Post from the Know My Name: A Memoir forum
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notbillnye commented on crybabybea's review of The Once and Future Witches
A historical fantasy about witches, sisterhood (by blood and not), fairy tales, and collective liberation. The Once and Future Witches uses witches and magic as a vehicle to explore resistance, knowledge, and power.
Through the experience of our sisters Bella, Agnes, and Juniper, Harrow rewrites our understanding of magic not as something bestowed upon an exceptional chosen one, but something passed down collectively and impossible to fully extinguish. Magic as resistance is passed down incompletely and often painfully, but survives against all odds.
When violent systems abuse and burn knowledge and the bodies that knowledge exists within, the will to fight, live, and survive is the last refuge. This is something that mirrors radical stories, both true and fictitious. It's a desperate, animal need to hold onto the hope for the future and the desire to build it that only gets stronger the more it gets targeted.
While the three sisters are the main characters, nothing they do is possible without the collective action of their friends and allies, bound together by class and the desperation for true revolutionary change.
Layered throughout is a meticulous retelling of feminist history, featuring historically well-known moments like The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to figures largely lost to time like indigenous activist Zitkála-Šá. The result is a tender counter-history in which the women who built the path forward to today are given the recognition that they deserve, highlighting how the future is built by every voice and every action, no matter how small.
The foundational framework of the story is politically charged and symbolically rich, but the main plot also explores heavy-hitting themes of sisterhood and connection.
The way sisters are pulled apart only to be tugged back together again, how love burrows its way back into our hearts and we learn to loosen the circle around ourselves to include the people who matter the most. It's scary, to love someone, to want to do anything to protect them, but there is power in it too. To know that no matter the darkness of the world, you will not face it alone.
There are so many devastatingly real moments of rupture and repair throughout the novel as the sisters and their allies survive and fight for the future. The girls are working through their own trauma and their own survival mechanisms, tentatively taking one step forward before falling three steps back. (I cried. A lot.)
Through these moments, Harrow showcases how systems of oppression force victims to choose between their own survival and someone else's, creating wounds that get weaponized while letting them blame each other for what the trap produced.
This detailed weaving of the exploration of character and the broader symbolic work creates an undeniable message of community and the importance of networks of care that exist outside of systems of oppression. Though often fragile, connection is the most powerful weapon we have.
The Once and Future Witches shows how history is a cycle, and how the system will do everything in its power to keep people disconnected and powerless. That solidarity is not easy, connection is not without pain, and triumph is not without loss. But the work of relearning and rebuilding despite it all is the real magic.
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Spring 2026 Readalong
Read all books in the Spring 2026 Readalong.
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The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi, #1)
Shannon Chakraborty
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The Look of the Book: Jackets, Covers, and Art at the Edges of Literature
Peter Mendelsund
notbillnye commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Hello friends :) Happy spring ☀️
The weather is kind of all over the place for everybody, but this morning I woke up with the sun shining into my room for the first time in weeks, and birds chirping outside. It made me think about how, for me, there is something so comforting in knowing that nature always goes on, with or without us. Every morning the sun will rise, whether I see it or not. There will always be birds…somewhere.
Aside from contemplating my mortality in the face of spring, as one does, I’ve been travelling a bit and have finally settled home for a little while. I’m excited to get back into my books, and to see what this month’s tarot reading suggests when it comes to reading inspiration for all of us. If you’re also curious, read on, and let’s look at some pretty cards together.
How this works
I pulled some cards for us and wrote a little bit about what I’m seeing when it comes to reading inspiration for the month ahead. You are welcome to simply take what resonates from the reading and move on with your day, or, if you think of any specific books that align with what I’m describing, comment those titles down below for people to check out. These readings don’t aim to be particularly predictive, and they aren’t meant to be taken as gospel. This is simply a bit of fun, something to bring you some reading inspiration if you need it, and an opportunity for us to further connect as a community. _
I’m using the Lilifer tarot deck, created by Marion Costentin, published by Little Darkness. The spread is designed by me.
Here are the questions we will be looking at, and the cards we got. For a better experience, I recommend viewing the pictures below on the Pagebound website!

Big potential for April! Judgement suggests that we may read a book this April which opens up our minds in some way. There is a suggestion of some kind of realization about our reading practice this April, and we might learn something important about ourselves or about our current taste in books. The Magician representing our potential issues when it comes to reading, tells me we may not yet be able to sense this big potential that Judgement is talking about. In the Judgement card, you can see the two figures facing the other way, not revealing their faces. This is to say that this potential may be yet unknown to us but will become clear in time. However, The Magician in this position is struggling to trust something good may be coming without any evidence to support that, and because of this, we might be lacking motivation to read. Perhaps we haven’t had many of those “life-changing” reads so far this year or anytime recently, and we’re a bit in need of a change. Well, if we trust the Judgement card, this month might be the one to bring us some special books.
Remember that sometimes the most unexpected books may bring us joy and deeper insight into ourselves. This month might be a good time to let go of expectations and trust that this special read may come to you when you least expect it. _
Moving onto the second half of the reading, looking at the top row first. Here we are welcomed with the Knight of Swords, a determined and courageous individual. They are not scared to go against the grain: notice how the wind in the card is blowing against the direction of where the Knight is going.
Is there something you’ve been wanting to learn about for the longest time but never felt truly ready? Is there a non-fiction book sitting on your shelf that you know you want to get into “some day”, or a book on your TBR pile that you keep pushing back because you feel somewhat intimidated? If something specific comes to mind here, this Knight is here to encourage you to stop worrying about being “prepared” and just dive in head first. Details have a tendency of sorting themselves out as you go.
The Three of Pentacles card is talking about the side of this energy which is concerned with the work that we do in the material world, how our passions manifest physically. It also talks about recognition for that work, and how our own community reacts to it. I think what I’m getting from that is that there may be a worry of not being accepted by others if you allow yourself to dive into this topic suggested by the Knight of Swords. You may in some ways worry that your current community wouldn’t be very supportive, or you may have imposter syndrome when it comes to joining a new community of people who know more about this topic than you do. It bears reminding yourself that everybody started somewhere, with one book, one article, one conversation, one experiment… Also, even though all communities have bad apples, for the most part the view from the outside looking in is usually more intimidating than the actual reality of the situation.
Suggesting potential format for our non-fiction books in this category, we have The Hermit. Because of the potential intimidating nature of this topic we want to learn about, it might be good to look for resources written by people who are open to share their beginnings in this field and talk about the mistakes they made on their journey, as opposed to going into instructional guides that are very information heavy, without many real-life experiences and stories being included. _
For fiction books we’re looking at a very high powered run of cards here. Our first two cards are the Eight of Wands and the Nine of Wands. Both of them are overflowing with energy which at times can be overwhelming and chaotic. This energy can manifest in many ways for our main character(s), from personal transformation and rapid self development of some kind, to something outside of themselves, such as an exciting adventure in pursuit of a specific goal.
Nine of wands suggest we may be encountering a main character which is trying to deal with all this mostly on their own, rejecting help when it is offered and suffering for it. It may be hard for them to accept help because negative experiences in the past made them develop trust issues, or they may be a bit of a closed off individual in general and are now learning how to open up to others for the first time.
The third card, The High Priestess, talks about the more spiritual side of us, the side that listens to our intuition, looks for answers in the immaterial, and believes in magic like most of us did when we were kids. We are being encouraged to look at stories which have an element of magic in them. Perhaps our main characters have magical powers or are discovering the magic within themselves as the story goes on. A fantasy book with a solid focus on character development might be a fun one to dive into this month. _
That’s our April reading all wrapped up, and only a little bit late! I’m a bit excited about this Judgement energy, so I will report back in the next monthly reading, to let you know if and how that showed up in my book reading practice this month.
Because of travel and many deadlines I had in March, I didn’t end up reading too much. I remember we had King of Swords and Nine of Cups as our general advice for the month of March, encouraging us to assess our priorities and make sure we aren’t running from our responsibilities by escaping into books, so I tried to follow that advice. I mostly focused on work in March, and on managing some emotional stuff, and it was really good for me. I met all of my deadlines and feel much lighter heading into spring. I’m excited to do some spring cleaning too, but let’s not get too off topic here, haha.
Thanks for spending some time with me, and if you saw last month’s post, I’m happy to see you here again. If you feel like chatting, meet me in the comments! I’m always happy to hear what everybody’s been reading and studying recently.
Hope this month goes well for you.
(The sun’s coming back, folks! Woo!) . .
Previous readings: March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 . .
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The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
Heather McGhee
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Best of @SimonBooks Debut Women's Lit
Champion: Finished 5 Side Quest books.