Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch

I was asked if I wanted to read this by Gabrielle, and as a fan of Terry Pratchett’s work (and I love Gabrielle’s work too) I just had to jump at the chance

I finally got the chance to sit down and read it on a wet Sunday afternoon and it was the perfect day to lose myself in a bit of warmth and love.

Because that’s what it truly felt like, a remembrance and pulling together of all the best things of the Witches of the Discworld, a real homage to the work that was done by Terry.

This is a manual of how to be a witch, but a very specific witch. This is not your magic-wielding hag, but the witch that looks at people to see how they work and who sees themselves as guardians of a place and community whether they like it all or not. This is a witch who understands the hard work that people can be and still works on, whether the community wants it or not. This is the witch who will leave the world a better place, even if by just a little whether they really want to or not.

but it’s also a book of asides, dirty humour, wonderful illustrations, call backs to the world that we’ve all explored as we made our way through the Discworld books. There’s sidebar conversations between Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, the wee free men make multiple misspelt appearances, there’s goats, elves, Greebo, and so much more.

Lots of small chapters explain various aspects of witchcraft according to Tiffany, which makes it an easy read with lots of places to pause, or if you want to read it as a soothing bedtime read in small bites. I had to read it all in one go as it was so like the books we all loved that it was almost as though he had written it himself.

What it’s also done is made me want to read all Terry Pratchett’s books once more!

A brilliant fun book for all ages, to be read to young ones, and read by everyone else.