Knowing what to sidestep has been just as valuable as knowing what to embrace. That’s the main thing I took from Gods of the Blood by Mattias Gardell.
Not cozy reading, obviously. But it breaks down how fascist movements have co-opted pagan and new age concepts in ways that look pretty normal on the surface. It’s been more useful than half the ‘friendly’ guides people usually recommend. A lot of standard material turns out to have some really ugly roots, and you don’t always realize until someone lays it out for you.