Trevor Jones (4)

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/diary-of-a-witchcraft-shop-2-by-trevor-jones-and...

Trevor and Liz chronicle the daily circumstances of life running an occult shop in Glastonbury, along with Liz’s wider engagement in science fiction activism – the book covers her time as a judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and participation in various conventions and other meetings, with lots of appearances from people who I know. There are a lot of interesting characters and funny moments in their lives, as you might expect from Glastonbury, and that includes their dogs.… (meer)

Not bad, not great. Some of the stories are interesting; if I understand correctly, the events are compressed (at one point someone says that, although the book's chapter headings cover a year, the actual events were in 3-4 years). Which is good, if they'd actually done all that in one year they'd probably have been dead of exhaustion. I think that most of the first part of the book is Liz...but I can't really tell who wrote what, unless the author of a section mentions the other person. The trick of referring to people by their initials...sometimes...made it even more confusing. Some stories referred to people by initial and then full name, or vice versa...which makes using the initial kind of pointless. I found the first part more interesting than the detailed complaints about their boarder, which had very little to do with the witchcraft shop. There are some general descriptions of rituals, some discussion of how the Wiccan community worked - but most of the book was about running the shop and dealing with friends and family. Eh; not sorry I read it, but nothing exciting.… (meer)

This was the chosen book for a reading group in which I sometimes participate.

Essentially it is a diary of the lives of the owners of a witchcraft shop in Glastonbury, England: their day-to-day lives; and their encounters with personalities. Though in diary format, following a whole year, the entries are not all from the same year.

The diary very well written: not to heavy, not too light. The diary format made it easier for me to pick up and put down when other matters took precedence. It was a quick read for me.

The promotional blurbs, synopses, and reviews would have you believe this is a humourous look at the oddities that sometimes converge on Glastonbury and, more particularly, in a witchcraft/occult shop. I was expecting to be as fun a read as Coarse Witchcraft: Craft Working, a book released a few years ago now which was a funny look at witches and pagans. Whereas, the situations in Coarse Witchcraft: Craft Working were based on real events, and all personalities remained anonymous throughout, this was not the case in Diary of a Witchcraft Shop.

Too few of the diary entries raised a smile; far more raised an eyebrow. There were some comments made in this book that I personally felt crossed the line; opinions perhaps best aired among friends, or in private forums like AF, rather than copied from a diary to a published book. These entries detracted from the book's (expected?) lightness, occasionally giving the impression of a tool to vent.

I also found the use of both real names (both first and last), and initials puzzling. I'm not sure providing an initial would guarantee anonymity in a small village, or community, so why not use a pseudonym instead? Real names were provided for the well-known, either to the general public or the pagan community.

Included are notes about attending old college dinners, and pagan events, that held little interest for me.

I felt Diary of a Witchcraft Shop could have been a much more enjoyable book, but it missed the mark. Other than those with a curiousity about Liz and Trevor's lives, Diary of a Witchcraft Shop isn't just worth the time.… (meer)