Riot Recommendation

37 Of Your Favorite Witchy History Reads

Jamie Canaves

Contributing Editor

Jamie Canavés is the Tailored Book Recommendations coordinator and Unusual Suspects mystery newsletter writer–in case you’re wondering what you do with a Liberal Arts degree. She’s never met a beach she didn’t like, always says yes to dessert, loves ‘80s nostalgia, all forms of entertainment, and can hold a conversation using only gifs. You can definitely talk books with her on Litsy and Goodreads. Depending on social media’s stability maybe also Twitter and Bluesky.

This Riot Recommendation listing your favorite witchy history books is sponsored by The Familiars by Stacey Halls and MIRA Books.

The Famliars cover imageYoung Fleetwood Shuttleworth, noblewoman of one of the finest houses in Lancashire, is pregnant for the fourth time, having been unable to carry a baby to term so far. When Fleetwood finds a hidden letter from the doctor who delivered her last stillbirth, she learns of the prediction that she will not survive another pregnancy. By chance she meets a midwife who promises to help Fleetwood deliver a healthy baby and prove the physician wrong. As the midwife, Alice, is drawn into the witchcraft accusations sweeping the area, Fleetwood must risk everything to help clear her name. Historians have asked, “was witch-hunting woman-hunting?” THE FAMILIARS explores the themes of women’s rights in this period, many of which still resonate today.


If only we could unite and put a spell on history to bring back all the women accused of witchcraft. Until then, we asked you for your favorite witchy history reads so I could grow into a most powerful witch—er, I mean read those books just for enjoyment. And wow did all your witchy hearts deliver! Here are your favorite witchy history reads:

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Witch Child by Celia Rees

Corrag by Susan Fletcher

A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent

Witches of New York by Ami McKay

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe

The Witches of New Orleans series by J.D. Horn

The Witches Kind by Louisa Morgan

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

The Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston

Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammon

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

The Burning Time by Robin Morgan

Witch Child by Celia Rees

Sorceress by Celia Rees

The White Witch by Janet Graber

Beyond the Burning Times by Kathryn Laskey

The Gallows Hill by Lois Duncan

Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber

Wise Child by Monica Furlong

The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton

The Heart of A Witch by Judith Hawkes

The Highland Witch by Susan Fletcher

Cousins O’Dwyer trilogy by Nora Roberts

Witch by Barbara Michaels

Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

Diary of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Theodore Rozak

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather

The Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol F. Karlsen

Dark Queen Saga by Susan Carroll