The Introvert's Book Club

  5/5 Stars Let me begin by saying that I won this book as an advanced reader copy in a Goodreads giveaway. This book is not something that I would normally gravitate towards but I found the description very intriguing.  Ok, now that we've got that out of the way, this book is the best one I've read in months. Dumas's writing comes off as prose at times. It's poetic and beautiful, which is definitely not lost on me. The book is so intelligently written with such an incredible story. It's got some elements of  Jurassic Park, Night at the Museum, The Black Phone all carefully rolled into a very original, beautiful and surprising story. One of the things that I really enjoyed in this book were drawings of the dinosaurs and the way that they helped bring the museum displays to life. I don't know much about them (dinosaurs) and I found myself googling a lot of prehistoric names in the barely 24 hours (after working 12 hours) this book took me to read (when I say page...

purchase Practical Magic #2  My Rating: 4/5 Stars Primary Genre: Fantasy/Magical Realism Blurb: Master storyteller Alice Hoffman brings us the conclusion of the Practical Magic series in a spellbinding and enchanting final Owens novel brimming with lyric beauty and vivid characters. The Owens family has been cursed in matters of love for over three-hundred years but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger—the curse is already at work. A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from...

Purchase Practical Magic #0.1 My Rating: 5/5 Stars Blurb:   Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction (2020) In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries-old curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused of witchcraft in Salem, and matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic.  Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she’s abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the “Nameless Arts.” Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. It is here that she learns her first important lesson: Always love someone who will love you back.  When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family...