K's Books

My second Calvin & Hobbes book, given to me when I was around 7-9. I didn't enjoy this as much as a kid simply because nobody would explain to me what the Yukon was in a way a kid my age would understand! As an adult, I love both these books and continue to cherish them. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70491.Yukon_Ho_ 

I grew up hearing the name Louis L'Amour and that he was a famous, prolific Western writer, but that's it. My mother had one of his novels (but hated it) and mentioned him when we went to Zion National Park while I was in high school. So when I wanted to return to Zion but didn't have the money around '09 or '10, I tried reading him, figuring it was the next best thing.  At that time I desperately wanted to move to the southwest but couldn't afford it. I fell in love with his books as he described landscapes, flora, the cool of the desert night, and how people figured out how to live in such a harsh landscape. A lot of people were confused why I'd want to read, in their perception, books about cattle rustlers fighting - these are just a portion of most of his Western novels. When I worked at the bookstore at O'Hare, I was the only employee who read Westerns and so many grizzled old men were baffled that when they asked for recommendations, I was the only...

I was 9 or 10 when I got this book, I've read it too many times to count! It's kind of funny how I have this and Yukon Ho!  My mother said comics are for boys so I wasn't allowed to read them, but my dad thought they would teach me philosophy so he bought them for me!   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77729.Something_Under_the_Bed_Is_Drooling

I've only had this book for a couple years, I think out of all the books I own about Nordic mythology & folklore it's the one I acquired most recently. It's a reference book, not the kind that you read cover to cover. This is the second time I've thoroughly gone through it, I've referred to it multiple times to learn more about Nordic folklore.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2077059.Scandinavian_Folk_Belief_and_Legend 

This is the first of 4 books of feminist ritual resources by Miriam Therese Winter and illustrated by Meinrad Craighead. I first stumbled across them in college, but I bought this copy just within the past few years as I wanted to have more of Craighead's work in my home. This is the least Bible-based book in the series (although roughly 2/3 of it is based on Bible stories), which is why it's the only one I'm interested in owning. Before Vatican II, male clergy did all the liturgy at Mass. After Vatican II, musicians & liturgists had to create lay liturgy for the first time. As you can imagine, it was pretty patriarchal. Although feminist liturgy started in the 70's, published resources like this were hard to come by until the 80's when the feminist spirituality movement was in full swing. This is, in my opinion, is one of the more to grounded ritual guides that doesn't get wrapped up in overly-PC language. Ultimately though, Craighead's work is the main...

I first discovered this book in college ('04-'09) and bought my copy around 2019 when I was in a spiritual group that referenced it often. This was my 4th or 5th time reading it. This was groundbreaking when I first read it, deep in feminist Wicca and recovering from spiritual abuse. It's become less relevant & more problematic as I've matured. I recently let go of my copy of a similar book from this period, The Chalice And The Blade by Rhiane Eisler, since it was so dry and I've grown past it. The Great Cosmic Mother describes connections in symbols across ancient cultures, sometimes in productive ways (e.g. speculating on why serpents and trees were common prominent symbols around the world) and sometimes in ways that flatten important cultural distinctions (e.g. claiming Kali and Cailleach are the same goddess). It both equates menstruation with womanhood, which was healing for me 20 years ago, and also connects patriarchy to labor injustices in ways that wer...

I don't recall when I first heard about this book, it was referenced in a Pagan book long ago and I couldn't find a copy anywhere. 5 years ago I finally got a copy through the library and read it. This is what I posted then: "This book had been on my to-read list for 7+ years, and I finally inhaled it over the past couple days. Except for some niche nonfiction, I don't buy books I've never read so I just checked local public library catalogs everywhere I moved. PrairieCat, the local public library network, had this copy! I wish I could go back in time and give Wise Child  to my child self. It deals with many Pagan themes, which I loved even now. And the protagonist becomes a whole person after escaping her abusive mother's brainwashing. Perhaps if I had read this book sooner, I would have escaped mine earlier. Thank you, PrairieCat and my local public library!" I bought my copy immediately afterwards. This rereading was probably my 4th time, an...

I first read this book around a decade ago, it was hard to find a copy through the library but the paperback is so cheap that I bought one regardless of never having read it before. This book was integral to healing my spiritual trauma and understanding where I stand with the Catholic Church.  This was my third reading of the book, and the first time I fully appreciated that this is part of the Madeleva Lecture series. Sr. Madeleva Wolff made it possible for women in the US to study theology at the graduate level for the first time in the 1930s/40s. Schneiders summarizes her accomplishment and that this book is possible because of her, but I didn't fully understand the gravity of Wolff's work until reading her biography after the second time I read Women And The Word.   Schneiders at times gets irritatingly academic, but overall rereading this book was very fulfilling. It's very short, only 71 pages! I first read this alongside several other feminist Catholic theological bo...

This is one of very few books that I can recall growing up with and my mother didn't complain about it. The book is only a year younger than me, I don't recall when she got it but it must have been when I was very young. I don't recall when I first read it, but it was always there.  This is my first rereading in at least a decade, it's aged substantially. Not in the sense that it's insensitive, although there were a few parts that would definitely be edited in any re-release, it's just very '80s. I laughed a lot less and I can recall when I was in in middle or high school, mostly because my sense of humor has changed. But I still enjoyed it! The copy I own isn't the one from my mother's house, it's from the library in my grandparents' nursing home - uff dah!  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2102941.Scandinavian_Humor_and_Other_Myths