EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion

The Modern selection for October 2026 is Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, nominated by Jeannette.

This discussion will be full of SPOILERS.

❧ Did it live up to your expectations?
❧ What was your favorite part of the book?
❧ Did you find yourself identifying more with one sister's approach to life and love?
❧ Hoffman portrays magic not just as spells, but often as a burden for the Owens women. What did you make of this?
❧ What questions were you left with?

I've been meaning to read this for awhile, having already read the prequels. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite as well written as the other two books. (Magic Lessons and The Rules of Magic)

I enjoyed the book more than I expected to. It seemed a little dull at first...."nobody likes a witch, blah blah blah", LOL. But the story did pick up and I became interested in what happens to them all.

My favorite part of the book was when Ben met the aunts. I like how he just treated them with kindness in his own unique magic-trick way, and won them over.

I had a lot of questions about the aunts, which I guess are answered in the prequel. I also have questions about the necessity of hurting creatures in order to create magic.

Still, it was a good October read :)

The story dragged until Jimmy was buried. My favorite parts were Gilian meeting her magician and the detective clearing the sisters of the murder. I feel like the story tried to be too suspenseful, but it still makes me curious about the movie.

I cannot believe I am reading this again, hahaha. I have read 20 pages and feel 13 again. Hahaha. What a joy.

I enjoyed it, although I didn't enjoy how long the chapters were lol. That being said, I didn't think it was anything too special. But I am open to reading the sequels/prequels. Just a bit disappointed there wasn't much to do about magic, at least not explictly

The magic-as-a-burden question is the part I keep thinking about. Sally spends years trying to raise Antonia and Kylie as completely normal girls, and the thing she ran from turns up at her door anyway, with Gillian and a dead boyfriend in the car. I liked that most of the magic is small and domestic: the aunts selling love remedies, the lilacs going wild over Jimmy, Kylie being the only one who can see him in the yard. Agree with Taz that the middle drags a bit. Gary Hallet showing up from Tucson is what pulled me back in, mostly because Sally can't bring herself to lie to him.

This one was an overwhelming disappointment for me. I was so looking forwards to it. Oh well. C'est la vie.

I didn't like the book all that much. I think it was a bit too much of variety of topics and lack of real plot. The strength is in the interpersonal sibling aspects and sisterhood in general. I was intrigued by the Jimmy sections, but otherwise I found it kinda dull, unfortunately.

It was okay. I preferred The Dovekeepers. I generally do not care for magical books. I did not mind it here, but it did not entrance me either. I did like the sisterly relationships.

Taz wrote: "The story dragged until Jimmy was buried. My favorite parts were Gilian meeting her magician and the detective clearing the sisters of the murder. I feel like the story tried to be too suspenseful,..."

Agreed

I also enjoyed this book a lot more than I was expecting. I think it's probably a good thing that I can't remember the movie. I know I watched it on TV once before, but I was too young to appreciate it and only remember being terrified by the death beetle.

My favorite part of this book was the writing style. I was surprised how much I loved the third-person omniscient perspective and narration. Somehow, every description felt magical and other-worldly to me. I could envision everything so vividly from Hoffman's descriptions. Yet when I stopped to reflect on what was happening, it all seemed a little ordinary and relatable at the root of it. I loved how the author made even the mundane moments feel magical.