Introduction

     This book list is for otherkin, draconics, therianthropes, furry lifestylers, weres, shifters, vampyres, vampires, angelics, soulbonds, winged folk, starseeds, fae, sidhe, animal totemists, etc. I admit that, due to personal familiarity, this list tends to focus on interests of otherkin, draconics, furry lifestylers, and therianthropes. Due to personal unfamiliarity, this list tends to leave out the interests of vampyres, soulbonds, animal totemists, and starseeds. This list is written for people already familiar with what it means to be an otherkin, or whichever of the above terms applies to you. If you don't know what those mean, explanations can be found in my catalog of nonhuman communities.
     This is a collection of books (beyond the Internet) which may be of serious use for an otherkin (or therianthrope, etc) such as yourself, to help you find your way, sort things out, and gain understanding of yourself. Some books are nonfiction, some fiction, but all should be helpful. I hope this list will encourage people to expand their research into other forms of media. Don't limit your learnings to what you can find on the Internet; search the libraries and bookstores as well. I've tried to only include materials which have spiritual value, not just any old books that have a shapeshifter or mythical being in them.
     Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Amazon.com. Each of my book entries is linked to Amazon.com so that you can see the book's cover illustration and read other people's reviews of the books. Before you buy books anywhere, I encourage you to check your local library systems for them. Make sure that it's what you really want.
     More book suggestions are always appreciated. Some of the books listed here were unavailable to me, so I can't review them myself; if you can review them for me from a therianthropic (or draconic, or whatever) viewpoint, that's greatly appreciated. Please e-mail me your ideas.

Links to other people's book lists on this subject:
Therianthropic Resources Site.
Recommended Otherkin-Related Reading, Listening, and Viewing.
On Amazon.com, people have made some more book lists on this subject:
Grey_Wolf's Is there any truth to the werewolf legend?
Whole_and_healthy's So You'd Like To... Learn Shapeshifting.
Rita Myer's Otherkin Helpful Nonfiction.
Justine Maxent's Otherkin, Fey & Wanderer Books.
Werewolf02's Books For Shifters.
John Smith's Animal-Based Spirituality.

Index:

Non-fiction: Directly Relevant Non-Fiction. Spirituality Non-Fiction. Secular Interests.
Non-fiction Reference, Divided by Species Type: Dragons, Humanoid Mythics, Other Mythics, Animals and their Lore, including Shapeshifters.
Fiction: Relevant Fiction.

Non-fiction: directly relevant.

     The books in this section mention us (and our communities) directly, often by name. Preferably, these books are even written by us.

Therianthropes and Otherkin:

     Sadly, there are scarcely any non-fiction books explicitly about therianthropes or otherkin. None of the existing books are satisfactorily complete. Part of the reason why I constructed this book list is because I'm hoping it will assist in the creation of such a book, by showing the ways to good reference materials, and by making clear the lack of a much-needed book.

     COHEN, Daniel. Werewolves. New York: Cobblehill Books, 1996.
     Cohen's book is primarily about were-creatures in European mythology and modern movies, but it has a chapter about the alt.horror.werewolves newsgroup, where people used to discuss their experiences with shapeshifting, even some claims of physical shapeshifting. It quotes some of them. May evoke nostalgia for how things were before the newsgroup turned into a never-ending flamewar.
     Relevance/quality rating: ***
     Of interest to: therianthropes, weres, shifters.

     GREENE, Rosalyn. The Magic of Shapeshifting. York Beach, Me.: S. Weiser, 2000.
     This wholly controversial book is about animal spirituality and shapeshifting of various kinds. Why is it so controversial? For one, there's the author's belief that physical shapeshifting is possible. For another, this book has been accused of plagiarism, because many of her ideas are suspected of having been taken from online therianthropy websites, without acknowledgement.
     Greene mentions the online therianthrope community, but despite how many of her ideas and terminologies are clearly based on it, she has disdain and disillusionment for the online community; she speaks primarily of the "shifter" community instead, which is apparently some offline group, nearly identical to therianthropes.
     Greene is wolf-centric, even as werewolves go. The Magic of Shapeshifting may be offensive to people whose animal sides are foxes, since the author considers foxes to be merely a spiritual proto-wolf, believing that shifters progress through a series of species. This progression of were-sides isn't an idea I've seen reflected much in the therianthrope community. She avoids talking about those with mythological creatures for theriotypes, upon whom she spends only a skeptical paragraph or so.
     She does go into detail on some subjects which I haven't seen mentioned on any therianthropy websites, such as bilocation shifting, and some elaborate ideas about the etheric anatomy of shifters. Elevating the controversial qualities of her book, she maintains that physical shapeshifting is real, which is a rare/unpopular belief even in the therianthrope community. She doesn't just claim it; she explains how she believes it's possible, describing how it works, based on spiritualism and chi-gong. She examines folklore, which she believes may actually be historical incidents of shapeshifting, rather than fiction. She uses anecdotes from other shifters who she has known. She compares shapeshifting to the other sorts of things that people may believe in, and argues that shapeshifting is, relatively speaking, only a little weirder, if at all.
     When reading this book cover-to-cover, I did find her more unusual ideas to be interesting, enjoyable, innovative, well-researched, and the references were properly cited. However, the abundant, insulting, plagiaristic portions anger me. (I'm also annoyed by her lack of skepticism when she's considering subjects like medieval folklore or physical shapeshifting.) Why would she cite her sources perfectly for half of the material, and not for the other half!? Take this book with a grain of salt, if you take it at all. It's an unpopular book to like, due to the two main controversial points; however, I'd say you should at least check it out from the library and read it straight through, just for the experience, instead of shunning the book because you're taking someone else's word for it.
     Relevance rating, out of five possible stars: Five stars, when considering the amount of content, and that it's the only book yet published on the subject, and that it has some unique ideas... or one star, considering that it may be half plagiarism.
     Of interest to: therianthropes, draconics, furry lifestylers.

     KALDERA, Raven, TANNIN, Schwartzstein. Handfasting and Wedding Rituals: Inviting Hera's Blessing. St Paul, Minn. : Llewellyn Publications, 2003.
     Otherkin content: This book does mention otherkin, but only in one passing sentence on page 219: "Many of the guests were 'Otherkin'-- people who believe that their souls are linked somehow to those of mythical creatures." (Observe page 219, as shown in Google Book Search.) That's all it says about otherkin; there are no further explanations. The context is a handfasting ritual meant to represent the realm of Faery, with glitter, costumes, and quotes from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
     Other content: This is a fairly complete book about Pagan handfasting rituals, symbolism, safety, and so on. I've enjoyed books and essays by both of these authors before, so it's sure to be good. It's just not a book to pick up if you'd like to learn something about otherkin; that's not its subject.
     Overall quality rating: *****
     Otherkin content: *
     Of interest to: Pagans, Wiccans, and so on.

     POLSON, Willow. The Veil's Edge: Exploring the Boundaries of Magic. New York: Citadel Press, 2003.
     Short review: This book on advanced Paganism has a chapter about otherkin. It's not of interest to you as an otherkin, as the otherkin-related section is only nine pages long, and is written to introduce the concept of otherkin to non-otherkin. It doesn't mention anything that you didn't already know; it just gives a general overview of what otherkin tend to believe. The author believes in otherkin, has a positive view of them, has a few as friends, and quotes a few. It's not the best introduction to otherkin I've ever seen, though, and it focuses almost exclusively on those who spiritually identify as fae or elves. Don't get this book for the otherkin bit. Do get it if you're interested in Wiccan/Pagan magic and the Veil between realities, as that portion is excellent! This is a true Paganism 102 book.
     Long review: I heard this book had a chapter about otherkin in it, so I checked it out. The chapter in question is called "Fae Blood, Fae Magic," and is 24 pages long. The chapter is indeed about otherkin, even calling them by that name, but it's only a brief introduction aimed at people unfamiliar with (and skeptical towards) otherkin. Unfortunately, only nine pages of this chapter are entirely about otherkin... a very brief introduction indeed! The rest of the chapter, for the most part, returns to discussion of the Veil without mentioning the Otherkin again, just like most of the rest of the book.
     These nine pages focus almost exclusively on fae (but not those of fae blood or other magical physical traits, which she never mentions in the chapter itself... Polson only talks about people who have souls of mythical beings) although she passingly mentions otherkin of other species, by the means of listing a few and saying no further. In those nine pages, in four separate instances she brings up the outsider's assumption that otherkin must be crazy. For the most part she attempts to debunk that by saying that oh, we Wiccans/Pagans do those things too, so it's okay. Polson says that she personally believes in the otherkin, as she's sensed something distinctly "other" about those she's met in person. She tells about glamourbombing, and also about otherkin communities she's interacted with online. Unfortunately, she makes a mistake: "outside the Internet [...] real physical communities of people who identify themselves as Otherkin are beginning to form." Otherkin communities existed prior to the Internet. It appears that she didn't run this chapter past any of the Otherkin friends she described before she published it, since any of us could have caught that.
     If you're an otherkin, don't get this book for the otherkin chapter in it. It's useless to you; you already know all the stuff she said, since it's an introduction for outsiders, and it's an awkward introduction at that. However, do get the book if you're interested in Paganism/Wicca, and especially if you're interested in interacting with the Veil between realities, which the book describes as being an actual thing which can be torn and mended. The information about the Veil looks quite good, in fact, so you may well find that part useful.
     [Edit] I only reviewed the otherkin chapter so far. I've read the book from cover to cover now. I loved it! It's been a while since I've read a paganism book that grabbed my attention like that.
     Summary of what's in this book:

• Historically correct introduction to what Wicca and Paganism actually are. (Admitting to origins in 1950's, etc, and still a very positive representation.)
• What quantum physics signifies for metaphysics, magic, reality, and psychic things. (I've seen that relation explained before, but this was a particularly excellent one! Lengthy and well-supported.)
• The Veil between worlds. (Lots of in-depth information, anecdotes, and warnings for caution.)
• Fairly politically correct introduction to shamanism.
• Sweat lodges.
• Instructions for "invisibility," which is a way of bending your aura so that people and animals tend not to notice you. Not very outlandish or improbable at all.
• Energy signatures: choosing them and using them. More brief than I would have liked.
• Channeling or hosting gods, and some other things about interacting with divine entities. Lots of caution-warnings, and anecdotes about the author's hosting of Bast.
• Trusting your intuition.
• Group energy. What tends to go wrong with large rituals, preventing or fixing those mistakes, and what can go really right with large rituals.

Animal Totemism:

     An animal totem is generally a species with which a person resonates in a certain way, a species from which a person gains spiritual guidance. Unlike the situation of Otherkin literature, there's an abundance of books on the subject of animal totemism. However, there's a concerning flaw with many: a lot of the existing books about animal totemism are written by non-Natives who unethically misrepresent Native American spirituality. Not all books on Native spirituality are like that, but be wary. This web site will give you some guidance on how to distinguish the authentic from the plastic.

     GALENORN, Yasmine. Totem Magic: Dance of the Shapeshifter. Berkeley: Crossing Press, 2004.
     Eclectic Pagan 102. Celtic Shamanism. Serious, thought-provoking, dark, ethical, non-fluffy. Has sets of spells sorted according to general type of animal (individually geared toward people whose totems are avians, predatorial animals, mythics, etc) without really stereotyping specific varieties of animals. Unlike many animal totemism books, which say that you can identify as any and all animals in order to understand their unique energy, this book speaks of animal totemism as having a special connection to one particular species... or sometimes to a few particular species. The author herself has three animal totems, with emphasis on one more than the other two.
     This book is genuinely thought-provoking, turning up a lot of things I'd never thought of. At first it seemed to be the kind of overly-sensual magic book that makes me nervous, diving right into the scariest stuff without explanation, but that was just the first chapter. Then it backtracks and begins to explain, step by step with great depth, each of those intimately personal visions and events, plus many more that really flesh it out. Like the astral projection books I read, my reaction in some cases was, "oh, that happened to me once... is THAT what it was? Wow."
     This really has a greater resemblance to therianthropy than any other animal totemism book I've read, to such an extent that I'm tempted to put it in the other section.
     Overall quality rating: *****
     Otherkin content: *****
     Of interest to: therianthropes, draconics, mythical animal otherkin, furry lifestylers, animal totemists, pagans.

     STEIGER, Brad. Totems: The Transformative Power of Your Personal Animal Totem. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.
     Eclectic Pagan. New Age. Superficial, sometimes unethical, "fluffy." For example, it suggests that your totem may match an animal mentioned in your name, or your zodiac animal, no soul-searching required. It has a fairly ordinary description of how to go on a vision quest and meet your animal guide, which is in almost every magic and psychic book. It also has unusual information on subjects which have basically nothing to do with animal totemism, such as finding your god, and idol worship. While well-made in and of itself, that inexplicable section will scare off most Judeo-Christian or atheist readers. I was disappointed with this one.
     Relevance/quality rating: **
     Of interest to: furry lifestylers, animal totemists, anyone who isn't scared off by the idol worship thing.

     There are many books about animal totemism. I'll be reviewing them individually, as I get to them. If anyone can give me some guidance on where to read about animal totemism that doesn't misrepresent or exploit Native spirituality (if there is such a thing, I hope) then please tell me. Here are some animal totemism books that I haven't had a chance to read yet:

• Conway's 'Animal Magick: The Art of Recognizing & Working With Familiars.'
  
• Andrews's 'Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small' (which isn't about animal telepathy, despite the title. Andrews has written other books on this subject, but he has been accused of misrepresenting and exploiting Native spirituality.)
  
• Telesco and Hall's Animal Spirit: Spells, Sorcery, and Symbols from the Wild.
  
• Matthews's Celtic Totem Animals: Make A Shamanic Journey and Meet Your Animal Helpers.
  
• Palmer's Animal Wisdom: the Definitive Guide to the Myth, Folklore, and Medicine Power of Animals.
  
• Scully's & Werneke's Power Animal Meditations: Shamanic Journeys with Your Spirit Allies.
  
• Farmer's Power Animals: How to Connect with Your Animal Spirit Guide.
  
• Gemondo's & MacGregor's Animal Totems: The Power and Prophecy of Your Animal Guides.
  
• Covell's Spirit Animals.
  
• Bennett's Spirit Animals and the Wheel of Life.

Vampires:

     There are already many books on the vampire subculture, including a few written by vampires themselves, such as the 'Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work', and 'Dhampir: Child of the Blood', Kaldera's The Ethical Psychic Vampire, and Konstantinos's Vampires: The Occult Truth.

     There's also some deeply questionable books written about the vampire subculture by outsiders, such as Ramsland's Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today, Guinn and Greaser's Something in the Blood: The Underground World of Today's Vampires.

     I haven't personally read any of these vampire books yet, since as an outsider myself, I'd be a poor judge of them. There are many more of them than this, and that would be a long list for somebody else to write and to review. If you're the vampire for the job, please tell me.

New Age Walk-Ins and Starseeds:

     For the New-Age types such as Walk-Ins, Angels, and Starseeds, you're lucky, there are lots of guidebooks for you! A small selection of the more general books about Walk-Ins and Starseeds include 'Welcome to Planet Earth: A Guide for Walk-Ins, Starseeds and Lightworkers of All Varieties', Earth Angels: A Pocket Guide for Incarnated Angels, Elementals, Starpeople, Walk-Ins, and Wizards, 'A Wanderer's Handbook'. Walk-Ins/Soul Exchange is specifically about Walk-Ins. Possibly these books would be useful to Otherkin, but they're probably too white-light for most of their taste.

     LUPPI, Diana. ET 101: The Cosmic Instruction Manual.
     Something I've never seen before... a book about walk-ins and extraterrestrials which is intentionally humorous, witty, and does a good job at it! I wasn't expecting anything other than something solemn and serious about love and light. It's quite good. Although it defines all the terms it uses at the beginning, it still assumes you have a pretty good idea what those things are. The humor isn't as confusing as it could be... it's still way more comprehensible than a lot of New Age books I've read. The book's stance and behavior seems to be entirely different from most New Age books I've read, despite how its goal is evidently the same. (Preparing the world for its upcoming changes, which include heightened vibration, commonness of androgyny, etc.) There are title headings such as "Look Jane, see Spot transmute" and "When in Rome, do as Acturians."
     Rating: ****
     Of interest to: Walk-ins, ETs, New Agers, Otherkin.

Miscellaneous:

     WILKINSON, Roy. Are You a Unicorn? The Mission and Meaning of Unicorns. Unicorns United, 1998.
     According to Elynne, this is how not to go about the whole therianthropy thing. You may disagree. I haven't read it myself, being unable to obtain it, so I'm having to rely upon other people's reviews in this instance. Judging from other people's book reviews, the book says that Unicorns are sensitive, naive people, and/or Christians; Lions are Jewish people; and Dragons are just plain evil. Reviews indicate that the book is Christian, and relies a little too heavily upon The Last Unicorn (a fantasy novel and movie) as a reference.
     The website of this book: http://www.unicornsunited.com.

Non-fiction: Spirituality.

     Being an otherkin (or therianthrope, etc) is only one part of our spiritual beliefs. In order to understand that part, other parts of our spirituality may need to be explored. We may try to find a religion whose framework fits us. We tend to explore magic and psychic skills to gain a greater understanding of what we are and what we can do. A lot of us base our Therianthropy (or draconity, etc) upon inherently spiritual things: memories of a past life, or because of something we've sensed about our spiritual forms. It's common for us to be Pagan, or to subscribe to New Age beliefs, and this is reflected in the books listed here. However, plenty of us have other spiritual belief systems than those. (I'd appreciate suggestions of, say, Christian or Jewish books which are relevant to Therianthropes.)

Introductions to different religions and spiritualities:

     OLIVER, Paul. Teach Yourself World Faiths. McGraw-Hill, 2002.
     According to Scribblekitty's research in this subject, this is one of the best books for learning about a wide range of different religions, and perhaps finding one for yourself. This particular book is valuable for its neutral viewpoint. Similar site, also with a neutral viewpoint: ReligiousTolerance.com. These aren't stand-alone resources, as you can imagine, but they're ideal for introductions.

     DRURY, Neville. The New Age: History of a Movement. New York: Thames & Hudson, Inc. 2004.
     New Age 101. This is a neatly organized book (sorted by chronology and by subject) with lots of full color photographs and illustrations contemporary to the subjects discussed. Its tone is astonishingly, delightfully neutral, describing both the positive, successful, genius aspects of each movement within the movement, while also telling about the debunkings, hoaxes, disasters, and dissolutions. (The latter things are what the movements themselves wouldn't be inclined to tell you, so that's part of the value of this book.) It provides enough background information about each subject for you to understand it a bit better than if you'd directly approached another book on that subject alone.
     It covers not only the sub-movements that I'd come to think of as being New Age, but also related movements, such as the Victorian precursors to the New Age, modern shamanism, developments in psychology, and hippie psychadelica. While it does cover the Goddess-based spirituality, it does not include any other things about Paganism, Wicca, etc. (Odd, since I'd expect the neo-Pagan movement to be included in here, if they included those other things.) It's international, so it includes some movements which happened primarily in, say, England, California, or India. The book does not present new ideas of its own, it just describes what the ideas were of these other people, and how it worked out for them.
     If you're interested in anything occult (or psychadelic, psychological, or social) then read it. Doesn't matter if you're new to the occult, or if you consider yourself to be fairly experienced; you will learn something from this. It's more than just a New Age 101. Pagans may be disappointed by being left out, but there's still plenty of connections that they'll like. I'm not sure how much reread value this book has, although it's ideal as a reference.
     Quality rating: *****

Reincarnation and the soul:

     PETERSON, Robert. Out of Body Experiences: How to Have Them and What to Expect. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Pub. Co., 1997.
     Peterson's book is my favorite on the subject of astral projection... for now; I haven't read enough books on this subject yet, more research later. The book dispels some fears. Not associated with a particular religion.
     Otherkin connection: Since a lot of otherkin and therianthropes believe that their otherness is due to having a spiritual "astral body" shaped like a different species, it's vital that you understand what your astral body actually is, how it works, and what it can do. Don't just say "my astral form is a dragon" without finding out as much as you can about what an "astral form" actually is.

     LINN, Denise. Past Lives, Present Dreams: How To Use Reincarnation For Personal Growth. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997.
     If you already believe in reincarnation and don't need extra convincing, this book is useful for gaining an understanding of the nuances of reincarnation, observations on how it usually seems to work, and how to learn from your memories to continue on your path of personal spiritual growth. I'll be doing more research later on books about reincarnation. Not associated with a particular religion.
     Otherkin connection: Many therians explain their therianthropy as being the result of a past life as a different species. But what do you do with that knowledge?
     Quality rating: *****

Magic:

     WEINSTEIN, Marion. Positive Magic: Occult Self-Help. Earth Magic Productions, 1994.
     Re-released in a revised edition as Positive Magic: Ancient Metaphysical Techniques for Modern Lives. New Page Books, 2002.
     Weinstein's book covers a lot of different activities/ways that fall under the word magic (such as numerous kinds of divination) and tells you the basics of how and why they work, where to learn more if they interest you, and warning signs of practices/individuals which may be dangerous or deceptive. It also explains the reasons behind why people indulge in the latter. This is the absolute best Magic 101 book I have ever read, and I've read quite a few. It's an excellent starting point. I suggest it to everyone who is interested in learning about magic. Some of this book is Wiccan, ranging into general Paganism, and also into things not associated with a specific religion.

     McCOLMAN, Carl. Before You Cast a Spell: Understanding the Power of Magic. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books, 2004.
     If you're interested in learning magic, you also need to be responsible, and think carefully about the effects of your actions. This book is specifically about magical ethics. It is not a stand-alone book, as it does not contain any instructions for doing magic, it just talks about the ethics. It is Wiccan, and based around the Law of Three, which other practitioners of magic might not believe in.

Stones and crystals:

     On the forums, I keep seeing otherkin and therianthropes asking about the spiritual properties of minerals. Minerals aren't especially associated with therianthropy, unless if you're hoping to enhance certain spiritual qualities, or learn about mythological associations of your theriotype with certain stones. (For example, in my research of stone mythology, I found out that ammonite fossils were believed by some ancient cultures to be the petrified third-eyes of dragons.) Being fond of this subject, I've read dozens of books on it, so in this case I have enough experience to pick the best books out of a large stack. None of these books are associated with a particular religion, often being more of a worldwide anthropological study, though they are connected with (or inclined towards, or useful in) magic, Paganism, and the New Age.

     CONWAY, D. J. Crystal Enchantments: A Complete Guide to Stones and Their Magical Properties. Freedom, Calif.: Crossing Press, 1999.
     This is an excellent book on stone and crystal magic. The research is solid, extensive, organized, and neutral, without bashing any religions. It's primarily about historical mythology, superstitions, and cultural customs surrounding various kinds of stones. It does not talk much about the Atlantian idea of Quartz crystals.

     CUNNINGHAM, Scott. Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem, and Metal Magic. St. Paul, MN, U.S.A. : Llewellyn Publications, 1988.
     This is a similar book to Crystal Enchantments, although it's a little opinionated, and avoids New Age ideas, so no mention of Atlantian Quartz crystals here, either. Neither book is associated with a particular religion.

The Tarot:

     I've seen a lot of people on the otherkin and therianthrope forums who are interested in divination with Tarot cards. It doesn't tie in so directly with therianthropy, although it is a useful source for spiritual advice in general. Tarot is not associated with a particular religion... or it's associated with many religions, depending on how you look at it. You can probably work it into any spiritual path, or use it comfortably with any religion. Tarot is one of my favorite subjects; I own dozens of books on it, and I've read dozens more. Some of the books are overly brief, gimmicky, or may give you interpretations that are unhelpful or even scary. I can pick through and tell you which ones have come to be my favorites, the most useful and user-friendly Tarot books that I refer to again and again. In my experience, these are the best two books:

     STERLING, Stephen Walter. Tarot Awareness: Exploring the Spiritual Path. St. Paul, MN : Llewellyn Publications, 2000.
     Tarot Awareness's descriptions for each card are lengthy, incorporating various flavors of mysticism. It discusses Chakras and the Kabbalah. Each Major Arcana card has a guided-meditation vision-quest associated with it. It's more esoteric than Tarot Reversals. It might be a bit too esoteric for some people, but it's the best for memorization, and for getting a feel for how all the cards fit together.

     GREER, Mary. The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals. Llewellyn Publications, 2002.
     Tarot Reversals approaches Tarot from a stable, practical, modern viewpoint while also delving satisfactorily into the mystical. Each card is discussed at great length, both upright and reversed. It interprets each card in numerous ways, while still staying to the same non-confusing concept. Each card, as presented in this book, offers not only an interpretation of a situation, but also good practical healthy advice for dealing with that particular situation. More down-to-earth than Tarot Awareness.

     Both these books help you gain a deeper understanding of the cards and gain guidance from their lessons. The advice tends to be upbeat rather than frightening, although they aren't "fluffy love-and-light" at all. In using them, you gradually develop your abilities to solve problems, get a feel for ethics, and learn more strategies for turning life's challenges into opportunities. The books and cards together make a practical tool. Good for novices and experts.

     Here's the more therianthropic bit. You may be interested in getting a Tarot deck (or a non-Tarot divination deck) that matches your kind or species. There are many specialty decks themed of dragons, fairies, felines, angels, various animals, unicorns, vampires, and shapeshifters.
     In some cases the decks are only gimmicks with pictures of that species on cards that are otherwise standard. In other cases, the interpretations and contexts in the accompanying books have been changed to suit the ways of that species, while still retaining the original message. If you'd like to get a better look at a particular Tarot deck before you buy it, Tarot.com allows you to view all the cards in some decks.

Non-Fiction: Secular Interests

Outside of our spiritualities, there are certain things that we commonly tend to be interested in, things which are connected to our spiritualities by a few degrees.

Making the World a Better Place:

     A lot of Starseeds, Walk-Ins, and Otherkin feel that they're here to change the world. Usually they mean that in terms of a global spiritual transformation, but secular changes are great too.

     JONES, Ellis. The Better World Handbook : From Good Intentions to Everyday Actions. Gabriola Island, B.C. : New Society Publishers, 2001.
     An introduction to various things. Briefly covers a lot of alternative activities and lifestyle choices. Has good bibliography for extended info on whichever subject is of special interest to you. It's a good start for whatever you want to explore.

     HOLLENDER, Jeffry. How to Make the World a Better Place: 116 Ways You Can Make a Difference. New York: Quill, 1990.
     Similar to The Better World Handbook. Presentation: The interior text is formatted nicely. I don't recall encountering any typos. No interior illustrations, graphics, or photos. The text is divided up into headings, subheadings, etc to lend sufficient visual interest, and this makes it significantly easier to skim the book if necessary. The writing style is neither humorous nor bland.
     Subjects covered: The book is divided into eight parts, is further divided into 33 chapters by subject, and is further divided into 116 "actions." The parts are these: Building community. Raising the next generation. Computer activism. Protecting the environment. Food, hunger, and agriculture. Socially responsible banking and investing. The responsible consumer. Peace, Justice, and social change.
     Each "action" is fairly brief, only a couple pages, and tells you some background information about the subject, argues why something should be done, and tells you what you can do, and who to contact to learn more and actually do some things. There are plenty of things you can do other than donating money to organizations, such as volunteering or making changes in your lifestyle. The last action listed in the book, number 116, is about supporting gay rights.
     Since this book was published in 1995, much of the information may no longer be of use: References to the Internet are obsolete, since this was before the World Wide Web. Changes may have happened to mailing addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers of organizations to contact. You'll have to Google them and find out where they are now. Statistics aren't fully up to date, although ten-year-old statistics are probably satisfactory information.
     Suggestions: Since a lot of this book is disappointingly out of date, get it from the library rather than buying it. Don't feel bad, since the book itself says that getting library books is better than buying a book you're doubtful about, since it conserves resources. Read this book with a notepad at hand, to jot down things you found interesting: points, actions, and names of organizations to look up later. You can read this book in short breaks when you're fairly busy with other things, since its layout makes it very easy to find your spot again to resume reading, or to skim.
     Quality rating: *****

     NEWKIRK, Ingrid. Save the Animals: 101 Easy Things You Can Do. New York: Warner Books, 1990.
     Speaking of activism, people who identify with animals need to make sure that their spiritual cousins keep living the way that they need to. Therianthropes, weres, shifters, furry lifestylers, this means you, especially if your theriotype is an endangered animal, such as a cheetah. Even if your theriotype is a common or domestic animal, you, as a human, have a voice and other abilities to help improve and maintain that animal's way of life, in nature (if wild) and among its tenant human beings (if domestic). To find out what you can do to help, read Save The Animals. Possible actions aren't just expensive things like donating to charities, but also things like avoiding speciesist terminology, and spreading awareness of how life is really like for animals: their intelligence and emotions, and their unpleasant situations.
     Good stuff: An excellent guide for vegans and/or animal rights activists of all kinds. It suggests many different kinds of plans. A serious topic presented with a much-needed sense of humor, particularly evident in the puns used in chapter titles. Supplies many contacts for relevant communities, etc. Well referenced. Its format is similar to "101 Things You Can Do To Save The Earth," and its suggestions really are easy and effective.
     Bad stuff: You probably won't agree with all opinions and strategies in this book (promotes overly obnoxious evangelical behavior, and says that all zoological gardens are wrong and inhumane) but most activism groups are like that anyway, there'll be parts you agree with and parts that you don't agree with. A bit dated now in terms of mailing addresses and such, but timeless in other respects.
     Communities on this subject on Livejournal: Were and Fur Animal Rights, and Herbivores: furry vegetarians.
     Quality rating: *****

     BREHONY, Kathleen. Ordinary Grace: An Examination of the Roots of Compassion, Altruism, and Empathy, and the Ordinary Individuals Who Help Others in Extraordinary Ways. New York : Riverhead Books, 1999.
     Sometimes it's difficult to feel like the human species is, on the whole, a good thing. When you believe that you're seperate from humanity in some way, misanthropy can really cut in and make a big deal of itself. However, misanthropy damages your ability to enjoy being an Otherkin (etc) in this world, because it makes you feel even more alienated, and it blinds you to the good things about living here. Restore some faith in humanity by reading Ordinary Grace. This book argues the philosophy that humans (and other living things) are essentially good and are willing to help others, and that this happens much more commonly than we think. That doesn't just mean rich people donating money to charities, which this book mostly avoids talking about. There are many, many other ways to help people, some of which are quite ingenious. Brehony went around interviewing people who had acted altruistically, and their true stories are collected here. You may have heard of some of them in the news.
     There's a Livejournal community for Otherkin and other people who are recovering from misanthropy and/or working to maintain a human-loving mindset: We Like Humans.
     Quality rating: *****

Finding yourself:

Those with alternative self-images often also have alternative gender identities. This may be because they've spent more time in introspection to notice what makes them different, and what is only a culturally-imposed label. (The connection is interesting, since there are similarities between gender dysphoria and species dysphoria, but that's an idea for another article.) See Bornstein's My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely. I haven't read it yet, but I plan to. I've heard that it's a good book to start with, even for people shy about genderqueerness. It's presented in a friendly, open, non-scary way. I'd love to collect here all the great books about alternative genders, since I've read quite a few, but that's another book list.

     ESTÉS, Clarissa Pinkola. Women Who Run With The Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. New York : Ballantine Books, 1995.
     An empowering book of feminism, environmentalism, Jungian psychology, and mythology. The book is a collection of folktales (such as Bluebeard, the Ugly Duckling, and others) which it tells in full and then analyzes in great detail, so that you can finally understand the message of the stories, and how to apply their lessons to your life. It embraces even the parts of the cycles of life that our society tries not to speak about and considers a dark side, such as death and its necessity in nature. The book teaches how to get back in touch with your wild side, and in touch with nature. Throughout, she uses a metaphor describing people as being like wolves, in the various things that everyone does in life: growing up, hunting for food, learning what things are dangerous, finding love, and caring for family.
     In the aforementioned The Magic of Shapeshifting, Greene said this book is "...not about shifters, yet mystical. It is of interest to shifters, as it spends a lot of time discussing the inner wild woman, who is symbolized as part animal, especially part wolf. This is portrayed as similar to the way shifters view their own inner animal self. The mystical wisdom about the 'inner wild self' that is contained in this book holds many valuable teachings that also apply to the shifter's inner animal" (243).
     Although the book is written for women, you will probably enjoy reading it regardless of your gender.
     Age rating: PG.

Non-fiction Reference, divided by species type.

The books in the following sections are non-fiction reference books about history, culture, and mythology, not fantasy-fiction novels or modern-made storybooks.

Non-fiction Reference: Dragons

     ANDERSON, J. K. Tales of Great Dragons. Santa Barbara, CA: Bellerphon Books, 1998.
     Who would expect that something sold as a coloring book was actually a scholarly work, with text quoted directly from the old myths, rather than awkwardly retold, and illustrations contemporary to those stories and cultures, rather than made by someone unfamiliar with the story? Many obscure dragon myths are included, some of which you can't find anywhere else. Presents a good variety of nationalities, time periods, and attitudes towards dragons. Anderson (a professor of classical archaeology) seems to have favored stories in which the dragon had a positive role, whenever he had the option to choose one.
     Rating: *****

     GREEN, Roger Lancelyn. A Cavalcade of Dragons. New York : H. Z. Walck, 1970.
     This is a collection of European (a few early Middle Eastern) tales and poems about dragons, some of which are ancient, some of which are modern. (There is one Chinese dragon story thrown in there for no readily apparent reason, and it's nothing special.) The illustrations are all modern black-and-white line drawings, scribbly but realistic. The stories are all reprinted from a variety of different sources elsewhere, none original for this book. Some are extremely common, and some are so obscure that you probably won't have seen them elsewhere. The selection of stories is delightfully varied. I was expecting them to all be dragon-slaying, because they're Western, but they have plenty of non-slaying tales in there as well as the better-known slaying tales. A few stories are actually just excerpts from longer stories. I've never before heard of the Greek story, "The Boy and the Dragon" ...it's similar to the Mordiford Wyvern, but older and with a happy ending: the grateful dragon later saves the boy's life. At the end, sources are told for all stories.
     Rating: ***

     HUXLEY, Francis. The dragon: Nature of spirit, spirit of nature. London : Thames and Hudson, 1979.
     Huxley is a very well-researched authority on this subject. He really knows what he's talking about... unfortunately, nobody else does, since his writing style is downright freaky. You'll be comfortable with reading this if you're comfortable with reading Aleister Crowley, if Crowley was writing a college textbook while on speed. If you are comfortable with that, that's great, since there's some really great obscure myths in here. Otherwise, get Allen's book instead, which has all the same pictures, and speaks more comprehensibly.
     Rating: [Currently reassessing opinion, I'll get back to you on that later.]

     JUDY, Allen, GRIFFITH, Jeanne. The Book of the Dragon. Secaucus, N.J. : Chartwell Books, 1979.
     In my opinion, this is the best dragon reference book ever written! A must-read. This is one of the best dragon reference books I've ever read, and if you have any interest in dragons you must read it, even if it means tracking it down for years! It presents the old myths, the illustrations contemporary to the myths, and gives commentary that is as profound as any draconic person could come up with when trying to define such a nebulous concept as "dragon." Like most English-language dragon reference books, it focuses primarily on dragons of the west and middle-east, but it does this astoundingly well, bringing up some things which I have not seen mentioned in other books, such as some linguistic notes, the chapter on alchemy, a few stories, and presentations of both sides of a controversy when usually only one side is told. I did not spot any misinterpretations, and most commonly it sets the record straight where other books got it wrong. Good bibliography.
     Rating: *****

     SHUKER, Karl. Dragons: A Natural History. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1995.
     This book focuses primarily on Western dragons, although it does quite well at approaching dragons as a world-myth, which is its actual goal. It touches on Asian, American, and ancient Middle Eastern dragons... even real-life "dragons" such as komodo dragons... it covers pretty much all of them, its main oversight being that it never mentions or depicts medieval Persian dragons. Sometimes its interpretations and paraphrasings are painfully, agonizingly misleading. Example: leaving out the context of "the Dragon of Wantley," which this book presented as being just another myth which was told in all seriousness. Most other books tell that "the Dragon of Wantley" was meant in its time as a satire, the poetic equivalent of a political cartoon. The illustrations are all contemporary to the myths, so you get to see how the creatures were really supposed to look when the tales were first told, and a taste of the culture which produced them... Japanese woodcuts, Babylonian reliefs, and so on. Some illustrations which were originally black and white have been colorized, which looks a bit strange. Of dragon reference books, it's still quite superior, though probably not the best ever.
     Rating: ****

Non-Fiction Reference: Humanoid Mythics

     FROUD, Brian, LEE, Alan. Faeries. New York : Abrams, 1978.
     Explores light and dark sides of European faery-creatures. (By the way, "faery" is a dictionary spelling of "fairy." The book explains the connotations of the spelling variations.) Historical quotes, stories, good art. Exhaustive. Anything by Froud is good faery stuff, actually, since it's well-researched and closer to the real, original spirit of Faerie, rather than the cleaned-up Victorian concept. On the other hand, don't rely on Froud's works overmuch... don't use them as a sort of Faery bible.
     Rating: *****

     McHARGUE, Georgess, BOZZO, Frank. The impossible people: a history natural and unnatural of beings terrible and wonderful. New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972.
     Giants, fairy-folk, angels, and so on. A good scholarly work that shows how ideas developed over time, and speculates about how the myths began. Written for children, but good reading for all. However, the illustrations don't reflect how the creatures traditionally look.
     Rating: ****

     I haven't read these two yet, but someone recommended them for this list: Davidson's 'Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels,' and Mack's 'A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits.'

Non-fiction reference: Other Mythics

Coincidentally, these next two books both have the same cover illustration, despite having very individual interiors.

     NIGG, Joseph. The Book of Fabulous Beasts: A Treasury of Writings from Ancient Times to the Present. New York : Oxford University Press, 1999.
     Here's a completely different approach to the monster encyclopedia genre. This book shows how each creature's legend developed over time. Good ol' Nigg uses excerpts from old bestiaries to show each stage in that development. Younger readers will enjoy other excellent books by Nigg, such as Wonder Beasts : Tales and Lore of the Phoenix, the Griffin, the Unicorn, and the Dragon, which also quotes primary sources.
     Rating: *****

     ROSE, Carol. Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 2000.
     There are many mythical-creature encyclopedias in the world, and this is the best of all of them. This book does indeed cover giants, monsters, and dragons; and it also covers a lot of gods, spirits, undead, goblins, fictional famous people, and so on. It covers ALL the mythologies of the world, concentrating on them equally; it's not European-centric. This book doesn't mix in movie monsters with the ancient ones (as some books do) although there are some fairly recent entities listed, such as Paul Bunyan. It only uses old illustrations contemporary to the legends; my only complaint is that the illustrations are few and far between. It has a perfect bibliography, so you always know where to look for more- this book is designed to start you off, tell you where to go for more if you want to. Every single entry tells you which books it came from. In addition to the main fully indexed alphabetical listing of all the monsters, the appendixes in the back list all the monsters by category, so you may look them up that way. It has category listings by country and area, and for type of monster, such as "beings that are horses or part horse," or "dragons- occidental." Etc.
     Rating: *****
     Borrow or buy: Borrow. (Quick library reference, not something to read straight through. It's also terribly expensive.)

Non-fiction Reference: Animals and their Lore, including Shapeshifters.

     ANDREWS, Ted. The Art of Shapeshifting. Dragonhawk Publishing, 2005.
     In the guide Learn Shapeshifting, Amazon user whole_and_healthy says this book is about mystical mask-making, and that's all I know. I haven't read it yet, so I have no idea. I do have some idea of what to expect from Andrews, from what I've read of his books, and I'm not a fan of them. If you can obtain a copy of this book, please review it for me.

     BATHGATE, Michael. The Fox's Craft in Japanese Religion and Folklore: Shapeshifters, Transformations and Duplicities. New York : Routledge, 2004.
     An examination of the myth of kitsune, Japanese fox shapeshifters. The book analyzes the themes common to various kitsune legends, the semiotics of shapeshifting, and so on. However, these are textbooks, not light reading, and the myths are excerpted in part rather than retold in full.

     HALL, Jamie. Half human, half animal: tales of werewolves and related creatures. Authorhouse, 2003.
     Includes many truly obscure myths of non-lupine shapeshifters around the world. I've yet to read it, but it looks very good.
     The personal website of this book's author is jh-author.com.

     JAMALE, Michel. Deerdancer: The Shapeshifter Archetype in Story and in Trance. New York : Arkana, 1995.
     A collection of worldwide were-animal myths, sorted by species. Also includes dragons, trees, and gods. It provides excellent interpretations for the symbols and messages in each of the stories, which I found satisfying and enlightening. More mythology books should have those! However, some of the author's personal accounts of real-life "experiences" seem flaky and improbable... in particular the weird anecdote about the yogi; the poor fellow was probably totally unaware that he was being accused of being a shapeshifter, or of psychically harassing people. The myths and their interpretations are so good, however, that I won't remove a star just for that.
     Rating: *****

     LAUCK, Joanne. The Voice of the Infinite in the Small: Revisioning the Insect-Human Connection. Mill Spring, NC : Swan Raven, 1998.
     Read it even if you're not an insect or arachnid person, it'll do you good! You'll never itch when you think of insects again, and you'll have a lot of hate and fear removed from your life. Has mythology, scientific facts, and anecdotes about insects, arachnids, and other tiny living things.
     Rating: *****

     LEAVY, Barbara Fass. In Search of the Swan Maiden: A Narrative on Folklore and Gender. New York : New York University Press, 1994.
     SAX, Boria. The Serpent and the Swan: The Animal Bride in Folklore and Literature. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company, 1998.
     If you liked Women Who Run With The Wolves, you'll like some other books about feminism, nature, and shapeshifters, such as these two books. In Search of the Swan Maiden is an analysis of hereditary shapeshifters and feminism in mythology. The Serpent and the Swan is about gender, humanity, hereditary shapeshifters, animal rights, history, the natural world. However, these are textbooks, and the myths are excerpted in part rather than retold in full. They are not light or easy reading.

     MAYOL, Jaques. Homo Delphinus, The Dolphin Within Man. Idelson-Gnocchi Ltd. Publishing, 2000.
     Aquatic ape theory, Jacques Costeau, and a human-transcendent goal to emulate dolphins. Amazon user werewolf02 includes this book in their guide Books For Shifters, but for all I know, this book might not be appropriate for this list at all, since I haven't read it yet. If you can obtain a copy of this book, please review it for me.

     MONTGOMERY, Sy. Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest. Simon & Schuster, 2001.
     SLATER, Candace. Dance of the Dolphin: Transformation and Disenchantment in the Amazonian Imagination. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1994.
     If you're interested in Brazilian shapeshifters, and/or river-dolphins, try these two books. Compared, Montgomery's book has more focus on the narrative of a person's travels through the Amazon.

     PIJOAN, Teresa. White Wolf Woman: Native American Transformation Myths: Collected and Retold. Little Rock : August House, 1992.
     As it says in the title, these are authentic myths (told in full) from the Natives of North America, and from no other locations in the world. Unlike Deer Dancer, this book does not include story interpretations, which I felt it needed. There were a few stories where I was so unable to locate some message or point that it made me uncomfortable. I found that there were stories in it that weren't about transformation at all, except in the broadest sense.
     Rating: ***

     WHITE. Myths of the Dog-Man.
     Humanoid dogs as they appear in world mythology.

Relevant Fiction

Although these stories are explicitly unreal, we can still find ourselves in them. I'm not looking for books where a character physically shapeshifts into a dragon, wolf, or elf. I'm not looking for books that just have dragons, wolves, elves, or aliens starring in them, no matter how interesting of role models they are for their species. Instead, for this section, I'm ideally looking for books where a character experiences a spiritual awakening; a character who realizes that they are something different inside, something draconic, lupine, or elvish about their mind, heart, or spirit. I'm looking for books where a character longs to have wings or a tail, because it's part of who they really are. A character who uses this to gain strength and bravery in their daily life. That sort of thing.

Suspiciously Reminiscent of Therianthropes and Otherkin:

     HAMBLY, Barbara. Dragonsbane. New York : Ballantine Books, 1985.
     In this dark fantasy novel, a woman comes to understand that her own inner nature is that of a dragon. A dragon who she meets (first as a foe, then eventually as something dearer) helps her bring that inner nature out. This is the first book of a series; in the following books, we learn that the vice-versa is true: dragons, too, can be a human within.
     In this article, a certain draconic person, KaniS, describes the deeper value this book had to him: "And it happened to be about a female mage who was also attracted to dragons, who actually wanted to be one! Perhaps my desires weren't so strange after all. In a few moments my life had changed. I found I could no longer deny what I wanted."
     Age rating: PG. (Gruesome violence. Sexual situations in later books, but not in this one.)

     HESSE, Herman, and CREIGHTON, Basil (translator). Steppenwolf. New York : H. Holt, 1929.
     A classic fictional autobiography available in English, Spanish, and the original German, written by Herman Hesse, (1877-1962), who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946.
     This book list would not be complete without Steppenwolf, an astonishing book about a melancholic therianthrope... yes, therianthrope defined the way that we would define it. Within himself and his world view, the protagonist's spirit is part human and part wolf, but his wolf-side and human-side are violently opposed with one another, making him miserable. The book mentions that there are people in the world who are at peace with their animal sides, but that the Steppenwolf is an unhappy exception.
     Steppenwolf may be a bit more than fiction, as Hesse once published his poetry under the pen-name of Steppenwolf, and has rather a lot of traits in common with the protagonist. Perhaps I'm projecting my desires onto this book, but I suspect it may be seen as indicating that the "inner animal" concept predates any Internet subculture.
     On Werelist.com, Cypherwulf (a dragon/wolf chimera therian) said: "Steppenwolf is an absolutely excellent novel about a mental therianthrope. Much of what he experiences, I find to be true for myself, so reading it is much like talking with a confidant. I even found myself consoling him in my mind, telling him I understood. The only cons are it's an extremely pessimistic book (not exactly a bad thing if you can handle it) and takes quite a different course after the first couple of chapters. It should be recommended reading for every therian though." (Quoted with permission.)
     Greene's The Magic of Shapeshifting says that Steppenwolf "is a portrayal of a mental shifter who is afraid of his own nature, the way many hereditary shifters are at first. It does not, therefore, present a role model to emulate. Yet many shifters have found it empowering and of spiritual value, and it does get an amazing number of the symptoms and feelings of what it is like to be a mental shifter exactly right" (Greene 244).

     YEP, Laurence. Dragonwings. New York : Harper & Row, 1975.
     A Newbery Medal winning historical fiction juvenile novel about a Chinese-American family. It's book six in the ten-book Golden Mountain Chronicles series, but they can be read in any order. Also available as an audio book.
     One of the best examples of what I'm looking for is Dragonwings, about a man who learned in a dream that he was a dragon in a past life. Ever since then, he strives to earn his wings in the next life by holding himself up to dragonish standards, and expressing noble, dragonic traits and ethics. (He believes his past life skill as a healer has been reinterpreted as skill with repairing machinery in this life. His passion for flight manifests itself as he builds kites and, finally, an airplane. There are several mentions of having dragon-like body language.) This is presented as a fairly ordinary, mentally healthy, and respectable thing for someone to do and believe, albeit unusual.
     Some of the other books in Yep's Golden Mountain Chronicles series have otherkin-like themes as well. Child of the Owl and The Serpent's Children are both about young people who learn of their family legend of having a supernatural shapeshifting ancestor. (In reality, there are some otherkin who believe this of themselves, that it's hereditary rather than spiritual.) The children use this to attain a strong sense of individuality, courage, and to bond with family members. Of these, Child of the Owl is relatively lighthearted, whereas The Serpent's Children is painfully dark and traumatic, but may be quite meaningful.
     Age rating: G or PG.
     Overall quality rating: *****
     Otherkin content: *****

Something Like Soulbonds or Fictionkin:
     There's a few books that mention some people who have situations similar to Soulbonds, in which a "real" character has a mysterious connection with a "fictional" character, similar to a spirit guide or a muse.

     BANTOCK. Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 1991.
     A man receives a postcard from his muse. First book of a series, in which they fall in love, and struggle to meet one another, but they live on seperate planes of reality. Eventually they succeed, and become as one being. Later, it becomes unclear whether Griffin was originally Sabine's fictional muse, or if it was the other way around, or whether both are entirely real people, or neither. Extremely interesting to Soulbonds. Some animal totemism in second trilogy. Alchemical symbolism abounds in the fantastic, surreal artwork.
     Age rating: G or PG. (Warning: love poetry.)

     RENAULT, Mary. The Persian Boy. New York : Pantheon Books, 1972.
     According to Livejournal user ksol1460, Alexander the Great seems to have soulbonded Achilles from The Iliad. Also available as an audio book.

     WHARTON, Edith. .A Backward Glance : An Autobiography. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1964.
     Livejournal user ksol1460 says, "Edith Wharton's autobiography A Backward Glance has a whole chapter on how her characters came to her and more or less demanded that she tell their stories. She has a lot of other valuable information in there, too." (I'm not sure if I should have this in the fiction section.)

Animal totemism in fiction, perhaps:

     PULLMAN, Philip. The Golden Compass. Del Rey, 1998.
     Dark urban fantasy or alternate history, I think you could call it. This is the first book of Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy (also available as unabridged audio books) in which people live with their "daemon," which is a physical animal embodiment of a person's soul. Their daemon can speak and fight, is never far apart from them, and voices their inner emotions and uncertainties. Although the main character is a child, these books are too scary for most children... and too scary for many adults.
     A dragon friend of mine, Halyn, said: "I found it a very enjoyable series with definite significance for otherkin and a lot of similar topics of interest (the nature of souls, parallel realities, what happens around death, magic, fate)." Eredien pointed out that this series is "a remake of Dante's 'Divine Comedy,' and were consciously created as such in an attempt to grapple with some of the issues that come up in those works."

Similar to Winged Folk:
     For the folks in the Once Winged community, here are a few books for you. These three books aren't part of the same series, and aren't about phantom wings, but instead have a common theme: they're about people who mysteriously grow a pair of wings at adolescence. Although that's not quite your situation, you may resonate with them. For most people, winged adolescents are probably easier to relate to than angels.

     GONZALEZ, Julie. Wings. New York : Delacorte Press, 2005.
     Short review: A psychologically elegant sombre-but-hopeful modern fiction. The difference from these other two winged-people books is that the main character is certain that he will grow wings someday, though he hasn't yet. He has a fascination for the science of wings, and a determination to defy useless rules, and he thinks of gravity as an oppressive monster. He has always believed that his wings are developing under his skin, not that they're stretching out invisibly. So you see, his views are quite different from ours in some ways, but alike in others. (Warning: do NOT try the stunts described in this book, it's just a story! I'm not responsible for it if you do.)
     Long review: The story: There are two narrators, alternating every few chapters, starting from their infancy and working up to when they are teenagers. One narrator is Ian, a fairly mundane, skeptical boy. The other narrator is his brother Ben, who has known since the instant he was born (he remembers) that he was meant to have wings. Ben has an intense, obsessive need for wings and for flight. He thinks he can feel wings under his skin, itching, ready to sprout when the time is right. He believes that these wings will be not like a bird's, or an insect's, but scaly, like a dragon's. He describes this goal of his, to someday grow wings, as the most "pure and good" part of himself, and he focuses on it nearly to exclusion of everything else. It is his only goal. There's basically nothing else to his life except for this. Eventually, he changes his name to Icarus.
     There are many, many times in Icarus's life, even when fairly grown up, where he jumps off a high place, expecting his wings to be there to catch him. Once, out of impatience, he builds a set of wings which he says are based on those designed by Leonardo da Vinci, with some improvements of his own, but they break when he falls. He personifies Gravity as being like an intelligent, willful, demonic entity, who drags creatures downwards just out of spite. Icarus keeps wing-oriented treasures in his room. He studies all flying creatures, and his notebooks are full of technical illustrations of them. He hoards relevant knowledge. Nobody else really believes in Icarus's wings, but they pretend that they do, to humor him.
     In personality, Icarus has a tendency towards both freedom and isolation. He defies rules that people follow for no decent reason. His view of the world is a mixture of meticulous scientific notes, and poetic mysticism. He is melancholic, and that sense of intellectual, wistful longing pervades the book.
     I completely object to the ending. (Which I won't give away here.) Normally I don't like ambiguous endings, but in this case I would have preferred an ambiguous ending. Instead, this book's ending is... unambiguous, confirmed, happy, bittersweet actually. Normally I like that kind of ending alright, but in this case it feels out of place, and most of all, its message is disturbing. The author probably didn't think of the ending as advice for the reader (other than metaphorical advice, anyway) but young kids might take it that way. That's a scary thought, since that could be dangerous. The real message seems to be that we have to do dangerous things to attain what we strive for and to set things as they should be, but that message could easily be taken wrong.
     The book's feel: Melancholic, wistful, philosophical, elegant, intricate, lonely, secrecy, longing.
     Appropriate setting for reading this book: In an attic, loft, tree-platform, or other out-of-the-way, high-up place full of mysterious little knick-knacks and antiques. Any weather.
     Suitable audience: Anyone who will appreciate the melancholy, but won't be even remotely inclined to take the book as literal advice. Philosophers who enjoy debate over the power of faith and whether it can really change anything. Naturalists and biologists who are delighted by hoards of facts. People who love REALLY good prose, because that's what this is.
     Unsuitable audience: Impressionable people who may have the slightest inclination to ever take the book as literal advice. Anyone who is depressed or suicidal. Anyone who will think this book describes the real-life movement of otherkin, since it doesn't, although otherkin may resonate with Icarus.
     Age rating: I didn't see any strong language or stuff that would be considered obscene. The story would be rated G... unless if the kids reading it are young and impressionable and might take it as literal advice.

     WINTER, Laurel. Growing Wings. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
     Winter's modern-day fantasy has a similar feel to Gonzalez's Wings, being sombre and hopeful, and another story of a person who is living with wings, but who is not an angel. Growing Wings is the strange, lonely adventure of a girl who is just now learning of her family's hereditary wings just as hers are developing, all physical and feathery. Then she meets the reclusive... well, I won't spoil it for you. There are some juicy twists of plot here, and some clever observations of what it would really be like to live with wings in the real world.
     Age rating: G.

     BERGER, Barbara. Gwinna. New York : Philomel, 1990.
     In Berger's colorfully-illustrated fantasy, a girl named Gwinna unbinds her physical, feathery wings. She searches for her place in the world, amidst magic and nature. The moods of loneliness and hope are also in this book, freedom and entrapment, but there's also a warm, loving wonder all through it. I always get the feeling that this children's story has some great significance or symbolism that I can't quite grasp.
     Age rating: G.

     GREEN, Susan Kohn. Self-portrait with wings. Little Brown & Company, 1989.
     This book about growing wings is different from the above three. In Self-portrait with wings, a young girl makes a drawing of herself where she has wings. She uses tracing paper and decides that bird wings wouldn't fit, but insect/fairy wings would fit. She wakes up the next morning with tangible but invisible fairy wings. Only she and her best friend can see them. At first she's delighted, but gradually she discovers them to be inconvenient. She can't wear her backpack, or lean back in a high-backed chair. Some details of her experience will be very familiar to Otherkin who have phantom wing sensations, though other elements of the story are pure fantasy.
     My personal experiences with this book: I stumbled across it in a used bookstore, skimmed it, shrugged, and put it back on the shelf. Later, I realized that the story of living with invisible wings had some things in common with phantom wings. I went back to buy the book after all, but it was gone... and I didn't remember the title or the author. I searched for it for a long time. Eventually, I asked about it on the Livejournal community Find_A_Book, which is where you go if you remember everything about a book but the vital bits of information that can help you find it again. I described it, and someone recognized it and told me the title. I was able to confirm this with a search on Amazon. Hurrah!      Age rating: G.

Thank You.

     This guide created with thanks to Livejournal users, who suggested individual books: Ksol1460, Scribblekitty, Halyn, Elynne, Sablemoonsilk, Echthros, Eredien and others. I'm also grateful to Amazon users, whose book lists gave me continued direction in this project after I began: Grey Wolf, whole_and_healthy, Patricia Slezeny, Erzebet Bathory, Antonio Murillo, Louisemtugboat, thom_gall, Rita Myers, Wanda Hosek, Sidoman, Justine Maxent, Beth Dobie, Werewolf02, John Smith, and Cecelia Nanning.

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