Anyone who knows me knows that I am a bibliophile - in the purest sense of the word... I love books - not just reading them but the actual idea of a book. I collect them and make them and often don’t care what’s in them as long as they are intriguing to look at or there is an interesting history to them.

It's because of this fascination with books as objects that I am one of the first to notice a great book in a film or television show. Now I am going to share with you my “top ten” books featured in the media. There are a ton more that I could mention. The top treasure being the “Grail Diary” from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. (Actually these are my top 10 mystical tomes and grimoires from TV and the movies.)

10. Bedknobs and Broomsticks - Two books in one (Maybe three). Aspiring witch, Eglantine Price, receives spells from a correspondence course in magic which she dutifully transcribes into her grimoire. It’s a small pocket notebook. We find out that the spells originate from a book in a vast and abandoned library. The final spell is actually found in a child’s comic book version of the original book.

9.The Darkhold - Lets give it up for the number one ancient book of magic in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by the elder god, Chthon at the beginning of time to hold all of his knowledge, this book survives the destruction of Atlantis and passes, in one form or another through human history. Its use creates the first Vampire. The pages of this book are seemingly indestructible and though the book itself is destroyed as a whole, the pages survive and make their way to people all over the world. Occasionally these pages are collected by ambitious scholars and the book is reassembled.

8. The Red Spellbook of Zatchbell - From the anime called Zatchbell, this book is mystically linked with its owner to unleash the powers of a Mamodo creature from another world. Spells are revealed as the reader becomes ready to accept them. Several of these books exist as each Mamodo has its own book. When a Mamodo is destroyed the book vanishes with it.

7. The Deathnote - From another anime (Deathnote) is not a grimoire but worth mentioning. The Deathnote is a book belonging to a shimigami or Japanese death god. Any human whose name is written in the book will die.

6. The Day Planner from Supernatural - A great example of how a Grimoire can be created through experience. This book contains all the notes and information gathered by a very experienced hunter of the paranormal. It only ranks this low on my list because, well, it’s a day planner.

5. The Necronomicon - Can you say over used? Okay so every malcontent in the mystical world seems to have some version of this book, the three I want to mention here are:
a. The Necronomicon from that great, if obscure movie called Cast a Deadly Spell from the early 1990s. It’s got all the size and weight any good book of evil should have.
b. The Necronomicon from that not so great, but even more obscure movie called Equinox made sometime in the seventies. Again, It just looks the part.
c. The Necronomicon(s) from the Evil Dead series of movies. I know it's supposed to be one book but it got redesigned. It’s bound in human skin with a FACE ON THE COVER! And it actually BITES Bruce Campbell.

4. Bette Midler’s spell book from Hocus Pocus. Along the same lines as the Evil dead series it has an eye on the cover that opens and closes and moves around. It even comes when it’s called. BoooooOOOOOOK!

3. Spiderwick’s Field Guide - I had never read the books but felt compelled to see the movie. At the beginning of the movie, Arthur Spiderwick quickly binds his notes into a book and seals them away. OMG what a book. I have to try and make a copy of that binding.

2. The Charmed BOS - The Book of Shadows. Big, thick, seemingly endless information. This book has become a classic and many people have made their own copies. Just look online to see them shown off.

1. The Big ONE - My all time favorite grimoire from the silver screen is the spell book of the sisters in Practical Magic. It’s got it all. Size, creepiness, and talk about useful, most of the actual spell components are stored right in the book! So that’s my list. Let’s have yours. Have I overlooked your own favorite? Let me know. I would love to add to my own dream library.