July 2025 Reading Wrap-Up
Guess who's still reading books on Shinto to write my blorbos? And some other stuff too. But mostly blorbo research books. Nine books total isn't bad at all.
1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?
None applicable.
2/10 - Trash
None applicable.
3/10 - Meh
None applicable.
4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier
Kami: One Girl's Personal Study Of Shinto And What It Means To Her | Yanai Iwik
I was expecting some kind of personal memoir from the title of this thing and found out that I basically just bought someone's research journal spanning a few days. The author is of Cherokee descent (according to her) and raised Baptist. She was seeking a feminist religious practice and tried Buddhism, paganism (I assume Wicca based on other information further in the book), and existentialism before she came across Shinto. She blends Shinto with other practices that seem to be picked up from the paganism part and perceives kami as extending past Japan.
It was fascinating to read, but the fucking atrocious formatting means that I am redacting three points for that alone. The bibliography are also only books, even though she mentions searching online a lot, so those would have been nice to see there too, especially because the first "chapter" is derived almost solely from one person online (Azumi Uchitani, and I think that this is her website).
7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats
Queer Rites: A Magickal Grimoire To Honor Your Milestones With Pride | Enfys J Book
This is a very visualization-focused book using ceremonial magic with an emphasis on spirit guides (often in the forms of gods) and the concept of a Higher Self. The rituals are overall meant to be solitary but some can be adapted to group workings. Also I don't read forewords so I skipped that.
So, there's one big thing that keeps this book from getting into the next bracket: the usage of Hermetic Qabala in this book and apparently as the center of one of the author's previous books. I know this is very common in ceremonial spaces, but it still makes me twitch. Also, I still believe that writing magic with a K is cringe, and nothing you say will make me think otherwise.
Despite this, there's still a bunch of good stuff to talk about here. There's a good safety disclaimer before getting into the book's contents, the introduction gets to the point and outlines who this book is meant for, and the author prefers for you to read other books to learn magic 101 information instead of taking a hundred pages to teach you. The deity examples within the rituals draw on Celtic, Greek, Egyptian, and Norse pantheons. The author acknowledges that, especially for queer folks, ancestors don't just mean blood. There's a very "take it or leave it" approach when explaining the upcoming rituals in the book. Fire safety is also paid attention to and the author is pro-therapy while also recognizing that therapy isn't an option for everyone. Physical cleaning is done before magical cleansing and there are different options for cleansing a space versus cleansing yourself/your tools. The introductory breakdown of the ritual parts is thorough enough to be helpful but short enough to not feel like "Baby's First Witchcraft Book". The rituals themselves are very helpfully written and not confusing, taking you through each step every time. Post-ritual care is also paid attention to, which is more than I can say for other books.
Overall, I give it an 8 out of 10.
Random guess at the target demographic: A queer witch who needs some ritual ideas to bring in more of their queerness, but already knows what they want out of magic/witchcraft and can adapt things as needed.
Scorpion Keeper: A Guide On Keeping: Emperor Scorpions, Flat Rock Scorpions, Desert Hairy Scorpions, Asian Forest Scorpions | Jeff Jech
This is a book about caring for scorpions, which is different from my previous readings regarding them. The problems are that the inconsistent capitalization and punctuation (and just...the lack of an editor overall) was deeply annoying. I consider this a good book, though I have much more research to do before I trust its information fully. It is quite helpful for writing a scorpion-based character's everyday needs, though. 7 out of 10.
The Spirit Of Shinto: Finding Nature And History On Japan’s Sacred Path | Hector Garcia
So, this author was born in Spain and has lived in Japan for around twenty years now. He has written and co-written several other Japan-focused books. There are in-text citations and online sources galore, along with a recommended reading section at the back. I also really loved the "time traveler" approach to chapter one to explore the history of various parts of Shinto (the author calls it Shintoism, which...I don't think is right?). I'm also interested in the "Shinto as something you do rather than something you believe" approach that I've seen in other Shinto-related books I've been reading lately.
As for downsides, there's the incorrect use of "shamanism" on page 34 (I'm jaded from years of seeing it in occult books but it still surprised me here), there are no Oxford commas (my guys :( ), and you can really tell that the author is upper middle class or around there with some of the things he talks about.
But to end this on a good note, I really liked the ten lessons at the end as the final cap. Overall, 8 out of 10.
9/10 - Very Very Good
The Green Witch's Guide To Herbal Magick: A Handbook Of Green Hearthcraft And Plant-Based Spellcraft | Annabel Margaret
My full review for this book can be found here!
Granny Thornapple's Book Of Charms: Magic & Folklore From The Ozark Mountains | Brandon Weston
Honestly, not much to say here. It's like opening a book about home and getting excited because you recognize things. I will note that the author uses they/them pronouns even though pretty much every "about the author" thing from Llewellyn uses he/him. But they know their shit and it shows. I'm looking forward to using these.
Bilingual Guide To Japan: Shinto Shrines | KATO Kenji, IAWASAKI Jun, Christopher Cooling, YANAGITA Takamichi [note: all capitalization the author's, illustrator's, and translators' own]
This little booklet of 128 pages in English and Japanese is extremely handy. The graphic design is fantastic, the various parts are separated nicely, it's easy to follow and understand, and it tells you what pages to go to for certain things. Overall, a helpful little book, though I am sad to see no Oxford comma.
10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone
Piranesi | Susanna Clarke
This book is an epistolary novel, written as though it were a journal, and it rewrote my brain chemistry. Please read it.
Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure & Folk Magic From Appalachia | Jake Richards
So, I'm not in the Appalachias. Not even close. But I admire the practices done there and see echoes of it in the Ozark folk magic I'm becoming more familiar with. I would say this is one of the best books you can get for a general introduction of the land and its magic, considering two other authors in this niche are transphobic (H Byron Ballard and John Beckett) and that's cringe as hell.