Lit List Short Reviews; Cycling The Silk Road: From Shanghai to London in Thirty-Six Weeks by Chaewon Yoo, The Girl With A Golden Heart by Achal Kumar, Not Him or Her Accepting and Loving My Non Binary Child Here's What You Should Know by Michelle Mann, The Numbers Game by Miles Watson, One Night in Paris A City of Light Novella Book 1 by Juliette Sobanet, Wiccan The Truth About Wicca and Witchcraft A Witch's Bible by Julia Steyson

 Lit List Short Reviews; Cycling The Silk Road: From Shanghai to London in Thirty-Six Weeks by Chaewon Yoo, The Girl With A Golden Heart by Achal Kumar, Not Him or Her Accepting and Loving My Non Binary Child Here's What You Should Know by Michelle Mann, The Numbers Game by Miles Watson, One Night in Paris A City of Light Novella Book 1 by Juliette Sobanet, Wiccan The Truth About Wicca and Witchcraft A Witch's Bible by Julia Steyson

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Cycling The Silk Road From Shanghai to London in Thirty-Six Weeks by Chaewon Yoo

Korean journalist, Chaewon (Eva) Yoo knows how to plan and plan big.

From June, 2018-January, 2019, Yoo traveled 8,567 kilometers along the Silk Road between Shanghai and London via bicycle. Her book, Cycling The Silk Road covers that journey. It's a short book but is illustrated with eye catching photogtaphs and described with engaging anecdotes and good advice for any interested traveler.

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that connected the East and West to the 18th century when industrialization resulted in expansion in local productivity, Enlightenment values, and affordability for the masses. Silk, paper, and gunpowder were among the goods traded on the route. The Bubonic plague and other diseases were also spread creating worldwide pandemics. Yoo had a strong sense of history by traveling this route and an awareness of the modern world as she interacted the people who lived in the different countries.

Yoo's writings are brief, but she captures her experiences with warmth and humor. As she cycled through the asphalt, chalk powder, and dust in Yingshang, she was bemused to find a hotel that "looked like something from a Western movie or a desert in Arizona, U.S.A. when (she) was ten."

While in Italy, she recalls the friendly people that she met such as people performing in a Christmas play in traditional Provincial clothing. She also remembers the wine, most of it on tap. At a tavern, she only wanted half a liter, but the assistant filled her drink up to the brim.

There are various moments where Yoo was pleased to observe the nature around her. While rafting on a banana boat along the Dan River, Yoo lay on the boat and looked up at the sky, observing the clouds moving at different height.

Sometimes, her descriptions of nature uplifted what could have been a trying time. A difficult time of traveling uphill in the rain in Edessa, Greece became an eye catching moment when Yoo observed a 50 meter waterfall with strange rock formations made even more impressive by the rain.

Yoo brilliantly describes the homes and people. Her encounters with the residents are some of the highlights.

While in Yevlax, Azerbaijan, Yoo stayed in an old house with a cow barn. She described "every yard with a plastic cover and a sink to wash fruit, vegetables, and your teeth." She described the food and drink that was offered, such as tea with honey dipped berries served in intricately designed glass holders and sugar and candy inside glass containers.

While in Milan, Italy, Yoo experienced the kindness of strangers. Her bike was stolen so she purchased a secondhand one. The theft coincided with a seminar. Yoo posted her map and asked if anyone would attend. She met 15 people who wanted to hear her story.

In France, Yoo's hosts guided her to various events such as a hypnosis meeting, a January festival, and a potluck dance complete with accordion music. Yoo described France "as the most hospitable country on (her) trip."

The photographs in the book are filled with delectable food, lovely landscapes, and friendly people. They help provide images to Yoo's words. In fact, the short length makes the photos the main focus of the book so the Reader can experience the trip the way Yoo did.

 Cycling The Silk Road is a wonderful account of a trip that is memorable in words and pictures.

The Girl With A Golden Heart by Achal Kumar

Achal Kumar's short novel, The Girl With A Golden Heart is a moving and spiritual story about a woman who finds justice through fighting an enemy and self-actualization by helping the people of her village.

In the beginning, we are introduced to Shivani, an Indian woman who is one of the ten women entrepreneurs in the country. She is powerful and dedicated and has a reputation for honor and philanthropy, particularly with her woman care trust which helps poor girls and women pursue education and gain self-employment in their own villages.

One night, she returns to her home village of Madhurpura and remembers the circumstances that led her to depart and pursue this life path.

Most of the book occurs in flashbacks when Shivani was a young woman. After a flood, Bharat, Shivani's impoverished father sought help from Baccha Babu, a criminal who behaves like a mob boss. He appoints thirty associates who engage in robbery, kidnapping, smuggling, and stealing land grants from poor farmers. 

Using threats, manipulation, and intimidation, Babu ultimately ends up owning Bharat's farm. 

Shivani is raped by one of Babu's loathsome sons. The rape leaves her traumatized especially since she can't report it to the police. (Babu owns the police.) The further escalation of violence and Babu's tighter grip on Madhurpura leads Shivani to lose some family members. She desires revenge against Baccha Babu, the man who stole her family's farm and destroyed her village, reputation, and family.

The book is impactful as Shivani and Babu engage in their one on one war. Babu appears ahead with his thugs, intimidation tactics, and money. However, Shivani's determination to bring him down, her clear-sightedness in researching and analyzing his business properties for weaknesses, and kindness in gaining allies rather than threatening them prove to be assets.

In Karmingar, she falls in love with Altaf, a man who helps her in her war against Babu. Even though she puts him in dangerous situations, she is concerned for his well being enough to sacrifice her life for him. Also, her business acumen helps put his family in a better financial situation than they were before.

She finds a sanctuary in the home of a progressive politician who empathizes with her plight and treats her like his own daughter. Ultimately, he helps mentor Shivani on her part towards a better future.

Babu's plans create division between Muslims and Hindus and results in more violence and economic trouble including for him. It's almost karmic justice that Shivani's kindness brings her forward while Babu's greed brings him down.

The Girl With A Golden Heart is a moving parable about someone who thrived despite great adversity. Then she used that privilege to help others in the same situation.

Not Him or Her Accepting and Loving My Non Binary Child Here's What You Should Know by Michelle Mann

Not Him or Her Accepting and Loving My Non Binary Child Here's What You Should Know by Michelle Mann is a good book that covers an important topic, how to raise a non binary child in a world that isn't always understanding.

Mann brings forward an important topic that has been very controversial lately. She humanizes the conflicts that many non binary children and their cisgendered parents go through within their own families and society. It also shows that the most important keys in such families are understanding and acceptance.

Parents and others can be inclusive by exhibiting proper characteristics like using the right preferred pronouns and defending the child in front of others.

 The personal stories add a great touch to the book, especially in revealing the diversity of parents and their children's experiences. Various situations are covered, such as Simone having to take excess time to explain to a dental assistant that her child was nonbinary. They show how many of the simplest procedures could produce stress because of a judgemental society.

The book covers different age groups of non-binary children from early childhood, to teenagers, to adulthood. This counters the whole myth that "It's a phase. They'll outgrow it." Mann openly counters such myths and assumptions and how they contribute to a lack of acceptance within the child.

Not Him or Her shows how devaluing and demeaning those myths are and how gender identity is often influenced by parental and societal views that either encourage or demean the child.

Bottom line: If the child is old enough to recognize gender in society around them through toys, advertising, and adult perspective, then they are old enough to recognize the gender identity within themselves.

Not Him or Her reminds the Readers that the most important thing that they can do for their child is to understand, accept, and unconditionally love them.

The Numbers Game by Miles Watson

Miles Watson's novella, The Numbers Game is a tight, suspenseful, and character driven book about a WWII pilot with a unique gift that helps him survive but could overpower him.

Pilot Officer Maurice Mickelwhite is a mathematical genius. (Fun Fact: Maurice Mickelwhite is also the real name of actor Michael Caine. This appears to be a coincidence.)

His potential life of teaching calculus and algebra while living only for numbers is interrupted by the War. As he participates in the Battle of Britain, Maurice is able to use his talent for numbers to calculate the probabilities of survival, not only for him but the other members of his squadron. He knows the likelihood in which each pilot is going to die and is quite often right. Unfortunately, his own numbers are very close to coming up.

The Numbers Game is a brilliant character study about someone who goes to war but doesn't really want to.

Maurice is not exactly a flag waving jingoist ready to die for King and Country. 

In fact, he had dreams of teaching math in school and being left to "his numbers, his tobacco, and his copy of the Journal of the London Mathematical Society.

Instead, he got the war."

Maurice wouldn't have minded using his mathematical genius to work in the London office but instead he is in the RAF as a pilot. (There was even a rumor that the RAF refused "as a matter of principle" to let anyone do anything that they showed an interest or talent in.) 

This attitude is counter to the popular culture image that RAF's were brave heroic patriotic fliers with their own colorful language and daring to kick the German fighters out of England. 

The Numbers Game shows that it was often made up of men who were there by force and would rather be doing anything else. 

In many ways, Maurice is similar to characters like Yossarian from Catch 22 or Hawkeye Pierce in MASH. He gets through the madness of war by holding onto a sardonic sense of humor. He scoffs at those who insist that skill and abilities are factors in determining when someone is going to die. He thinks, "The numbers formed a path which you were doomed to walk-a path ending in a scaffold….The more you flew, the greater your risk of dying. It was just that simple."

Because of his certainty about death, Maurice has a very fatalistic behavior when his fellow pilots die. Even when others disagree with him and die anyway, he is neither grief stricken nor smug about being proven right. He is matter of fact because he saw it coming. He comes across as cold at times, but Maurice is almost like someone with precognitive abilities. They have a tremendous talent that allows them to see what is to come so they are not surprised when it happens. The events just confirm what he already knew. 

Since the narrative is short, there isn't a whole lot of time to focus on Maurice's character but that adds to the suspense. The brief length allows tension to build as the pilots approach the end of the short novel and their lives. Every moment is quick as the Reader waits for the inevitable conclusion.

The Numbers Game reveals that war is not always defined by victories or ideologies, sometimes it is just a matter of numbers.

One Night in Paris: A City of Light Novella Book 1 by Juliette Sobanet

One Night in Paris, Juliette Sobanet's novella is an enchanting and lovely time travel fantasy with a brilliant sense of time and place.

Ella, a modern woman has had enough of her controlling and abusive husband, Dave. On her way to fly to Paris to visit her dying grandmother, she announces that she is leaving him and wants a divorce.

In Paris, Ella's grandmother shows her pictures from the 1920's of herself and her best friend, Lucie. She also gives her a request. She can't rest until Ella goes back and stops Lucie from marrying a man named Max and dying at the young age of 23. Grandma invites Ella to wear one of her flapper dresses and a brooch. After she puts them on, Ella finds herself transported to 1927 Paris and standing in a jazz club face to face with Grandma's friend, Lucie.

One of the most delightful traits that this novella possesses is its setting. 1927 Paris is depicted with all of the color and excitement that comes to be expected in a work about the Roaring Twenties. Ella is drawn by the excitement of jazz, free living, drinking, and the flapper lifestyle. It's exciting and gives her a chance to liberate herself from her modern worries and her unhappy marriage. 

One Night in Paris is also a magical story about love and friendship. During her time in 1927, Ella encounters Leo, a charming American writer. Their night of passion and bliss could be an inspiration for Leo's writing. It's almost cliche for a brief romance to be set in Paris, but Sobanet makes it work. Ella and Leo's romance is touching without being overdone or maudlin. It's fairy tale like as Jazz Age Paris is almost a fantasy land capturing the romantic and fantastic elements of the people who dwell within it.

However, One Night in Paris is more than a love story. There is a strong theme of female friendship and empowerment. When she observes Lucie and her verbally abusive boyfriend, Ella thinks about her loveless marriage. She tries to rescue Lucie from her potential end and transforming from a happy go lucky independent free spirited woman to a timid frightened abused wife under her future husband's thumb. 

In their quick meeting, Ella develops a bond with Lucie. She is at first confused about her assignment but willing to help Lucie to honor her grandmother's wishes. However, as she gets to know Lucie, she wants to protect her on her own. She wants to save Lucie from the same situation which she had just left.

One Night in Paris is a beautiful romantic novella of love and friendship. It's pure magic.

Wiccan: The Truth About Wicca and Witchcraft A Witch's Bible by Julia Steyson

Julia Steyson wrote the perfect beginner's book for those who are interested in Wicca.

The first part introduces the Reader to the history of Paganism. Steyson includes lists of various mythologies and figures that Readers might be interested in communicating with like Odin, Norse God of Wisdom or Venus, Roman Goddess of Love. It is a good introduction to show that Paganism has a long history to be understood and respected.

The second and third parts go into modern times and the various tools, rituals, and some sample spells for practicing Wiccans. The lists of elements, crystals, herbs, and other tools can be confusing but it is helpful to know what can be used for specific purposes. Of course, none of these things are necessary. The tools are meant as guides. Sometimes, all you need is your brain and a quiet time and place to think.

One of the most interesting parts are the seven paths of spiritual practice including coming into presence, awakening intention, sustaining awareness, transcending self interest, deepening remembrance, expressing gratitude and wonder, and radiating blessing. These paths show that Wicca can be a vibrant bright ever changing exchange between the WIccan and Spirit. 

Wicca The Truth About Wicca and Witchcraft is a great start to a wonderful open minded, spiritual path.

Classics Corner: Drawing Down The Moon: Witches, Druids. Goddess-Worshipers and Other Pagans in America by Margot Adler; The Ultimate History of Neo-Paganism

Classics Corner: Drawing Down The Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshipers and Other Pagans in America by Margot Adler; The Ultimate History of Neo-Paganism

Pagans have had a mostly bad reputation. There are many who call them witches and fear them believing they worship the Devil. Those that are not afraid, ridicule and mock them believing that they are just play acting scenes from Harry Potter and worship beings that don't exist. NPR producer/correspondent and author, Margot Adler did much to open the public's perceptions of Neo-Paganism in her book, Drawing Down The Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshipers and Other Pagans in America. She helped the public see Neo-Paganism as a unique religion that brings it's followers closer to nature, helps them relate to the ancient Gods and Goddesses of the past, and maintain their individuality in a society bound by largely Abrahamic religious dogma.

Adler explores both the murky history of the following and the variations of the spiritual practice in its many forms and identities. (Much like Christianity can be divided into other denominations like Catholicism, Baptist, Lutherans, and Methodists and so on.)
The book is a fascinating read in recounting the history, teachings, philosophies, mythologies, and the individuals who practice them. The key is diversity, Adler believed, “The open message of Drawing Down The Moon has always been that the spiritual is like the natural world-only diversity will save it.”

Diversity is a key theme to the book and to Neo-Paganism itself. Most Pagans subscribe to what is called the Wiccan Rede: If it harms none,do what thou will or to put it simply “Whatever works for you.”
However, there are many groups that take a high-handed approach to their members and other movements. You never want to go to a Pagan festival and mistake a Gardnerian for an Alexandrian or vice verse at least not if you don't have two hours to kill. And if I have heard the term “fluffy bunny pagan” once I’ve heard it a hundred times.
But unfortunately, it is human nature that any movement is going to have it's different distinctions, large egos, and plenty of arguments over who is doing it “the right correct way” and who isn't.
But the Neo-Pagan religions are known for having members who adapted their practice, accepted various theories, and added their own touches. Many Pagans are nothing if not creative.

Even the origins are often under suspicion and confusion. Originally many Pagans believed the s-called Pagan Myth in which the current incarnation is simply the latest in a long line of an organized pre-Christian nature religion which worshiped a Mother Goddess and her consort a Horned God. This is based on the theory that many artifacts from different countries which would have had little contact with each other had the same small carvings of a goddess, a full figured woman in a seated position like the Venus of Willendorf.
When Christianity became the prime European religion, at first they adapted to the current Pagan religions by assimilating their symbols and standards. God and Goddess figures transformed into Saints, like Ireland's Brigid. Dates were moved to celebrate Christian alternatives to existing Pagan holidays such as Jesus's birth being declared December 25th to compete with Saturnalia and Yule, already holidays celebrated at the time.
Eventually the Catholic Church became less willing to cooperate with the pre-existing religions and created the Inquisition a period of over 200 years called “The Burning Times” in which over 9 million particularly women were executed, imprisoned, tortured, or exiled.
However despite the public scorn and attacks, some families and covens continued their religion in secret passing them orally through the generations. They were finally established as an official religion in 1951 by the decline of the Witchcraft Act in England mostly through the efforts of Wicca founder, Gerald Gardner and his other coven members such as Doreen Valiente.


It's a nice origin story. Too bad much of it is either untrue or unsubstantiated, according to Adler’s book. Many people including Pagans have questioned the veracity of this official story and the sources from which it came. Sources like The Witch-Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray, The White Goddess by Robert Graves, and Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland had questionable research or may have been completely fabricated.
While there were of course pre-Christian pagan religions (and certainly the Christian assimilation cannot be disputed), none have been found that worshipped the exact same deities. They had their own figures, customs, and followings. Though some Archetypes and similar figures were featured in many myths and legends.
The numbers of “The Burning Times” victims were smaller than believed closer to 50,000 victims rather than 9 million. Though as one of the interview subjects said in the books “whether it's sixteen or sixty thousand, murder is still murder.” Most certainly believe no matter the final tally that is 9 million or 50,000 too many.

As far as the story about whether the Pagan religion successfully thrived through the Family Traditions (called Fam-Trads by many Pagans) are mostly anecdotal.
Wicca founder, Gerald Gardner said that he learned witchcraft under a mentor, Dorothy Clutterbucket who taught him magic. She may have existed but may not have had anything to do Gardner though more than likely Gardner changed her name.
While there is no proof of an organized Pagan religion before Wicca began, Adler pointed out that many magical organizations like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and plenty of folk religions that practiced magic like Voodoo and Santeria thrived during those times suggesting that there could be some truth to the so-called Pagan Myth. (Not to mention many books and authors expressed what could only be described as very Pagan ideals. Later I intend to compose a Lit List of books with Pagan philosophies and themes. Some of them are rather surprising.)
So there is a chance it may have existed in one form or another just not as conclusive or as organized as the followers of the Pagan Myth believed.

Certainly the most well-known Pagan religion is Wicca, a largely nature based religion in which it's practitioners worship mostly a Mother Goddess and Father God, celebrate eight holidays called Sabbats that are based on the yearly cycle, and practice magic or chant to the deities to allow things to happen. The book is quick to point out that it's not the only one.
Wicca itself has different divisions. There are Gardnerians who follow the procedures laid out by Gardner. (including the specific number of coven members and that they must practice skyclad or nude.) Alexandrians followed the teachings of Alexander Sanders with an emphasis on ceremonial magic. Raymond Buckland started the Saex Wicca in which fed up with the other Traditions claiming they were the oldest, Buckland cleverly responded his was “the youngest."
There are Wiccan practices which are solely practiced by women like the Dianics and men like the Minoan Brotherhood. In both cases, the branches were formed because members were uncomfortable with the Great Rite ritual only emphasizing the heterosexual union of the Goddess and God or the duality imagery of male/female, Goddess/God practiced by other forms of Wicca.
Dianics such as Z. Budapest's Susan B. Anthony Coven focus almost exclusively on the Goddess and her roles as Mother, Creator, Healer, Lover, and Warrior. The Minoan Brotherhood mostly consists of gay men who use the practice to explore their sexuality and the dual nature within themselves.

Adler explored these many forms expertly showing them as individuals and recognizing their differences as well as their similarities such as thirsts for knowledge through study and commitment to causes like Environmentalism and Feminism.
One glaring omission Adler left out in the book were Solitary Wiccans, those who practice without a coven. Usually they have to make things up as they go along and get information from the assistance of books from authors like Scott Cunningham. (I speak from personal experience.)

Adler explored other Neo-Pagan followings besides Wicca. Many of them worship the old gods but bring them to a modern sensibility. The members of The Church of Eternal Source worship the Egyptian gods and goddesses in elaborate ceremonial rituals where they dress in traditional costumes and robes. They are known for using many Egyptian rituals and practices, but adapting them to modern times. For example, while they respect the ancient Egyptian practice of mummification, instead they cremate their dead.

The Asatru worship the Norse gods. In proving there is no definite in who a Pagan is or what they believe, in contrast to the mostly liberal Wiccans, Asatru, Adler found, were mostly conservative and militaristic and favored more traditional roles for men and women. The Asatru have received some negative connotations over the recent years because since they adopted the ancient Norse symbols like the swastika and the hammer, they have been associated with Neo-Nazis and Anti-Semitic groups. Adler states while some members of the Asatru have an interest in their ethnicity, she implies that it's less of a means of racial superiority than it is to simply explore their family history and cultures. (Though not in Adler's book, an anecdotal and possibly apocryphal tale shows the divisions between the Asatru and Neo-Nazis. According to the story, a group of Neo-Nazis learned that a Pagan coven had planned an outdoor ceremony in a forest. The Neo-Nazis planned on ambushing and attacking the Pagans figuring that since many were pacifists, they wouldn't fight back. Unfortunately the particular Pagan group were Asatru who were ready with knives, swords, and other weapons in hand. One Asatru member with a ceremonial hammer even threatened that if the Neo-Nazis so much as installed or burned a cross, they were going to be nailed to it. Needless to say the Neo-Nazis left without attacking.)

Some of the more unique Pagan religions are the ones that started in very unusual ways. Adler devotes a whole chapter to The Church of All Worlds, a religious movement founded by Oberon and Morning Glory Zell. The Zells were inspired by Robert Heinlein's science fiction novel, A Stranger in a Strange Land in which a native Martian starts a religion on Earth. The practitioners of the Church of All Worlds retain customs from Heinlein's novel like “groking” intuitively passing knowledge to each other and greeting each other with an open palm saying “Thou Art God or Goddess.” While some may question a religion that was inspired by a science fiction novel, many people have cited unusual sometimes fictional or literary means of approaching Paganism.
This Reader certainly has no room to judge. I acknowledge the Disney animated series, Gargoyles as one of the sparks that led me to become fascinated with Shakespeare's plays, Celtic and Greco-Roman mythology, Arthurian legends, and then to Wicca itself.

Another Pagan movement that had a unique origin story is that of the Reformed Druids of North America founded by Isaac Bonewits. The Reformed Druids were created in 1963 at Carleton College as a humorous protest against the college's mandatory religious requirement. Though some members of the RDNA don't consider themselves Pagan, they do have similar beliefs such as a reverence to Nature and an unwillingness to adhere to strict dogma. Even though the movement started as a joke, Bonewits himself became a prominent musician and speaker on Paganism (even though he was known for disagreeing with other prominent Pagans. For example he was one of the most outspoken critics of the Pagan Myth). Bonewits later founded the Arn Draoicht Fein (A Druid Fellowship) which studies the history and practices of the ancient Druids and adapts them to modern society.

Then there are the Discordians, a religion founded by Malaclypse The Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst to worship Eris/Discordia, the Greco-Roman Goddess of Chaos. The Discordians thrive on being a parody and use play, paradox, and pranks in their traditions. (One of their “saints” is Joshua Norton, a man who claimed to be the First Emperor of San Francisco.) Well you don't expect a religion based on the Goddess of Chaos to take itself seriously.

One of the most fascinating chapters explores how Paganism has changed in the 21st century. The stereotype of the Pagan is a peace loving hippy who lives in rural areas and is practically off the grid. Adler found many who fit the stereotype to the letter she also found others who lived opposite ways of life. One pagan mentioned that he meditated to the God and Goddess every morning and evening on his way to and from his job on a military base. Hardly a peace loving hippy, he said his commitment to Paganism allowed him to embrace his warrior side to protect and defend his country.
Many Adler found lived in the cities “That's where the jobs are” one said. Another said people were more accepting towards Pagans in their city.
She also found a surprising number who worked in science and technology particularly in computer programming. Many say that they work in computers because it's a secret world of codes and different languages much like the other worlds many Pagans explore through meditation and ritual.
Others also say that Paganism and Computer jobs attract the same type of people: usually introverted
iconoclasts who are highly intelligent and curious.
In contrast to those who believe Science and Technology will destroy the Earth, many Pagans use their education and experience to study Environmental Science and Zoology to help preserve the environment and Medicine, Education, and Social Sciences to help with humanitarian causes.

Someone may begin reading Drawing Down The Moon with an idea of what they think a witch should be. Once they finish this book, they will realize that there is a lot more. They may even find as many of Adler's interview subjects said, “I always had a religion. I just never knew it had a name.” They may feel like “they are coming home.”