Archive for Magical

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

April 11, 2012 · Filed under Children's Fiction, Magical, Meloy Colin

Another one from last year that Paul and I both read. This is a great big enjoyable book, that is very reminscent of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe-particularly with regard to the mean witch lady who practically offers turkish delight.

It turns out that outside of Portland there are the wilds-an area that no mortal goes into (except regular people have no clue that there is anything other than regular-mortal people.) But when the girl (Sophie??)’s baby brother gets carried off by crows she follows them and finds herself in the woods, dealing with talking animals, coyote soldiers, witch queens, caught up in feuding factions, and that her family is part of a magical deal.

This was just wonderful.

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

April 10, 2012 · Filed under Fantasy, Magical, Romantic, Taylor Laini, YA Fiction

This book got a ton of hype last year, which I totally resisted, then when I did pick it up to read it I could not put it down. I absolutely loved it (5 stars!) There’s a sequel to look forward to, as well. This is a difficult book to categorize-it does have a supernatural element to it (angels, fallen angels, the devil?), but it’s not a lame-o Twilight book.

The heroine is a fascinating teenager living in Prague (which is also fascinating).  Turns out she’s been raised by some supernatural beings that she can always find, but no one else can.  Her father figure carer is a terrifying creature, but caring and nurturing to her and along with some others the only family she’s ever had. She does not know the specifics of his work, but the reader can tell it’s unsavory.

Things start happening around the world and it’s all very good and evil, fire and brimstone, questioning what she knows. Romance, adventure, mythology, religion-all wrapped up in a detailed, exciting package.

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The Kitchen Garden by Jael McHenry

January 30, 2011 · Filed under Adult Fiction, Magical, McHenry Jael

[This book is due out in April. ] What are the chances that I read two books within 3 days that both feature characters with Aspberger’s? In this novel, though, the syndrome is central to the story.  Ginny is a 26 year old woman with Aspberger’s who lives with her parents in Philadelphia.  The story opens with her parents’ funeral after they die most unexpectedly.  Ginny is grieving and also has to contend with her controlling sister swooping in and assuming that she will make decisions for Ginny, including that the house will be sold and Ginny will move in with her. Ginny bristles at being treated this way, but really doesn’t have the skills to stand up for herself.
Ginny finds comfort in cooking and is quite talented in the kitchen.  The author’s food descriptions are, fittingly, eloquent and evokative.   In the hubbub of the funeral Ginny makes her grandmother’s recipe for ribollita and discovers it summons up her grandmother’s ghost.  It seems as though the ghosts she summons have messages for her, but Ginny cannot quite figure out what the messages mean.
I definitely felt an affection for Ginny and thought her sister was horrible.  It was so frustrating to see the way her sister treated her and see Ginny unable to speak out against it.  I adored the relationship Ginny has with the family friend/cleaning lady, Gert.  Gert seemed able to communicate with Ginny even better than Ginny’s family could.  The only flaw I found in the story was more than halfway through the story you realize that Ginny has never been labeled as having Aspberger’s.  Really? It’s apparent from page one (and says so on the back cover) and Ginny says that she has been all the way through school.  I know Aspberger’s and autism have become more commonly diagnosed in more recent years, but I do not believe that she went all the way through school without it being identified.  Ginny’s self identity as normal and how their is such a broad range of what is normal is important to the story but I think that even if she didn’t know about it others around her certainly would have.
Terrific food writing and I’d love to make some of the recipes-especially the brownies sprinkled with coarse salt.

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Deeply, Desperately by Heather Webber

December 7, 2010 · Filed under Adult Fiction, Magical, Mystery, Romantic, Webber Heather

You might find this hard to believe, but I have been waiting with great anticipation, for many months, for this.  I just enjoyed Truly, Madly so much that I couldn’t wait for this sequel. Happy to say it did not disappoint. Lucy is part of the Valentine family-a family said to be blessed? cursed? by Cupid himself.  Every Valentine in the bloodline can see people’s auras and make perfect love matches by matching the auras.  Lucy had the power zapped out of her by an electrical storm and it was replaced by a psychic ability to match people and lost objects.  The first book sort of set all that up and by now, in this second novel, she is officially using this ability in a new business venture, respected and trusted and working with the state police, and romance with sexy Sean is heating up.  The romance was actually the least interesting part of the novel to me.  I really enjoyed the stories of Lucy’s combination of sleuthing and psychic abilities.  There were several surprisingly touching moments, and plenty of humor too.  Happily book 3 is due out in February so I won’t have to wait too long this time for another installment of this charming new series.

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The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

September 21, 2010 · Filed under Adult Fiction, Allen Sarah Addison, Magical

I really loved her first two books (The Sugar Queen and Garden Spells)and couldn’t wait to read this latest offering, knowing that it would be a good story tinged with a tiny bit of magic.  Once again this is set in a Southern town with characters, history, secrets, and a little magic.  Emily is a teenager whose mother has recently died.  She’s never been to her mother’s hometown, nor met her grandfather, but she has no one left so that is where she must now live.  Julia grew up in the town, moved away and had to return when her own father died, but she set a strict two year maximum deadline in place and can’t wait to leave.  Emily has always known her mother to be strong, independent, moral, and an activist.  But she finds that no one in town remembers her that way, and furthermore they hold her (and by extension, her daughter) responsible for a tragedy.

Julia also has to contend with her past in the town being very different with her life as it is now.  Julia knew Emily’s  mother and so takes Emily under her wing.  There are some romantic storylines tangled up with mysterious secrets from the past. I liked this very much, though I have to say not quite as much as the other two novels.  There is quite a bit of build up for a family’s secret that, when revealed, I just didn’t think was that shocking.  But I can overlook that because I liked the storytelling.

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Petty Magic:Being the Memoirs and Confessions of Miss Evelyn Harbinger, Temptress and Troublemaker by Camille DeAngelis

September 8, 2010 · Filed under Adult Fiction, Funny, Magical, Romantic

Goodness I read this quite a while ago and am not sure what I remember out it. However I see that it is not even due out until the first week in October, so it must have been a prepub that I had. Let’s see…oh yes! I remember now. I thought this was delightful good fun-the story is told from the point of view of a very old witch who just loves to use her magic to appear as she did in her youth-beautiful, young, lively. And then she seduces handsome young men. Not for nefarious purposes-just to feel young and powerful again and have good sex. She always only has one night stands for practical reasons, but then she meets someone whom she does want to see again and again. Read the rest of this entry »

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Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

January 3, 2010 · Filed under Funny, Magical, Mystery, Romance, Webber Heather

I got this as a prepub-it will be coming out in a couple months.  I definitely recommend it.  Not only was this a nice romance, but it also had some mystery to it as well, and some really moving emotional bits.

Lucy Valentine’s family business is matchmaking.  While the world sees their success they don’ t know that the Valentine family truly does have a supernatural ability that lets them accurately match people together perfectly.  Unfortunately for Lucy she does NOT have the ability. Instead, due to an accident, her power is the ability to locate lost objects.  Double unfortunately she can’t tell people about it, or use it to help people.  Triple unfortunately, her dad has left her in charge of the business.  She thinks she can bluff her way through until he comes back, but then she inadvertently flashes on a client’s lost object-and sees it is on the hand of a murdered body.  Lucy finds herself matchmaking, trying to solve a years old mystery, trying to solve a current mystery, and trying to work on a romance for herself, too.

I thought this was funny, satisfying, the supernatural elements were believable and not over the top, and the mystery and suspense elements were not too intense.

Check it out when it’s available!

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The Good Mayor by Andrew Nicholl

September 17, 2009 · Filed under Adult Fiction, Andrew Nicholl, Magical, Romance

A look at my drafts shows me that I have not yet written about the past SIX books  I’ve read(The Good Mayor, Catching Fire, Beastly, Second Time Around, How Dolly Parton Saved My Life, Don’t You Forget About Me). Which is really dreadful. At least I wrote the titles in the drafts or I would probably not even remember what they were. I must get better about writing immediately after reading because that is when I am most heated up and passionate about a book (also will remember more details, like character names and such.) So, as I am sure they will all get short shrift in their write ups, but I am going to work backwards so at least some don’t. Thus, the book I finished yesterday, The Good Mayor.

mayorI absolutely adored this. I read about it in Chatelaine, a Canadian women’s magazine I subscribe to.  In the book section they often mention books that are really interesting to me, but not available here yet (if at all.)  Happily this one was easy to get a hold of.  This is a romantic charming, quirky story.  At its most basic, the town mayor is in love with his secretary, who is in a loveless marriage. She also loves him. One day they have lunch together and their love blossoms.  The story is told from the point of view of St. Walpurnia, a bearded nun who is the town’s saint and appears on all their official things and everyone prays to.  I can’t quite find the right way to describe the style of writing-it was sweet, it was funny, hmmm…does a review on amazon say it better than I can? Hmmm, no. Whimsical, fairy-taleish, magical, are all words used in the reviews, and I do agree with them.  It’s just charming, that’s really the best I can do. One of the things that I thought was so delightful about it (and adds to the fairy tale quality) was the not-real place and unspecified time. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce

March 12, 2009 · Filed under Bunce Elizabeth, Fairy Tale, Magical, YA Fiction

curseThis lovely fairy tale retelling was the first ever recipient of YALSA’s William C. Morris Award (for a first time young adult author.)  I happen to really enjoy fairy tale retellings, but I think this stands on its own as just a wonderful novel and, as you might expect from an award winner, it is absolutely beautifully written. When I finished it I wished it had been my book club book because there are so many things to talk about in this novel:  comparison to the original Rumpelstiltskin story, the time period-on the verge of the Industrial Revolution, the mill as an actual character itself Read the rest of this entry »

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Bedknob and Broomstick by Mary Norton

September 22, 2008 · Filed under Children's Fiction, Magical, Norton Mary

(I just took a look at how many drafts I have. I need to get cracking!)

So this title was most familiar to me as the Disney movie.  It was extremely popular at the library and, knowing nothing about it, I thought it seemed weird and unappealing.  I also thought it was BedknobS and BroomstickS, plural.  Well, it’ s not. It’s one of each.  Paul brought the book home for me and I decided to give it a try.

It was charming! I am sorry for my nine year old self that I didn’t read it at that time because I’m sure I would have especially enjoyed it then.

In brief, 3 children meet a witch in training who gives them the ability to go wherever they want by turning a bedknob and traveling there instantly via the bed.  My only disappointment with the story was that I assumed the book would be chronicling all the places they go, when in fact they only go two places.  The secand half of the story permits them to travel through time.  A lovely old fashioned story, complete with cannibal savages for a little adventure. It reminds me of Half Magic and would be a good suggestion for fans of those type stories.

*a quick look at Amazon shows the reason I thought this story was called Bedknobs and Broomsticks, plural, is because that was what the movie was called.

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