June 2026 Reading Wrap-Up
This was just a really bad reading month for me. I DNFed so many absolute dogshit quality witchcraft books, to the point where I don't even want to talk about some of them. However, I also went through my backlog of manga and comic books this month and made it to eight fully-completed books in total. And most of them were good, if you shoot my one 2 out of 10 out back.
(this month's divider made by @firefly-graphics)
1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?
None applicable.
2/10 - Trash
Pathworking The Tarot: Spiritual Guidance & Practical Advice From The Cards | Leeza Robertson
[Adult] [Religious Text, Mythology, Occult, Magical, Spiritual]
Reasons why I liked this book: the three different approaches to each card/card group's exercises (even if they are fundamentally repetitive), the formatting and breaking the cards into different chapters, the Court Cards all being pointedly referred to with they/them pronouns, and most of the text when it's not…like what you'll read as follows.
Reasons why I disliked this book: it was full of New Age and spiritual grift buzzwords like "manifestation" and "vibrations" and "setting intentions" (so much about vibrations), so much emphasis on meditation, there's constant mention of animal totems because the author has made a tarot deck about it, divine masculine and divine feminism bullshit appeared, the misuse of terms like "vision quest", sketchy historical claims, a lot of appropriation/misunderstanding of karma, an emphasis on "soul paths" and reincarnation, telling you to get into yoga, the sentiment of "everything happens for a reason" in the Justice section, being blatantly wrong about Iris's role in the Temperance section (calling her a messenger from capital-G God), straight up just lying about what's depicted on the RWS deck (there's no rainbow on the Temperance card! your entire point is fucking moot!), random ass invocations of deities for the pathworking exercises (Ma'at in the Justice section), sweeping generalizations with nothing backing it up, completely making up what a devil's advocate actually is in the Devil section, claiming that people are scared of nighttime because of being brainwashed by storytellers, claiming that the Judgment card is connected to the Buddhism concept of guilt and shame being sins (which…I'm pretty sure Buddhism doesn't even have sin specifically?), open support of essential oil multi-level marketing schemes in the section about progressing through the court cards in one's business (when the other example kept the business vague and this one openly teaches you how to be an "essential oil advocate"), appropriation of the third eye, refusal to let any tarot card actually be negative, having a focus on shedding the physical body and becoming something else (which is a big New Age red flag if I've ever seen one), and finally but most importantly, no bibliography or sources for any claim.
Ultimately this book is very repetitive because the four approaches in every three individual exercises for each card is "look at the card and meditate on it", "look at the card and draw a second card", "visualize being the card and meditate on it", and "take a literal walk". It relies heavily on journaling and on the RWS deck and its imagery despite telling you that it can work with any tarot deck. It leans heavily into New Age concepts, and the problems with those can be found through Tumblr user creature-wizard's pinned post.
I'll give this a 2 out of 10 and wash my hands of it.
3/10 - Meh
None applicable.
4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier
None applicable.
7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats
Five Ways To Forgiveness | Ursula K Le Guin
[Adult] [Science Fiction]
You know, I have it categorized as science fiction because it takes place in space, but honestly it reads more like a war novel than anything in the last story and the first four are more contemporary/historical in writing. The science isn't the important part.
In any case, this was a very good book exploring the realities of equality and liberation movements among human aliens. It's a very good book, but one you should really think and read through and take notes on. It is far from a light read, dealing with slavery, rape, misogyny, and more of all of that. It was a fantastic book that I spent most of March chipping away at. 8 out of 10.
Lady Tremaine | Rachel Hochhauser
[Adult] [Contemporary, Historical, Western]
While this is a fairy tale retelling, it has made a point to strip all forms of magic out of the story, so I'm categorizing it as a historical fiction instead. It wasn't bad, I quite enjoyed reading it, but I don't think it's going to be #1 new book of the year or anything. I quite enjoyed how it analyzed the complexities of motherhood in a time where women really didn't have rights, how monstrous monarchies are, and the fact that the women in this story were allowed to be just as insidious as the men.
It was fun, I enjoyed reading it, but I don't think I'll be revisiting it. A strong debut. 7 out of 10.
Jaco The Galactic Patrolman
[Young Adult] [Science Fantasy]
Man, it feels weird putting this so low, but honestly it's only really enjoyable if you already know and enjoy Akira Toriyama's tone. Jaco was so much more of a dick than I remembered, so it was good to revisit to reacquaint myself with his pre-Dragon Ball Super characterization. Loved Tights and Omori. And baby Bulma at the end was precious.
9/10 - Very Very Good
Battle Angel Alita, volume 1 | Yukito Kishiro
[Adult] [Science Fiction]
This is so fucking good. It's about how we are the result of our circumstances just as much as our attitudes, how we are meant to control our own lives despite the desires others have for us, and sickass cyborg fights. There's a lot of gore and gut-spilling because this is not a clean kind of combat. There are also some instances of dog death on the page in addition to human death, which did make me sad. Overall, a fantastic work.
Destroy All Humans. They Can't Be Regenerated, volume 7 | Katsura Ise, Takuma Yokota
[Adult] [Romance]
I am not having a great time with the will-they-won't-they but I will go to bat for Lou. I love her. That is my daughter now. (Ignore that she was obviously born before me due to how chronological time works.)
Speed Reader, volume 1 | Matthew Cody, Zack Giallongo
[Juvenile] [Science Fiction]
Fantastic. Peak. It shares the same beats as every other "first generation of superheroes after the world's forgotten them" book and plays out exactly how you think it is, but the characters? And the stinger at the end? PEAK. I will be continuing this series.
10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone
Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated As Yamcha | dragongarow LEE, Akira Toriyama
[Young Adult] [Science Fantasy]
So this isn't an official Akira Toriyama addition to Dragon Ball but it is very much a love letter to both the series and the fans. And the fact that there's a second reincarnated being involved? And the reveal at the end of what the framing is? Incredible. I also loved the extra side stories at the very end. It's so fucking delightful.
