The best books about witchy women

Why am I passionate about this?

Who wouldn’t want to be a witch? Look at Sabrina. She can fly, cast spells, and she has a talking cat. We’d like that. Seriously, we believe in magic and rock ‘n roll. We always wanted to write together, but it was when we turned to the dark side that we began to publish. Readers were hooked on vampires and feasting on True Blood, but we were more interested in witches and shifters. As big fans of The Dead Files, we visited Cassadaga, Florida, home to mediums and spiritualists. The Witches of New Mourne series allows us to create characters with these same interests—and they’re witches!  


I wrote...

Awakening Magic

By Neely Powell,

Book cover of Awakening Magic

What is my book about?

An enchanted town. A vengeful spirit. A powerful coven under siege. For generations, the Connelly witches made a great sacrifice to protect their town. In exchange, New Mourne remained a refuge for humans and supernatural beings to live in peace. Now Brenna Burns, or another female of this generation, is next in line to die—unless Brenna can find a way to end the curse of the malevolent Woman in White. With coven protections breached, Sheriff Jake Tyler joins the battle. The time for sacrifice draws near. The powers of the Connelly witches may not be enough to defeat the dark magic. As the demonic influence drains the small town of its peace, the coven struggles to break its deadly bargain with the Woman in White.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Witch's Daughter

Neely Powell Why did I love this book?

Like the millions that made this a bestseller, the cover of The Witch’s Daughter was the first hint of the intriguing story. The hem of a long dress is raised to reveal a pair of old-fashioned lace-up shoes. You know those feet could dance or run at any moment. Heroine Elizabeth doesn’t disappoint. A strong and immortal witch, her story sweeps back and forth from the 1600s to present day while unspeakable evil pursues her. The story weaves history with involving and multi-dimensional characters. Elizabeth isn’t afraid to reveal her fear even as she uses her great power. She’s the kind of heroine I want to write and read about. Just thinking about her makes me want to read it again. Is there any higher recommendation?

By Paula Brackston,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Witch's Daughter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the spring of 1628, young Bess Hawksmith watches her mother's body swing limp from the Hanging Tree. She knows that only one man can save her from the same fate - Gideon Masters, the Warlock. She knows, too, that his help comes at a steep price. In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life for herself. She has spent the centuries in solitude, moving from place to place, surviving plagues, wars and the heartbreak that comes with immortality. Her loneliness comes to an abrupt end when she is befriended by a teenage girl called Tegan. Against her better…


Book cover of Practical Magic

Neely Powell Why did I love this book?

This book is the basis of the movie starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. While the plot is loosely the same, the book’s tone is different, darker, and more serious, with less of the movie’s whimsy. The author more fully explores how this family of witches is shaped by the jealousies, triumphs, and tragedies that mold every family. Their family dynamic is why I love this book. Gillian’s questionable actions infuriate Sally, but she’d do anything to save her sister. The push and pull of love, loyalty, loss, and disappointment are so real. You can forget for a minute that they’re witches. And then that’s what they are, and it feels so logical and believable, and you wish your own family sold love potions out of the back kitchen door.

By Alice Hoffman,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked Practical Magic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*25th Anniversary Edition*-with an Introduction by the Author!

The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, and The Book of Magic.

For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and…


Book cover of Magic in the Wind

Neely Powell Why did I love this book?

I’ve always loved books about families, but imagine seven sisters living together. Family relationships are the heart of many books and often I’m enthralled by the intricacies of these stories. Since I grew up with just my brother, I can’t imagine what it’s like to live in a family so large. Sarah Drake has been away and has come home. The town is abuzz with gossip because when Sarah comes home, something big always happens. Also newly arrived in Sea Haven is Damon Wilder, and he arrives with his own secrets and possibly danger is following. A wonderful book that introduces the first of the Drake sisters. I love a good series, and this book is the beginning of one of the best.

By Christine Feehan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Magic in the Wind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan presents the story of Sarah, the eldest of the extraordinary-and magical-Drake sisters, now rewritten and expanded, in this very special collector's edition.

"Sarah Drake has come home." Ever since Damon Wilder sought refuge in Sea Haven, he's heard the same breathless rumor pass the lips of nearly every local in the sleepy coastal town. Even the wind seems to whisper her name-a reverie so powerfully suggestive that it carries the curious Damon to Sarah's cliff-top home, and seeks to shelter him there. But Damon has not arrived alone. A killer has tracked him…


Book cover of Dance Upon the Air

Neely Powell Why did I love this book?

Women who have to struggle to survive always make for a good story. There’s nothing that makes me want to cheer more than watching a woman realize just how strong and resilient she is. When Nell Channing arrives on Three Sisters Island, she is as fragile as a baby bird. It’s obvious she has lots of secrets and she’s very careful to keep parts of herself hidden from everyone. After getting a job at a local bookstore/cafe, Nell begins to thrive and local sheriff Zack Todd is drawn to her like a moth to a flame. I recommend this book because it’s a beautiful story of courage, discovery, and love. Nell finds a family on Three Sisters Island and enjoys seeking the magic inside.

By Nora Roberts,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Dance Upon the Air as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Nell Channing arrives on Three Sisters Island, she hopes she has finally found refuge from her abusive husband. But even in this peaceful place, she feels haunted by fear. Then she discovers the island is suffering under a terrible curse and that she must find the power to save herself. Pbk: ISBN 0749932775.


Book cover of A Discovery of Witches

Neely Powell Why did I love this book?

What’s not to love about this book? Witches, vampires, time travel, forbidden love, and the timeless theme of good versus evil? I especially like that the heroine is bookish and awkward, not the type you’d imagine for a darkly delicious vampire. I love that the two of them have a sweeping romance that transcends time and defies the laws of their supernatural world. It sounds heavy, doesn’t it? But it’s fun, a book filled with unexpected humor to balance the pain. There is a television series based on this book and the two others in the series. I have to admit they didn’t suck me in, but the characters are special in any medium. 

By Deborah Harkness,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked A Discovery of Witches as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.


You might also like...

Book cover of The Spanish Diplomat's Secret

Nev March Author Of The Spanish Diplomat's Secret

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author History lover Scriptwriter Reader Nature lover

Nev's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

An entertaining mystery on a 1894 trans-Atlantic steamship with an varied array of suspects, and a detective who must solve his case in six days to prevent international conflict.

Retired from the British Indian army, Captain Jim is taking his wife Diana to Liverpool from New York, when their pleasant cruise turns deadly. Just hours after meeting him, a foreign diplomat is brutally murdered onboard their ship. Captain Jim must find the killer before they dock in six days, or there could be war! Aboard the beleaguered luxury liner are a thousand suspects, but no witnesses to the locked-cabin crime.

Fortunately, his wife Diana knows her way around first-class accommodations and Gilded Age society. But something has been troubling her, too, something she won’t tell him. Together, using tricks gleaned from their favorite fictional sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, Captain Jim, and Diana must learn why one man’s life came to a murderous end.

By Nev March,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Spanish Diplomat's Secret as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In The Spanish Diplomat's Secret, award-winning author Nev March explores the vivid nineteenth-century world of the transatlantic voyage, one passenger’s secret at a time.

Captain Jim Agnihotri and his wife Lady Diana Framji are embarking to England in the summer of 1894. Jim is hopeful the cruise will help Diana open up to him. Something is troubling her, and Jim is concerned.

On their first evening, Jim meets an intriguing Spaniard, a fellow soldier with whom he finds an instant kinship. But within twenty-four hours, Don Juan Nepomuceno is murdered, his body discovered shortly after he asks rather urgently to…


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Interested in witches, sisters, and Massachusetts?

11,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about witches, sisters, and Massachusetts.

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