đź“ť 52nd Spells8 Book Club - Readers' Reviews!

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Feel free to share your finished thoughts and reviews from the book you read for the 52nd book club here. For the current book club post, please visit the new session post: Spells8 53rd Book Club :books: October 2025

A warm welcome to all of the Witchy Readers! :open_book:

The latest reading period for Spells8 52nd Book Club :books: September 2025 has now ended - thank you to everyone who joined in!

Members & Their Books This Reading Period:

  • Samhain: The Roots of Halloween by Luke Eastwood @Amethyst

  • Wicca: A Modern Practitioner’s Guide by Arin Murphy-Hiscock
    @heather75

  • The Shadow Witch’s Grimoire by Raven Digitalis
    @MeganB

  • Lost Book of Spells by Fiona Horne @TheMuslimWitch

Even if you are not listed above but you read a book during this reading period or you decided to read a different book than listed, you are very welcome to share and discuss here too!

Time to share your thoughts with your coven! :star_struck:

This discussion post will serve as a place to share your thoughts and opinions on the book you chose.

  • :heart_eyes: If you loved your book and think everyone should read it - awesome! Talk about your favorite points or something you learned.
  • :woman_shrugging: If you didn’t connect with the book - consider explaining why it wasn’t for you.
  • :angry: Absolutely hated your book of choice? Warn others to stay away!

This is a great place to share your love for books and find recommendations for new books to read :+1:

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Your book review can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like :writing_hand:

If you’re not sure what to talk about, here is a suggested format you can use. Feel free to write as little or as much as you’d like!

Book Title and Author:

Status? : Finished / Still Reading

My overall rating of the book : ???/10

How does this book relate to my magickal practice?:

My personal thoughts/opinions:

An interesting quote from the book: " "

All in all, would I recommend this book?: Yes / No

Remember that your review is uniquely yours - this is a chance to let your opinions and voice be heard :raised_hands:

Please keep in mind that others may have opinions that differ from yours - when responding to the thoughts of others, please always show respect! Remember that 100 people will read 1 book and have 100 different experiences. That’s what makes sharing interesting :heart:

What if I didn’t finish my book / joined late? :raised_hand:

No worries!

You are welcome to share your thoughts about the part you have read so far. If you joined the session late and have just started, feel free to talk about your expectations for your book. You can continue reading it into the next reading period.

And whether you read a book or not, you are very welcome to jump in and discuss what others share about their books! :handshake:

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Deadlines and Dates :spiral_calendar:

You have all month to share your thoughts and discuss (until the next Readers’ Review Post appears in the forum!)

Deadline for Reviews for this Session: October 31st

While you have plenty of time for reviews, know that the next reading period has already started!
→ Spells8 53rd Book Club :books: October 2025

You can find more info about the club in the Book Club FAQ.

It can be hard to find the time and motivation to read on your own – hopefully book club helped provide a bit of motivation and that it led to some wonderful new knowledge and discoveries in your Craft :books:

I hope you enjoyed your books this session, and that you’ve got another fun one in line to read this coming month.

Happy reading and blessed be! :sparkles:

:books: :heart: :infinite_roots:

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Oh I am so I came across the 52nd book club been waiting a while so share my witchy read with you all so here it is:

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175816615401282822822009730108473000Ă—4000 3.13 MB

So far it is amazing from the layout, spells and more. I have a few spell books now and always cringe when wanting to buy another thinking it will be same-old-same-old, but this one is great! Just to clarify, although the title suggests it is a lost book of spells, they are not ancient one just some spells the author has thought lost way back when computers were boxy, but there are many spells I haven’t heard before and the ingredients so far are not rare.to find so it is perfect for me :blush::heart:

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I finished! Yay!

Book Title and Author: Samhain: The Roots of Halloween by Luke Eastwood

Status? : Finished

My overall rating of the book : 4/10

How does this book relate to my magickal practice?: I am always on the lookout for books on how to celebrate the different times of the year and Pagan holidays.

My personal thoughts/opinions: This book started out promising, but then went downhill quickly, sad to say. I was looking for the history of Samhain, and the different practices in Ireland, and what I got was a history of a site in Ireland called Tlachtga. Which, yes, was important to the Samhain rites in Ireland, but the history of it got a bit confusing to me and I couldn’t see how it all connected.

Although, I’m terrible at absorbing history in the written form like this, so I don’t know if it was me or the book, but I’m pretty sure it was the book.

An interesting quote from the book: “In Ireland the world view was threefold but somewhat different from the modern religious view of Heaven–Earth–Hell. The Irish (and Welsh) pagans believed in three realms – the upperworld (Sky), middleworld (Earth) and otherworld (Sea). The upperworld was the realm of the gods and also spirits that we might liken to angels and demons. The middleworld was the realm of physical existence where we live out our everyday lives. The otherworld was the realm of the dead and also the sidhe/aos sí (fairies and Tuatha Dé Danann). Strictly speaking, the realm of the dead was not under the sea but beyond the horizon in the west, where the sun sets.”

Eastwood, Luke. Samhain: The Roots of Halloween (p. 20). THP Ireland. Kindle Edition.

All in all, would I recommend this book?: No

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I haven’t had any time to really read for leisure, so I’m carrying my book over to October :books:

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It’s time for a friendly reminder!

:grey_exclamation: The current review period will end on October 31 :grey_exclamation:

A New Book Club and Readers’ Reviews post will appear in the forums at that time for everyone to share their thoughts and hear all about what your fellow coven members have been reading.

I’m looking forward to hearing about your books! :open_book: :sparkles:

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