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: Almost Practically Perfect
Review: Unlike the me of my childhood and teenage years, I didn't start reading Practical Magic (by Alice Hoffman) because a movie based on it had been released. I haven't even seen the movie, although my husband has, and he says wait until it gets to the dollar theatre. He's a movie connoisseur, and I have to admit that movie wasn't all that appealing anyway. But, I picked up this book upon the recommendation of one of my friends who insisted I read it. I can't remember why or when, but the impression was strong enough that I purchased a nice trade paperback copy and put it on my massive To Read pile by the bed. So here I am, reading this book, and I have mixed feelings about it. The story is good -so good that I have a hard time putting it down at night when it's time to go to sleep. The characters are compelling: two sets of sisters, a total four women in the Owens family. Sally, ever practical, and her younger sister, Gillian, the wild-child, are paralleled in some respect to Sally's teenage daughters, Antonia, lovely, yet moody, and Kylie, a blossoming, occasionally gawky, thirteen-year old. Hoffman's style is lovely and poetic. Listen how she describes the evening: It rained all night, and now the sticky air is moving in thick mauve-colored waves. The birds aren't singing this morning, it's too dark for that. But the humidity has brought the toads away from the creek behind the high school, and theyhave a sort of song, a deep humming that risees up through the sleepy neighborhood. The toads are crazy about Snickers, which teenagers sometimes throw to them at lunch hour.  It's candy they're looking for as they wind along the neighborhood, hopping across the squishy lawns and through pools of rainwater that have collected in the gutters.... How exquisite! I thought to myself. And the rest of her words are equally graceful and appealing, full of lush imagery, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. A veritable feast for the senses with an entertaining story full of witchcraft. Despite my affection for the story and Hoffman's graceful prose, I do have two major problems with the text itself: constant shifting in point of view and constant shifting in tense. See, I was taught that when you write, you stick to one person's perspective per scene to maintain a consistent flow, and Hoffman doesn't do that. She bounces around from character to character, sometimes in mid-stream, sometimes abruptly shifting back to the original person or else shifting again to another voice. On the one hand, I can see how an author would want to include everyone's perspective in a particular scene, but it's simply too distracting for the reader, especially one who is accustomed to writing as well. My second problem with the text focused on the shifting in tense. Hoffman starts out with past tense, as most books these days are written. In the second section, however, she shifts over to present tense. While one could rationalize that the author does this to indicate the past in the first section, as it focuses on the childhood years of Sally and Gillian, and to indicate the present in the later sections as they focus on the now, it still doesn't justify shifting, rather abruptly, I might add, from present back into past for several paragraphs. I had to stop reading for a moment, gather my senses, and go back to reread the previous section just to make sure that it wasn't me. Still, Practical Magic is a good read, perfect for the beach or beside the bed.
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: Completely different from the movie - beautifully written
Review: The movie version of this story is one of the most fun, exhilerating movies - a favorite in this household. This book bears very little relation to the movie. The only similarities are that the main characters exist as they do in the movie, but they don't live with the aunts and magic is not quite the focus as it was in the movie. Now, that said ... This is one of the best books I've had the opportunity to read. Written in the beautiful prose Alice Hoffman is so well known for, it follows the life of Gillian and Sally as they go on their diverse paths. Sally is the stable widow with two girls in tow. She leaves the aunts in New England, leaving her sad life behind, and moves to a Long Island suburb with her two girls where tries to live a normal life. Meanwhile, Gillian is a bad girl who is in and out of relationships and in and out of trouble. She finds the awful, abusive Jimmy and eventually kills him accidentally while enroute to visit her sister. Unsure of what to do, she brings him to her sister's house dead in the passenger seat of the car - she thinks stable Sally would know what to do to keep her out of jail. Sally meets the situation with borderline hysteria at first, then the two decide to bury him in Sally's backyard. Gillian moves in with Sally and her girls and tries to forget the body in the back yard. Sally's boring, stable life changes dramatically while Gillian's naughty life changes to a more stable one. Meanwhile they are haunted by the evil spirit of Jimmy, threatening to destroy the tenuous stability they try to build. This book is not written in standard chapters - instead it is written in four large sections. Fortunately there are enough scene breaks in each section that you can put it down and read it in separate sittings. The thing is, once you're drawn into the story, you won't want to put it down. You'll want to read this one in a day, in one sitting if you can read fast enough. It is so beautifully written with an edge of suspense and just a tiny touch of magic. It will become a treasure on your bookshelf and one you'll only loan to your most reliable friends. Excellent!
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.
Rating:
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.
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