Witchy Reads: Books I Actually Read (and Have Opinions About)

As the air starts to cool (oh please, oh please) and witching season arrives, I inevitably start craving stories about witches, magic, powerful women, old mysteries, complicated families, and the occasional well-deserved act of vengeance.

Apparently, I have a type.

Over the years, this list has grown right along with my reading pile. Some of these books are very definitely about witches. Others live a little farther out on the magical spectrum, but they have enough ancient power, transformation, curses, mythology, magical women, and general witchiness that I’m letting them into the coven.

These aren't necessarily the newest or trendiest witch books. They're books I've actually read, and I have opinions.

So whether you want something deliciously wicked, historically witchy, a little creepy, wildly romantic, or just a damn good story about a woman who refuses to stay in the box she’s been given, here are some of my favorites.

🔥 If You Ask Me What to Read First...

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

My favorite book I’ve read this year. Hands down.

Set in Connecticut in 1666, Slewfoot pits Puritanism against paganism in the story of Abitha, a recently widowed woman who finds herself increasingly at odds with the rigid world around her. And then something very old wakes up in the woods.

If the movies The Witch and Promising Young Woman somehow had a book baby, this would be it.

It’s dark. It’s creepy. It’s vengeful. And I found myself identifying with Abitha on an almost uncomfortable level.

If you’ve ever felt like a square peg trying desperately to fit yourself into a round hole, doing everything you’re supposed to do and trying to become what everyone expects you to be, only to finally reach the point where you think, Fuck it. Maybe I’m not the problem; this book is for you.

The battle between what society calls evil and what actually is evil is part of what makes this story so compelling. And let’s just say the vengeance, when it comes, is pretty damn satisfying.

Dark? Absolutely. But excellent.

Start here if: You like your witch stories dark, feminist, atmospheric, slightly terrifying, and served with a side of righteous fury.

The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn

My favorite book of last year.

Piers Corbin has an affinity for poisonous things: plants and men. And honestly, how do you give me a setup like that and expect me not to read the book?

After escaping a dangerous marriage, Piers discovers that her relationship with poison is actually part of a family legacy. She comes from a line of Bane Witches, women who can ingest poisonous plants and use their particular gifts to rid the world of some very bad men.

This book is deliciously wicked.

There’s magic, danger, female power, poison, morally complicated choices, and some very satisfying vengeance. I tore through it.

If Slewfoot and The Bane Witch appearing at the top of my list suggests that I may have a particular fondness for stories about women who have finally had enough... well.

Moving on.

Start here if: You want something contemporary, dark, compulsively readable, and just wicked enough to make you grin.

A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas

Does ACOTAR technically qualify as a witch series?

Not exactly. Do I care? Absolutely not.

There are witches in this world, but there are also curses, ancient magic, magical creatures, powerful women, other realms, transformation, sisterhood, and a literal cauldron capable of remaking humans into something entirely different.

It counts.

I freaking loved this entire series and zoomed through it. It hits exactly the right combination for me: strong female protagonists, women discovering their own power, self-determination, romance, adventure, and characters who eventually decide they’re not going to take anyone’s shit anymore.

And yes, we also need to discuss the fairy porn.

I believe every woman who enjoys reading should experience at least one good fairy-porn series in her lifetime, and if you’re going to choose one, this is the one I recommend.

It’s sexy. It’s romantic. It’s escapist. It makes you feel good. It might put you in the mood. And as the seasons change and you’re looking for something to curl up with at night, I can think of worse ways to spend your time.

Start here if: You want your magic with romance, adventure, female power, and a healthy dose of spice.

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

If you loved Circe, put this one on your list.

The Witch’s Heart reimagines Norse mythology through Angrboda, a witch whose story begins with her punishment by Odin and whose relationship with Loki eventually makes her the mother of three extraordinary children with destinies much larger than their quiet life together.

I read this at a particularly meaningful time in my own life, when I’m standing at a threshold as a mother and learning what it means to release my children into their own lives.

There’s something heartbreaking and beautiful about loving your children fiercely while also understanding that their paths belong to them. You can love them. You can want to protect them. And eventually, you have to let them become who they are going to become.

I also loved the mythological idea of patterns repeating themselves again and again until something finally changes. It reminded me a little of what I loved about The Wheel of Time: cycles, fate, choices, and the possibility of choosing differently.

And Angrboda herself belongs on this list because, like so many of my favorite witches, she does not follow the path prescribed for her. She makes her own.

Start here if: You love mythology, motherhood, fate, powerful women, and stories with some emotional weight.

🧙‍♀️ More Witchy Fiction I’ve Read

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

This was one of the books that originally inspired this list, and it remains a favorite.

Set against the women’s suffrage movement, it brings together witchcraft, sisterhood, women’s rights, and the fight to claim your own power. I flew through it.

At its heart, it’s about women rising up and deciding that the rules created for them aren’t necessarily the rules they intend to live by.

You may be noticing a theme here.

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

I love adult fairy tales, especially when they take all the familiar ingredients and then refuse to follow the expected formula.

Nettle & Bone does exactly that.

Marra is a convent-raised princess who decides someone needs to save her sister from an abusive prince, and eventually realizes that someone is going to have to be her. Her quest brings witches, impossible tasks, a fairy godmother, a disgraced knight, a dog made of bones, and even a demon-possessed chicken into the mix.

It’s magical without being precious, romantic without being sappy, and wonderfully pragmatic about the whole business of saving a princess.

And it’s funny. I deeply appreciate fantasy that remembers we're allowed to laugh.

Read this if: You like your fairy tales subversive, smart, slightly strange, and populated by women who solve their own damn problems.

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I really enjoyed this one because it gave me something I don't always get from witchy fiction: a genuinely good mystery to unravel.

The Bewitching moves through three interconnected timelines and three women, from the Mexican countryside in 1908 to New England in the 1930s and a Massachusetts university in 1998. Witchcraft and the supernatural begin connecting stories that initially seem separated by generations.

It’s Gothic, atmospheric, paranormal, and just scary enough without crossing over into the kind of horror that makes me regret my life choices at bedtime.

Mostly, I appreciated that it kept me curious. I wanted to understand how these women and their stories connected, and the mystery kept unfolding right along with the magic.

Read this if: You want your witchcraft with a side of Gothic mystery and just a little creepiness.

The Great Witch of Brittany by Louisa Morgan

For my fellow historical-fiction readers, this one takes us to Brittany in the 1700s and follows Ursule Orchière, a young woman born into a family where true witchcraft was thought to have disappeared generations earlier, until her own power begins to emerge.

There are mothers and daughters, inherited magic, family history, coming of age, and all the complications that accompany being a magical woman in a time when being different could be very dangerous.

I enjoyed this one, although I'm going to be completely transparent: it clearly did not burrow into my brain the way Slewfoot or The Bane Witch did because I had to refresh my memory on some of the details.

Still, if historical witch fiction is your thing, it’s worth adding to your list.

Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe is one of mythology’s great magical women, and Madeline Miller gives her the chance to become the center of her own story rather than a supporting character in someone else’s.

It’s beautifully written and filled with gods, mortals, power, independence, loneliness, transformation, and the making of a woman on her own terms.

If you enjoy Circe, I especially recommend pairing it with The Witch’s Heart. Greek mythology over here, Norse mythology over there, and complicated magical women refusing to behave themselves everywhere.

Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons and The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Obviously.

Many of us return to the movie Practical Magic every witching season, but Alice Hoffman’s books give you generations of Owens women, family history, love, loss, curses, and magic.

I particularly love The Rules of Magic, which takes us into the lives of Franny, Jet, and their brother Vincent in the 1960s and ’70s, while Magic Lessons goes all the way back to Maria Owens and the origins of the family curse.

And now that Practical Magic 2 has arrived, what better excuse do you need to spend a little more time with the Owens women?

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

This is an old favorite that I’ve returned to more than once.

If you think you know King Arthur, The Mists of Avalon turns the legend around and tells much of it through the women, particularly Morgaine, also known as Morgan le Fay.

It’s epic, immersive, magical, political, sensual, and very, very long. Which apparently didn't bother me, because I’ve read it three times and have absolutely stayed up far too late for certain spicy parts.

If you like disappearing into a giant historical fantasy world for a while, this one will certainly give you somewhere to go.

The Tidelands Series by Philippa Gregory

You may know Philippa Gregory from books like The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen. Her Fairmile series begins with Tidelands and gives historical-fiction lovers another story centered around women, power, superstition, social expectations, and accusations of witchcraft.

This one sits more on the historical side of my witchy bookshelf, but if you like immersing yourself in another time and watching women figure out how to survive within systems designed to constrain them, it belongs here.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Witches. Vampires. Daemons. Academia. History. Romance.

There’s a lot going on here.

I enjoyed A Discovery of Witches enough to happily finish it on a long flight, although I never felt compelled to continue through the rest of the series. So this isn't one of my drop everything and read it immediately recommendations.

But if supernatural romance is your thing, there’s plenty here to enjoy.

And Matthew Goode is in the television adaptation.

That concludes my scholarly analysis.

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

If you want to go Gothic, Anne Rice is always ready for you.

The Witching Hour, the first of her Mayfair Witches books, is sprawling, atmospheric, dark, sensual, and filled with generations of family secrets and supernatural forces.

Anne Rice doesn't really do light and breezy, and that's exactly the point.

There’s also the Mayfair Witches television series if you decide you want to keep going after the book.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Another entry for my fellow adult-fairy-tale lovers.

Stardust was one of the first Neil Gaiman books I read, and it remains one of my favorites. It has witches, magic, adventure, romance, danger, and that wonderful fairy-tale quality where the world feels both whimsical and a little dangerous.

And if you've never seen the movie adaptation, please fix that.

Michelle Pfeiffer as a witch is everything you need, and Robert De Niro is enchanting in a way you have probably never seen him before.

The Witch’s Daughter and The Return of the Witch by Paula Brackston

These are beautifully atmospheric books that combine witchcraft, history, relationships, and a woman whose extraordinarily long life has carried her through centuries.

They're not at the very top of my personal favorites, but they're enjoyable, character-driven magical stories and absolutely belong on a witchy reading list.

The Change by Kirsten Miller

Three middle-aged women discover their extraordinary powers while investigating the deaths of young girls in a wealthy seaside community. Think modern witchcraft, female rage and some seriously ugly truths.

This wasn't my favorite read. The storytelling felt a little heavy-handed, but I couldn't put it down without knowing how it ended. And what an ugly ending! The parallels to real-world exploitation and powerful men (and the women who enable them) left me thoroughly disgusted.

More feminist revenge thriller than traditional witchcraft, but if you're in the mood for female rage and revenge, this one's for you. And Harriet, the Garden Witch? I have a serious girl crush on her. 🖤

Content note: This book deals with sexual exploitation and abuse of minors. Some of the subject matter is deeply disturbing, so please read with care.

📚 The Epic-Fantasy Exception

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

Well, I can finally update this one:

I FINISHED ALL 14 BOOKS.

Yes. All of them.

When I originally wrote this list, I was only about halfway through and optimistically declaring that finishing The Wheel of Time was on my bucket list. Mission accomplished.

This isn't technically a witch series, but the Aes Sedai, powerful women who can channel the One Power, remain some of my favorite magical women in fantasy. Their different Ajahs, politics, traditions, rivalries, relationships with power, and role in a world built around enormous repeating cycles kept me invested through an absolutely massive story.

I loved them enough that I eventually dressed as Blue Ajah for Those Witches Be Crazy, so I think that earns the series permanent residency on this list.

👀 What I’m Reading Right Now

Only Spell Deep by Ava Morgyn

After loving The Bane Witch, of course I was willing to follow Ava Morgyn somewhere dark and witchy again.

I haven't finished this one yet, so no final verdict. But it has definitely captured my attention.

And it started with a wonderfully spooky coincidence. Early in the book, the main character receives an invitation telling her to appear somewhere on September 8. Guess what day I happened to start reading the book?

September 8.

Well, hello there.

The story follows Jude, a woman with a complicated magical family history who receives a mysterious invitation and becomes pulled into a much darker world of secrets and power. There is also a handsome bookseller named Levi, whom I am currently suspicious of but who sounds lovely nonetheless.

It’s creepy. Definitely creepy. There’s family history, inherited magic, things mothers don't fully tell their daughters, and the uncomfortable feeling that something is very wrong underneath everything.

So far? I'm in. I'll report back.

✨ Non-Fiction Witchy Reads

Sometimes I don't want a story about witches. I want to think about why witches continue to fascinate us in the first place.

These are two I recommend.

Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power by Pam Grossman

I’ve read this more than once and listened to it as an audiobook, and I continue to recommend it. If you’re a woman who falls anywhere on the spectrum from witch-curious to definitely witchy, I consider this required reading.

Grossman explores witchcraft through history, feminism, pop culture, art, and her own experience. It’s smart, accessible, funny, and never assumes you need to practice witchcraft to find meaning in the archetype.

More than anything, it explores why the image of the witch has remained such a powerful symbol for women.

Heal the Witch Wound: Reclaim Your Magic and Step Into Your Power by Celeste Larsen

This one goes deeper into the idea of the “witch wound”: the generational and cultural legacy left by centuries of persecution, particularly around women who were healers, spiritual practitioners, outspoken, independent, or simply outside what society expected them to be.

If you're a healer, coach, spiritual practitioner, or someone exploring your own relationship with intuition and personal power, there's a lot here to think about.

So, What Should You Read This Witching Season?

If you want me to make it ridiculously simple:

Want dark, vengeful, and impossible to put down?
Start with Slewfoot or The Bane Witch.

Want romance, adventure, and fairy porn?
Hello, ACOTAR.

Want mythology and something with emotional depth?
The Witch’s Heart or Circe.

Want an adult fairy tale that's clever and fun?
Nettle & Bone or Stardust.

Want a witchy mystery with a little creepiness?
The Bewitching.

Want to disappear into a giant magical world for the foreseeable future?
The Wheel of Time. See you in approximately 14 books.

Whatever you choose, I hope you find something that lets you disappear for a while, makes you think, makes you feel, or reminds you that women who refuse to follow the prescribed path have always made the very best stories.

Happy reading, witches. 🖤📚✨

And this list is never finished.

Have a witchy book I absolutely, positively need to read? Email me at WitchyBusiness@ThoseWitchesBeCrazy.com.

If enough of you send me recommendations, I suppose I'll just have to keep reading.

Terrible burden, really.