Introduction
This is an annotated bibliography of books about or useful to people who identify as otherkin, therianthropes, dragons, vampires, weres, shifters, fae, soulbonds, fictionkin, incarnate elementals, incarnate angels, starseeds, starpeople, furry lifestylers, animal totemists... etcetera. (It's true that those different terms reflect differences between those groups, since the groups emerged differently and have different ideas, but I think we all have ideas in common as well, and we can all learn from each other.) When I started making this book list in 2004, it was commonly said in the otherkin and therianthrope communities that there were no books about us... I've found that's not true. There are a bunch of non-fiction books that mention otherkin and therianthropes, with more on the way! Some fiction comes surprisingly close to describing us, too, although that's not the same. I've included both in this list.
Other than that, there are various spiritual and secular interests that tend to be common among us, and the questions that otherkin and therianthropes tend to ask about those things are best answered by books. For example, every therianthrope needs to research their theriotype-- their animal side-- as it exists in nature. An otherkin who identifies with a mythological animal may also be interested in magic, so they may feel like studying that, too, according to their personal inclinations. The Internet is big and has a lot of information, but there are also things where the information online is sparse or unreliable, and you're best off learning about those subjects from books. I've included some books that should help you start out with those subjects, most of which are just ideal introductions. It's up to you which paths to take.
Focus: My research for this book list has tended to focus on groups with which I'm more familiar: otherkin, therianthropes, and people who identify as dragons. Since I have less in common with vampires, starseeds, or soulbonds, I'm not as familiar with those groups and wouldn't be as capable of discerning how on-the-mark any books about them would be, so I've done comparatively little reading about them. That research is best left up to other people who do know that territory... maybe that's you!
Help wanted: If you're more familiar with the groups that I haven't focused on and you can help me flesh out those sections, please contact me. I'd also appreciate any tips about more books that fit this list's theme. If you've written a review of any of the books included here, I'd love to include (or link to) your review, since it would be great to show many people's viewpoints on each book. You might get something completely different out of a book than I did, and that could be great.
Disclaimer: I'm 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, learn more about it, and read other people's reviews of the books. In my opinion, it's best to make sure you want a book by checking it out from the library before you buy it, especially with books that are controversial or expensive. Since not every book on this list is great, you might regret owning some of them. You might be able to find some of them for free on the book-trading website of BookMooch.com, too.
Discussion: If you'd like to talk with others about this list, the books in it, and books that should be in it, visit The Therianthrope and Otherkin Book Club on Livejournal. Every couple months, the book club will be be selecting one book from this book list to read, review, and discuss together.
You can also find this book list on LibraryThing.com, where you can take advantage of the site's tagging system to search for the particular types of books you want.
|
|
