{"id":1550,"date":"2025-01-09T15:33:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T15:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/?p=1550"},"modified":"2025-01-15T23:25:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T23:25:20","slug":"what-the-witch-is-reading-2024-year-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/09\/what-the-witch-is-reading-2024-year-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"What The Witch Is Reading: 2024 Year In Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I\u2019m working through a tall stack of books on my nightstand this month, and will post a hearty monthly What The Witch Is Reading entry on those books soon. Today you get an overview of all the books I read last year and what I thought of them, and share my top favorites for the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laying my posts out all at once made me recognize that I was still very much in book-writing\/editing\/launching mode for Magic In Your Cup<\/a>, and my consistency of reading was slowed and composing my posts even slower. My goal for this year is to consistently post each month and finish at least one whole book, since I\u2019m starting the writing process all over again for my ::crosses fingers:: book two. I hope you\u2019ll join me in this venture. If you don\u2019t want to miss the Bookish Witch<\/a> news, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My Top Reads of 2024<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Book That Stayed With Me The Most:<\/strong> Early in the year I read a book that has led me down some new pathways in my spirituality and connected me to ancestors I hadn\u2019t realized. That book was Longing For Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna<\/em><\/a> by China Galland. As I noted in my post in February, the Black Madonna appeared to me in a dream a few years back. The book is making me think now, post 2024 election here in the USA, about the nonviolence in specifically Galland\u2019s story, the Solidarity movement in Poland that she stumbled upon within her search for the Divine Mother and her own spiritual journey. Thanks to this book, I\u2019m learning more about the little folk practices my Polish and other Slavic ancestors did that were adopted by the descendants that focused on assimilating as opposed to continuing their spiritual and\/or magical practices. Longing For Darkness<\/em> is the kind of book that continues to leave bits of its stories inside you as you walk your own journey in life. If you haven\u2019t read this particular book, perhaps consider putting it on your list for 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Book That Let Me Lean In:<\/strong> In the middle of the summer I was ripping through the book Alive With Spirits: The Path and Practice of Animistic Witchcraft <\/em><\/a>by Althaea Sebastiani. This book\u2019s guide to helping you deepen your own relationship with the Land, Departed Dead, and all manner of spiritual and physical relationships a Witch may have. Even if you\u2019re a long-time Practitioner like myself, this book has such a great map to help you reinforce your own Practice, or even teach you a new thing or two. I loved all the reinforcement of what I knew to be a healthy practice and viewpoint on the Craft, that as a solitary practitioner isn\u2019t always available. For that, I\u2019m very grateful to the author and their book. If you do the work presented in the book, you\u2019re absolutely going to rise up more powerfully in how you do your Practice. Don\u2019t take my word for it, go read the book and do the work.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Book That Charged Up My Spellcraft:<\/strong> Of Blood and Bones: Working With Shadow Magick of the Dark Moon<\/em><\/a> by Kate Freuler was a book I had listened to when it was first released and then again during my research for Magic In Your Cup. But I picked up the hard copy and read it through again, pausing to do some of the workings inside of it as I reviewed. As I mentioned in my post on this one (October 24), as a Witch that picks up snake skin, wasp nests, acorns, and animal bones to use in my spellcraft, this book felt like a sister grimoire that will remain on my shelf for many years to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Book That Showed Me A Different World:<\/strong> As a dreamworker myself, I am always gobbling up any books on dreams \u2013 magical or otherwise. But Elhoim Leafar\u2019s<\/a> book Dream Witchery: Folk Magic, Recipes & Spells From South America For Witches & Brujas<\/em> showed me many new magical practices and beliefs around dreams that still intrigues me every time I see his name or pass the book on my shelf. The worldview here is so unique and ever fascinating. Even though my dream practice looks different, it was definitely refined after reading this one. Case in point, Leafar\u2019s reiterating protection magic while doing so many of the workings in the book is a great reminder even for us Crones that any practice\u2019s foundations need to be fortified regularly. I\u2019m ever grateful for that message within the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Below is a link to each one with a short vignette on what books\/authors are covered in each post if you\u2019re new around here and missed them the first time around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What The Witch Is Reading: February 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What The Witch Is Reading: May 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What The Witch Is Reading: July 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What The Witch Is Reading: September 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What The Witch Is Reading: October 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What The Witch Is Reading: November 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As you can see, I read a little of everything. I\u2019m always curious about what others are reading. What book are you working through right now? Let\u2019s talk about books! Comment below. If you have a book you think I should read, let me know that, too!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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