- I'm not going to edit this text, since it's so long. It's basically a copy/paste from my journal, so please excuse my bad grammar, spelling errors, and run-on sentences. Also not going to include links to books, authors, or references, so please message me if you need clarification, links, etc
- Physical books plus audio books (I do a ton of driving for my job)
- Read/listened to 55 books (which is a tiny bit above my average. I owe this to my broken foot, which gave me plenty of time to read this year.)
The
Drawing of the Three – Dark Tower II – Stephen King
A re-read,
quite enjoyable
30
Days of Night – Steve Niles – Been Templesmith
Great
art, good concept, not my fave graphic novel.
Another re-read
Jesus:
the Unauthorized Version
Yawn. Started this in 2015 I think. A collection of selections of source
materials. Don’t waste your time with
this one, just read the source materials (apocrypha or gnostic gospels)
The
Book of Strange New Things – Michel Faber
OMG
LOVE HIM. Great author, one of the best
fiction books I’ve read in recent years.
I will read anything this man writes.
Mother
of Eden – Chris Beckett
Not
quite as good as Dark Eden, but still very good. Again, I will read anything this man writes
The
Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
Read
selections of this freshman year of college.
Good, challenging, upsetting.
Worth reading. Why anyone still
thinks warfare is a viable option for anything is beyond me.
Big
Girl: how I gave up dieting and got a life – Kelsey Miller
My
girl-crush/hero of this year, memoir of a beautiful fat chick and her
experience with dieting, body image, self-love.
Gave me some heavy considerations regarding intuitive eating. Cool, smart gal. #goals
Waiter
Rant – “The Waiter”
Has
been on my to-read list for a while, tons of fun, makes me so happy I’m not a
barista any more (even though being a barista isn’t the same as waiting, food
service is still food service)
Sister
of the Dark Moon – Gail Wood
Worked
through this book with Gaia’s Circle. A
good jumping off point, though it left a lot to be desired. I heavily adapted her rituals, and it was a
great hear of going both wider and deeper for Gaia’s Circle. Just what we needed
American
Gods – Neil Gaiman
How
many times have I read this book? Another
re-re-re-re-read. If you want a tiny
glimpse into my spiritual life and my UPG of the Cosmos, this book is very
close and makes many important points
How
to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk – Faber and Mazlish
Recommended
to me by my supervisor when I was at the psychiatric hospital as an intern, a
good, useful book. I had many parents
step forward and tell me how much they appreciate it. This is one I’ll probably go back to in a few
years. Full of information, and I’d say
that it has changed the way I communicate with both children and adults
The
Gift of Therapy – Irvin Yalom
Yawn. Wanted to love this, but… I actually really
like Dr. Yalom, but maybe I should have read another of his books first. Hard to keep my attention and I’m not sure
how much it influenced my own practice (aside from maybe a reinforcement of
compassion, patience, unconditional positive regard – all good things)
Promethea
Book 1 – Alan Moore
OMG. Like American Gods, this one explains my own
personal UPG SO MUCH. Will probably read
again this year since I never got around to finishing the series (needed to
take a break because of all of the mystical, cosmic feels)
Child
Psychopathology: a social worker’s perspective – Francis Turner
Review
book for the licensing exam. Useful but
I think it’s a bit old and some of the content was outdated.
Trump
of Chaos – Jen McConnell
The
thrilling conclusion to her Chaos series, rewarding to see the progress of
these characters and this book (I was one of her beta readers for the first
book!)
Beltane
– Llewellyn
My
favorite holiday! Cute book. What a complex holiday. It’s not given enough credit by Pagans. So much depth.
Persepolis:
the story of a childhood – Marjane Satrap
Great
book, my favorite of the two. In middle
school I wrote a paper about a friend’s father who was a child in Iran before
the war, and it was nice to revisit
On
Being a Therapist – Jeffrey A Kottler
Useful
and challenging, I don’t think Kottler is a social worker, because I think his
perspective on some things would be a bit different, but a really encouraging
book when I was a point in my life/work when I was thinking “wow, I suck so
much!” No, I don’t suck. The job is just that hard.
Promethea
– book two – Alan Moore
OMGGGGG
Get
Jiro – Anthony Bourdain
One
of my guilty faves, a silly story, but still fun
Get
Jiro: blood and sushi – Anthony Bourdain
Better
than the first, a prequel.
You
are Not So Smart – David McRaney
Really
boring. HOWEVER. It is on my required reading list for
students and mentoring. Any Baby Pagans
who want me to initiate them into my tradition are required to read this book.
Kitchen
Confidential – Anthony Bourdain
One
of the many books I read while with a broken foot, spent hours watching Netflix
and reading. Loved this (paired well
with Waiter Rant)
The
Casquette Girls – Alys Arden
OMMMGGGG I met a friend when I went to UU Women’s
Spirit, and she recommended this to me.
Vampires? New Orleans? YES! A
long YA book, and I tend to not enjoy YA, but I like vampires and I LOVE New
Orleans. Looking forward to more books
in this series
Hope:
New Orleans
Used
graphic novel I found at a used book store.
It was published as a fundraiser after Katrina, and it’s basically a
collection of a few dozen little short comics and panels, and the money went to
hurricane aid. Enjoyed this a lot (even
with the gratuitous, dumb comic boobies)
Some were so touching and devastating I had to put it down and I cried a
lot
Walking
to Mercury – Starhawk
Another
one that has been on my list FOREVER.
Don’t even remember when I bought this book, but Starhawk came out with
the sequel to 5th Sacred Thing this year so I decided I’d read the
series (though I haven’t read Walking to Mercury yet). I liked this a lot, though it’s a very
personal story and not a community story, so don’t expect a repeat of 5th
Sacred Thing
Salt:
a world history – Mark Kurlansky
Bought
this 10000 years ago from Hastings when I worked there. LOVED IT.
I love gastro-history, and this was just interesting. Read with an internet browser up and pair it
with Wikipedia
Season
of the Witch – how the occult saved rock and roll – Peter Bebergal
OMG. This one had been on my to-read list for a
while, LOVED THIS. OMG. Again, pair this with Wikipedia and Youtube. I learned so much about music. Rock plus occult? YES PLEASE.
Ritual
– David Pinner
Another
re-read, third time. The novel that
inspired the Wickerman. Such a strange,
wild, ride. Some of the writing is just
gorgeous, super descriptive and evocative.
But the writing is racist, sexist, homophobic, abelist, classist,
insensitive, outdated, indelicate, and ridiculous. Major trigger warning for this (I guess the
1960s were just terrible, or Pinner is just terrible.)
The
5th Sacred Thing – Starhawk
Ssiiiigh. The book that started it all, back in 2005
when I was a Baby Pagan. Can’t say
enough about this book.
The
Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman
Maybe
my favorite book by him. Another heavily
UPG book
Curse
of Stone – Jen McConnell
A cute
little book that was fun to read while I had a broken foot and was feeling
sorry for myself
The
Golden Eye – Jonathan Stroud
Read
the first one years ago based off of a recommendation from a friend, this one
was a bit better than the first, really loved the character development
Kink
in the Rope - Oliver Tremble
Won
this one from Goodreads, a collection of naughty one-line poems and vignettes,
heavily kinky. Was charming and only
sometimes scandalous.
Lost
Souls? – Poppy Z. Brite
My
friends lost their shit when they found out that I had never read Poppy Z.
Brite (“omg, I thought you loved New Orleans and Vampires!”) Given to me by a friend, loved everything
about this larger-than-life book. Can’t
wait to read more
Castle
Waiting – Linda Medley
Cute
collection of comics in a charming, funny fantasy setting, just what I needed
We
– Yevgeny Zematin
OMG
yes good book read this. I’ve always
been a huge fan of Brave New World and 1984 and this is just basically 1984
like Orwell barely tried
Talking
to Crazy – Mark Goulston
No,
wish I hadn’t read this. it just made me angry.
Some good stuff in here, but I didn’t really find it to be useful. Then again, Goulston has dozens of books and
is probably filthy rich, so what do I know?
John
Dies at the End – David Wong
I
don’t like funny stuff or body humor, but I adored this and couldn’t put it
down
Under
the Skin – Michel Faber
OMG
LOVED THIS. Love the movie, book was so good.
Both are amazing, very different.
Read this book
The
Devil Rides Out – Dennis Wheatley
So,
I picked up this book because it was mentioned in Season of the Witch, and
also, because the movie stars Sir Christopher Lee. I can’t find a copy of the movie,
unfortunately. I did not like this
book. A boring, bougie, British boy’s
adventure story with some occult stuff thrown in. Wheatley seems to know a thing or two about
the Occult, but meh. I’m glad I read it
but it was a trial, for sure
Bedtime
Stories for Children You Hate – Antoinette Bergin
Yes
omg so good
Who
Goes There? – John W. Campbell
I
guess I had a “body imposter” them going on this summer? The novella that The Thing was based off
of. Very good. Enjoyed it a lot
The
Invasion of the Body Snatchers – Jack Finney
Loved
this! the type of classic sci-fi thing I
enjoyed. A bit dated at times, but what
isn’t, in the end?
The
Explosive Child – Ross W Green
Accidentally
found an abridged version of this but I’m on the fence about reading the
complete work. Some useful stuff here, I think, but hard to implement without
more context
Eden
Green – Fiona Van Dahl
Nooo…
someone on Goodreads asked me to read their book and review it. Did not enjoy it. I really hate reading stuff that’s just
someone’s fantasy of them and their friends having an adventure. Like, don’t get me wrong, I’ve written plenty
of stuff like that. In high school. But
I guess in this age of self-publishing, just anyone can write their own
adventure stories. Not fun, not clever,
repetitive.
The
Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
OMG
LOVE TRUE LOVE another re-read
Calling
Dr. Laura – Nicole Georges
What
is it that makes hipsters so deplorable?
Did not enjoy this. I get tired
of reading about flawed and annoying people who make bad choices and don’t grow
and basically are like “omg I’m just trash so anyway here’s my book that I
wrote about my trash life.” Basically,
what was the point of this book? A lesbian
coming of age story? So boring to
me. I mean, this is just regular life. I
don’t need a charming graphic novel to remind me how annoying I am
Persepolis
1 & 2 – Marjane Satrapi
Again,
a great book, but I did not like the second one. Another tragically hip wayward outcast making
poor life choices and not really seeming to learn any lessons. Satrapi sounds cool, actually, and I’d love
to hang out with her, but her second book just annoyed me more than it inspired
me (unlike the first one, which was great)
The
Hellbound Heart – Clive Barker
Yeah,
really loved this one! The novella that
inspired Hellraiser. There’s a lot about
Hellraiser lore I like, and it was fun reading this
Something
Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury
OMG
TRUE LOVE wasn’t my fave book the first
time I read it, but as I get older, I can appreciate more. It’s a bit old to read yet another Bradbury
book that glorifies being a little boy (is there a “glorification of being a
little girl” equivalent?) but as I get older
myself I find myself relating more and more to the father, and to… MR.
DARK. Clearly I’m an October Person
Curse
of Gold – Jen McConnel
Another
fun love story
The
Gifts of Imperfection – Brene Brown
I
need to make it a point to read at least one of her books at least once a
year. Inspiring, beautiful. Whole-hearted, vulnerable, patient, and
compassionate. Not my favorite book of
hers, but after reading it this fall, I’m still feeling the love and I find
that to be very valuable
The
Chimes – Charles Dickens
What
a strange book! Really, super duper
dark. Wow.
The
Doors of Perception – Aldous Huxley
Short
read, well worth it, however I felt like I was reading some guy’s drug
blog. The conclusion was very good and
he makes many points about drugs, entheogens, transcendence, connection, and
treatment of mental illness that I happen to agree on
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