Book Reviews September 2020

Book Review: Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Land and Win (Affiliate link) by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

This is a really fascinating book that explores how to apply the strategic and tactical leadership skills of Navy Seals to business. The author shares stories of their time in Iraq and then explains how those same principles apply to business and life. Reading the book and applying the practices to my life and business has already produced some good results because of the discipline that comes with the integration of such practices.

Book Review: Mastery (Affiliate link) by Robert Greene

Mastery explores the stages of development that lead a person to become a master in their chosen discipline. The author uses the lives of various historical figures to illustrate these stages of mastery and then explains how to apply those stages to the development of your craft. While nothing I read here was earth shattering, perhaps because I’m immersed in such a journey myself, it was very helpful to read this book and understand the process of mastery.

Book Review: Enchantments of the Faerie Realm (Affiliate link) by Ted Andrews

This is one of the first books I ever read on magic and I recently decided to re-read it. It’s got some useful and solid information on working with faeries and elementals. I like the exercises the author includes in the book. Some of the book reads more like a dictionary, but if you work the exercises, you’ll get a lot out of it and its a good introduction to working with nature spirits.

Book Review: The Dichotomy of Leadership (Affiliate Link) by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

This is a follow up book to Extreme Ownership and in it the authors share further lessons of leadership on the battlefield and explain how to apply those lessons to business. What I like is that they also show examples where people can take certain principles of leadership too far and then explain how to recover from taking things to the extreme. Applying what they share in this book can help you continue to improve your own leadership in your life and your business.

Book Review: Reality is not what it seems (Affiliate link) by Carlo Rovelli

This is a fascinating exploration of the history of physics, with the author walking us through the various discoveries about physics and the nature of reality from antiquity to recent discoveries. The author does a great job of laying out the various theories of physics while also introducing readers to some fascinating people who have changed the way we understand the world. This is a good book to read if you want to get a good understanding of various theories of physics.

Book Review: Taoist Sexual Meditation (Affiliate link) by Bruce Frantzis

This is the best book I’ve read on Taoist sexual methods. What I like about it is that the author methodically explains the various concepts and provides practices that you can do with a partner(s). The author does a good job of connecting various qi gong practices to the sexual work you can do, and exploring the Taoist inner alchemy that can occur with these practices. This is a book I recommend reading with your partner, so that you can do the practices together.

Book Review: Rejuvenate Yourself in 28 days (affiliate link) by Isaac Boatright

This is a meditation breathing program done over 28 days for the purposes of purification and for doing internal work. The author breaks the program into 4 weeks and each week has a different focus. The book has some good exercises in it to help you with each week of the program. I tried some of the exercises and found them helpful for some internal work I was doing. The author makes the subject approachable and easy to understand. If you’re looking for a relatively easy process of internal work to implement, this would be a good book to pick up.

Book Review: Voidworking (affiliate link) by Dave Smith

Voidworking is a solid book that explores how to work with the void in your magical practice. The author lays out a foundation of basics before diving deep into the void and sharing exercises you can do that will allow you to (safely) work with the void, especially if you follow the precautions he includes. If you want to have a different relationship with emptiness and the void then this thoughtful book is a good one to read and use to help you in your explorations.

Book Review: Luminarium (affiliate link) by BJ Swain

This is a grimoire that is also a created magical system that’s designed to be easier to access than typical grimoires. It is traditional in terms of the tools, chants, etc., but it does make a traditional ceremonial approach to magical work more accessible because of the materials used. While I admittedly don’t care for the Christian emphasis of some of the work, I would imagine that appropriate substitutions could be made, if needed. If a ceremonial magic approach is your thing for working with spirits this is a useful grimoire. I like that the author included user accounts and showed how those users adapted the system based on what they could access. I also appreciate how clearly the author lays out and explains the magical system he’s devised. I would recommend doing one read through just to familiarize yourself conceptually with the work and then do a second read through where you work through the material.