22nd November 2025
Hi guys,
I know it’s been a while since we were in the Reading Corner, but, like I said last time I promise to have a lot of reads to share with you. I will be taking you back to the month of August to one of the Science Fiction and Fantasy book club reads.
Before we go there I have to thank my beautiful Aunty Barbara and Uncle Mike for letting me stay with them for a few days a week ago. It was amazing to stay in the new barn and see my cousins, Dan and George with their wonderful partners, and beautiful children. I really appreciate the head reset and the time we spent together. I can’t wait to come back and chill again soon.
I also can’t wait see George and her family over Christmas! Yes. I said it and yes, it is around the corner!!!
While I was away I got to almost finish my Christmas shopping. Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to brag or pull anyone’s stocking! I don’t know what it is about this time of year but even when I am feeling low giving gifts brings me a lot of joy. In the same way that magic does. I can’t wait to put my tree up and my flat festive for the first time! I also can’t wait to see what people think of what I have been making with my own angels. I have been doing it to music and the television. Roll on those the Christmas movies.
Now, earlier you heard me mention magic. What would you do if you lost part of what makes you, you? Well, this was the central question of August read for the Waterstones Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Club. Shall we wave our hands and see what this book has to offer?
I think it’s also worth letting my readers now that I have always been a few months behind reads as I have never been able to make the date for the physical meet up.
This was the one for August.
Review
Author: Lucy Jane Wood
Novel: Rewitched (Selcouth 1)
Publisher: Macmillan
Imprint: Pan Macmillan
Audiobook narrator: Evie Hargreaves
Audiobook: Rewitched
Ways of reading: Paperback/Audiobook
Started reading: 1st September 2025
Finished reading: 10th September 2025
Genre: Fantasy
First published: 4th July 2025
Audiobook publication: 19th September 2024
Original language: English
Recommended by: Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club at Waterstones
Number of pages: 423
Audiobook length: 12 hours, 27 minutes
Read rating: *****
Enjoyment score: 5/5
Ease of reading: 5/5
Would I recommend? Yes. I would pass this on to Deborah Harkness fans.
I really enjoyed this. I felt cosy while reading it.
The way Lucy Jane Wood writes makes me think of the All Souls series, without the history side that Deborah Harkness uses as a backdrop to the story of a witch falling in love with a vampire. These are well worth a read. It all starts with A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night follows, The Book of Life comes next, then Times Convert and The Black Oracle with the yet to be published, The Falcon and the Rose coming soon.
The All Sous series
It’s a great Sky Original television too.
The reason I mentioned the TV series of A Discovery of Witches is because I think Rewitched would be great as a film or television series. I can see the story of Belle and Rune on the big or small screen.
I watched the stakes become higher and higher as Belle discover her magic. This novel gave me a pull that meant I couldn’t put it down eventually. It was a warm hug of a book.
‘Belle, for the first time, took note of their surroundings. With dusk setting in and the huge, towering canopies of the oaks, the air was dark, almost purple in hue, with an undulating, supernatural feeling.
She immediately found her senses heightened like an animal, awareness sharpened to a weaponised point. Magic was in the air, the breeze was rushing through the nut-brown leaves above, and the bare, spindly branches sounded like frantic whispers from every which way.’
Wood’s world building is so palpable and full of colour, as Belle rediscovers herself, and that magic grows at her reader’s fingertips, we want reach out and embrace the it. I adore that the way Wood writes is with the help of a playlist that you can access on Spotify. It has a lot Taylor Swift and other banging artists. I think music holds many keys to a lot of authors creative flare.
In case you don’t have Spotify let you show you.
Billy Joel – Vienna
Maddie Zahrn – Growing In
Taylor Swift – willow (moonlit witch version)
Sam Philips – How To Dream
Beabadobee – Coffee
Taylor Swift – right where you left me (bonus track)
Harry Styles – Little Freak
Taylor Swift – mirrorball
Mac DeMarco – Moonlight on the River
Fleetwood Mac – Rhiannon
Fleetwood Mac –Never Going Back Again
Taylor Swift – tolerate it
Phoebe Bridgers – Georgia
Phoebe Bridgers – Motion Sickness
Billie Eilish – Getting Older
Kacey Musgraves – Happy & Sad
Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well
The La’s – There She Goes
Iron & Wine – Autumn Town Leaves
Corinne Bailey Rae – Like a Star
Carole King – Where You Lead
Ed Sheeran – Autumn Leaves (Bonus Track)
Taylor Swift – ivy
Harry Styles – From the Dining Table
Taylor Swift – Sweet Nothing
Lorde – Writer in the Dark
Taylor Swift – All Too Well (Sad Girl Autumn Version (Recorded ay Long Pond Studios)
Taylor Swift – You’re On Your Own, Kid
Taylor Swift (featuring Joy Williams & John Paul White – Safe & Sound (Taylor’s version)
Lizzy McAlpine – ceilings
Nina Simone – I Put a Spell On You
Taylor Swift – it’s time to go (bonus track)
Taylor Swift – the lakes (original version)
Lizzy McAlpine – all my ghosts
Lana Del Rae – Season of the Witch (From the Motion Picture “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”
Florence + the Machine – Which Witch (Demo Bonus Track)
Taylor Swift – Dear Reader
Taylor Swift – Mastermind
Taylor Swift – marjoie
Taylor Swift – peace
Taylor Swift – the lakes (bonus track)
Taylor Swift – gold rush
Taylor Swift – the last great american dynasty
Taylor Swift – betty
Taylor Swift – mad woman
Taylor Swift – long story short
Taylor Swift – The Archer
Taylor Swift – evermore (featuring Bon Ivor)
It’s a beautifully haunting playlist. I think if I ever write a novel, I will have to create my own and take a leaf from Wood’s page. I know mine would contain songs from musicals or television series, as they are filled with spell binding characters.
On the subject of characters, I loved them in this book. My fav is Arty because he is the underdog and so misunderstood. I also adore Ari, I would love her to be my friend. They are all drawn vividly, it felt like they all jumped off the pages.
I think this is a a great book to snuggle up with, with a cup of hot chocolate the size of a bucket.
Thank you Sci-fi and Fantasy Book Club at Waterstones. A nice one to hail in winter.
I hope you liked this chat. The next time I see you we will still be in The Reading Corner. We will be looking at the power of kindness.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on today’s chat. I get a lot of pleasure from sharing the rollercoaster of my life with you all. Thank you guys for helping me find my inner magic when I feel like I have lost my sparkle.
I also just want to say there will be a bit of overlap with some of the start dates of some of the books coming up. This is because I have done so much visiting recently, or forgotten to bring the read I was on more like. I think it’s great to have so many reads on the go. It can sometimes get really confusing! Note to self, always remember your book.
Love you all.
See you soon.
Love
Hatts
Xxx
Hatty’s Reading Corner 
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