First Lines Friday - October 9th

Hey Bookworms

First Lines Fridays is my weekly feature for all you bookworms out there in need a little inspiration.

I have been posting these over on Instagram for a while but decided to further my reach.

Each Friday I will attempt to hook you in by posting the first handful of lines of a book that I recommend for you all to read, this way I can allow the story to grab you with the magic of its opening lines rather then an eye grabbing cover or a catchy blurb adorning the back.

Then I will reveal the book and include purchase links at the end.

The first lines of this week's chosen book are. . .

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦, 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘺, 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵, 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘦. 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘖𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳.

The water is wide, I cannot go Oe'r it

And neither have I wings to fly

Give me a boat that will carry two

And I shall row, my love and I.

And the book is . . . .

The Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Happy bookfam,

Have you heard of this amazing author?

Have you read Practical Magic?

If the answer to both of the above then you need to pay attention!!

Alice Hoffman is a truly amazing writer. Among all of her books Practical Magic is my favourite, it has been since I was a teenager and it still is. The story is about the Owens sisters Sally and Gillian who have lived with their aunts since they were children, there is a curse on the Owens family and love doesn't last long, Then came along Rules Of Magic which was a prequel to Practical Magic. This story takes you back to the sisters parents and siblings and what led to the girls ending up living with there aunts as children. I adored both of these stories and loved reading all about the Owens family and the magic that they behold, especially the curse that prevents any man from loving an Owens woman.

As you can imagine I was giddy with excitement when I heard there was a third book coming, I preordered and waiting with anticipation for it to fall through my door..

Magic Lessons is again another prequel, going back even further to Maria and her life and what happened all those years before that caused Maria to put the curse on the family that would affect the Owens women for generations to come.

If you love magic and truly captivating characters then these books are most definitely for you.

Take a peek at all three of these books synopsis's below

PRACTICAL MAGIC

As children, sisters Gillian and Sally were forever outsiders in their small New England town, teased, taunted and shunned for the air of magic that seems to sparkle in the air around them. All Gillian and Sally ever wanted was to get away.

And eventually they do, one marries, the other runs as far from home as she can manage.

Years later, however, tragedy will bring the sisters back together. And they’ll find that no matter what else may happen, they’ll always have each other.

An enchanting tale of love, forgiveness and family.

RULES OF MAGIC

In this sparkling prequel we meet sisters Frances and Jet and Vincent, their brother. From the beginning their mother Susanna knew they were unique: Franny with her skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, who could commune with birds; Jet as shy as she is beautiful, who knows what others are thinking, and Vincent so charismatic that he was built for trouble. Susanna needed to set some rules of magic: no walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles and certainly, absolutely, no books about magic…

But the Owens siblings are desperate to uncover who they really are. Each heads down a life-altering course, filled with secrets and truths, devastation and joy, and magic and love. Despite the warning handed down through the family for centuries – Know that for our family, love is a curse – they will all strive to break the rules and find true love.

MAGIC LESSONS

We first met the Owens in the glorious novel Practical Magic. We discovered the tragedy of the Owens siblings in Rules of Magic. Now we learn how it all began... with a baby abandoned in a snowy English field in the 1600s. Under the care of gentle Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the 'Unnamed Arts'. Maria has a gift for them - a gift that may well prove her undoing.

When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she invokes the curse that will haunt her family for centuries. Because magic has rules, and they must be followed. This is the lesson that Maria will carry with her for the rest of her life, and pass on to her children and her children's children.

How truly epic do they sound. I can honestly say that I would recommend these to anyone time and time again, I have yet to read Magic Lessons but if it is anything like the first two, I know I will love it.

This is my most favorite Magical series.