Scorpio season is upon us- a time of transformational energy and expanding on our knowledge. I like to counter-balance this with reading fictional books- and as I’m a bookworm (or a book dragon is perhaps more apt, as I like to collect books!) I’d like to share some of my favourites, as well as what is currently on my to-be-read pile! As Scorpio seasons falls into the season of the witch, I’m going with a witch theme for these books, so here are 8 books on the subject of witches.
Recommended Witch Books.
The Witch Finder’s Sister by Beth Underdown.
This book follows Alice Hopkins in 1645 when she returns to a small town where her brother lives after the death of her husband. It’s set in a time when witch-hunts were beginning and the infamous witch hunter general that saw over 300 women accused of witchcraft and put on trial- often resulting in their death. The name of this witch hunter general? Matthew Hopkins. It’s a nice blend of history and storytelling that really puts you at the heart of the witch-hunts that were in England at the time.
Waking The Witch by Kelley Armstrong.
This book follows a private investigator by the name of Savannah Levine who is called in to investigate the victims of a modern-day ritual murder. As she investigates, the young witch finds herself investigating what appears to be a modern witch hunt- with her own safety now in question. I love the style of writing of Kelley Armstrong, and there are other books in her Women of the Otherworld series if you enjoy reading this one.
Witch Light by Susan Fletcher.
This book follows a young girl by the name of Corrag who has been imprisoned for being a witch. Set in 1692, she spends her final hours in her cell, awaiting her death by burning after being convicted of witchcraft. She is visited by a man named Charles Leslie who wants to question her after he learns she witnessed the massacre of Glencoe. She agrees to reveal what she knows- if she can tell her story first. This was perhaps one of my earliest forrays into books on witches and is still one I reread, years later. Beautifully descriptive writing that captures the beauty of the Scottish mountains where Corrag lives and speaks of the horrors of the massacre of Glencoe that happened in 1692. Haunting, evocotive and a heartfelt read.
The Witching Hour (Mayfair Witches) by Anne Rice.
This book follows the story of Rowan Mayfair- a practitioner of Neurosurgery who saves a man from drowning. Unknown to her, she comes from a long line of witches- The Mayfair Witches- and with the help of the man she saved- Michael Curry- she begins to unravel her history. This was not the first book of Anne Rice’s that I read- my first love will always be the Vampire Chronicles, but Anne Rice didn’t disappoint with her forray into witches. Spellbinding and beautifully written as we follow the history of the Mayfair Witches, starting from the first Witch in Scotland, right through to Rowan and the spirit that is tied to their families bloodline.
On my to-be-read List of Witch Books.
Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood.
This contemporary story caught my attention this year and is next to be read. I was looking for a cozy witchy kind of read, and this fits the description, perfectly.
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen.
I’ve been working a lot with herbs and foods this year as part of my own path, and I wanted an autumnal witchy book that would reflect this. When I came across Garden Spells, I knew I’d found the book I was looking for.
The Witch’s Heart, by Genevieve Gornichec.
I came across this book from a bookclub I was in over the Summer- and when I read that it was about a banished witch who falls in love with the trickster God Loki from Norse Mythology, I was already hooked. I’ve read a lot of retellings of Greek Mythology, and I’m looking forward to reading this as a retelling of Norse Mythology.