Alice Hoffman – Page 3 – Cannonball Read 17

It Runs in the Family

Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman

Can You Feel This? by Julie Orringer

The Lion's Den by Anthony Marra

Zenith Man by Jennifer Haigh

The Weddings by Alexander Chee

January 13, 2021 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Another year, another onslaught of bits and bobs to keep me from sitting down and giving my undivided attention to a hefty book! Everything My Mother Taught Me 3/5 Dang it Alice Hoffman, misadventures at lighthouses are my catnip! Lighthouse Keeper was my dream job when I was younger- big thanks to Ahab’s Wife- it’s a lonesome and perilous career but also pretty cool! I was a huge Hoffman fan in high school, but I drifted away over the last 15 years or so. I dipped […]

More Practical Magic, Mo’ Problems (No Money)

Magic Lessons (Practical Magic .1) by Alice Hoffman

November 15, 2020 by cheerbrarian 3 Comments

Alice Hoffman is a great author, and I’ve been reading her books since high school. My reading style used to be to find an author I liked, and then devour everything in their pantheon. My enthusiasm for her works waned a little in my adult years (eww, gross, old), and I thought I’d outgrown her storytelling style, but the first prequel to Practical Magic, Rules of Magic, sparked my interest and I really enjoyed learning more about the Owens sisters, it was a treat to […]

less practical, more magical

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

November 1, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Twenty two years after the publication of Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman fired up the ol’ Owens Family Cauldron to brew up (I apologize for NOTHING) the story of “The Aunts”. Before Jet and Franny were kooky caregivers with cupboards full of teeth and dove hearts, they were kids squirming under the overbearing but uninvolved eyes of their midcentury modern parents. Necessarily, when re-approaching a well-defined but of-its-time creation, one must get a little creative with facts and figures. Practical Magic was already a bit screwy with time, […]

the Sanderson sisters are still my favorite witchy siblings, but the Owens family are not messing around!

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

October 27, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos 2 Comments

Lookout y’all, it’s re-read time! Alice Hoffman used to be a favorite author of mine; we slowly went our separate ways after The Museum of Extraordinary Things. There was no big breakup; we just grew apart. We wanted different things. The separation was so slow and gentle that I forgot that she was an author that I really liked, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a new prequal to Practical Magic hitting the shelves, oh wait, there already was a prequal? This […]

Almost Perfect Collection of Short Stories

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

October 15, 2019 by Classic Leave a Comment

The only reason why I didn’t give this collection 5 stars is that not all of the stories grabbed me the same way as “The Red Garden.” Also though there is the linkage of the Blackbird House, we have so many loose endings with the people who come and live in that house. I loved “The Red Garden” because many of the people in those stories popped up as young children and then as adults or were referred to in some way so you know […]

Welcome to Blackwell, Massachusetts

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

October 15, 2019 by Classic 2 Comments

So this was a really great book to choose for the Sleepy Hollow square. Taking place in a small town in Massachusetts, Alice Hoffman follows the town founders and descendants of Blackwell, Massachusetts. Mixing in historical incidents as well as some magical realism, the town and the residents feel like a very real place after a few chapters. The flow between chapters is great and sometimes a person you read about as a child appears in a short story later. I do wish that a […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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