Book club - what did you enjoy reading recently?

Since the Library is only about occult books, I think I want a place to discuss other books too. We do not read occult books only. So why not? Tell us about some book you recently read and enjoyed.

Exploring Alucard I ordered two books that seemed to offer interesting story. (not that much about him out there) One of them was Alucard by Matthew Scott. And damn, it is a good one! It took concept of Castlevania, but made some more connection with biblical mythology and Dracula myth. And the created world he created in the book does have really dark and definitely Castlevania-like vibes. (I'm highly impressed by that!) His Alucard is definitely well written, which I do not see/read much. Only downside is that the book contains like one half or one third of intended story. It is practically part one of longer tale... and the book is out for years now so I dunno if the tale will be finished. There is more that could be improved in this book, but the main issue is unfinished story...

I've been reading lots of psychoanalysis stuff and critical theory. I loved Zupancic's "Disawoval" for instance. And Venhuele's "Why psychosis is not so crazy" (and his "The subject of psychosis", but that's a dense academic piece and not light reading).

As to fiction, I've been reading Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" and contemplating re-reading "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", it's very discordian in nature and always gets my mood up.

Nice books. From higher education I grabbed The Exorcist Effect from Joseph P. Laycock. It was fascinating exploration into how the movies like Exorcist influenced modern religions in USA. Lovely example how fiction can alter how we understand the world.

I'm not finished with it yet because classes have become kinda hectic in the last few weeks but I've been really enjoying Necromancer by William Gibson, its the origin of the cyberpunk genre and one of the most relevant Sci-fi books of the 20th century imo. Especially a lot of its commentary on AI is interesting.

ZanySpirtist said:

contemplating re-reading "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", it's very discordian in nature and always gets my mood up.

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I also really liked reading "A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" the way it poses the universe as both uncaring and absurd is a pretty refreshing take.

I really enjoy reading non-fiction so I liked reading a chemistry textbook thats there online. I enjoy reading about physics and might want to re-read "When Einstien Walked with Godel" a really nice book about a blend of science math and sometimes philosophy. I don't typically re-read books though so who knows.

Found 20 000 miles bellow the sea at the train station! I was wondering that it is about after all the movies and series hinting ant Nautilus and captain Nemo. Honestly did not expect it to be so Earth like, however fantasy of that book was good. The various sea environments and sceneries... The South pole was strange for modern person, but the underwater trap part was well written.

I know not to read that book on empty stomach, because of al l hat sea food described there. Lol!

But still, lovely book. The complex personality of the people in the book was amazing. No one was only good or bad, they were human.

I recently read Journey to the center of the Earth and it has been very entertaining and fascinating.

I read "The Examiner" and it was very entertaining. I think if I read it again I would spot some possible plot holes, but, hey

ZanySpirtist said:

discordian

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I haven't heard that term in ages! It makes me want to pull out my Iluminatis! trilogy. I read the whole thing cover to cover when I first came across it, no doubt could be a very exciting movie.

As for the TQ, I find myself returning again and again to Al-Kindi's De Radiis. It's a back bone of my work and a valuable grounding exercise. It's tempting to get lost in the infinite possibilities of magic and its traditions, so it's always helpful to come back to earth and realize how simple magic truly is.

In line with that, I've been revisiting Philosophizing the Occult by Micheal-Sebastian Noble. It details Avincenna's theory of the mind, and I find it important for any student of magic, especially those who fancy themselves a fan of Western Esotericism. It's fascinating seeing before you the theories that eventually went on to inspire magic revolutionaries like Agrippa and Ficino, and who inspired Aquinas' theory of incantations. I think reading Noble's summary of Avincenna helps answer a vital question: where is magic located in the brain? Is it the intent? The will? They offer the answer of the wahm, and I'll leave it at that to hopefully entice some people to read it. A PDF probably should be in the library. If not, someone tell me and I can upload mine.

I've been working my way through Warrior Goddess Training and am getting closer to finishing it. I try to always have one book in progress that helps me with shadow work (the way I approach shadow work when reading resources makes it slow work, but that's intentional). I started reading it several years ago when trying to come to terms with my health conditions, and discovered some specific areas that needed focused work so I paused to do that. I started it over back in January to finally finish reading it. I'm definitely getting some things from it, but after having spent a few years with shadow work from a variety of methods, it's probably a little less impactful for me now than it would have been if I returned to it sooner.

I recently listened to the novelization of V for Vendetta while doing some watercolor projects. As is the case with such good it basically was listening to the movie (though it reminded me that it's actually been a few years since I saw it and really needs a rewatch soon). I generally prefer physical books, but I get more books read with audiobooks so I do listen to some books (mostly fiction) that way. That whole "low energy" thing when there's other things for me to also do, lol. Haven't decided on my next audiobook yet. When I have the time, the newest Dresden Files is sitting here waiting to be cracked open still.

As for occult books, I just finished Baba Yaga's Book of Witchcraft. My partner is Slavic and his mother's family utilitizes some folk practices, so I wanted to gain some more familiarity and understanding of them. Was slower for me to read since I was taking notes on various aspects. I have too many others in this category waiting to be read, and not sure which one I'll go with. A couple I forsee warranting some note taking to transfer to my own grimoire later, so I'll probably pick one that is less likely to need them so I can maybe knock a few more off my reading list in this category, haha.