Books I Read This Month: July

Books I Read This Month: July July 24, 2017

So what have you been reading, Dear reader? Here’s what I’ve been working on,  in no particular order, just as I happen to write about them.

The New Moon’s Arms by Nalo Hopkinson This one is a fiction novel written by one of my new favorite authors. I have loved everything I’ve read of hers. It’s set in modern day Caribbean islands and is about this menopausal woman who begins to have magic finding powers. It’s not only so funny (especially if you or anyone you know is going through The Change) it’s written by a black woman about a black woman and her family. So so good. That fact that it’s written by a POC is pretty much icing on the most excellent cake. I read it in a day and it was a breath of fresh air between more scholarly tasks.

A classical still life painting of scattered books and papers on a desk.
Jan Davidsz. de Heem [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Miasma by Robert Parker So, I got this one out of interlibrary loan. This means I only get it for two months, which is not enough. I had only made it through three chapters when it was due back! So with my husband’s encouragement I spent a marathon five hours one Saturday reading the whole thing and taking copious notes. I’m slowly putting up all the notes over on my Patreon account and trying to really process what everything I read might mean for my own personal purification practice and for larger purification works. This book is really just a beginning, I need to look cross culturally and will be looking for more scholarly works on purification and spiritual pollution.

Harley Quinn Vol 2: Power Outage by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti Okay so I have weaknesses. Some people are weirdly obsessed with football or LuLaRoe Leggings. I have a weakness for superheroes and when I was younger than I am now I was particularly obsessed with Batman: The Animated Series. So if you are not well versed in Batman lore and knowledge, I will tell you there was a writer for that show named Paul Dini who created a character that became amazing. Harley Quinn. People do a lot of things with Harley, and I’m sure she likes some of them more than others. I didn’t love the movie. The Joker is her origin story, not her ending, at least in my little corner of reality. I like this comic because it captures her true Neutral Neutral nature very well, and I have a bit of a thing for the whole Poison Ivy and Harley dynamic and love story. What can I say? She’s a powerful bisexual woman, it’s kinda awesome!

The Healing Wisdom of Africa, by Malidoma Patrice Somé. I got this one as part of a reading list for an upcoming class on diversity training that I am hoping to take, and because I occasionally have Hermione like tendencies I started reading it before class. I am liking it ever so much. The author is of the Dagara people in Burkina Faso in Africa. I had to go look on a map to find it. It’s north of Ghana in West Africa. He was raised in a western style boarding school, away from his village and family, but eventually goes back to his home. This book is his attempt to share and explain the wisdom of his village and native culture to a western mind, because he is in the rare spot where he understands both cultures. I think he’s pretty amazing, considering what he describes reminds me a lot of what Native Americans had to go through when their children were forcibly taken and “educated”.  I haven’t finished this one yet and am looking forward to reading more.

River of Gods by Ian McDonald this one is a futuristic fiction book set in an India of 30 years from now. I like the combination of religion and computer tech. It has the feel of some of the best of cyberpunk, like Snow Crash had. We’ve hit the edge of cyberpunk already. It’s no longer “fiction” so I’ve thought about what was next and I think this author has too. It’s been slow going, mostly because I’ve been focused on other work and other books. I don’t know if I will finish it or not.

Last but not least:

The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram I’ve read this book a couple of times already, but it came up again on a list of pagan theology books on another pagan Patheos blog: Dowsing for Divinity. I posted it on my facebook feed and bam! Suddenly I am in a really cool group of people who are going to be reading Spell of the Sensuous and a bunch of other pagan theology books if all goes well. Best thing of all? I didn’t have to organize it! *Insert happy dance here* We’ve got a Gardnerian, some various druids and druid clergy, a religious studies prof and a couple of PhD students so I think it’s going to generate some great discussion. I will report back as things develop!

That’s all for this month, I hope you’ve been reading some great books too.  If you find my work useful, consider supporting it over at my Patreon.  Even a small monthly contribution can help me a great deal. Thanks!

 


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