The Book Report - Curated by Rebecca Traver
Included in this report is a mix of New + Newly Discovered reads chosen to support + inspire you; some wonderful books for Young + Young at Heart readers, a couple of Just Because + Just for Fun offerings.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
~Stephen King
Where I live the days have been warming and lightening up as Spring gradually becomes ready to become Summer. I’ve been noticing how my inner life is beginning to stir and align with this shift in the outer world. Please join me in celebrating the season and the abundance of new reading opportunities awaiting us.
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
~Albert Einstein
With so many reasons for gifting at hand this time of year, a gift card is the ideal way to make sure your gift not only arrives on time, but is the perfect style + fit for the recipient.
New + Newly Discovered
Soul Bloom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution by comedic actor, producer, and writer Rainn Wilson shines a bright light onto contemporary and ancient wisdom to seek out practical, transformative answers to life’s biggest questions. As profound as it is delightful, this is a book to savor and share.
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden from poet and scholar Camille T. Dungy recounts the seven-year odyssey to diversify her garden in the predominately white community of Fort Collins, Colorado. This is a strong and beautiful work of nature writing, environmental justice, and prose to encourage you to recognize the relationship between the peoples of the African diaspora and the land on which they live, and to understand that wherever soil rests beneath their feet is home.
Moon Magic: Your Complete Guide to Harnessing the Mystical Energy of the Moon from third-generation intuitive Diane Ahlquist is a lovely introduction into the moon’s energy cycles and how you can harness that lunar power in your everyday life. Included are lunar recipes and simple exercises, such as intention setting and moon meditations to help you capitalize on the moon’s inherent power and channel that energy whenever you need it most.
Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies by Rebecca Beyer teaches how to cultivate your own magical garden, begin and/or enhance your journey with folk herbalism, and awaken to your place in nature through practical skills from an accomplished Appalachian forager and seasoned witch.
The Arcana of Astrology Oracle Deck & Guidebook for Cosmic Insight from Claire Goodchild is a dreamy guidebook and deck of 54 cards revolving around all things astrological. This is a potent tool for learning about the archetypes of astrology with art inspired by vintage star charts and cards featuring the zodiac signs, the 12 houses, and the planets, moon phases, and more. With practice, this deck will deepen your connection to the cosmos, to yourself, and to those around you.
The Herbal Tea Magic for the Modern Witch Oracle Deck by Elsie Wild with illustrations by Chinkal Pareek contains wisdom from over 40 different herbs, each with their own metaphysical meaning that you can use to divine the future, reflect on the past, and navigate the present.
Unusual Animal Messages Oracle Deck is a beautiful offering from artist and intuitive Manda Comisari composed of 52 illustrated cards, each with captivating artwork and a daily reading and a 64-page illustrated guidebook for discovering the wisdom of nature’s most uncommon animals, including the blue-ringed octopus, mudskipper, axolotl, and more.
A Walk Through the Forest of Souls: A Tarot Journey to Spiritual Awakening by Rachel Pollack is a revised and updated offering originally published in 2002 with the title Forest of Souls: A Walk Through the Tarot. Included are over 350 illustrations of samples of tarot cards ranging from the 15th-century Sforza to more contemporary decks. Using symbols and myths to illuminate the hidden mysteries and spiritual truths of the tarot, the author explores the connections and relationships between tarot and such wide-ranging subjects as mythology, mythography, folklore, Kabbalah, divination, quantum physics, and time travel.
We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection from activist and social justice warrior Michelle Cassandra Johnson is a hopeful, wise and practical guide to help us all move into spaces of individual and collective healing, community, and relationship building – with practices to shed patterns of isolation that we may better connect and thrive.
Happiness is Overrated: Simple Lessons on Finding Meaning in Each Moment from Cuong Lu, a student of renowned spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hahn, helps us to get in touch with our true selves and our true minds through meditation and mindfulness practices. The focus here is to pay attention to the present moment through our breath, observe our minds, connect with our hearts, and practice ‘interbeing’ with others, the Earth, and more.
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman is an original approach to self-help, discovering success through failure and calm through embracing anxiety. Thought provoking, counterintuitive, and ultimately uplifting, this is the intelligent person’s guide to understanding the much-misunderstood idea of happiness. I’m delighted to share that there is a Spanish language edition as well.
The Mysterion: Rumi and the Secret of Becoming Fully Human from respected teacher and translator Kabir Helminski is a contemporary exploration into the meaning and possibility of our human existence through the universal insights of the 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Rumi.
The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos by Jaime Green traces the history of our understanding of how the possibility of life on other planets shapes our understanding of humanity, from the days of Galileo and Copernicus to our contemporary quest for exoplanets. This is a fascinating exploration about what it means to be human.
Love from Heaven: Practicing Compassion for Yourself and Others from Lorna Byrne reveals how she sees love as a physical force. From her perspective, she sees that we are all pure love, but nine out of ten of us have locked away most of this love within ourselves. This love remains there, indestructible and available, ready to be released, if only we can learn to love ourselves first.
The Wonder Paradox: Embracing the Weirdness of Existence and the Poetry of Our Lives by Jennifer Michael Hecht offers a lively, practical, and transcendent roadmap to meaning and connection through poetry. In twenty chapters built from years of questions and conversations with those looking for an authentic and meaningful life, the author offers ways to mine and adapt the useful aspects of tradition and to replace what no longer feels true.
Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind from addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist Judson Brewer MD is a step-by-step plan clinically proven to break the cycle of worry and fear that drives anxiety and addiction habits. Distilling more that 20 years of research and hands-on work with thousands of patients, including Olympic athletes and coaches and business and cultural leaders, Dr. Brewer has created a clear, solution-oriented program that anyone can use to navigate our complex world and feel better.
Books for Young Readers + The People Who Love Them
Today I Am a River by Kat Coombs with illustrations by Anna Laitinen is a collection of bright lyrical poems encouraging children to immerse themselves in the natural world.
The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow from Elaine Dimopoulos, illustrated by Caldecott winner Doug Salati, is a lovely middle-grade adventure about friendship, community, and doing what’s right.
A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer is a heartwarming, beautifully written middle-grade historical novel about an untold American frontier story featuring eleven-year-old Shoshana and her family of Jewish immigrants.
Big Tree from Brian Selznik tells the story of how the fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little seeds in this epic adventure of mystery and imagination.
Ning and the Night Spirits from Adriena Fong is a beautifully illustrated tale that shows no matter how small you feel, even small actions can help make big changes.
Just Because + Just for Fun
Mindfulness Dice is a fun-to-use, interactive set of six dice which makes it easy to practice mindfulness in daily life for anyone looking for more peace and balance.
Posi Vibes Fortune-Telling Dice is another simple but effective tool to help tap into greater forces and change your vibe for the better.
Please visit our online Bookshop to see our full selection of lists and titles.
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May you be inspired, supported, and enriched by what you find here.
