The Book Report by Rebecca Traver - Our Online Bookshop Curator
Welcome to the Book Report!
This New Moon, I want to shine a powerful light on our Modern Witchcraft + Magical Studies section. It’s the perfect time of year for conjuring up a spell or two as we look ahead to Samhain’s charms and opportunities. Regardless if you’re a seasoned practitioner or simply curious about the craft, this list offers up lots of options for discovery and growth.
Also included in this report is a selection of New + Newly Discovered titles; a special group of Books for Young and Young at Heart Readers; and a couple of Just Because + Just for Fun offerings.
And, please take note that Ebooks are now plentifully available in our online Bookshop.
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
~Roald Dahl
FEATURED LIST: MODERN WITCHCRAFT + MAGICAL STUDIES FOR HEALING AND SELF-CARE
Magic from the Hilltops and Hollers: Folk Witchery, Superstitions, and Healing Practices from Appalachia by Leah Middleton, known online as The Redheaded Witch, is an ode to the author’s Appalachian roots and ancestors, known and unknown, of blood and kin. Here, she shares the stories of the grandfathers who had dirt under their fingernails from farming, the grandmothers who bled while sewing their garments, the relatives who decided to take a leap of faith and pave a new path, the ones who passed away too young, and the fellow practitioners and healers who showed her the way. It is a work of veneration to keep their spirits alive. If you share similar toots or find yourself creating new ones, this magical book is an outstretched hand to welcome you home.
Wicked Strange: Your Guide to Ghosts, Monsters, and Urban Legends from New England from Jeff Belanger with photographs by Frank C. Grace is a journey and a celebration of all the things that make New England like no other place on Earth. In a time when so much of our world is becoming homogenized – with big-box stores and chain restaurants flooding our communities – we still have these legends to draw upon.
Talismans and Tarot: Magical Tools to Amplify, Attract, and Manifest by Lori Lytle presents a magical and synergistic combination that helps to amplify intentions and attract positive energy. With guidance for hands-on practices that include setting intentions, choosing and consecrating your talismans, as well as when and how to do readings, this book inspires confidence and clarity.
Magick for All Seasons: A Grimoire for the Wheel of the Year by Marla Brooks explores the seasons of the witch by way of magickal spells and practices for each turn of the Wheel of the Year. Brooks offers a fresh approach to a lifestyle that focuses on mind, body, and spirit in the nature-based manner that our ancestors have practiced throughout the ages.
Spirit Speak: A Comprehensive Guide to Connect Beyond the Veil from Ivo Dominguez, Jr. posits that if you practice magic, pray, or venerate your ancestors, you are working with spirits. This offering presents a unified system for understanding the broad range of nonphysical beings that we call spirits. With a comprehensive approach, Dominguez teaches us ways to connect with these subtle realms regardless of our faith, background, or levels of experience.
The Witchcraft Therapy Oracle Deck: Intuitive Messages for Mental Health Magic from Mandi Em is a blend of edgy, honest, and, at times seemingly chaotic, wellness advice and guidance, allowing us access to our inner wellness witch. The accompanying guidebook helps to interpret the cards and use your own magic to manifest self-care through witchy spells and healing rituals.
Blackthorn's Botanical Brews: Herbal Potions, Magical Teas, and Spirited Libations from Amy Blackthorn, prolific author of all things magical, has something for everyone. The book outlines the magical uses for many well-loved, traditional beverage ingredients found throughout time. Readers learn what potions are, what purpose they serve, and how to create their own brews, bitters, vermouth, and kombucha, as well as how to blend the perfect tea for their magical desires.
Somebody is Walking on Your Grave: My Cemetery Journeys by Mariana Enriquez shares the author’s fascination with the haunting beauty of cemeteries she has followed since she was a teenager. Weaving personal stories with reportage, interviews, myths, hauntology, and more, this is a memoir channeled through a passion and offered with reverence, awe, and connection.
For the complete list, click here.
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.”
~J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
New + Newly Discovered
Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit from Brené Brown shares the lessons learned over the course of a six-year exploration of leadership skill sets and mindsets she has encountered as she has made her way around the globe connecting with some of the most interesting social and business developers of our time. Brown writes, “Individuals and organizations are building new muscles. Finding our strong ground – that athletic stance – is the only thing that can provide both unwavering stability in a maelstrom of uncertainty and a platform for the fast, explosive change that the world is demanding.”
Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma by Galit Atlas is about family secrets that keep us from living to our full potential, create gaps between what we want for ourselves and what we are able to have, and haunt us like ghosts. Happily, this is available with a workbook and a Spanish language edition.
Another wonderful book for our life support needs (all the way to and through the end) is Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End from Alua Arthur, one of the country’s leading death doulas, carries a transformative message: Thinking about your death – whether imminent or not – will breathe wild, new potential into your life. Again, I’m pleased to report that this comes in a Spanish language edition.
How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life's Hidden Prisons by Shaka Senghor invites us to reflect on how we hold ourselves back with self-doubt, trapped by past narratives, or feel paralyzed by fear of failure. These feelings are what Senghor calls Hidden Prisons – and they affect everyone, from CEOs and professional athletes to students to parents. But here’s the breakthrough: these prisons have doors and this book offers a roadmap for breaking free.
What Matters to You: How Your Values Are the Key to Transforming Your Life and Work from Greta J. Bradman prompts us to ask ourselves if we’ve ever heard a voice inside whispering, ‘There’s got to be more than this?’ If so, that’s a signal that you’re living out of alignment with your core values. By helping us to explore these patterns, Bradman helps us learn how to use those core values in both the big and little decisions in day-to-day life.
Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender by David R. Hawkins has been around for a while, but it crossed my path recently and I thought it deserved a place in the Report. This motivational book provides a mechanism for letting go of blocks to happiness, love, joy, health, and more. These tools of surrender can be implemented in the midst of everyday life. It is a classic that will help you break free from needless limitations and unlock your true potential.
Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire from Dr. Lori Brotto shows how mindfulness is the key to cultivating healthy desire, increasing sexual pleasure, and finding joy in intimacy. Yes, please, and thank you very much, indeed! She also offers a companion workbook to help explore and track our process.
Quietly Wild: Poems, Photographs, and Rituals to Mark the Seasons by Alix Klingenberg is a transcendent poetry collection celebrating the intricate dance between nature’s changing seasons and the human spirit, guiding you through the seasons of your own life.
Mother Mary Comes to Me by the stunningly gifted Arundhati Roy in this, her raw and deeply moving memoir that traces the complex relationship with her mother, Mary Roy, a fierce and formidable force who shaped Arundhati’s life both as a woman and a writer.
Celtic Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook by Sorcha Hegarty and Aron Hegarty with illustrations by Anna Stead is a beautiful offering that captures the ancient stories and tales that guided and inspired the Celts. Drawing together the myths and tales of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, this book is a comprehensive collection of the fascinating gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters that make up the compendium of Celtic myths and legends.
The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound by Raymond Antrobus tells the story of the author’s upbringing at the intersection of race and disability. A singular, remarkable work The Quiet Ear is a much-needed examination of deafness in the world.
Wild Life: Finding My Purpose in an Untamed World from renowned wildlife ecologist Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant tells her story of how, through her quest to study the ever-shifting relationship between humans, animals, and place, she has realized the vital roles we each play not just as stewards for our land and water, but also for our communities, each other, and ourselves.
While the Japanese phrase “hodo-hodo” originated in ancient times, author Taku Satoh’s new book Just Enough Design: Reflections on the Japanese Philosophy of Hodo-Hodo brings it forward for us to contemplate and employ. What it roughly translates to is “just enough” and when designer Satoh applies it to his work, it inspires him to deliberately hold back, leaving room for individuals to engage with objects according to their unique sensibilities.
In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty from Francis Weller is a collection of 17 soulful essays to help us move together through the anxieties, difficulties, and sacred transitions of 21st-century life. Weller frames our current era as a rough initiation – an upending experience of profound trauma and transformation that calls us to reorient our ways of thinking, being, and relating.
The Motherhood Myth: A Depth Therapist's Guide to Redefine Parenting, Reimagine Intimacy, and Reclaim the Self from Vanessa Bennett offers the profound support that mothers so desperately need – not just an explanation of the challenges, but a nuanced understanding of why we’re experiencing them and, most crucially, how we can navigate through them. As Bennett explains, “I want to shout from the rooftops that life is not meant to be simply ‘gotten through’ or endured.” This guide can help you “navigate not just the initial shift into parenthood but also the continual evolution with more ease. authenticity, and self-compassion.
Good Grief by Brianna Pastor with a forward by yung pueblo is a beautiful and deeply moving collection of poetry for anyone who has struggled with questions of identity, grief, trauma, anxiety, and depression (this is all of us, right?) – and in the reading we find communion and hope on the other side.
The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival by Bozoma Saint John takes readers through the dizzying, numbing days of multiple griefs, and the courage which these sparked in her life to live life in accordance with her deepest values time and time again.
Choose Your Self: How to Embrace Being Single, Heal Core Wounds, and Build a Life You Love from Megan Sherer teaches how to fall in love with your own life and be unwilling to waver in the pursuit of a relationship as strong as the one you build within yourself.
While Mallary Tenore Tarpley’s memoir Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery recounts the author’s personal story, managing with grace and brilliance to transcend the personal to illuminate the broader journey of living life within all-too often closed or constricted systems of patriarchy and conditioning. This inspiring and life-affirming book is a must-read for individuals with eating disorders, their loved ones, educators, medical professionals, and anyone seeking to better understand eating disorders and the path to recovery.
The Poisoned Arrow: A Toltec Guide to Overcoming Fear by Don Miguel Ruiz shows us that when the world wounds us with a metaphorical arrow, many of us spend our days chasing unanswerable questions: Why was I hurt? Who is to blame? Will it happen again? and How can I prevent being hurt? Beneath these questions lies a deeper truth: even though the event is now over, the fear it left behind is like a poison. With prose as tender as it is incisive, this book is not a map – it is a mirror. Look closely, and you may find that the antidote was always within you.
Both / And: Essays by Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Writers of Color edited by Denne Michele Norris is an anthology of essays by trans people of color – spanning writers, scientists, actors, activists, and drag queens – exploring what it means to live as a trans or gender-nonconforming persons of color in today’s world.
Imagine: 7 Visualizations for Greater Clarity, Confidence, and Calm with an introduction by Anita Moorjani is a comprehensive guide, crafted by spiritual teachers Deganit Nuur and Tim Murphy – your supportive companions on a journey of self-discovery.
Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure by Maggie Jackson is a scientific tale of adventure set on the front lines of a volatile era, showing us how to skillfully confront the unexpected and the unknown, and how to harness not-knowing in the service of wisdom, invention, mutual understanding, and resilience.
“Anxiety differs from the arousal of uncertainty, which is the brain’s signal telling us, ‘There’s something to be learned here.’ Understanding this distinction can be liberating.”
~Maggie Jackson
For the entire list of new discoveries, click here!
Books for Young Readers + the People Who Love Them
Accidental Demons by Clare Edge introduces us to Bernadette Crowley, the youngest in a long line of witches, who, before she was diagnosed with diabetes was able to summon a demon to do her bidding without a problem. Now, each time she tests her blood sugar, accidental demons are slipping into the human dimension…and causing chaos. Good thing Ber and her older sister Maeve know a thing or two about magic, but the spell they have in mind requires that they need to bend one or two teeny, tiny rules. What could go wrong? You’ll just have to read the book to find out.
The Yellow Bus by Loren Long is an award-winning story of how loss and change can bring with them new, exciting beginnings. This book is the perfect present for the millions of kids heading back to school, from first-time students and returning ones, to beloved teachers and the life-long learners in all of us.
The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide to Inventing the World from Dylan Thuras and Jennifer Swanson with illustrations by Ruby Fresson is a STEN-oriented exploration of the world’s most interesting technologies, inventions, and scientific discoveries. If there are any Santas reading this report, this would make any excellent present for the curious kids in your life.
Island Storm from Brian Floca with illustrations by Sydney Smith is a multi-sensory experience that will delight and amaze readers. Children who fear thunder will take comfort in seeing it captured in the pages, while those who relish seeing the sky crack open can enjoy battling this storm from the safety of their homes.
Higher Ground is a graphic novel from Tull Suwannakit telling the tale of a grandma, her two grandchildren, and their pet rabbit who come to rely on one another and a bit of hope in the face natural disaster.
“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”
~Margaret Fuller
For more books for young readers click here!
Para libros para lectores jóvenes en Español haga clic aqui!
Just Because + Just for Fun
Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America from Sarah Gold McBride shows us how hair took on a decisive new significance as the young nation wrestled with its identity. This is a history inscribed in bangs, curls, and chops – illuminating a period in American history when hair indexed belonging in some ways that may seem strange – but in other ways all too familiar, today.
Cat Got Your Tongue? Curious Feline Phrases from Around the World by renowned kitten rescuer, humane educator, and author Hannah Shaw with illustrations by Sophie Lucido Johnson shares proverbs from India, France, China, Malaysia, Turkey, Holland, and many more revealing the central role that cats play in cultures everywhere.
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
~Douglas Adams
Please visit our online Bookshop to see our full selection of lists and titles.
Thank you for supporting local, independent bookstores!
We love connecting with you in the shop and online.
May you be inspired, supported, and enriched by what you find here.
