When Autumn Leaves

by Amy S. Foster

This is another book about magic. Similar to Practical Magic, Garden Spells, and The Girl who Chased the Moon. All have quirky towns full of magic that is basically just acknowledged by the other residents. All have special women that seem to be blessed with the power of magic.

In this story, Autumn must choose a replacement for herself in the magical town of Avenings. She has been told that she is needed elsewhere. She decides to hold an essay contest. In the process, she narrows the search to 13 women.

Quotes I Liked:

"There are magical things we take for granted every day- our friends, our family, and most of all, ourselves!"

"Avening is a haven and a refuge from so many of the troubles that seem to circle and plague other small towns. " (Wish my small town was a haven. Instead it is a broiling, seething, place of gossip and ill will.)

"We are magical, but we are also human. We need the change. It keeps us vibrant, helps us grow, and make us better. You need the change too. You have another chapter in your life to begin. A new prospective. It's time!)

"Even if you were acquainted with the woman, more likely than not, you would still fail to see her. Invisibility was her own special magic. When she was younger, she used to believe that her invisibility was a metaphor for something else, something wrong with her- her awkwardness, her fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. She had thought as she grew older, more confident, wiser, she would be able to outgrow this not being noticed. But really, she still felt like a ghost. She would be in a place but not really there. People looked through her, past her. Her invisibility had taken on a life of its own. It wasn't a metaphor anymore, or a defense mechanism, or an eccentric little tic. It had taken on a life of its own. She was actually invisible. At least that's how it felt to her." (Reminds me of how my mom and dad call us all the invisible people. People only notice us when they want something.)

"She recognized the invisibility wrapped around the other woman's uncontrollable curves. But unlike her, the other woman fought it with everything she had. She tried too hard. She invited herself brazenly to be included."

"Visualize. I'm a green and yellow duck. A mallard. Everything you say will run off my little feathered body. "

"How could she have known how much the town would take of her character. How much her staying, the town would take as a sacrifice. The years and times now revealed the gap in her personality. The town took the part that used to make others gravitate towards her. Out of fascination, of fear, or of awe others had been drawn to her. But now she forgot the rules of being social, so she blundered along, trying to be bigger in life, in the hopes that she would not miss herself. " (Isn't that something I could have written? Now if I could only redirect or better yet, express, all the hidden anger I have at this town and those who have wronged me so much, over and over.)

"The spell, the lightening, had pulled her together. She had been a puzzle. Pieces scattered everywhere. Drinking from the bottle had made each piece fit. It had kicked, and punched, and fused them into place. Deep down this fierce woman had always existed, but had been hidden and smothered out of duty and sacrifice. No Longer!"

"She felt calm, so unlike the anger she had felt towards herself in the last few weeks. Why had she had so much contempt for herself and her life? She drew her arms around herself as a gesture of forgiveness. Everything she had done. All the choices she had made. They all led to this exact moment. She was just where she was supposed to be. She had the ability to see through her past and pain to recognize that there was so much more to her, so much more for her, than she had allowed herself to believe. In that split second she felt happiness. Then she let it go. Let it back out into the universe where every other perfect moment lives, stretched out across the stars, hovering just there."

"She had loved her parents, her husband, her friends, but that love had come from the outside had been delivered to her from someplace else. The love she felt for her baby welled up from the very same place her daughter had begun in. It was organic, running through every cell, every tissue, every single pore of her being. It began inside and she kept it close."

"She had learned that motherhood was the greatest love affair of all. Romantic love paled in comparison. "

Calendar of Pagen Holidays
Winter Solstice Dec. 21
Imbolc Feb. 2
Spring Equinox March 21
Beltane May 1
Summer Solstice June 21
Lunghasadh Aug. 1
Fall Equinox Sept. 21
Samhain Oct. 31

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

by Sarah Addison Allen

Another book about magic. I love the magic, but what I really love best and feel envy about is the acceptance of the people in these towns towards all the quirky, unusual, and magical people. Since I live in a town that has no tolerance for anyone remotely gifted or unique...I like to live vicariously in the towns these authors make!

I read Garden Spells by the same author and loved it. I was hoping that this book would be a continuation and have some of the same characters. It didn't, but it was still a great book! It ends though, just like Garden Spells, with you wanting to know more about the characters and what will happen next.

Seventeen year old Emily came to live with her grandfather in Mullaby after the death of her mother. She hopes to solve the mystery of her mother. Why did her mom leave her small home town suddenly? Why didn't she ever come back to visit the family she left behind? Why wasn't Emily ever allowed to meet them before? She finds out that mysteries aren't solved in Mullaby, they're a way of life. Here are rooms where the wall paper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.

Julia, who used to be the one and only goth girl of the town, has returned from college to run her dad's restaurant and bakery after his death. Her cakes are magical (literally) and she is using them to hopefully call back her lost love.

Quotes I liked:

"Men of thoughtless actions are always surprised by consequences."

"If she'd been a color she would have been bright green. If she'd been a scent, she'd have been new paper. She was happy and intelligent and afraid of nothing."

"Your peers when you are a teenager will always be the keepers of your embarrassment and regret. It was one of life's injustices that you can move on and be happy and accomplished but the moment you see someone from high school you immediately become the person you were then and not the person who you are now." (Isn't that the truth. That's why if you grow up to do an important job in the same town with the same people you grew up you face constant shit!)

"We get to choose what defines us."

"Wall paper doesn't change on its own grandpa." "Just think of it as a universal truth. How we see the world changes at all times. It all depends upon our mood."

"Don't. Don't justify it. No one should ever compromise the dignity of another human being. " (I really want to say this to my B.Hole who does this on a regular basis, but I would end up in trouble, since he wouldn't be able to recognize in himself that he does this.)

"Adolescence is like having only enough light to only see the step directly in front of you. No further."

"At 16, he'd ruined any chance he ever had with her. World's Longest Regret."

"He'd never been good at expressing himself. She'd thought she wanted grand gestures and expressive declarations because he never gave her that. She thought that meant that something was missing in their relationship. But how could she have missed this? Everything he did was quiet. Even loving her. The tragedy was she hadn't understood this. She'd left him because she hadn't been quiet enough to hear him." (Bill is so quiet...I'm guilty of having these feelings!)

"He didn't often get angry at other people. There was no sense in it. The person you were angry at was rarely ever repentant. Now getting angry with yourself had some merit. It showed you had enough sense to chastise the one person who had any hope from benefiting from it. "

A Year Full of Moons:

The full moon in Jan. The Full Wolf Moon
Under this moon, wolves would howl with hunger outside Indian Villages. Under this moon, people tend to eat too much , drink too much, and play too much trying to fill a winter emptiness.

The full moon in Feb. The Full Snow Moon
when the most snow falls
People dream of other places they'd rather be under this moon.

The full moon in March. The Full Worm Moon.
ground softens and earthworms appear as do robins that eat them
The lure of getting caught doing something dangerous or scandalous is hard to resist under this moon.

The full moon in April. The Full Pink Moon.
abundance of greenery makes lush food for cows and goats leading to healthier milk
People look more attractive under this moon.

The full moon in June. The Full Strawberry Moon.
when strawberries ripen and need to be picked
People need to forgive under this moon and seek forgiveness.
Sweetness lingers during this time.

The full moon in July. The Full Buck Moon.
bucks get new antlers
Young men will butt heads and generally show themselves under this moon.

The full moon in August. The Full Sturgeon Moon.
Indian lore said best time to fish.
People feel restless and overwhelmed during this moon.

The full moon in September. The Harvest Moon.
full moon nearest the autumn equinox, bright enough to let farmers work late into the night, bringing in the last of their harvest
a time of introspection, People feel moody during this moon.

The full moon in October. The Full Hunter's Moon
lore says easier to hunt under this moon
If you stare at this moon with a question, it will become clear what has to be done.

The full moon in November. The Full Beaver Moon
beaver traps were set at this time before the waters froze, so furs would be in abundance for the cold winter
It's the last chance to do something you've been wanting to do but put off, before the heaviness of winter settles over them.

The full moon in December. The Full Cold Moon
heralds cold dark nights ahead
The best sleeping time of the year!