Why I Don’t Review Anymore and What I’m Actually Reading

[@KateAtNight]

I really do wish that someone would have no fear and make honest & critical reviews of witch books. Especially because the topic is so over-saturated right now & as much clarity as we can get is always a blessing. It is very difficult to have critical discussions because of the risk of hurt feelings or misunderstandings.

[@drawingKenaz]

Totally agree! I think that job has to rest with readers, and not authors or other folks with “a dog in the fight” so to speak. Readers should be able to post their opinions without fear of authors commenting or sharing their hurt feelings, and we shouldn’t look to authors to review other authors, because it’s practically impossible for them to write critically.

[@Elizabeth-ll4tt]

tyvm for the early morning witchy coffee talk!

[@lindsaywilliamson5837]

Understood. I don't really find alot of book reviews very helpful but am always up for hearing what other people are reading or listening too. It can help when searching through the overwhelming choice that we now have especially if you know the person has similar interests etc as you. Thx! Also enjoying u answering our questions

[@Storyinthecards]

I agree completely with you about the relationship between religion and witchcraft/magic. I'm studying world religions right now too. And often writers tend to either polarize the two or they tend to remain ambiguous about what they mean when referencing different concepts, practices and spiritual modalities. And this can be confusing and frustrating, the more we study religion, witchcraft and magic from an academic perspective. There really needs to be more clarity in terms of the focus and scope of the book. Because many religions do have magical traditions within them and magic/witchcraft have underlying tenets from religions - irrespective of whether these religions are in active practice or not. And often, people feel that the two - religion and magic - are completely different, because of the way both of these are branded by practitioners.

[@wobfet]

This video was wonderful! It’s always so refreshing watching your videos. Like sitting at a coffee shop listening to a really smart friend talk to me about what’s currently been on their mind, always a good time and I always end up learning something new! And i love the timing on one of your book recs! I’ve been trying to dig deeper in tarot recently, and just yesterday I was thinking about how a lot of the books I have on tarot, though amazing books, all approach tarot as therapeutic, and i was wondering how to find books that went more in the divination direction. Very excited to get Josephine McCarthy’s book! Have a great weekend!

[@grannyweatherwax8005]

Thank you so much for your honesty here! Maybe some of those who are newer don’t get how big this is but I think book reviews have been a *major* problem in the community for quite some time. Basically almost no book reviews that I see for witchy books are helpful or trustworthy (IMHO), especially if they are written by a well known name. It’s SUPER frustrating to someone like me who loves books but also values good ideas and accurate scholarship. There is actually a certain person who seems to be known for reviews who only ever gives things 5 stars and only ever basically rewrites the marketing blurb on the back of the book and people seem to love it. What especially gets to me, as you say this can be a very small community, is many of those same reviews feature this person’s roommates or maybe significant others, yet these conflicting relationships are never mentioned. But this is one of the bigger names reviewers who I’m sure sells a lot of books for people, while doing true seekers a disservice. I would think this leaves new people very confused and maybe feeling like they’ve been had. I really think this is a big problem that no one talks about and I’m glad you’ve brought it up.

[@ashenwalls3558]

I just got Dedicant Devotee Priest as well, and can't wait to start it! I just have to finish something first, which takes ages when I'm also doing the exercises as I read. 😅

[@JulesMorrison]

Hutton's "The Witch" has an interesting historical discussion of cultural attitudes to religion and magic in it's first section, were they separated or conjoined, did people believe in malicious witches, and did they fear them? For example in ancient Egypt religion and magic were completely conjoined, people believed that magic could be used to do harm, but they had zero fear of witches. Using magic to harm people was just treated as equivalent to doing the same thing by physical means. I find the topic fascinating. And it connects to our present day implicit attitudes, indicated by where we cut the cake, even in secular contexts. We picked up a whole lot of influence from three cultural strains, Semitic, Greek and Roman, that divided permitted religion from disreputable magic.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

I must say I am disappointed indeed that you've had people emailing you like that in defence of authors they like. What the hell? Everyone is allowed to have an opinion about any book. Your reviews were always fair and interesting when I read/watched them. If I found out that people were sending angry emails to someone who said they didn't like Rebel Witch, that would seriously perturb me. And as an author, I knew going in to the process that people would have their critiques and it would be narcissistic of me to feel that they weren't entitled to them. I just didn't read and watch them all because there's only so much time you can spend on absorbing readers' takes if you ever want to be mentally sound enough to write anything again. 😉

[@Malgorbia]

Memoir is a really good word to use here. LOTS of that in the pagan sphere. Currently reading this return of the light book. Just a collection of stories from different cultures about returning light thats solstice oriented. It’s refreshing because of how MANY memoirs there are out there so getting a break from that in the space is good. Every other book I read is dry science and engineering nonfiction or published papers so sometimes I can get whiplash in the language used from inaccessible to (more) accessible and sometimes look down on that when I shouldn’t. Just because the language isn’t irritatingly complex doesn’t mean the content is “dumber”. On women writers, I have started trying to read as many science non fiction by women as possible. I got a science articles from 2020 anthology that was majority women written and I’m so glad it’s becoming more of a thing, but yes I try very hard to pick up women’s books first in the science field because their voices are always muted by the overwhelming number of mostly white male writers in the space. This is also true for the academic pagan writing.

[@apothecaryjames7968]

Thank you for this video! I could listen to you talk all day. We think alike! I'm picky about etymology and definitions of words as well.

[@kimberlywolfenheart4275]

I was excited to see She-Wolf in your pile of books. IMO, it is a must-read if you are interested in non-fiction about werewolves.

[@wendykleeb2071]

I totally get you! I would feel the same. I do like positive recommendations. You know books you've enjoyed. This is different than a review.

[@karantha333]

One of my favorite fiction witchy book series is by Kim Harrison, The Hollows series. These books are addicting, you get lost in the story.

[@GMarieWrites]

I would have loved hearing about what trashy horror novels you are also reading!

[@drawingKenaz]

Maybe I’ll make a bonus video! 🙂

[@steveelic3833]

Awesome video ! I like Josephine’s material as well, I’ve gone through the whole Quareia course over the last few years, it’s bloody amazing. If you haven’t gotten it yet, get her card deck - the Quareia magicians deck. It’s really amazing for magical/occult readings especially

[@WormwoodCrow]

Your explanation of why you don't review books anymore reminded me of the opening lines from 'Ghosts of Ascalon': "Over the years, Dougal Keane developed a personal rule: Never adventure with people you like. If pressed, he might modify it to: Don't adventure with people you'd hate to see die."

[@drawingKenaz]

I need to tattoo that on my bicep or something!

[@gabrielleangelica1977]

Thorn, are you or anybody familiar with Phyllis Curott? 🎑

[@malumstella]

Reading witch crafting right now and book of shadows is getting delivered today :)

[@gabrielleangelica1977]

@@malumstella One of the best Witchy autobiographies I've ever read. ( BOS) 🏛️

[@malumstella]

@@gabrielleangelica1977 I’m really excited for it! And love autobiographies in general, if you have any others you would recommend I would love to know! I also ordered “witch amongst us” by lois bourne (1979)

[@gabrielleangelica1977]

@@malumstella Let me know if it's good. Phyllis has a UTube channel. Reading Protection Spells by Raven Wolf now. Got it at a used book store for 1$. It's okay so far. I do my own spells except for a cleansing spell by Valiente's coven. Let me know how you like BOS. It's an adventure! I adore that Crone! ☸️

[@kolorninecup7597]

It's a further classification having the Dewie decimal system resulting Magic under religion. Physics also separate from sorcery as much as Moses established dividing the pentagram with LINEs drawn through the Sand "Two" make a stand & be dammed, one up - one down; with that conveniently converting the year to the Wheel of Fortune then {Tenths} tie . . . P I, P u - T-in The Emperor paints with a pen - peering through a crystal of glass, monsters - T - Rex in the Air, alternately teddys playfully Bear, silly mushrooms Purple could care.

[@abcs123s3]

your rant in the middle about who being siting…. Was just comical… and typical of our current American society to be blunt.

[@HazelJaneTarot]

Gosh I enjoyed this video. I fund reviews so tricky. On Tarot tube I imagine my audience is other users of tarot (and books) so I can talk to them about my experiences. But then... I author it artist MIGHT see it. Not very likely as I've a small channel. But they might. So I have a real inner cringe thinking about them seeing my review. I've filmed negative reviews of decks I dislike and then not posted them for that reason. But then are we really being honest if we only review things we like? Then it's like we're just advertising stuff. Anyway... just some thoughts. Ps. I loved "The Witch's Path" x

[@drawingKenaz]

I think you should always be able to share your opinions without worrying about interaction from the author-reviews have to be for other readers, not the egos of authors and artists. If my feelings are hurt by something, I think it’s my responsibility to manage that-not for my readers to take care of me. Because you’re right! If we only ever post what we love, and are never critical, then we’re mostly just selling things.

[@drawingKenaz]

(And I *am* glad you loved The Witch’s Path! But if you didn’t, that would be okay too! 💙)

[@HazelJaneTarot]

@@drawingKenaz I can imagine when you actually know everyone like you is a different thing though. Online interactions give all of us varying degrees of feeling like we know at least some creators and authors and I think you're right that it's normal to be supportive and sensitive to the effects of your words in people we know and like. Which is basically just to say I totally get why you don't do reviews any more.

[@nelle734]

Mostly I read reviews so that I can be aware if there's any cultural appropriation or any form of bigotry or misinformation or just an idea of how helpful it may be to my current practice. Especially reviews by more experienced witches. I find it helpful to choose which books to spend my money on - especially because most books are very expensive to get to NZ. Reviews that aren't completely honest aren't helpful at all either though. I've already bought one book based on good reviews, only be disappointed not only in that for the most part it wasn't what I thought it was, but it also implied that birth control could affect your magickal ability.

[@missavaricebliss]

I prioritize women authors and women in the citations as well. It's not that I don't read books by men - for example, if I'm looking for a book about a particular topic, I'll first look to see if the topic has been adequately covered by a woman author.

[@gastronomist]

This video was ok, but you didn’t define what you mean by ‘book review’. You also talked too much about your personal experiences in doing book reviews and not enough about their role in academia as well as their role in marketing and sales.