Setting up for a new season of the witch

While it’s still September, for many of us Halloween can’t be here soon enough and to 

that end, Practical Magic 2 opened up in theaters last week to a pretty respectable box office tally despite mixed reviews from critics. From the reception online, it seems as if a lot of the fans of the original Alice Hoffman adaptation from 1998 really enjoyed it and since that’s who this movie was clearly meant for, I say “Well, why not?”

I recently saw the Devil Wears Prada sequel on streaming and yeah, it was okay but also directly aimed at those who fondly remember the original film (at least PM2 used one of Hoffman’s follow-up books for their script unlike the DWP movie). 

If you didn’t see the first movie, a lot of the references to it in the DWP sequel wouldn’t register with a newcomer at all. Might be the same with this sequel, might not, l can’t say. I had fun, though and that’s a necessity for your emotional health these days.

So I hope that the PM fans had a good time here and if you’re not in a hurry to see this movie just yet(going to wait for cable myself), you can kick off your spooky season reading with a witch themed read.

I found at least three books on my TBR that could scratch that literary itch quite nicely.

The most current is Meg Shaffer’s The Book Witch, where our magical heroine, Rainy March, uses her powers to protect fictional characters from being attacked by censorious outside forces.

When Rainy’s grandfather goes missing on one of his bookish missions, she teams up with one of her favorite book detectives known as the Duke of Chicago in order to rescue him. Unfortunately, Rainy also has the challenge of not getting too attached to the Duke, despite their chemistry growing between jaunts into other books.

Shaffer is very enchanting when it comes to weaving fresh storytelling cloth into familiar page turning tapestries and this novel promises to be the best sort of magical journey of the mind indeed:

For something a little more sinister, I do have The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn on hand.

Piers Corbin found out at an early age that she had an affinity for poison magic and over the years, worked to keep it under control.

However, in order to escape a deteriorating marriage, she used those skills to fake her own demise and fled to the small town of Balsam to start a new life with her Aunt Myrtle.

There, Piers learned that she’s the latest in a long line of bane witches whose ability to make poison a weapon against men who practice evil on a regular basis.

While restarting her life(and possibly a new love), the presence of a serial killer in the area means that Piers may have to be a death dealer in a way that could also be the end of her new existence in Balsam.

I have been saving this book up for the right occasion and it may be time for this scary story suppertime to begin:

However, if I’m in the mood for a more mellow read, then Sydney J. Shields’ The Honey Witch ought to be a sweet treat there.

As the title enchantress, Marigold protects the island of Inniafree with her bee charmer abilities from any and all threats yet the biggest danger can come from her heart.

According to lore, if a Honey Witch falls in love, she loses her powers and with the menace of the Ash Witch lurking about, Marigold doesn’t want to risk her new home. 

However, when the friend of a friend visits Innisfree, she feels the urge to tamp down her emotions or  her magic will evaporate, leaving Marigold vulnerable in more ways than one. Yet, it might be worth taking that chance…

This does sound charmingly cozy with a good dollop of romance on top of a storytelling sundae that suits this season just fine:

Whichever witchy read you choose from these or many other delightfully spellbinding options you find on the shelves, be sure to select your preferred fictional flavor and enjoy it as much as possible.

As for me, I’m not sure of which one to choose and as for the right movie, there is a certain long awaited sequel that I’ve been meaning to get to, one way or another, and before the end of October, I will pop some corn for that sisterly silly showcase, no doubt about that!: