“Sleep & Sorcery” by Laurel Hostak-Jones is a fantastic blend of bedtime stories, rituals, and spells that will take your sleep experience to a new realm.

The book invites you into magical and mythic worlds through beautifully crafted stories inspired by folklore and fantasy.

Each tale makes you feel like an active participant in these enchanting narratives. With the focused exercises, you can heighten your intuition and subconscious connections.

Overall, it's a delightful and imaginative read that offers more than just a good night’s sleep. It's a magical mystery journey into a world of dreams and unlimited possibilities.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Author Laurel Hostak-Jones, and Publisher Crossed Crow Books for this advanced reader's copy for review.

I often struggle to sleep, and I asked for this review to see if there was anything that can be done to help my sleep!

Some of the short stories in this book were beautifully written, in particular the first one and I really enjoyed the process of going through what felt like meditation whilst reading!

I did feel that after reading I slept well given how relaxed I felt which is really good!

Some of the spells and tasks I felt were too far fetched for me in terms of stuff you have to get to do them, but really love the idea behind it!

While I chose to read this book merely from our perspective of being interested in the title, I found myself far more interested in the topic itself as the book went on.

I love that this book is written for anyone, pagan or not. But I do love the bedtime, rituals and stories, and this really resonated with me.

It felt like a lot of information was repeated. I guess that's par for the course with books like this, but it would be nice to have some new information every once in a while.

I think this would be a good book in audio. I would not recommend it as a library purchase since I think it would be a book that an individual would want to have a personal copy of for continuous use.

SLEEP AND SORCERY by Laurel Hostak-Jones explores the realm of sleep and dreams from a calm, clear perspective based on myth, rituals, and stories from the past, present, near and far. It is a peaceful and authoritative guide to that most vexing and desired accomplishments: a restorative night's rest -- and I deeply enjoyed learning more about practices and approaches with this beautiful, well-written guide. While I'm not a witch or sorcerer, I have taken Hostak-Jones's words to heart and sleep better for it. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

A solid 4 stars for originality. But the use of 2nd person took a bit for my brain to wrap around and that distracted quite a bit.

Based on the hit podcast from the author, Sleep & Sorcery features folklore and fantasy stories that help drift you off to sleep. Filled with fun advice and unique takes on “how to help you go to sleep,” I often found myself disappearing into the stories. The guided activities were also fun and engaging!

I’ve never listened to the podcast but after reading this one, I may just have to dive into it because the concept behind it all is so fascinating!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for my arc!

Let's start by saying the cover is stunning. Definitely a book to display on your bookshelves or place on your coffee table for others to stare at in awe.

I found this book useful and helpful with lots of tips and tricks for healthy sleep, including sleep spells, rituals etc... I definitely plan to purchase the physical copy as I see myself using some of these methods in my everyday craft. What really stood out to me was the "scenes" the author creates to place the reader in a "meditative" mindset. It gives me relaxing, calming and restful vibes. An excellent resource to add to your witchy collection of reading materials.

I love reading witchy fiction but this was my first foray into a non-fiction style book. I love that it had rituals and exercises to try. I will go back to this when I need help sleeping for sure!

Wonderful book to add to your collection or read if you are interested in magick and/or witchcraft. I loved how it delved deep into sleep and the places that we do not know much about. Great addition to your witchy library!!

Informative and thought provoking, a lot of ideas and good stories.
Loved it
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The cover on this one made me curious to to read it I didn't know the author also had a podcast prior to starting this book. Unfortunately, the narration choice was a bit rocky for me, and I struggled a bit, but I did enjoy a the exercises and recipes, and tried a few of the said exercises.

Better Sleep Options

The author states that she hopes that the stories, exercises, and activities in the book are designed to induce sleep and deep relaxation. She states that we should have a nightly sleep ritual that can be changed over time to fit our busy lifestyle. To aid in our sleep, the author suggests and provides a list of items to set up a dream weaver's altar,

The author provides several exercises to aid in one's nightly ritual, such as the self-guided exercise to build a fairy garden, the ocean-inspired breathing exercise to encourage deep relaxation, dream journaling for lucid dream, and several other exercises that may be beneficial.

One of the options, that I like is the sleep spell sachet that you can create from the suggested items provided, or use your own. Additionally, there is the ritual bath that can be performed.

I found this book to be very helpful in offering and providing options to getting better sleep and relaxing more. Highly recommend.

Laurel Hostak-Jones offers so many helpful tips in this book. As someone who suffers from issues with sleeplessness due to overthinking and anxiety, I gained so many new tools to help me catch some zzz's. Her rituals tied to grounding and communing with the earth were especially helpful.

oh my god! This was GORGEOUSLY Written!
I was totally not expecting to get pulled into the imagery - but i deep.
sleep i did not when reading this, sorcery this book definitely is!

this is the kind of book where i read a chapter and just savoured it for a day or two... the imagery stays in my mind.
I had absolutely lovely sleep after reading a chapter or more of this book at night.

There is a story, and then sleep rituals and spells - all that sets you up to go to sleep smiling and wishing you were living in such lands too :)

I'd read this book again!
Thank you to Netgalley (THIS is the kind of book which makes me glad I am on netgalley!!!) and Crossed Crow Books (You publish some very interesting books!)

I found this a wonderful collections of magical fables for anyone looking for stories that are filled with magical beings and wonder. It has rituals and spells at the end of the stories that are suppose to help with sleep, but I just found stories that were thought provoking and colorful. The stories included in the book, is a Dream makers, Unicorns, King Arthur, and a Fairy World just to name a few and they were wonderful place to journey to .
The book is really engaging to read and I tried not to rush through the book since there aren't many stories, but it was hard since the stories are so good and I wanted to know what was coming next.

I want to thank Crossed Crow Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book of Fabled stories.

"I recently had the pleasure of reading this engaging book. It was so delightful it transported me back to my childhood days of reading fairy tales. I have a nightly routine of winding down with my Kindle before I drift off to sleep, but I often find myself struggling to stay awake after reading just a few pages. However, this book was different. The segments were perfect length and kept me fully captivated until the end, making it the ideal choice for those moments when I wanted to read something but needed to keep it short and sweet.

"Sleep & Sorcery: Enchanting Bedtime Stories, Rituals, and Spells" by Laurel Hostak-Jones is a delightful and enchanting journey into the realm of bedtime rituals and magic. Through a collection of captivating stories, soothing rituals, and gentle spells, Hostak-Jones invites readers to embrace the mystical power of sleep. Each story is beautifully crafted, weaving together elements of fantasy and folklore to create a sense of wonder and enchantment. Alongside these tales, the author shares practical rituals and spells designed to enhance the quality of sleep and promote relaxation and well-being. Whether you're seeking to unwind after a long day or simply looking to add a touch of magic to your bedtime routine, "Sleep & Sorcery" is a charming and whimsical guide that will transport you to a world of dreams and imagination.

My only problem with this book is not actually a problem unless you're trying to read more than a chapter at a time: it was so wonderfully relaxing I couldn't read it without getting sleepy, which brought on more than one unintentional nap over lunchtime. Oops. Sleep & Sorcery is a lovely mix of myth, short story, guided meditation, and ritual that consistently succeeds in bringing the reader to another headspace where imagination runs rampant. I consistently had vivid dreams after reading this book at bedtime.

Laurel Hostak-Jones' writing style is lyrical and engaging. Each chapter begins with narrative prose that feels like an archetypal fairy tale or myth retold (and for some chapters, such as "The Green Knight," is indeed a direct retelling of ancient tales). These narrative pieces work well as a meditation or as a preparation for your subconscious to continue the story or work with archetypes in your sleep. In either case, the pacing and tone has a dreamlike quality that seemed to put my subconscious into a lovely state of floating relaxation.

Hostak-Jones ends with an activity, spell, or ritual that works as a continuation of the theme of the tale. There's a variety of activities included, all of which work regardless of experience level in witchy things. The overall vibe is magical, not religious: I would classify Sleep & Sorcery as witchy, not worship, and the rituals and spells are internally focused for positive self-care and reflection.

Sleep & Sorcery: Enchanting Stories, Rituals, and Spells is indeed enchanting for any reader who enjoys traveling through that misty in-between land of dreams and visions. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will buy a paper copy for my library.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the free book in exchange for a review!


As most of you who follow my reviews know I am just getting into witchcraft and magick. Sleep and Sorcery was an amazing book for lovers of witchcraft! In this book there are stories intertwined with sleep rituals and magick spells - I loved how the author did this because it made this book so unique to the reader!