The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

 

Title:  The Book of Magic

Author: Alice Hoffman

Narrated by:  Jennifer Ehle

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 52 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank-you!

 Are you a fan of the Practical Magic series?  I’ve enjoyed the series and love Alice Hoffman’s novels.  The Book of Magic takes place chronologically after Practical Magic but is the fourth book in the series.  This story brings together many of the characters we’ve been reading about in the series.  Aunt Jet, Aunt Franny, Uncle Vincent, Sally and Gillian, and Sally’s children, Kylie and Antonia are all in this novel.  The novel starts out reacquainting the reader with the various characters and the history of the family. 

 Sally has never told her daughters that they are witches or about the Owens family curse on love.  Kylie falls in love with her childhood sweetheart.  Just after declaring their love, he is involved in a horrific accident.  Kylie decides it is up to her to remove this curse and bring him back to life out of his coma.  She embarks on a journey that takes her back to England where her ancestor Maria Owens was from originally.  As her family embarks on a journey to save her, will they be able to break the family curse once and for all?

 I enjoyed the conclusion in the series, but I am also a little sad that it has ended.  The story seemed to meander at times, but I was happy to see all of the characters and pieces of the story from previous novels comes back together again.  I love the characters and I love Hoffman’s style of writing. 

 Jennifer Ehle narrated the audiobook and did a wonderful job.  Jennifer Ehle was Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice.  I have loved her work as an actress, and I didn’t realize she narrated audiobooks now.  She did a wonderful job giving a voice to each character. 

 Overall, The Book of Magic was the perfect conclusion to the Practical Magic series.

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

 

Title:  Magic Lessons

Author: Alice Hoffman

Read by:  Sutton Foster

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 26 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank-you!

 I have enjoyed Alice Hoffman’s novels for the last twenty years.  She writes a bit of magic into each of them.  Practical Magic was the first novel I read by her.  I enjoyed the prequel to Practical Magic, Rules of Magic, that came out a few years ago.  I was delighted to discover that this year she had published a prequel to both of those books about Maria Owens, the ancestor who is discussed in both of those novels.  Magic Lessons was a great historical fiction novel and if I’m honest, it’s my favorite of the Practical Magic trilogy.  It finally answers the questions, who was Maria Owens and what is the curse that has followed the family throughout time?

 Maria Owens was a foundling in England born with a gift in the 1600’s.  Luckily, Hannah, another woman with the gift of magic found her and raised her as her own.  After tragedy strikes, a young Maria sets sail for the new world.  While on an island in the Caribbean, she falls in love with a stranger.  After finding she is with child, she travels to Salem, Massachusetts to find him and tell him about their child.  What does she find that causes the curse to be cast?

 I enjoyed this entire story of Maria and her daughter Faith.  I loved the look into the 17^th century and how women were called out as witches for being different or for basically being healers for the times.  Maria and Faith are actual witches who have a magical gift, but the women who were killed in both England and the United States were killed for being different or as scapegoats.  Maria is a strong woman who did what she wanted to do, which was frowned upon at this time.  Women were not supposed to question men or live on their own.  I also liked the overall theme that Maria often thinks about, “what you set out into the world came back to you threefold.”  Whenever you do something good or something bad, it will come back to you again threefold.  It’s a powerful motivator to make sure you are doing good in the world.  I also loved the overall love story in the novel. 

 I love Hoffman’s use of language in her novels and beautiful descriptions.  Sutton Foster was a great audiobook narrator and I enjoyed listening to this story.

 Favorite Quotes:

“When you fall in love like that, time doesn’t matter. This was the secret he told Maria, the last words he ever said. What belonged to you once, will always belong to you. Be grateful if you have walked through the world with another’s heart in your hand.”

 “Likely it was true that the flaws you saw in other women you didn't notice in yourself.”

 “No one knows where time goes, all the same it disappears.”

 “It was always best to step into the future while it was still waiting for you.”

 Overall, Magic Lessons is a magical look into the 17^th century and the start of the Owens curse.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Title: The Rules of Magic

Author: Alice Hoffman

Read by:  Marin Ireland

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 58 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

I love Alice Hoffman’s magical realism and have been a fan of her fiction since the 1990’s. The Rules of Magic is a prequel to one of my favorite Hoffman novels, Practical Magic.  In Practical Magic, Gillian and Sally Owens are raised by their Aunts Frances and Jet Owens. 

The Owens family are different from everyone else.  They are descended from one 17^th century woman, Maria Owens, who was thwarted in love and has cursed her family to never find love.  As the years pass by, the Owens name passes from woman to woman, but each woman may find a one true love, but their love always disappears or dies in a terrible way.  The family also happens to be witches and passes down their apt for magic through the line. 

Into this family is born a trio of siblings, Frances, Bridget (Jet), and Vincent.  The three grow up in New York City with their mother and father and are raised away from magic.  As they reach their teenage years they start to wonder why they are so different than everyone else and start to explore their magic.  They visit their Aunt Isabelle in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens originate.  

This novel is probably classified as magical realism, but I feel it should also be classified as historical fiction as our main characters live through the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.  I loved reading about the history as much as I did the story of the Owens.  I thought the story tied up perfectly with the start of Practical Magic.  Although this novel does stand on its own and you do not need to read Practical Magic before you read this.

For Frances, Jet, and Vincent, this novel is a coming of age story as each three comes into their own. It is a very interesting coming of age story as their mother has so many rules to keep them away from magic such as no walking in moonlight and no falling in love.  She is trying to protect them, but like all teenagers, the forbidden becomes intriguing.  It is also a tragic love story for each member of the family.  I was intrigued by the entire story and loved how each character was developed.  I also loved how the story ended perfectly with young Gillian and Sally coming to stay with their Aunts.  I really need to read Practical Magic again!

Marin Ireland was a wonderful narrator.  Ireland’s narration combined with the great characters and wonderful story made this a joy to listen to.  This is a perfect book for the fall and Halloween season.

Overall, The Rules of Magic is a wonderful, magical, compelling story with captivating characters.  My only regret was that this audiobook ended.  Alice Hoffman’s writing is spellbinding.

Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture by Ken Jennings

Title: Planet Funny:  How Comedy Took Over Our Culture

Author: Ken Jennings

Read by:  Ken Jennings

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 11 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

I need more humor in my life, and I was very happy to review Planet Funny by Ken Jennings.  In this non-fiction work, Jennings chronicles the history of humor and how it has changed over time.  I found it to be both enlightening and funny.

Ken Jennings was born in 1974 and is only four years older than me.  His path through his love of comedy parallels my own growing up and he has the same Gen X sensibilities. I knew most of his references and discussions. I had not realized I really knew so many comedians before listening to this audiobook, but I do seek out humor every day.

I enjoyed the entire book, but towards the end of the book, racism and sexism in humor was discussed and it was very interesting.  Especially how jokes like “Polish jokes” were used to be relatable as Polish people were something we could all laugh at . . . but there is a line there where you go from humor to racism and it’s hard to find that line at times.  It was interesting to discuss how minstrel shows were such an important part of entertainment in the past and were considered quintessential American humor but are verboten now.

Humor in politics was discussed through President Obama’s appearance on Between Two Ferns to how President Trump used humor to become president.  Political humor from Will Rogers through Jon Oliver was discussed as well. I love political humor shows and have since my college days, so I really enjoyed this section.  Although I was frankly disturbed thinking about how some people don’t understand the difference between real news and satire and believed the over the top Stephen Colbert persona on the Colbert report.

Author Ken Jennings narrated this audiobook and I liked it.  It was relatable and very an interesting listening experience.  Jennings own timing and telling of experiences and jokes worked well together.

Overall Planet Funny was an interesting look at humor historically and in modern times that you will find humor in as you read along or listen to the audiobook.