Rating: 
Summary: Strange, sweet, frightening, magical
Review: Don't expect this book to be anything like the movie. The movie took the characters' names, some of their personality traits, and a couple of plot lines and mixed them up into an unrecognizable parody of this amazing book. That's not to say the movie was all bad. I might have liked it more if I hadn't read this book first and loved it so much.Practical Magic tells the story of the Owens' women whose bad luck with men is notorious. It would be difficult to give a short summary of the plot since it is interjected with little anecdotes from the lives of ancestors, the girls who grow up(Sally and Gillian) under their aunts' (more or less) care, and Sally's daughters. As usual, Hoffman paints the tale with beautiful descriptions and a wonderful narrative. One of my favorite parts is the the description of the lilacs and the effect they have on other people in the town. I highly recommend this book. Not all of Hoffman's books are as good, but this is one of her best. See my review of "Turtle Moon" as well.
Rating:
Summary: Fall in love whenever you can . . .
Review: That is an admonishment at the end of this wonderful book by Alice Hoffman. I'll preface my mini-review here with the following statement: Had anyone told me a year ago that I would read --in one day-- a romance about lives and loves of successive generations of women blessed or cursed with witchy powers, I would have laughed at them. A few years back, I tried to watch the movie "Practical Magic" and found myself thoroughly bored by what I considered a talky "chick flick." Since then, I've become a fan of Sandra Bullock and recently saw the film again, and found myself liking it for the most part. I particularly loved the sad, wistful character played by Bullock, that of Sally Owens. So I checked the book out from the library, not knowing what to expect, and like a man in the story who becomes enchanted by a letter Sally writes that comes into his possession, "Practical Magic" hooked me. Hoffman writes with such easy, beautiful prose and the characters really spring to life and find a place in your heart and imagination. I won't regurgitate the plot here. But I will say that Hoffman writes so well about perhaps the most exquisite and maybe the rarest kind of love, the type that hits both a man and a woman like a thunderbolt, overpowering and sweeping them both away. Hoffman's descriptions of this happening to Sally and her sister and the two men that they are destined to be with packs a tremendous and very satisfying emotional punch for any romantic, which I guess I am. Oh, how I found myself envying the lucky men who won the hearts of Sally and Gillian! To feel love as strong as that and be loved as fiercely in return must be the best thing in the world. So read the book and like Sally Owens would say, fall in love whenever you can.
Rating: 
Summary: Magical. But....isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder?
Review: I love Alice Hoffman. So does the rest of the literature world, it would seem. Her books capture me, make me emotional and I can't (usually) put them down. Practical Magic was no exception. But i've realized I can only take Alice in small doses before I start rolling my eyes. She lays on the 'beautiful descriptions' a bit, and lately, i've been picking "Local Girls" up and snorting at the ridiculousness of it all. I couldn't finish it. I *know* Alice has broken the 'literature fiction/women's genre with her mystical writing, but I think she could still manage to write in that way without making some of the characters and relationships so darn unrealistic. I find offense that a man would just cry at the sight of a beautiful woman and ask her to marry him, without knowing if she was a total lunatic--men aren't *that* dumb. So, ugly simpletonoes with wonderful personalities aren't exotic enough to write about? Alice's view of beauty is narrow-minded: what about beauty on the inside? Her heroines seem to grace an incredible beauty, but no brains and they're usually not very likeable or funny, (except for Gretel in Local Girls) yet men still fall at their feet. And all the sobbing they do when they 'glance at a violet bush' and the 'moon is so silvery it...' etc etc. I love most of her writing, but I do wish she wouldn't make it so ludicrously unrealistic. It feels like i'm reading a Mills and Boon sometimes with all the fawning over pretty girls.
Rating:
Summary: Magic most Practical...
Review: This is, without a doubt, one of my most favorite books in my collection, and some day I hope to have it in hardcover. If you've seen the movie, forget it, go grab yourself a copy of this book, and sit down and read one of the most stirring and wonderful tales you are going to read in a contemporary setting. Sally and Gillian Owens have a gift, a touch of magic that they wield in their lives with different philosophies. For Gillian, the world is a place to meet, enjoy, and move on. For Sally, the notion of a "regular" life is the prize, to be married, to have children, and to be a regular woman. Neither of them get what they're expecting, and the result is, well, magic. The evocative prose of this book left me breathless: Hoffman has a way to work with present and past tense narrative that will work wonders on most readers. Her past tense writing gives you a sense of a fairy tale unfolding, and her present tense writing sucks you in with its sharp immediacy. Most of all, her generational writing, dealing with the Aunts, to the Sisters, to the daughters of Sally, is a wonderful perspective and a truly moving piece of narrative. The blend of folklore with life, and the sharp clarity of Hoffman's eye toward the emotional made this one of my favorites, and I have given copies of this book to many people in my time. I recently mailed a copy to the Netherlands, for a friend there who couldn't find the book. This book will move you, and make you believe.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down.
Review: I read the book before I saw the movie. I loved it. I found it an easy, relaxing read. It was scary without being a horror story. What I found unique about this book is that it is a modern day fantasy story that almost seemed as if it could happen. It was out there, but not in the same way as the TV show, Charmed. I did not predict the ending. I liked it and I will read it again.
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Summary: From a Younger Sister
Review: This is a must-read for ALL older and younger sisters out there. Read it and experience it. Learn from it. You'll not regret reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Orange
Review: I never have looked at the color orange the same way again.
Rating:
Summary: Practically perfect.
Review: Rub your head and give three winks....I loved this book and have abstained from seeing the film out of my own witchy sense that it couldn't stack up. "But love was not about practice and preparation, it was pure chance; if you took your time with it you ran the risk of having it evaporate before it had even begun." To Ms. Hoffman's credit I've carried that quote around since my first read in 1995.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry Alice,.....
Review: The movie is better than the book. The character of Sally Owens is just too drab and dry in the book. Also, the aunts are barely characters.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: About once a month I get this movie out and watch it. My daughters and my 2 best friends are equally hooked on it. We've just about worn out the soundtrack too.The appeal isn't just the relationships, it's the house, the herbs, the setting, the humor, the wardrobe,the spells, the life style.... I could go on forever.....
I keep trying to win new fans for this movie. A MUST SEE, MUST OWN!!!!!!
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