Garden Spells | 
pickThe Waverly women each have a special gift. Their backyard has a garden whose plants have magical side effects. Their yard also has a strange apple tree. Eating an apple from this tree will reveal to the eater the biggest event of their lives- good or bad.
The story was cute and it was a fast read. A perfect beach book.
pickLove Sarah Addison Allen books for easy, fulfilling reads! This is my favorite so far - magical realism, family secrets, and some character growth. Also enjoyed the southern, small-town setting that distinctly makes these books Addison Allen‘s.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
so-soEchhhhh this reading slump. So I think this was a victim of "just not right for me but probably really perfect for someone else." Pros: the writing, the apple tree concept. Cons: the unoriginal story, the Emma "plotline", the fact it was unchallenging and watered down
For here you are, standing there, loving me
Whether or not you should
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good🎶🎶
Can Claire open her heart to feel the love she deserves? ❤️ this book and this song
#somethinggood #ayupaugust @Cinfhen @squirrelbrain
Image: Pinterest
Addison-Allen casts a spell with the story of the Waverly women and their magic/gifts
so-soI needed a pallete cleanser, and this served that purpose. I wasn't enthralled by it--the plot was predictable and not very substantive, the ending wrapped up too fast, and the characters were pretty surface level. Buuuut, it was a nice, quick read that got me out of the intense feels that The Huntress brought on.⭐⭐⭐/5
Huge #bookhaul today when I went to visit my bookstores for my birthday (Which is tomorrow but I had a free day today). Very excited! The tagged book is a 1st edition I found for $1! Now to find room...
I had a slow reading month. Spent a few weeks to sick to do much of anything but sleep and watch bad tv. Here‘s to hoping for better days in March!
February Wrap Up:
Total books read 9
Women Authors 8
Authors of Color 3
Non-fiction 3
Audiobooks 2
#HelloThursday
1. My Magnolia tree!!
2. Mulch
3. Open windows
4. Get my screened in porch ready for spring and summer
5. Haven‘t read this, but it sounds like a fun read 🌷🌸🌷🌺
pickDelicious herbs; intoxicating flowers; and, a feisty apple tree that throws its fruit at people, tempting them to take a bite and see the biggest event of their life — a few reasons I ❤️ Garden Spells. It‘s also a great treatment for spring fever.
#LitsyAtoZ 9/26
pickSpent the last few days reading this lovely title that @Chrissyreadit sent me for our #jbminiswap and really enjoyed it - thank you for choosing it for me!
It invited me to read it really slowly which was a nice change of pace. It ended up being just the kind of romance I like - thoughtful and uplifting
@Chrissyreadit Thank you so much for this beautiful Valentines Day parcel! I love it and can‘t wait to dive in! I‘m stuck inside with a cold waiting out a snowstorm so an exciting book and warm socks are just the thing to curl up with 🥰
@kaye Thank you for coordinating our #jbminiswap - I had so much fun!
so-soIn this book, The garden is bursting with magical plants which help the townspeople see their lives more clearly. While I related to the characters especially Claire and found them engaging, I found the plot predictable and a bit overdone. Unlike Harry‘s Trees, the women in the story are capable of actual magic, although more of the variety of an untrained wizard. A good read but not a great one.#bookschool
pickI‘ve read The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen and really enjoyed it. Garden Spells has that same touch of magical realism as the Waverly family of Bascom, North Carolina carry their own magic. After traversing across the country, Sydney returns home with her daughter, Bay, and starts her life again living with her sister Claire.
pickLoved the book! Wonderful author, definitely a new fave!
pickA very sweet magical realism romance, great for a light read between heavier books. I enjoyed the NC setting, and I love the Waverly family. I will keep an eye out for SAA‘s other books.
Features a feisty apple tree, whose apples can give the eater visions...
Happy New Year Litsy friends! I tried to read in the new year, but fell asleep before the ball dropped. I‘m not sad about it.
I‘m starting the year with this sweet light read that was a gift from my friend Harper 😊. It‘s fun so far. It‘s my author A for #LitsyAtoZ.
#Sietje says it‘s still too early this morning. I was trying to show that her tongue is out, but it‘s too blurry.
Day 18 of #adventrecommends @emilyrose_x and a new favourite genre!
PS @Moray_Reads the next #LMPBC book was sent today.
Harper! I received your sweet surprise gift today. Thank you so much! What a special treat, the author is from Asheville NC, my favorite place.
I feel so blessed to have made friends with you and so many other truly wonderful folks this year on Litsy 💚. Happy Holidays to you!
All things SAA! I keep her audiobooks on loop throughout the year as my unwinding-for-bed books.
#SundayFunday @sebrittain
pickI found this author years ago and every time I read another one of her books I become more smitten. They are quiet stories that weave big life lessons in to a gauze of magic that makes you feel like you have come home to the loving arms of your mom.
pick#OctoberPutASpellOnYou the final prompt: #IPutASpellOnYou
People have been knocking on the back door of Waverley House looking for something made from the flowers in their garden or trying to climb the fence to filch an apple, for generations. But the last thing you should do is eat an apple from the Waverleys‘ tree!
I had such a great time with this challenge @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks and @vkois88 Thank you for putting it together and hosting it!
Basket of apples/
Friend to wolves & friend to snakes/
Granddaughter of Eve
#halloweenhaiku... sort of.
This one “wandered from the path” a little bit, if you will. 🙃🍎🐍
Playing with the idea of Red Riding Hood & Eve, the symbolism of apples (temptation, sin, & knowledge) & feminism. Also, desperately try to find a way to make “Little Pink Clitoral Hood” empowering & not silly or a little weird/creepy. Wish me luck? 😅🤞🏻
The women of the Waverley family are heirs to an unusual legacy, one that grows in a fenced plot behind their Queen Anne home in Bascom, North Carolina. There, an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them... The Waverly family #charmed me thoroughly with their southern magic. #witchyreads
These are the books on my Currently Reading shelf. I‘ve been procrastinating this morning; I think 301 straight days of reading is taking a toll.
Here‘s to finishing at least one this weekend!
#OctoberPutsASpellOnYou #sisters
Book:Claire‘s long lost sister, Sidney,returns after 10 years. I have 3 sisters who I love dearly,but chose this selfie of Jean & I from a special trip we took to the Cape together to visit places meaningful to us after our mother died.She is on my mind because I am leaving to meet her for coffee shortly.Grateful she is only 45 min away;we meet half way. A local vineyard produces a wine called Three Sisters. ❤️🍷
This didn‘t sound like a book I‘d like at all. It was an ARC at work, so I decided to try it. And I loved it! The sequel, First Frost was really good too. #OctoberXFiles #IPutaSpellonYou
#octoberxfiles #iputaspellonyou
This book was a little lighter and sweeter than I usually read, but I really enjoyed this small town story of two sisters with some ‘special‘ skills.... also, I‘m always a sucker for a fiction book with some foodie elements...
There are recipes for many of Claire‘s mood-altering creations.... Lavender bread, chive blossom vinegar and rose scones etc.... I must try them... 🧙♀️
My favorite books about Spell Casting (other than HP). #youputaspellonme #octoberxfiles
I love gardening. Almost finished with my rock garden- the area is on a bed of slate so nothing deep in most areas. And it is not raining so I can sit outside with soup for breakfast and read.
pickCame across this book when I did a search for “magical realism novels” and now I have a new favorite author 😊 A family story with some magic and romance 💖
‘... Claire knows that rose geranium wine brings back happy memories, that lavender baked into cookies gives people the ability to keep secrets, and that to discourage a man‘s unwelcome attentions, she must add snapdragon seeds to his evening meal.‘
#NewHogwartsAdventure #herbology
📚 Garden Spells
🖋 Gillian Flynn or Neil Gaiman
🎥 Gilmore Girls or Great British Bake-off
🍴 Ginger (not by itself, but in all the things)
#manicmonday #letterg
This one might be a little obvious, but I really loved this book. It was my first book by Sarah Addison Allen and I love her books!
Claire is a caterer and the food she makes is “magical”. She grows the herbs and other ingredients herself in her garden.
#AugustIsATrip - Garden
My favorite #localauthor for #agameoffavorites is Sarah Addison Allen. I love her light blend of atmosphere, interesting characters, #romantsy, and magic. She‘s not from my town, but from one of my favorite places, Asheville, NC. @WhiskeyMistress @ErinSueG
pickI absolutely love this book. I have reread it several times. It‘s an instant classic.
Lunch reading. Veggie meatball sub, limeade, and Garden Spells.
