witchcraft

Witch trials are already a thing of the past in this historical novel set in Salem, Massachusetts during the lifetime of Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter. Witch trials are over; but their memory lives on in Hawthorne’s nineteenth century, with tensions lingering amongst the old Salem families and Hawthorne himself bearing ancestral guilt over his own great-great-grandfather's role in sentencing accused women to death more than a century earlier.

But Hawthorne is not front and center here. He is upstaged by a new immigrant from Scotland, Isobel Gamble, who becomes his lover

This story is the legend of Sleepy Hollow from the point of view of the main female character, Katrina Van Tassel. Having grown up the only daughter to a wealthy farmer and doting mother, Katrina is strong in her opinions, desires and actions. While this strength of character gets Katrina into some mischief, it also allows her to follow her heart and find a deep love with the new school teacher, Ichabod Crane.

When Ichabod first arrives at Sleepy Hollow he stays with the Van Tassel family until he finds the first host family among his pupils. Katrina's father hires him quickly to be her music

Amber Benson is mostly known as an actor, primarily for her role as Tara Maclay on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but she's also an accomplished author with a number of books and other projects under her belt. Her latest novel, The Witches of Echo Park, is the first in an urban fantasy series about...well, witches. In Los Angeles. Echo Park, to be specific. Basically, it does what it says on the tin.

Lyse is a young woman running a plant nursery in Georgia. She returns home to LA when she learns her great-aunt Eleanora has terminal cancer. It's there that Lyse slowly learns about the coven of

Book Two of the Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy finds the cousins and their friends planning their next move against the evil Cabahn.  This time the story focuses on Connor and his sister's best friend, Meara.  Following a surprise kiss which awakens unacknowledged feelings the two have for each other, things get interesting as each tries to deny the feelings they have and Cabahn uses their emerging romance to try to come between them.  Will love triumph over evil?  Don't miss this installment of  Shadow Spell. Also check out  Book Three, Blood Magick, which wraps up this trilogy.

Step into a world where princesses fight witches and knights battle dragons and prepare to become enchanted with the wonderful Pennyroyal Academy. 

M.A. Larson creates a truly imaginative world of cadets in training to become princesses and knights who will ultimately rid the world of evil. If you think princesses are just beautiful girls living in castles, then think again. The cadets have to battle each other in obstacle courses and training exercises, jump from towers onto the horsebacks of their heroes, and learn to find confidence and compassion within themselves when faced with evil

The Daylight Gate was a whim I picked up that fit neatly into my October/Halloween/Witch reading theme, and that delighted me more than I expected.  I read Winterson years ago for a post-structuralist college class and only remembered her fondly to feel smarter about myself.  This time, I picked her up for the shiny cover and, yes, the promise of witches. 

The Daylight Gate is a semi-historical novel about one of the earliest seventeenth century English witch-hunts.  It's suitably foreboding, and you watch doom circle and dive at every one of the characters.  There’s magic and politics and

If you’re in the mood for a long book and like family histories with a supernatural twist, try The Witching Hour by Anne Rice. While the story is set in the same world as her vampire series, there are no vampires in this book. Instead, the tale of the Mayfair witches is told from their beginning several hundred years ago to the present.

Those familiar with the vampire stories will recognize the Talamasca, whose motto is “we watch and we are always here,” and who play a significant role in the Mayfair witches’ story. The Talamasca are an order of scholars who study the supernatural. They are

Blue knows that once she kisses her true love, he will die soon afterwards. With a family full of psychics, warnings like this do not go ignored. Blue has always kept a distance from the opposite sex, especially the cocky and stuck-up Raven Boys who frequent the restaurant where she works.  Then, shortly after walking down the Corpse Road with her Aunt Neeve on St. Marks Eve to greet the souls that will be lost within a year, Blue gets a glimpse of a boy who is destined to die—a boy, Gansey, whose appearance means either he is her true love or she will be the cause of his death. While dealing