Book of the Day Roundup: January 29-February 2, 2024
Runes for the Green Witch
An Herbal Grimoire
Nicolette Miele
Destiny Books
Softcover $15.99 (288pp)
978-1-64411-866-5
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Nicolette’s Miele’s Runes for the Green Witch gathers a wealth of useful information on the Elder Futhark Runes and the plants and herbs that correspond to each one.
The runes are a system of magical symbolism that has been used for centuries and that continues to be popular among contemporary witches. Herein, Miele associates the magical and medicinal properties of herbs with the corresponding properties of the runes to illuminate the uses of both.
The explanations of the runes are thoughtful, and they are followed by lists of general correspondences to elements, chakras, moon phases, and plants, with concise information about the energetic and medicinal properties of each plant. And there are formulas for learning to make teas, spell bottles, infused oils, and other magical items, including recipes for items like money maker ritual oil, grief relief tea, and a cosmic consciousness spell bottle.
Runes for the Green Witch is an exceptional reference book about runes and the plants that work well with them.
CATHERINE THURESON (December 27, 2023)
Searching for Home
Chantal Bourgonje
Beaming Books
Hardcover $18.99 (40pp)
978-1-5064-8878-3
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Noa the house-sprite can find just about anything—except a friend. With a hat, a sandwich, and boundless determination, he leaves to find a home with friends. Along the way, he meets a bear, a ferret, and a wolf; the quartet’s search leads to a familiar place, but Noa finds his newfound friends make all the difference. The warm-toned characters stand out against cool backdrops as they push through snowstorms, slide across ice, and cross rushing rivers in the watercolor and ink illustrations.
DANIELLE BALLANTYNE (December 27, 2023)
Left Turns
Joshua Ross
Source Point Press
Softcover $29.99 (368pp)
979-888876002-4
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
An aspiring comic book artist tries to preserve his dream in the graphic novel Left Turns.
David is twenty-five and working in a comic book shop; he’s looking for an opportunity to break into the comics industry. He maintains a close circle of friends and family. His dedication to his goals leads to difficult situations, but he maintains his resolve.
As the book begins, he’s moving in with his brother after breaking up with his girlfriend, Rebecca. Through flashbacks and present-set narratives, David’s relationships with Rebecca and his first love, Katie, are revealed. Later, he’s introduced to a new love interest, Violet.
The artwork is natural and expressive, grounding David’s tale in reality. Here and elsewhere, the book devotes significant time to developing its characters, building emotional investment in David. In time, it reaches a thunderous, heartbreaking climax in which Rebecca’s decision to end their relationship is unveiled. David’s emotional tumult makes his determination seem all the more inspiring.
With insightful observations about making art and “trying to create a meaningful record that lasts,” Left Turns is a heartfelt graphic novel focused on the trade-offs between love, life, and artistic endeavors.
PETER DABBENE (December 27, 2023)
Zips and Eeloo Make Hummus
Leila Boukarim
Alex Lopez, illustrator
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Hardcover $11.99 (80pp)
978-1-5248-8435-2
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Two aliens show off their cooking skills in Leila Boukarim’s entertaining graphic novel-cum-cookbook Zips and Eeloo Make Hummus.
Zips and Eeloo, natives of the planet Zooglebeep, have been on Earth for six days. As “Certified Human Experts in All Things Human,” they guide their young human audience through the process of making hummus. After washing their appendages and gathering their ingredients, they begin draining, mashing, mixing, and peeling with bright, cheerful attitudes. The result is a delicious batch of hummus that the aliens enjoy while wondering, “What shall we make next?”
The illustrations are big, bright, and colorful, emphasizing Zips and Eeloo’s pronounced, emotive facial expressions. Herein, cooking is portrayed as an enjoyable adventure—a message that’s reinforced by the lively interactions between the aliens. There are silly mishaps, as when Eeloo confuses cooking bowls with bowling, the sport. And the aliens delight in easy amusements, as where they repeat “garbanzo” aloud. Relatably, they also make mistakes like adding sugar instead of salt; they make a mess at times, too. Their recipe for Very Human Hummus concludes the book.
Zips and Eeloo Make Hummus is a wonder-filled graphic novel introduction to the art of food preparation—with an extraterrestrial twist.
PETER DABBENE (December 27, 2023)
Pale Shadows
Dominique Fortier
Rhonda Mullins, translator
Coach House Books
Softcover $18.95 (192pp)
978-1-55245-468-8
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Dominique Fortier’s novel Pale Shadows imagines how Emily Dickinson’s death impacted those who loved her.
Dickinson did not achieve true fame until after her death. Before that, only a handful of close friends and relatives were privileged enough to share reclusive Emily’s life and writings. And how her death touched those few people, and how they chose to honor her memory, came to affect the course of English literature as well.
The story moves between four characters: Lavinia, left alone in the house she once lived in with her sister; Susan, who mourns her beloved sister-in-law alongside her long-dead son; Mabel, who knew Emily vicariously through her letters; and Millicent, Mabel’s daughter, a lonely and precocious girl in search of her place in the world. On occasion, Fortier pauses the narrative to discuss the difficulties of trying to bring women and feelings long dead back into the realm of the living.
Gorgeous, aching prose relates the different shades of grief each woman feels: Susan buries herself in Emily’s words, while Lavinia, ever practical, busies herself with chores and the all-important task of getting Emily’s poems published. Their stories are worked into a quilt of the pain that they might have borne together, if only their differing morals, obligations, and mental struggles did not keep them apart. They share their love for Emily, and while this may not be enough to make friends of such different personalities, it does give them a common light to seek at the end of their long, dark passage. Combined, their enduring affection for an extraordinary woman helps to make “Dickinson” a household name.
Pale Shadows is a breathtaking contemplation of grief, legacies, and how what a person leaves behind continues to change and inspire the world.
EILEEN GONZALEZ (December 27, 2023)
Barbara Hodge
