The Mythology Bible by Sarah Bartlett

By the title, it is obvious this book is an ambitious one and it is a decently thick one. Despite this, this book could be a lot thicker. The content in the book is good and the writing is nice to read with its straightforward nature, making the lack of what could be in the book disappointing. It gives a desire to want more and if the writer could work on a revision with a lot more added in, that would be amazing. It's a fantastic book held back by only adding a bit of each mythology and the lost potential is depressing to see.

Dragons: The Myths, Legends, & Lore by Doug Niles

Alike to the book on vampires that I reviewed it is not necessarily the best book to review here but many readers might find worthwhile and thankfully it is just as detailed. The book is going to be a good start to begin looking into dragon related mythology and dragons in literature. This makes it a perfect book for a person who may want to further look into in regards to dragons but isn't sure where to start.

Vampires: The Myths, Legends, & Lore by Aubrey Sherman

While this book is probably not the best to review on this particular type of blog, the content of the book is likely to going to be interesting for many reading this due to the nature of the book itself. It is thankfully detailed and shares many of the many stories related to vampires whether is be the myths, legends or lore behind them as the title perfectly describes. The book itself also gives a small amount of books and films to look into if you're into more vampire related films and literature but such a list is limited as to list even half of vampire related media would be worthy of a book itself.

Chinese Mythology: An Introduction by Anne Birrell

With this book being an introduction, it is very much straightforward with what the subject matter is on and focuses more on the lesser known gods. For this, it is much appreciated and its academic style is easy to understand making it great to read for those just beginning to learn about Chinese mythology.

There are also numerous references to ancient Chinese texts within its pages, to which at the end of the book a list of all the texts referenced in the book itself with its name in English and what it is called Chinese but with English letters. This is invaluable for such a book as this with plenty of books referenced, making it not a needed thing to have to go through the book again just to find a particular text brought up at one point or another.

For all that is mentioned above I love the book for it. I've already heard many stories on Sun Wukong, Guan Yu, Jade Emperor and Guanyin from other books on Chinese mythology so seeing a book that has little to nothing on them is rather refreshing and is different, especially when there are two classic Chinese books I can read to learn about them, even if just a bit.

Chinese Folktales: An Anthology by Yin-lien C. Chin, Yetta S. Center and Mildred Ross

As far as books on folklore go, this is one that is easy to pick up and to take your time to read. Objectively a short book, the compilation of stories allows to read a story one by one if you lack the time to sit down for an extended period of time.
The only downside about the book is that if you're familiar with the stories it contains it may feel a bit lacking to read them, the story within the book I know the best is that of Sun Wukong and the retelling of his story just abruptly ends.

The Forest In Folklore And Mythology by Alexander Porteous

As far as books go, the stories within its pages are plentiful but are so plentiful it'll be necessary to read through the book several times to help remember everything brought up in the book. Regardless of that this book makes for a great read due to its content, is right to the point to stating what the title says it's about and can make for a great book for someone who loves reading on folklore.

My Inspirations

As a youth I do have much to learn but like many others I do get inspired and what have inspired me throughout my life are the beliefs and mythologies of cultures.


I have been quite the fan of the game Age of Mythologies for many years and it has created much of my interest in religions across the globe. Though Age of Mythologies tells of the gods and goddesses of Egypt, Greece and of the Norse it gave limited knowledge and this is what probably gave the biggest spark with my interest in the gods and goddesses of Egypt. Though today my interest in Egypt is small I still watch shows about the beliefs of the ancient Egyptian’s and of the pharaohs when given the chance. And luckily today, I have more resources to learn about gods and goddesses of many more cultures then just of three to which I frequently use to my advantage. There are many inspiring stories to be told within mythologies such as to redeem oneself as it was with Hercules.
When I was between the ages ten to twelve I was learning Greek at school due to it being compulsory. I enjoyed it but after many years of not saying a word in Greek or having anything to keep my Greek as it was when I stopped learning the language, I remember nothing of it, but what has kept to my heart over the years from my Greek classes is of the Odyssey. To my luck I have been able to get my hands on the Odyssey itself earlier in the year thanks to needing to study it at school for one of my classes. The main man, Odysseus, I found to be a role model as soon as I originally heard the Odyssey. Odysseus himself continued on to get home to his wife and son despite the odds and the suffering he dealt with even when he got to his home land of Ithaca. It was also was his wits and quick thinking that kept Odysseus alive. This combination of a large will to do something aided with intelligence is what inspired me since childhood.

Since I am a small fan of Dragon Ball Z I do sometimes check up to see if there is anything new and one day I was wondering how the idea to create Dragon Ball Z itself came from. I did a bit of studying which lead me to Journey to the West and this is where the idea of Dragon Ball Z came from. Even the Japanese name of the monkey Journey to the West is mainly about, Son Goku, is where the name of the main character, Goku, from Dragon Ball Z is from. I eventually got myself Journey to the West to read and despite the large length of it I read from beginning to end. The monkey born from stone, Sun Wukong, is that monkey who went from a king of monkeys to a Buddha over the course of many, many years. Sun Wukong is the character who shows that even if you did great misdeeds in the past you can still atone for your previous actions and even reach Buddhahood, which I find highly inspiring.

This is what I have found inspiring within my life and many thanks to all of those have read this.