Spells8 51st Book Club 📚 August 2025

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Welcome to all of the witchy book-lovers here in the forum!

:books: :mage: :heart:

:sparkles: Book Club 51 :sparkles:
→ Reading Session: Aug. 1 - Aug. 31 ←
→ Review Session: Sep. 1 - Sep. 30 ←

Thank you again to everyone who joined in for last month’s reading session! For those who haven’t yet shared their thoughts about their book (or anyone who enjoys reading book reviews!) you still have time to do so in :memo: 50th Spells8 Book Club - Readers’ Reviews!.

As of today, the 51st book club reading session has now begun !

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On Your Mark, Get Set, READ! :books:

  1. Begin by announcing your book
    The first post below is an editable wiki post- add your book title and name to the list! (instructions below)

  2. Know that you have [[ the whole month ]] in this reading session
    While it is great if you can finish your book during this time, it is okay if you break it into chapters or sections- do as much as you can and know that doing your best is always good enough!

  3. As you’re reading, feel free to share your thoughts!
    You are very welcome to share any thoughts or tidbits while you read in the comments below or in a new post in the forums. Just save the best parts for the final discussion at the end of the reading period!

  4. Join the final discussion
    When the month is over, a discussion post will open encouraging all readers to share a review of their book and any personal thoughts they have about it. A mini-review is perfectly fine, and there will be a suggested format for anyone who would like to write a longer review.

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A note about sharing books:

While everyone is free to choose their own book, you may consider reading along with someone else ! It is fun to share thoughts and insights about different books and even more exciting to do in-depth about a book with fellow readers :handshake:

If the book you plan to read is already on the list below, add your name to the list of others reading that book! Please keep in mind that everyone will reconvene and chat together in the Reader’s Reviews discussion, regardless of which book you read :books:

Spells8 Reading Room :books:

The Spells8 Reading Room will open once a week for two separate hours to give everyone who wants to participate a chance, regardless of timezone.

Ready to join the Reading Room? Click here for more information!
You must be logged in to view this post!

See the current Reading Room Schedule

August 5 (Tuesday)

  • 2025-08-05T12:00:00Z
  • 2025-08-05T23:00:00Z

August 14 (Thursday)

  • 2025-08-14T14:00:00Z
  • 2025-08-14T22:00:00Z

Please note that school starts the week of August 18th, so the reading room will open once a week until further notice.

August 19 (Tuesday)

  • 2025-08-20T00:00:00Z

August 28 (Thursday)

  • 2025-08-28T22:00:00Z

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Not sure what to read?

You can find book recommendations in:

And also:

Reading on a budget?

Free online books can be found in:

book gif 2

If you have any questions about Book Club, please feel free to check the Book Club FAQ and/or ask in the comments.

Blessed be and happy reading!

:sparkles: :open_book: :sparkles:

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~~ ~~ ~~ This post is a WIKI POST- it is editable by everyone! ~~ ~~ ~~
for help editing a wiki post, see the tutorial here

Please announce your books here :blush:

Example:

  • Book Title by Author
    (@) your username

Out of respect to others, please only add/edit your own entry

  • Breaking the Curse by Alex DiFrancesco :white_check_mark:
    @MeganB

  • The Irish Pagan Book of Rites by John Michael McLoughlin :white_check_mark:
    @MeganB

  • A Witch’s Shadow Magick Compendium by Raven Digitalis
    @MeganB

  • The Witch’s Way by Shawn Robbins and Leanna Greenway
    @Selena-Paloma

  • Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch: True to the Heart by Lora O’Brien @Amethyst

  • Wicca: Living a magical life by Lisa Chamberlain
    @Julie8

  • Wicca Moon Magic by Lisa Chamberlain
    @Juile8

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@MeganB is my entry ok?

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Try to include just the book title and author, and one for each bullet point, if you can. If not, I can help you with the formating and fix it :blush:

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I’ve been looking forward to this one! Can’t wait!

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Ohh, I can’t wait to hear about it! It’s been in my TBR for a bit, but I haven’t had time to get to it.

I actually finished my book last night, so it’s time to add some more to the list! :laughing: One of the ones I’m reading now is less a book to read and more a book of rituals, so that will be quick.

The other one is an author copy I was sent to review, so hopefully, it’s good!

Another author reached out to me to review her book, but she used AI for some of the process, so I respectfully declined.

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I’ve read just the introduction so far, but it’s a lengthy one, with a lot of good content in it! It’s got me downloading Duolingo and trying to learn Irish. Just three minutes a day, but still. I’ll probably be better at reading than speaking it, but I’m like that with English too, so that doesn’t worry me too much! LOL!

Yay! Good job! I’m glad you finished it, I know you’ve not had much time lately.

Well, I see another book to add to my Amazon Wish List. LOL! I look forward to hearing about the author copy, one too! And I don’t blame you with the AI-generated one, that’s not something I would want to touch with a ten-foot pole!

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@Selena-Paloma – Your entry looks perfect now, thank you! :sparkles:

@Amethyst – Yeah, it was one of those things where she didn’t use AI to write the book, but did use it for some structuring and outlining stuff, as well as to replace the services of an editor. Don’t get me wrong, I know just how pricey a professional editor can be, but I have to draw a hard line and have a zero-tolerance policy for AI. It’s simply for my own sanity and well-being, not to mention my own authenticity and honesty for my audience!

Oohhh, Irish is a difficult language to learn as an English speaker. I’ve tried! :joy: I have heard that Duolingo isn’t the most accurate for Irish, so keep that in mind. Mango Languages is pretty good, and you can usually get a free subscription to it through the library. Future Learn also does a free Irish 101 course every few months that might be helpful to you! It’s available right now for free, but it’s limited to four weeks unless you pay for the Future Learn subscription.

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Thanks so much! I may keep the Duolingo for now, but I might try that. It depends on how complicated it is! LOL! Is it really time-consuming?

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It can be. We can chat more about it in DM, though, so we don’t clog up the book club :pink_heart:

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Thanks I could not get it to bold my title.

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No worries, I got it for you :blush:

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Awesome to learn a new language. I am currently learning Italian, more difficult than I assumed. But I am forcing myself to stick at it and have repeated level 1 and committed to “HOMEWORK” which I was slack on the first-time round.

I was interested in “Draconic” language and thought it would be so interesting.
It is a language used by dragons and can be found on walls in ancient dungeons and burial grounds. The dragon alphabet is like runes used for writing the language. It is believed certain words can be incanted to produce magical effects such as conjuring up fire, frost or wind. This ability is called “Thu’um” and is said to be an inborn talent of dragons and dragonborn.
reference: UESPWiki

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The tenses in any language, including English, always seem to confuse me!
\

Very cool! At one point, I could curse in Klingon, but that’s about it!

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Starting on my second book. I have been listening to my books through Audible, so that I can listen to them as I do other chores.:sweat_smile: haha doing two things at once! I try and take notes so that I can recall a couple of nice quotes from the books for our review in September. :folded_hands:

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That’s awesome! Audiobooks are so great for that :clap: they’re one of my favorite ways to read books!

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Book Title and Author: Breaking the Curse by Alex DiFrancesco

Status? : Finished :white_check_mark:

My overall rating of the book : 10/10

How does this book relate to my magickal practice?: It doesn’t relate to my personal magical practice, but as someone who embraces real-life displays and discussion of witchcraft and mental health, this book was right up my alley.

My personal thoughts/opinions: Breaking the Curse is a heavy, raw, unfiltered recounting of the author’s life, as told by the author, Alex (they/them). The book itself is broken into sections, and the stories are told as they make sense for the author. This means that sometimes, the narration moves back and forth in time, giving the reading a sense of broken understanding, much like a mental illness can do. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, but as a person with major depressive disorder and ADHD, the mixed-up sections made a lot of sense to me.

This book is not for the timid or easily-triggered. Alex DiFrancesco does not shy away from vulgarity, especially as it fits the situation. There are details related to triggering topics such as sex, rape, addiction, suicide, transphobia, and domestic violence. Though these are heavy topics, the stories told are important to understanding Alex as a person, as well as the purpose of the book.

This is not a memoir of fanciful days and the whimsy of witchcraft. It’s a memoir of a hard-lived life by someone who reconnected with their Italian roots and found their power.

An interesting quote from the book:

I know my ancestors were flawed people. I know there are traumas that run through my bloodline, like everyone has. But when I call on my ancestors for their wisdom, for their kindness, for their cooking help, I call on the best parts of them. These parts strengthen each time they are called upon. They help my intuition, they help guide me. Sometimes they are in my dreams. My dreams have been more and more vivid since building the altar, though I usually only remember my nightmares that wake me up in the midst of them.

The more I venerate the parts of them that were strong, kind, and wise, the more the curses of anger and human failings fall away from them. They are light. They are parts of me, all reaching through time, to give me the best that they can, now that human living does not keep them from doing so.

All in all, would I recommend this book?: Yes, if you can handle the triggers and raw nature of the book.

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@MeganB I love the way you have broken down the sections of your review. If you don’t mind I’m going to pinch that layout to do mine, that’s awesome thank you. :folded_hands:

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Wow, that sounds like a great book!

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Thank you for this layout! I wasn’t sure how we are supposed to review our books! :purple_heart:

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