What a – yes – enchanting book. Exhausted by the constant vigilance and doom-scrolling that seems to have only been made worse by the pandemic lockdowns, May sets out to find a different way of being, remembering simple pleasures taken in nature and the senses from her childhood and looking for them in adulthood, too. Enchantment is defined as “small doses of awe”, everyday interactions that bring joy wherever you find them.

Her personal experiences are of course woven through the book, particularly her interactions with the sea and return to sea-swimming after a loss of confidence, and the importance of friends is emphasised even though she also has adventures with her husband and young son, with one friend accompanying her back into the water and another giving companionship on two transformative visits to an old sacred well.

Even though she’s looking for almost a religious experience, the numinous something that hovers just outside our consciousness, she connects this more to a sense of community and practical and craft abilities and skills that need to be revived and handed down than organised religion.

I loved how when, confronted with a holy well, she doesn’t go all woo on us or know what to do, but also doesn’t expect an immediate experience, but has a think and comes back with some personal responses (and her friend).

Everything in the book seems rooted in practicality, attention and honesty: she loses the ability to absorb herself in a book, struggles with her meditation practice until she realises the whole system of being able to devote oneself to regular meditative times is probably predicated upon not being a mother and freelance but a man with people to look after the “stuff”, and she gives the best explanation of how the tides work I have ever read.

A lovely book I would definitely return to.

My online review published 29 March https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2023/03/29/book-review-katherine-may-enchantment/

Absolutely love how Katherine May sees the world. Wintering was one of my favourite reads over the last several years and Enchantment picks up with reflection on how we marry our internal worlds with external life in a modern, digital world.

This book was really lovely, it was really lovely to read about mindfulness and magic in everyday life.

Beautifully written and gives good for thought in this fast moving social media obsessed world. I really enjoyed reading this

Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age is a comforting journal of the authors attempts to put some awe back in to everyday life following the restrictions of the pandemic and its effects on mental health. It is a book to pickup and savour slowly. The author's use of language and words is beautiful. The use of the four elements felt like an attempt to force a structure and order on the book that didn't quite work. Having said that it didn't take away from the authors' writing. I enjoyed the descriptions and savoured some of the words. Overall a book that will talk to your heart and your desire for the natural world.

I admit to being a bit sceptical at first about this book but the further I read the more engrossed I became. It puts in words what many of us think and feel. It doesn't offer solutions or cures but offers acceptance. A book for finding peace.

Both an inspiring Book & also one that has many sections that really resonated with me especially regarding the effects of the Pandemic the the various Lock Downs , even more so when for the past Three Years now I have been having to Medically Shield & have only left home to get my various Vaccinations done, so the only outside World I've been in weather permitting has been our Garden .But it is in that space that I have had some magical experiences which have helped to keep me reasonably sane & grounded I hope ! This is a Book I will buy & give to others & will also highly recommend some Family members & Friends take the time to read . #NetGalley, #GoodReads, #FB, #Instagram, #Amazon.co.uk, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/358a5cecda71b11036ec19d9f7bf5c96d13e2c55" width="80" height="80" alt="100 Book Reviews" title="100 Book Reviews"/>.

I enjoyed this book so much. I’ve not read Wintering, but now I absolutely shall. May’s use of language and imagery completely swept me up and I found the way the book was broken down into the four sections gave it a structure and cohesion. Just occasionally a book resonates so clearly with us that it seems as if the author has reached into our heads and this was on such book for me. Utterly enchanting (excuse the pun) and I will be gifting this to friends and recommending it to customers.

Thanks to Faber and Faber, and Netgalley for the ARC!

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Wintering last year I was really excited to get my hands on Katherine May's new book. Sadly, I was a little disappointed. I found that the book was lacking a narrative. It was split up into 4 different sections - earth, water, fire and air - but I struggled to find the meaning in the book as a whole. Nevertheless, I do still appreciate the topic of find magic in the little things, and did enjoy the reminders and anecdotes of slowing down and finding beauty in the mundane.

Enchantment

Last year, I read Katherine May's previous book, Wintering, and it came at just the right time when I needed to rest and recover and her new book, Enchantment has arrived once again at the same time as spring starts to make an appearance, this book is about awakening in a world of disconnection.

Enchantment explores the joys of small things, looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary, celebrating opening up and finding connection, community and direction in modern life. The essays are broken down into sections based on the elements, air, earth, fire and water explores not only May's personal experiences of emerging from stress and exhaustion but she also muses on the natural world, history and spiritual, awakening and finding yourself coming out of hibernation.

You don't have to have read May's previous book to appreciate this book but it will enhance your experience of Enchantment as they are the perfect pair. This will definitely be a book I will return to, dipping in and out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Faber for the physical and ebook versions.

I struggled with this book unfortunately. The author writes beautifully but it just didn’t hold my attention or leave me eager to read more each evening. I found the kindle version a bit confusing and it would have been good to be able to navigate back through the chapters. Maybe this book just wasn’t for me at this point in time.

Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, By Katherine May
Rating: 5/5
Published: NOW
“I have lost some fundamental part of my knowing, some elemental human feeling. Without it, the world feels like tap water left overnight, flat and chemical, devoid of life. I am like lightning seeking earth. Uneasy, I carry the prickle of potential energy in my limbs, ever deferred from the point of contact, the moment of release. Instead, it gathers in me, massing like a storm that never comes. I lack the language to even describe it, this vast unsettled sense that I am slipping over the glassy surface of things, afraid of what lurks beneath. I need a better way to walk through this life. I want to be enchanted again.”
Katherine May is a goddess. Her style of writing speaks directly to my soul, and sometimes I pause and re-read chunks of her text because it is so stunning. Enchantment is a beautiful book that deals with our love for the world around us, and how a lot of us have lost the ability to be enchanted in the modern age. It guides us back into the states of wonderment and delight, whilst also acknowledging what it means to be human in a landscape that is constantly evolving around us. May talks about the magic within us, and how to reignite it. She discusses the power of retreat and re-emergence. She talks about how to connect with the natural world, and feel utterly bewitched by it once more. I was nervous when I started reading it, because I adored Wintering, but this book is everything and more. May’s unique voice is constantly developing, and I would follow her anywhere. Her words about feeling dislocated from the rest of the world gave me goosebumps. Brilliant writing.

"I often think that ritual gives us something to do with our hands rather than our heads, performing a set of actions that root us into our being again. Ritual is different from worship: a matter of instinct rather than construction, a gesture that lets us weave significance in the moment. It is so undemanding, so simple, almost passive. You follow the steps, and they take you down to find what you need."

Having loved Wintering by Katherine May (I've read it twice and gifted it several times!), I was eager to get my hands on her new book, Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age.

It's the perfect little sister to Wintering! Taking each of the four elements of Earth, Wind, Air and Fire, Katherine shows us how we can tune into nature to rediscover the everyday magic that makes us feel good. The power of following or creating rituals (lighting candles, gathering round a bonfire), visiting the seaside for a swim in the ocean or going out at night to spot a meteor shower are some examples.

Just what's needed for this time of year!

Sometimes a book speaks to your soul so deeply it feels as though the author is talking directly to you and putting into words the feelings you've struggled to understand. Enchantment is this book. One of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring books I've ever read and one that came into my life at the most perfect moment.

Enchantment reminds us of what we've lost, and how to find it again. As life moves us further from our roots we forget to look for the magic that is all around us. We've forgotten the importance of play, and instead fill our time with more stuff and more mindness scrolling in a bid to feel some kind of connection. Enchantment reminds us to slow down and be inspired by the beauty of nature. To respect its raw energy and absorb its breath-taking beauty.

This is a book to savour and absorb. Collectively our souls are tired, but we can recharge again by being in nature, remaining soft and finding our child-like wonder again.

'The awe-inspiring is all around us, all the time. It is transformed by our deliberate attention. It becomes valuable when we value it'.

A beautiful book. This resonated with me in many parts. Not my normal kind of book to read but enjoyed it.

A wonderful read: I started this book just as Spring was awaking in the garden, a welcome diversion between fiction books. I found this narrative splendidly written, relatable and inspiring. May’s opening pages, her words on the Pandemic and the after-effects, that disjointed feeling, were significant; my attention was held throughout and I enjoyed the easy flow of May’s writing, her meandering thoughts, recollections, ideas and interconnections. This is an intimate journey of the senses and mind, opening a curiosity and revelation in the reader. It made me stop and take note of the joy and beauty of the little things. This is a narrative that reveres the opening up, stepping out and immersing oneself back into the world’s fabric after the lockdowns. A contemplative read that fully absorbed my attention. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy to read.

I don’t think this will surprise anyone but the first thing that drew me to this book was this absolutely stunning cover. It is just gorgeous and captures your attention instantly 😍✨

I am openly a very spiritual girlie and so in theory this book should have blown me away and it saddens me that it left me a little underwhelmed. It just kind of lost me in the middle and I didn’t find myself wanting to pick it up as often as I’d like. I think any book that even hints at the lockdown just annoys me? Definitely a trigger of mine 🙈

But I guess that’s the beauty of this space - what doesn’t hit home for one will most definitely ring true for another. I can absolutely see others loving and connecting deeply with it. The writing is so beautifully poetic and lyrical, and as you read you feel like you are being comforted and held in such a safe space.

It serves as a reminder for us to really look at what brings us joy in our lives, to take those moments for ourselves each day to recharge and to truly notice all the beauty that exists around us and within 🥰✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and @netgalley for sending me this to review 🙏🏻

Katherine May’s ‘Wintering’ book spoke volumes to me with its emphasis on emerging out of the slough of despond that the uncertainties of a post-pandemic world brought in its wake, heightened by the experience of having SAD and seeking to survive and thrive during winter’s dreariest, darkest days.

In this insightful follow-up collection of essays, written in an intimate personal journal entry format, the quest is enchantment itself and its power to heal and awaken us to nature, to light, life, hope, and renewed possibilities.

If we’re left wondering what enchantment might mean to us and how to discover it for ourselves, May describes it in numerous ways as she gradually explores different facets of it:

“Enchantment is small wonder magnified through meaning, fascination caught in the web of fable and memory. It relies on small doses of awe, almost homeopathic: those quiet traces of fascination that are found only when we look for them.”

Through the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, we are led on a journey of the senses,where the author, our soul companion, fellow seeker and guide, reflects on her loss of wonder as an adult compared to the innate, intrinsic part of her it was as a child.

We’re warmly invited to join a lifelong journey of discovery and experience enchantment in ways that we might not have considered before, and to open ourselves up to the numinous as we pay closer attention to our wondrous world. A delightful, inspiring, enchanting read, one to return to again and again. Grateful thanks to Faber and Faber Ltd and NetGalley for the ARC.

It was the first book I read by this author and I found it lyrical and full of food for thought. The little things, the joy you can find in them.
There's a lot to grock in this book and I'm still thinking about what I read.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book.

I loved Wintering, so I was very excited to read this book, Enchantment, from Katherine May. It feels like the perfect follow-up. If Wintering was about curling up and accepting fallow times, Enchantment is about the joy of small things, about emerging, blinking, into the light and seeing how magical the world is. It's a spring book, a book of everyday magic. It feels important, too, as we continue to emerge from the pandemic world - when we all retreated and re-grouped - to have a book that celebrates opening up and re-joining the world.

I've re-read Wintering several times., and I can see that I'll do the same with Enchantment. It's a lovely book.