I read several books per month, and these are the ones that top my list. Watch this section grow each month with a new selection.

Don't forget to check out the Archives!:

2001 | 2002

Book Of The Month: December 2001

Harry Potter by JK Rowling.

I didn't choose one of the four books in particular, but I'm putting them as a collective. Like many others, when I read them I couldn't put them down, so they all kind of became like one book.

What else can I say about this series that hasn't been said before? I read them a while back, and thoroughly enjoyed them. I personally think they have a "dark" feeling to them...not a bad "dark," but the feeling that it's constantly night time at Hogwarts. In addition, there's just enough violence that it's not all sugary sweet. It does have adult appeal.

Okay, so yes, the real reason I put it as the Book(s) of the Month is because of the movie that just came out. The movie is perhaps one of the best novel adaptations I have ever seen. Don't believe me? Compare it to White Fang, Starship Troopers, and Dune. I definitely suggest reading the books before going to see the movie, and even after you see the movie, go read the books again. I couldn't quite picture some things at Hogwarts (the ceiling in the great dining hall, for example) and the movie made those images more solid. Beyond that, I think everything in the movie was just as I pictured. (I love Alan Rickman as Snape!)

Now I'm looking forward to Lord of the Rings...I just have to finish reading those, first!

***HONORARY STORY OF THE MONTH***

Nicholas Was... by Neil Gaiman

I can't believe I forgot to mention this one before now! Gaiman, again, is one of my favorite authors, and with good reason. In Smoke and Mirrors, one of his collections of short stories, he includes Nicholas Was... which was a story he wrote to be a Christmas card for his friends and family. It's exactly 100 words long (102 if you include the title) and I think it is a delightfully dark look at how Santa got his job.

So go to your nearest bookstore, find a copy of Smoke and Mirrors, and look up Nicholas Was... It won't take but a minute to read it.

Ho.
Ho.
Ho.

Book Of The Month: November 2001

The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino.

I read this book during high school, and I decided to buy a copy this time (I checked it out from the library back then) and read it again. This is definitely a book for Tarot enthusiasts. Even through fiction, there is a lesson in how different cards have different meanings according to where they are placed and how you personally interpret them.

The premise of the book has a distictive Canterbury Tales flavor. Your weary narrator passes through a forest and stops at an inn. There, he discovers that no one can talk. So to tell their personal stories, the people pull out a deck of tarot cards. The stories are interpreted by the narrator, but you can also give the stories your own meanings. There is enough left to the imagination for the reader to flesh out the tales.

This is a good, different book to flex your brain muscles. If you have a deck of tarot cards, try laying them out as the characters in the story do, and see if you can find your own story in the puzzle.

Book Of The Month: October 2001

21st Century Wicca by Jennifer Hunter.

I was constantly reading throughout September, but I was even more glued to the television. The result was that I neither finished a book during that month, nor could I think of one that was appropriate. (Bad timing, and all that jazz.)

Let me just say, however, that this is perhaps one of the best "Wicca 101" books I have read in ages. Actually, I feel I'm at that point where I really hate reading the 101 books anymore, but I also think it's important to stay up on some of the better ones so I know what to recommend to people.

Why did I not read this book sooner???

First of all, Hunter's style is a lot like my own--very down to earth and realistic. Instead of simply writing out a bunch of spells and telling the reader that they work, she gives a better guide to how to write your own spells. She does not say, "These are the necessary tools of magick," but describes them and says that if you can't find every tool or one tool feels better to you than another, follow your own instinct.

Her writing style is easy to read...no complicated information to confuse the reader. Yet there is also a lot of good information for being a Pagan nowadays. I think the only issue I had with the book was that she tended to use "Wiccan" and "Witch" interchangably, but she did explain why in the beginning of the book. I must also mention that she had a chapter on being a Pagan teenager and college student...definitely a subject severely lacking on the bookshelves. (For the record, I'm working to fill that void. Shh!)

Even if you have experience in practicing, I still recommend reading this book. It's a refreshing look at the same subject, and it brings the practice of Wicca far more up to date than most books. She even gave me a few new tips to try out!

Book Of The Month: August 2001

Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner.

It took me an extra week to finish reading this book simply because I was so busy, but I think it was worth reading where Wicca began.

The book itself is a rather simple read. Gardner takes an "anthropological approach" to tracing the history of Witchcraft. He uses examples and anecdotes from groups he has worked with or people he has talked to. The one unfortunate problem with his approach to writing is that he often leads into an interesting aspect of the craft, but then says he cannot tell anything further due to the group's desire for secrecy.

I do say you also have to take a lot of the information contained in this book with a large grain of salt. Gardner has a tendency to dwell on the Inquisition and other ways that "witches" were held back. While I think it is important to know and understand your history (though I think Isaac Bonewits has a much more accurate history in his books), I think dwelling on it to justify the future is going a little overboard.

Otherwise, Gardner has some good quotes, and it's interesting to remember that this books was written about 50 years ago when the Withcraft Laws were repealed. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a modern book, and I would do a double-take as it hit me when it was written. It should also be noted that the few times he mentions "Wicca," he spells it with only one "c": "Wica." According to the pronunciation rules, spelling it "Wica" is more accurate for the hard "k" sound. The double "c" in "Wicca" would yield a "ch" sound, and the word would be pronounced "witcha," hence the origin of the word "witch." Just a little interesting fact. While not the most informative book I have ever read, I place it as Book of the Month for August because it is part of the beginning of the modern Wiccan religion.

Book Of The Month: July 2001

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

I cannot stop raving about this book. I happened into the bookstore just a few days after it came out, and within a few days I finished the last page, craving more. Gaiman has always made me stop and think, but this one is a book that really puts a finger on a few things: First of all, start humming the song "What If God Was One of Us." That should give you a clue about the overall tone. Only in this case, it isn't the Judeo-Christian God, but all deities that came over to America with settlers from their own cultures. We interact with these deities on a daily basis, but we never know it. Only Shadow, the main character, is aware that they are really Gods...but that's because they hired him to help out in a war against the new gods of the modern day.

Another thing Gaiman gets right is that I believe he nails what is wrong with the Neo-Pagan movement. Granted, not all Pagans are guilty, but when I read the section (pp. 242-244, hardback) I first had to pick my jaw up off the floor, and the first phrase out of my mouth was, "Yes...that is *exactly* it!"

While I read it as fast as I read the Harry Potter books, I did have to put it down a few times to let my brain mull over some of the ideas in the book. It just made me stop and think...a lot. (And this is coming from a person who does a lot of thinking to begin with!) But the pace of the book is good and you get sucked into the story so you don't want to stop for too long!

Finally, I just have to mention that my favorite part is easily when Shadow asked one of Odin's ravens to say, "Nevermore." Maybe it's all from knowing bird personalities after working in the aviary and Wild Bird Rehab, but I just thought it was hilarious.

I know I'll be reading this one again soon...if I ever get my copy back from my friends.