A Few Good Books

There seems to be a dearth of decent witch novels which sucks because every now and then I feel like reading one. I periodically read non-fictional, historical books about witches, but let's be honest, they are all pretty much the same: women living their lives the best way they knew how, usually with beliefs and behaviors that were way ahead of their time, villagers feeling threatened by them, the women are then tried, tortured and executed. I really need to be in the mood for one of those books and one can only take so much of them due to their rather depressing nature.

But on the other hand, I've found that most of the fictional books about witches aren't very good. 'Practical Magic' and the like aside, they tend to either be very bad chick lit that have very little to do with anything wiccan or more in the vein of the Middle Ages 'Excalibur' costume fantasy-type story, of which I'm not very fond. I'm just not a bodice-ripper kind of girl, even if there is a witch in there somewhere. I've also noticed that for some reason that I have yet to figure out, almost all books about witches now seem to be crime mysteries, a genre that is also not a favorite. Still, I have compiled a list of about a dozen books that may have potential and that I'll be looking into at my local library as the urge to read one presents itself, as it inevitably will.

And it was at my library that I started reading, quite by accident, a series about a group of friends who happen to be witches and all of which take place in the town I grew up in, oddly enough. I only read the first one to see if the author portrayed my hometown accurately, but ended up finding the stories appealing, despite the fact that they're mysteries.

By Delores Stewart Riccio
Circle of Five
Charmed Circle
The Divine Circle of Ladies Making Mischief
The Divine Circle of Ladies Courting Trouble
The Divine Circle of Ladies Playing With Fire

And another series that was brought to my attention by an internet acquaintance, again crime mysteries with a witch (and in this case also an empath) at their heart, are nice light reading as well.

By Madelyn Alt
The Trouble With Magic
A Charmed Death
Hex Marks the Spot
No Rest for the Wiccan
Where There's a Witch

Still, my quest continues because sometimes one just has a hankering for a good, even fun, book about witches and witchcraft. It can be a nice diversion from life for a little while.