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juushikaI've been plagued by a bit of a cough these last few days, edging towards a bit of congestion. So far it's mild and brainfog-free, but for those of you keeping score at home that makes for five fucking assorted illness so far this year. Back when I never left the house I used to max out at one a year, maybe, if it was a bad year. This, my friends, is ridiculous. We didn't even do anything this time! It's been a quiet week. I started exhibiting symptoms before our one real social-event-featuring-children. We didn't even go in a toy store! I don't even know anymore.
But that's not why I'm writing.
I love Practical Magic the movie—that wonderful combination of magic and wish fulfillment, humor (which actually works for me), strong characterization and strong female characters, setting-as-character, fluff and heart but something wry enough to keep it from being sap. I did not particularly enjoy Practical Magic the book, which may not be its fault (I picked it up second, and have an unshakable bias to what I encounter first) but is nonetheless true—it lacked the film's heart, it was a bit bitter, and little of it stuck with me. In fact, this sort of material is something that I rarely look for in books. Garden Spells was a fun little read, but I tend to have less patience for, or interest in, fluff in my reading material.
Right now, however, I'm sort of craving it. But this is hardly my area of expertise. So:
Recommend me some books that feel like Practical Magic the movie, if you would! Maybe a New England or Southern setting, maybe a remarkable rambling house; probably some strong, or at least well-developed, female characters; the sort of fantasy and magic that makes you want to light candles and plant lavender for luck: maybe not all fluff, but certainly a bit idealized, maybe something like you wish Wicca could actually be; perhaps a little light and funny and feel-good, but maybe a bit incisive or irreverent or dark to balance that out.
It does occur to me that even if Practical Magic the book didn't work out, other Alice Hoffman novels might satisfy this witchy-woman book craving. Is there an ideal place to start with her work, or a specific book that would best fit these qualifications?
Crossposted here on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
bookish.
But that's not why I'm writing.
I love Practical Magic the movie—that wonderful combination of magic and wish fulfillment, humor (which actually works for me), strong characterization and strong female characters, setting-as-character, fluff and heart but something wry enough to keep it from being sap. I did not particularly enjoy Practical Magic the book, which may not be its fault (I picked it up second, and have an unshakable bias to what I encounter first) but is nonetheless true—it lacked the film's heart, it was a bit bitter, and little of it stuck with me. In fact, this sort of material is something that I rarely look for in books. Garden Spells was a fun little read, but I tend to have less patience for, or interest in, fluff in my reading material.
Right now, however, I'm sort of craving it. But this is hardly my area of expertise. So:
Recommend me some books that feel like Practical Magic the movie, if you would! Maybe a New England or Southern setting, maybe a remarkable rambling house; probably some strong, or at least well-developed, female characters; the sort of fantasy and magic that makes you want to light candles and plant lavender for luck: maybe not all fluff, but certainly a bit idealized, maybe something like you wish Wicca could actually be; perhaps a little light and funny and feel-good, but maybe a bit incisive or irreverent or dark to balance that out.
It does occur to me that even if Practical Magic the book didn't work out, other Alice Hoffman novels might satisfy this witchy-woman book craving. Is there an ideal place to start with her work, or a specific book that would best fit these qualifications?
Crossposted here on
bookish.
