Rating: 
Summary: Not perfect, but what book is?
Review: I haven't read this book in a few years, but I have to say it was the first book that got me interested in Witchcraft and "alternative" spirituality. I am now almost 21, and I read this book when I was 12, I think it must have first come out back then. Silver explained everything in easy to understand language, and it dispelled my fear that Witchcraft was evil and made me thirst for more knowledge on the subject. I would not say it's horrid by far. I would say that this would be a great book for teenagers or even pre-teens..
Rating: 
Summary: Most Definitely a 101 Book
Review: "To Ride a Silver Broomstick" is most definitely another Wicca 101 book. It's written to give a very brief introduction to Wicca, Witchcraft and _some_ of the practise and spirituality which lies beneath it all. It tends to confuse Witch, Wicca, Wiccan, and Witchcraft- taking them as synonymous terms.Overall this book serves as a fairly decent introduction to Wicca, even if I don't buy into the "New Generation" bit. Ravenwolf's style is warm, personable, and humourous. The book is easy to read and the chapters convey their intended information in a useful format. If you're new to Wicca I would recommend that you read in addition to this Scott Cunningham's "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner," Raymond Buckland's "The Complete Book of Witchcraft," and Amber Laine Fisher's "Philosophy of Wicca." The above list isn't exhaustive nor authoratative, merely my own personal recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and Warm, but please drop the Barbie...
Review: I have been reading about the Craft and studying for the past three years. I will not lie to you and say that this book was downright horrid (it was one of my first). But I have read a rather large number of books on the Craft, and this just is to baby-ish. This book is warm and funny, but I just didn't get appeal from it. It had no discription of Wiccan Spirituality and it is just to kiddy. Half of the time I was reading the book I felt as though it just didn't have that "Witchy" feeling to it. I don't want to insult Silver, as the other reviewer said does not uphold Wiccan ideals, but the book was just not good. It was very fluffy bunny and I felt no "Wicca" coming from it. I won't accuse Silver of being a false witch like Pat Robinson would call Mother Theresea a false Christian, but she doesn't have the attitude of a Witch. And it doesn't seem she has the discipine either. If you want true Wicca please try a book by Phyllis Curott and/or Starhawk and Cunningham/Buckland/Farrars. I love Silvers warm, motherly attitude, but I just don't agree with the whole "New Generation" dogma. Blessed Be*
Rating:
Summary: Ho-Hum
Review: This book has a lot of good information. I don't like the idea that it targets teenagers, however. It has a sort of "add water and stir" approach to becoming a witch that I think is a little simplistic. Anyone wishing to explore the craft would find this book useful, but a lot of other reading would be necessary.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVE this book! A must have!
Review: I absolutely love this book. It has so much wonderful information in it and is a great starter book as well IMO. And should be rated a 5 star IMO, but to each his own I suppose! When I want to learn about something I want something that is clear and easy to read and understand and this book is all that an more.
I love the way this woman writes, no fluffy bunny stuff, all good info..A good book to have and keep in your collection.
~Blessings~
Rating:
Summary: Great Wicca and Magick 101
Review: This is a great book for begginers. It is fairly long and that is why I liked it, the information in this book is also very accurate. You will learn alot from this wonderful book. It actually makes you write and think about things. ...I think that some people either love or hate Mrs.RavenWolf, but I do neither, I just read and judge her work, and yes there are some of her books that I hate.(i.e. "Teen Witch") I think that if you are a begginer I think that you should read this book and decide for yourself. After all can you belive those reviewers who "hate" her books and they have reviewed them all, I think that only shows us that they don't even read the books they review. To say more about the book, here are some things you should know. Ther are four sections in this book, and I am going to talk about all four of them. Section one is called "Backround Shadows". This section talks about how to begin practicing Wicca and it has some good "rules" that you might want to follow. Then it has a chapter on the words that are used in the Craft. Then it has a chapters on religion and science, the Sabbats and Esbats, and then finally it has a chapter on different Gods and Goddesses. Section two is called "Building Shadows". This secton has all things about visuslization, meditation, sacred space, cleansing and charging, and how to find your magickal name. It also has a chapter on how to record things in your BoS. Section three is called "Performing Shadows". This secton has alll things about magick, ritual, divination, going to Pagan festivals and talking to other Pagans, gems, herbs, and healing magick. It also has a chapter on spellcasting. Section four is called "Challenging Shadows". This section has chapters on, Summerland, coming out of the closet, astral projection and other things that go with "Mind Power". This book also has good appendixes on history of the Craft, Pagan newsletters, and Pagan/Wiccan press alliance. If you are a begginer I sugest that you buy this book, it's 300 pages of good reading. What is there in this book that I should unlearn?
Rating:
Summary: It's Okay
Review: This is the first book I actually sat down and studied when I became interested in Wicca and Paganism. It's not a bad book for beginners, though I would recommend reading some of the classic books and authors along side of it to get a good broad look at the religion.
My main complaint is that while this book has useful stuff to get one started, I got the feeling that having elaborate rituals and a bulging closet of tools and notes was nesescary to be a good pagan. Looking back, I also find refering to Christians as "once borns" is insulting to one of their core beliefs, but you wouldn't know that from reading the reason for using the term given in the book. Finally, this book sooo needs better cover art! It's hard to take a book seriously when 'Spell Caster Barbie' is on the cover.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book but.........
Review: Silver RavenWolf is one of my favorite wiccan writers. She is quite informative, especially in this book. One of the things I respond to extremely well is humor, and believe me she has a ton of it. Her books are very enjoyable and make me laugh which makes things interesting. The information is very vast and I personally have learned quite a few things from her books but my problem with her Silver RavenWolf is her books are very preachy. She comes off as one of those people who thinks her religion is the correct one. This is something I find very annoying. In this particular book she often also sounds as if she is a Christo-Wicca (I believe the term is). Some one already mentioned this. And as someone also said, it is very confusing for new -bees. I do recommend this book, I enjoyed it very much, but be forwarded she can go off into tangents that can confuse new comers and annoy experienced practitioners. Make your own judgment, it's a good book but like any book it has it's down parts. ~Shadow
Rating: 
Summary: Do yourself a favor and skip it.
Review: I am aware of the effect this message will have on Mama Silver's legions: NONE. So to the others, I say the following: Please do us all a favor and skip this book. I've read it, I've been teaching Wicca since before Silver Ravenwolf existed, and this book really, really, really, is horrible. If you plan to coven, or even gather, with other Wiccans, you may well find yourself having to unlearn a lot of what is here....and this is her BEST work!
Silver is NOT the new generation. Hutton, Morrison, Currott, Cunningham, MacMorgan are the new generation. This is just old stuff real Wiccans threw out, slapped in new packaging.
When you purchase a book for the sake of owning a lot of books you feed into a capitalist mindset that says if it sells it must be good. Speak with your pocketbook and don't buy this one.
Rating: 
Summary: try something NOT published by Llewelyn Press!!!
Review: ok, i really try to give Silver Credit. She tries to bring Wicca and Withcraft down to Earth. but enough is enough. This is nothing more than fuzzy 101 stuff without any real substance. My main problem here is that this book is an intro which tries to cover everything and ends up accomplishing nothing. she spends an awful lot of time on magick, but not much on religion. some of her ethics are shady at times. so are some of her statistics. she also writes things in this book, but then later changes/clarifies it in her other books (ie: telling people to "summon, stir. and call the watchtowers, elements, angels etc", without explaining any of it. in later books she says that one should think about goals before doing any or all of the three...uhhh?????) finally, she is so concerned with archangels, God and Spirit, there were times i thought i was reading a book on Christianity! i have nothing against Christo-Wicca, but don't dump it in an intro book, it makes things too confusing! on the plus side, she provides an intro to people who don't have access to a coven are aren't interested in what Buckland is selling. this is always good. just do yourself a favor and expand your horizons. to be perfectly honest, this book, and all of her later stuff, left me feeling a bit stagnant. she's a great place to start, but definitely not the ultimate authority! which is why i love her resource guide. hopefully the dear reader will follow through and read everything they can. all in all, definite 101 stuff that needs to be expanded on or else you will go nowhere fast....
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