I don't know what I expected when I decided to request this book to read, but what i got was totally and delightfully unexpected!
I'm not sure Ausgusten can do mundane. This book is filled with little quips and assertions of every day life and weird encounters that most writer would probably be unable to get away with. It would seem boring, tedious or fluff coming from anyone else,probably, but not Augusten.
His writing and humor are a fresh of breath air in a market full of the same stories with different packaging.
I had not read any of Burroughs previous works, so I was unfamiliar with his cheeky style. After this, I will pick up more of his work and dive into his unique penchant for telling a good quirky story.

I have read several of Augusten Burroughs books and I am always left wondering if he is for real. They are very enjoyable but the situations seem so over-exaggerated.

I have always loved Augusten Burroughs' books. He is an author that I connected to at a startling young age and have gobbled up every book of his since. This time Augusten reveals to the reader that he is a witch, (a secret he has kept from everyone save his husband) and how dealing with his powers and heritage plays along with Augusten and his husband leaving the city, buying a new house, and dealing with life, and closure with his mother. Linking both together his past and future this is a great read, fast paced, and as always so descriptive. Would highly recommend.

I have loved Augusten Burroughs since reading "Running With Scissors" in middle school. Now as an adult it is exciting getting to read another chapter in Burrough's life. We are both growing older and he is still managing to connect with his audience.

It’s hard to believe but this is my first Augusten Burroughs book! I’ve heard of Running With Scissors of course but somehow never managed to get to it. My loss. Burroughs is funny, clever, and writes in a wickedly delicious, entre-nous style. In this segment of his ongoing memoirs, he and husband Christopher make the move out of Manhattan. This includes convincing Christopher that he wants to move, searching for houses, and engaging with the “perfect” home once purchased. The heavy thread running over, under, and through it all (as you might have guessed from the title) are his “magick” and witchcraft skills. Regardless of your opinion on witchcraft, this is a compelling and comprehensive story, comprising personal experience, historical references, an analysis of what witchcraft really is, and lots of lots of laugh-inducing stories. I tossed skepticism aside and just ate it all up.

Reading this book (and probably all of the others), it’s hard not to want to want to befriend the guy (whether he’d want to befriend us back is another story). He manages to turn his (self-reported) “spectrum directed mind” and anxiety (his “default emotion”) into pure entertainment for his readers. I’d really like to have him over for dinner.

Pretty much every line is a quotable quote, but here are a few of my favs:

“Once we pull into the driveway, I know right away: this house is a vampire. It will want all our neck blood and then the blood of our unborn parallel universe children.”

“I’ve always been incredibly socially awkward. Autism runs in the family like detached earlobes. I obviously got sprinkled with enough of it to make me come across as a horrible snob. I wish there were more opportunities to turn this to my advantage, but so far, no luck.”

“I feel off atrocious news stores the way most people today consume kale. Nutrition comes from abductions, electrocutions, capsized boats, and freeway pileups.”

“Every sound of dropping signals water penetration. I wish I could be injected with ape tranquilizers.”

“Being plunged into the colonial era is informative. I learn that my mental health and stability is directly proportionate to the mount of charge on my phone.”

“Back in 1990, the internet was made of paper and it wasn’t called the internet, it was called the Village Voice.”

“It is moving day and we are already an episode of Hoarders.”

I found this book to be a truly unique look into the magickal perspective. Burroughs is quirky and eccentric, his fresh perspective was interesting and enchanting. This book begins when he is a young boy , but without recanting his previous books. Burroughs has led a difficult life through no fault of his own, but his humor and blunt words will have you laughing. I would recommend this book to any interested in the real life of a witch.

Like all Augusten Burroughs books, he takes you painfully deep into his own life. He's a great writer and a delight to read, no matter the subject.

A good book by a great author. I really wanted to like this book as most of it is excellent as is in a similar vein as Burroughs previous work. I just couldn't get past the witch part.. He talks about witches a lot. All the chapters are about his life which is funny but basing everything on being a witch was too much for me. Others may love it, It just wasn't for me but I look forward to his next non witch book.
Thank you Netgalley, Augusten Burroughs and St. Martin's Press for the ARC for my review.

Only Augusten Burroughs can get me to go from being nervous about a beloved author going off of the deep end as he comes clean about being a witch to making me wonder if I don't have some witch in me myself. I love his writing style, and have since Running With Scissors. He makes the mundane everyday banality readable. This won't be for everyone but the true Augusten fans will be happy to be back with an old friend. I loved his anecdotes about his dogs, house, and neighbors. Domestic bliss at its finest.

I love any book that deals with magick especially memoirs. This book did not disappoint. This was a beautiful book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it

This was a digital ARC from netgalley and it did not disappoint! It was the engaging, humorous, and almost unbelievable memoir I expected from Augusten Burroughs, this time about his being a witch. I thoroughly enjoyed each story. I'm delighted that the author manages to keep churning out memoirs without running out of material. What a life!

I haven’t enjoyed an Augustan Burroughs memoir so much since Running with Scissors. Touching, funny, quirky and a bit mystic. Written with Burroughs’s usual wit, he tells us of his marriage and moving to the country from the city, as well as his magick.

Reading the new Augusten Burroughs is like getting together with an old friend. It may not have the emotional heft of Lust & Wonder, but Burroughs’ dry wit is as intact as ever, and he can still make me laugh out loud.

I haven't read anything by Augusten Burroughs that was short of phenomenal. Toil and Trouble did not disappoint. Reading one of Augusten's books feels like having a conversation with your closest friend. You can almost picture yourself in whatever scenario he's describing. Toil and Trouble gets into his witchy side that was inherited from his infamous mother. I would have never believed anyone that told me they were a witch...until now! Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

Not Augusten Burroughs best book, but somewhat enjoyable just the same. Most of the chapters are interesting essays about things that happen when Augusten and his husband buy an old Connecticut farm house. Unfortunately, to tie these stories into a theme, Augusten shares with us that he is a witch. We then get endless examples of superstition and coincidences that "prove" this. I could have done without that. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

It’s pretty impressive that one person can write so many memoirs. In this one, he reveals that he’s a witch, from a long line of witches. He’s otherwise a nonbeliever, of ghosts, God, zombies, Bigfoot and so on. He explains that being a witch isn’t supernatural, it’s natural. For him it’s about seeing things just before they happen (across the country sometimes) and setting intentions—in his case, he creates rhyming spells to create something he wants to attain or avoid. Dubious? Yeah, me too, although his tales are provocative. He’s such a good writer that after I finished and had started reading another book, I found myself wondering what was going on with Augusten, his husband Christopher, their four dogs, and the intriguing characters they’ve met since moving from Manhattan to the Connecticut countryside.

Many years ago, my publisher asked me to write a novella for an anthology that featured a witch. I thought I should study up on Wiccan because I thought that’s what a witch was. I was way off according to Mr. Burroughs. I learned a lot about witches in this book, which is a subject I find fascinating, primarily because uppity women were drowned or burned on a pyre, and uppity women are my people.

The very little I studied on Wiccan, it seemed like nice stuff, not that far off from what I understand (from books and movies) are some of the rituals of Catholicism with lighting candles and, instead of saying prayers, saying kind of incantations—things to do to attract love and financial stability or to banish a bad experience. I think setting intentions is great. What I learned in Toil and Trouble, however, is that Wiccan is something a guy in England came up with in the 1950s. What Augusten is talking about is quite different, and I found it extremely interesting.

This book has some chuckles, although it’s not as funny as some of his earlier works. I enjoyed it, and I appreciate the opportunity for an advance copy from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. The RELEASE DATE IS OCTOBER 1, 2019.

I was hesitant about this one because of the witchcraft. But, boy, I was wrong to be cautious! This is old Augusten, comforting and lyrical, like sitting down with an old friend with a cup of coffee. If you keep an open mind, this book is great!

This book was received as an ARC from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoyed this book so much because of the wordplay Augusten Burroughs used throughout the book that made it more interesting and I could not keep my eyes from finishing this book. What impressed me most about this book is the amount of magic Burroughs had to think of the fact that Beavers are from Satan and innocent looking trees want to kill you and take your life. I really feel that a certain crowd of people (me being included) will appreciate this book a lot more than the average reader. With that said, this book was very fun to read, easily addicting and will be a hit throughout our library soon enough.

We will consider adding this title to our Biographies and Memoirs collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Another entertaining memoir by Augusten Burroughs! I really enjoyed Running with Scissors so I thought I would enjoy this book as well and I was correct. This was such a fun read and even though some parts are unbelievable he writes in such a way that makes you want to believe. Such a fun and enjoyable book to read.

This story follows the life of a witch as he discovers what being a witch really means. There are many humorous moments in the book as the main characters deal with an old house and their new neighbors. A lesson in self-discovery and being content with yourself and the past.