I did these a while back and completely fell off the blogging horse. But it’s a new moon, a full moon eclipse in the productive sign of Virgo (or it was when I started this — WordPress broke completely, ate my first draft)* and the world is on fire (sadly, this is still true). So let’s read books and write them and maybe also watch a little television, listen to some podcasts, and music. And maybe we’ll throw some food in there too, because I am still a kitchen witch at heart.
Books Read in February
Grist by Abra Berens (ebook, purchased through a Humble Bundle) — I really enjoy Berens’ cookbooks. I also have Ruffage and Pulp. A single category focus with recipes that are more like suggestions and riffs with excellent dressing and sauce recommendations. Berens cooks like I mostly want to, kind of extemporaneously with the tiniest bit of planning. I’m tempted to get all three in hardback but my cookbook shelf—more honestly—shelves are full to bursting.
The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett (audiobook, borrowed from the San Jose library) — I really enjoyed The Appeal which I read on the plane to London in August. I wanted to read The Christmas Appeal over, you know, Christmas, but the hold wait was several weeks. It picks up on the characters from the first book and is told through emails, texts, and other communications. The epistolary murder mystery done extreme well. That Hallett can develop character in such a limited form is a wonder to read.
Botanical Teas Recipe Book by The Herbal Academy (paperback, purchased from their website) — A Christmas present to myself. I have developed a serious afternoon tea habit but since I can’t actually have caffeine in the afternoon, I am branching out. This has a range of excellent teas for everything from pure enjoyment to more medicinal tummy, stress, and sleepy-time tisanes without the (hopefully) compostable, and not micro-plastic laden tea bag; as much as I love Traditional Medicinals, I don’t love single serve packaging unless I’m traveling. Despite all that, I’m still partial to my own tweaked masala chai made with rooibos — it just feels decadent without actually being that decadent. We are moving into iced coffee season and I’m going to have to figure out a un-caffeinated alternative.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (audiobook, borrowed from the San Jose library) — I watched the Netflix movie first and of course wanted to read the book. The adaptation is fairly faithful with a twist or two to make it interesting for those who had already read the book. I’m a sucker for protagonists who aren’t 20-somethings and I’m always here for letting older women take the spotlight. Joyce of the book, gets much more “air” time as she is the main exposition narrator through her diary. I highly recommend both, though if made to choose, I would probably take the movie as the cast was phenomenal.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (reread, audiobook, borrowed from SJ library) — I reread this to discuss with Anne Renwick on WitchLit. I was both surprised by how much I remembered (including whodunnit) and how much I had forgotten (how insipidly the women were portrayed). It’s probably still among my favorite Sherlock Holmes stories and kind of makes me want to go back and read more but my TBR pile threatens to fall over and suffocate me as is. The audiobook narrator was fabulous though and gave Holmes the most arch voice.
The Glass Spider by Anne Renwick (reread, audiobook, purchased from Apple Books) — Though Anne is a friend and writing buddy, I’d love her work anyway. She writes smart steampunk romance (heavy on the steam) that benefits from her PhD in biology. So, if you like some hard-science grit thrown in with your steampunk kraken whimsy, she’d definitely for you. This book opens her Victorian London set series filled with espionage, gender politics, and, of course, romance.
Hoodoo Saints & Root Warriors by Mawiyah Bomani (egalley, supplied by the publisher, Llewellyn Worldwide) — Following on Mawiyah’s first book, Conjuring the Calabash, and further exploring the liberation, community, and personal power to be found/reclaimed in Hoodoo and Conjure work, I think Hoodoo Saints is an even better book. Bomani has found her voice and it is strong and unwavering in retelling the racist garbage she and her clients have had to endure and how conjure, hoodoo or rootwork has been a place to reclaim power, secure a kind of safety, and set the scales of justice aright. The audience for the workings in this book is primarily Black women. I think everyone should read it, not just to support Bomani (though that is a damn fine reason), but because everyone else needs to hear/read the experiences of Black women. Basically, listen to Black women. Read this book. There’s an excellent reading list for deepening understanding of the experience of Black people in the U.S. (as well as African traditional and derived religions and traditions).
The Sanctified Church: Folk Writings of Zora Neale Hurston (PDF scan, borrowed from The Open Library on archive.org) — From Toni Cade Bambara’s sweeping forward to the last page, this book is a testament to the genius of Hurston as a story teller, a wordsmith, and a researcher. I read this in anticipation of discussing it with Mawiyah Bomani for WitchLit (I’m hopeful we can reschedule that), and was excited about it, as it wasn’t one of the collections of Hurston’s work I had read. The essays range from folk story retellings to an in-depth look at the Black church and its relationship to community and the traditional beliefs and practices brought to the U.S. by people who were kidnapped and enslaved. It’s a powerful read in conversation with Bomani’s book.
Polish Folk Magic by Joanna Tarnawska (paperback, supplied by the publisher, Crossed Crow Books, for review) — Full disclosure: Crossed Crow is my publisher too. I have generally shied away from official reviewing but, in addition to reading the podcast guest books, it keeps me keyed in to what’s happening in occult publishing. I loved this book. It’s so rare to get a work on Slavic folk practice that isn’t swimming in late-18th century confabulations and wrong-headed reconstructions or, unfortunately, heavy on ethnonationalism and white-supremacy. Tarnawska’s book offers an explanation of Polish, and Western Slavic folk magic, the cosmology of folk belief and then a very practical, bi-lingual, hands-on section for doing the magic. I think this is where the book really shines especially in the daily cycles and calendar section that weave the practices discussed into the everyday. There’s an extensive bibliography for folks who can read Polish to go deeper into the sources. I’m thrilled to have another book on Slavic practice without the aforementioned issues and that doesn’t conflate all Slavic magic — and is written by a practitioner, rather than an outside observer. I am also really enjoying Crossed Crow’s cover and book design; I do wish the books were coming on higher quality paper but as a micro publisher, I get the print cost issues right now.
All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (audiobooks, borrowed from keifel through Apple Books) — My whole family has been pushing me to read these and I totally get it now. I listened to these four novellas on my cross-country flights to and from Baltimore for the Sacred Space conference. I prefer sci-fi that is character driven and Wells delivers. I did not expect to weep over “a bot.” Wells’ exploration of Murderbot’s existence as a construct with both bot and cloned human parts as a metaphor for neurodivergence is a masterstroke. I’m also really enjoying the “corporate” versus free entities politics and its deep resonance with our current existence.
The Opposite of You by Rachel Higginson (audiobook, purchased with a monthly Libro.FM credit) — I read this for my fun bookclub that mostly reads romance and murder mysteries with some other “genre” fiction thrown in occasionally. It’s not one I would have picked up on my own as enemies-to-lovers is my least favorite among the romance tropes. It’s also set in the restaurant and food truck world and some of the things it got wrong or only half-right had me bouncing off it pretty hard. I almost DNF’ed it but I used my February credit so I finished. The ending is very sweet and felt earned relationship-wise. It’s not very steamy (one brief sex scene), if that’s a thing for you. It’s too much in one character’s head for me — I have my own hamster wheel to manage, thank you. I will say I was in the minority and most of the bookclub really liked this one, so YMMV here, widely.
Watching in February
I don’t watch much TV and even my random YouTube watching has fallen off. I did see the aforementioned Thursday Murder Club on Netflix, and really enjoyed it. Pierce Brosnan, Dame Helen Mirren, and Tom Ellis, Lucifer himself, steal the show. I’m currently finishing up the newest season of My Life Is Murder (Acorn) with Lucy Lawless, girl crush since Xena days. I tend toward the quirky rather than the gritty and dark in my murder mystery habit, with a few exceptions. I’m also looking forward to Nigella Lawson going the Great British Bake Off crew, another girl crush since How to Be a Domestic Goddess and Nigella Bites days.
Listening in February
I’ve been listening to a lot of Kate Rusby and in contrast, a very weird playlist of songs I mostly like to sing out loud to when I am driving alone or cooking, very imaginatively called “Victoria’s Driving Playlist.” It includes everything from 1940s standards to “Golden” from K-pop Demon Hunters.
Podcast-wise, I’m feeling in a rut and need to cycle through some stuff but I still have some standbys I always listen to: Live Like the World Is Dying, As the Season Turns, New World Witchery’s Folk Magicians Notebook, Better Offlline, The Nature Podcast, and You’re Dead to Me. A new one I’ve picked up very recently is Witching Out Loud, I met one of the co-hosts, Kristal, at the Sacred Space conference.
Eating in February
The farmers market is starting to green up. The delicious Persian or Lebanese cucumbers are back. Asparagus is in. Kiwis are in season here, overlapping with Cara Cara oranges which are my favorites. We buy bunches of cilantro every week that make their way into several dishes. I’ve mostly been making grain bowls for lunch with farro or brown rice, bits and pieces from leftovers and a sauce of some kind. The two sauces in current rotation are a very anchovy heavy Green Goddess (though finding fresh tarragon here is an ongoing quest) and a garlicky, lemony yogurt sauce I made lots of extra of when I made sheet-pan chicken “shawarma.” If folks want recipes, let me know. I’d be up for that.
*A rookie mistake I have since corrected. Write the post in Pages then past into the WordPress window. I know this. Oof.