the mortals to whom we give this lovely gift;” But, if you can learn to look and listen, you will find them, in the sweet melody of songbirds and the sweet scent of the flowers. This is essential cannon if you love fae folk!

The House of The Spirits by Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende is another one of my all-time favorite authors. I love her books and will seriously read anything she writes. I just love the way she weaves together history and whimsy and romance!

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His Hideous Heart: 13 Stories by Edgar Allan Poe Reimagined

𝕳𝖎𝖘 𝕳𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙 : 13 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑑𝑔𝑎𝑟 𝐴𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑒’𝑠 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑈𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑅𝑒𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑

Kᴇɴᴅᴀʀᴇ Bʟᴀᴋᴇ • Aᴍᴀɴᴅᴀ Lᴏᴠᴇʟᴀᴄᴇ • Fʀᴀɴ Wɪʟᴅᴇ • Rɪɴ Cʜᴜᴘᴇᴄᴏ • Lᴀᴍᴀʀ Gɪʟᴇs • Sᴛᴇᴘʜᴀɴɪᴇ Kᴜᴇʜɴ • Tᴇssᴀ Gʀᴀᴛᴛᴏɴ • Tɪꜰꜰᴀɴʏ D. Jᴀᴄᴋsᴏɴ • Hɪʟʟᴀʀʏ Mᴏɴᴀʜᴀɴ • Cᴀʟᴇʙ Rᴏᴇʜʀɪɢ • Mᴀʀɪᴇᴋᴇ Nɪᴊᴋᴀᴍᴘ • Dᴀʜʟɪᴀ Aᴅʟᴇʀ

This is His Hideous Heart, a collection of short stories inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. In homage to Poe and his works, thirteen celebrated authors have come together to reimagine Poe’s most popular tales for a new generation.

Some of the most interesting stories were the ones adapted from poems—Night-Tide by Tessa Gratton (inspired by Annabel Lee) and The Raven (Remix) by amanda lovelace were two of my favorites. I also really loved The Changeling by Marieke Nijkamp and Lygia by Dahlia Adler.

I love that Poe’s original stories are included in the back for people like me who love to compare and contrast the old verses the new!

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September Wrap-Up + One-Word Reviews

Pizza Girl — messy
Marionette — possessing
Funeral Girl 🎧 — ghostly
Marple 12 new mysteries — disappointing
Tales to keep you up at night 🎧 — layered
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau — scientific
Maria, Maria — fantastical
Melissa (previously called George) 🎧 — inspiring
Feed 🎧— discomforting
Neon Gods — smutty
Women and Other Monsters — feminist
Sistersong — folkloric
Selected Ghost Stories by Edith Wharton — spectral
The Mary Shelley Club 🎧— dramatic

Progress: 69/100 | 🎧 *audiobooks

ʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴀɴʏ ʙᴏᴏᴋs ᴅɪᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪɴ Sᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ? 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 14！

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 Tʜᴇ 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐴𝑚 𝐼 Cʜᴀʟʟᴇɴɢᴇ 

 Tʜᴇ 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐴𝑚 𝐼 Cʜᴀʟʟᴇɴɢᴇ 

ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ ᴏʀ ᴇᴠᴇɴɪɴɢ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ: mornings are for reading books, evenings are for listening to audiobooks

ᴀᴜᴅɪᴏ ᴏʀ ᴇ-ʙᴏᴏᴋs: my eyes aren’t as good as they once were (and I’ve needed glasses since I was 12) so honestly e-books aren’t easy for me to read. That’s why I love audiobooks so much, they are so much easier on my eyes

ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏʀ ɴᴏɴ-ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ: I try to read at least one non-fiction a month, fiction is my fav

ᴜɴʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ ᴏʀ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ sᴘɪɴᴇ: I try so hard not to break the spines, but it is inevitable for me! I’ll get halfway through, and then a action scene will make me nervous and I start bending the book and playing with page corners unconsciously 

ᴘᴀᴘᴇʀʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴏʀ ʜᴀʀᴅʙᴀᴄᴋ: both are beautiful

ɴᴇᴡ ᴏʀ ᴏʟᴅ ʀᴇʟᴇᴀsᴇs: I like older ones—whenever I read a new releases there is no one to discuss it with!

ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ᴏʀ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ: I love happy endings

ᴄʟᴀssɪᴄ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴏʀ ʜᴀᴛᴇʀ: I love classics! I think they can spark really important conversations

sɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴏʀ sᴏᴜɴᴅ: I prefer to read without distractions

ʙᴏᴏᴋᴍᴀʀᴋs ᴏʀ ᴅᴏɢᴇᴀʀ: bookmarks!! shoutout to anyone who remembers when I was making and selling them on etsy 

ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ᴏʀ TBR: I am a huge mood reader, and I am so crazy I coordinate my monthly TBR with seasonal themes!

ᴏɴᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴛ ᴀ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴏʀ ᴍᴜʟᴛɪᴘʟᴇ: I’m always reading multiple books at once. Yes sometimes I confuse storylines. No it doesn’t bother me!

 I’ve tagged some friends whose answers I’d love to see, but if you see this consider yourself tagged too! 

Louise Reads | myhoneyreads | sanjariti reads | paperbacktomes | Tessa Talks Books | Elaine Howlin | Spines in a Line | The Classics Club | Books With Michelle | BOOKSWITHNATASA

#bookchallenge #bookstagramchallenge #whatreaderamichallenge #bookchallenge
#meetthebookstagrammer #bookstagrammer

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