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Do you ever feel some sort of longing for a larger purpose? That the love that you and your dearest and best friends have for one another is somehow… magic? That your sisterhood is a little… witchy?
I’m here to tell you that it IS, and there’s nothing you can do to dissuade me. I’m bringing my dearest witches (Alice and Anne) into this in order to convince you- there’s a little witch in all of our sisterhoods!
Books for the Witches in Us All
Alice Hoffman
Is there anything more quintessential than the Practical Magic movie for Halloween? I’m here to tell you- YES! The book is absolutely wonderful and (having read it for the FIRST TIME this October), I have to tell you- will make you believe in the power of love, sisterhood, and friendship. Give yourself a treat and take some me-time to pick this up.
Bonus, there are TWO. MORE. BOOKS. in the series after Practical Magic.
Rebecca Wells
YA-YA. Who could leave out a book like this when talking about the power of womanhood? As Siddalee deals with the fall-out over a NYT article detailing her worst memories of her mother- she confronts every thing she ever thought she knew about the woman (with a little help from her mothers’ best friends- the Ya-Yas). Read this when you need a little bit of a cry and a little bit of a laugh. There are two more in this series as well!
Ann Brashares
Okay, this is most definitely a coming-of-age YA series. So if you don’t like YA, feel free to skip these. However- you will be missing out on what I frame as an essential series for any young person who feels out-of-place unless they’re with their friends. I definitely identify most with Tibby, and that’s all I’ll say about that!
Tamora Pierce
I’m going to phone a friend for this one… I um, haven’t read these and that’s probably going to make Anne and Alice a liiiittle mad. I’ve always been afraid to tell them, and I know I’ll get my comeuppance when it comes time to read something that they want. Anne? A little help?
Jane, I won’t hold this against you. But you can best believe that eventually this will be rectified! The Circle of Magic books are incredible. Four lost children (literally and figuratively) meet by circumstance at the Winding Circle Temple in Emelen. There they learn to heal and forge a strong bond, magical and otherwise. I love the adventures that these four kids have, and their bond taught me the power of friendship at a young age.
Further Reading: My Favorite YA Fantasy Books
Nora Roberts
So laugh at me if you want, (and I can’t help but laugh at myself a bit for this rec,) but I have always seen the three protagonists in this series as an allegory for the three of us… only without the scary warlock trying to kill us.
Key of Light: So I have ALWAYS identified with Malory from the first time I read this (waiting for Anne to wake up after one of our sleepovers, I might add- she always had the best books to read.) She wanted so desperately to be able to create art, but was sadly lacking the talent that she knew she needed. My secret is that I have always wanted to be able to paint, but I know that I lack that ability to transcend my own thoughts and feelings and to step into the messy world of creation. But Malory, with her two new best friends and a handsome love interest, step into a world of fantasy and, dare I say- magic?
Key of Knowledge- I always saw Dana as Alice- someone who was so practical, but had her head buried in books. Her instincts and smarts are essential when it becomes her turn to defeat evil.
Key of Valour- Lastly, Anne is such a textbook Zoe- she pushes the other two out of their comfort zone and has the fortitude to protect those that she loves no matter what.
Check out this series if you need a light sexy romp that will make you happy and believe in the magic of sisterhood!
Alix E. Harrow
The book is the story of the fight for women’s suffrage in the late 1800s in an alternative United States where magic and witchcraft are real. Witches were very powerful at one point in history but now due to the mass murder and burning of witches, there is only a whisper of witchcraft in New Salem.
Three estranged sisters must work together if there is any hope of bringing witchcraft back and thereby, improving women’s rights.
It is a very interesting concept that the author uses witchcraft as a metaphor for the rights of women like the right to vote or inherit or even to exist outside the norms. Especially when you look at history and the majority of women killed for witchcraft were women simply acting outside of the ordinary and expected behaviors of the times.
I highly recommend the book, especially if you loved the author’s other novel, Ten Thousand Doors of January. I seriously gush about this book in our October Book of the Month segment.
Happy Fall Y’all
-Jane
