Opening Song I wiggle my fingers. I wiggle my toes. I wiggle my ears. I wiggle my nose. I wiggle my shoulders. I wiggle my chin. I stretch my arms …
“Earth Day” Preschool storytime
“Earth Day” Preschool storytime
It’s Been Awhile…
Where would you go on a shopping spree?
I guess there are daily prompts now? Cool. I think it would be fun to shop at Harrod’s in London! I first read about it in 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. I’ve also started making book aesthetics in Pinterest here:
Just for fun. I like this format better than making a (sort of) collage aesthetic on Instagram. Also, I know it’s been a really long time since I’ve written in this blog. I don’t want to give up though. I’ll just start lightly with sharing what I am currently reading and listening to.
There’s an annual writing contest that my library system hosts and I think I might submit something. We shall see.
– Kena
November Reads
Hi readers,
In our home, we celebrated and learned about Veterans Day and Native American Heritage Month. Below are a few of our reads and mini reviews for each:
Well, it’s December now but you wouldn’t be able to tell with all the warm weather we’ve been getting in Oklahoma. I don’t ever complain about nice weather… unless it’s supposed to be snowy weather.
-Kena
Hanukkah Books for #1000B4K
Hi readers,
For those who celebrate it, Happy Hanukkah! Lil bambino and I got some holiday books from the library to continue our journey of reading 1,000 books before Kindergarten. I think we’re in the 700s by now! Out of all the Hanukkah books we read, our top three favorites were:
• “How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Chanukah?” by Jane Yolen
• “Noah and the Eight Trucks of Hanukkah” by Nancy Rips
• “Sammy Spider’s Hanukkah Colors” by Sylvia A. Rouss
We also read some nonfiction books on Hanukkah, more Sammy Spider books about Hanukkah, and some other picture books too. We hope those celebrating have a wonderful week!
-Kena
October/November Update
Hi readers,
I’ve gotten myself into a reading pickle. I don’t know what my brain has been doing but I just keep putting down half-read books and then starting new ones. Don’t for one second believe what my Goodreads “currently reading” list says right now because I’m currently making myself focus on all of these books that I need to finish first…
One of those books is The Odyssey. Yep. I’m still reading that one. I went to a coffee shop tonight and read some more of it but half of the shop is no longer there because apparently a dispensary moved in and is using up that space now. So I had to sit at a tiny table for two in the literal middle of the shop… wasn’t a fan. However, it was still nice to go. I didn’t want to, but I made myself. I felt for Odysseus. I’m currently on Book 5 and paused at the part where Hermes talks to Calypso about letting Odysseus go because it’s not his fate to stay with her forever. When she tells Odysseus that he is to finally leave the island and go home, he doesn’t even believe it. He just spends his days crying on the beach because he misses his home so much, even though he’s in an immortal paradise with a perfect goddess. I can relate to feeling stuck for so long and deeply sad to think that you’ll never get out of it. Even when a change is presented to me I don’t quite believe it at first because it doesn’t seem real. I liked this quote from The Odyssey:
“If some god strikes me on the wine-dark sea, I will endure it. By now I am used to suffering- I have gone through so much… Let this come to.” -Odysseus
And also like Odysseus, I know it is not my fate to stay where I’m at or go back to where I’ve been. So I’m building up my courage and staying the course.
In other news, I saw a book called “Seinfood” on Sweet Pickle Books Instagram page and uhhhh HELLO I had to get it! “A food guide about nothing.” Ha! I’m finally watching all the Seinfeld seasons now that they’re on Netflix and it’s been grand. I’m actually really liking Kramer over everyone else… he’s just literally in his own planet but SO secure in who he is. I don’t care that he’s spastic or loud, he’s hilarious! But if I’m being completely honest, I am absolutely Elaine Benes. No grace whatsoever. Anyway, I took a screenshot of their post in case anyone wants to either a) follow Sweet Pickle Books, b) buy “Seinfood,” or c) all of the above.
It’s late and I really should work on easing my insomnia, but I just had to write this post. I am so so close to finishing The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling and when I do, I’ll try to remember to write a review!
Will write again soon!
-Kena
Opposite Day, Every Day!
My blog post is up on the Tulsa Library website! I wrote about why it’s good to start teaching concepts, like opposites, to babies and gave some examples of how you can do that. There’s a chance that a more in-depth version of this could be published in the Tulsa Kids magazine… but I don’t want to speak too soon! Check this blog post out if you have a little one at home!
https://www.tulsalibrary.org/kids-blog/opposite-day-every-day
-Kena
What I’ve Been Reading Lately
Hey readers,
This post will be a mixture of topics but all book related. First, I want to say that I am not in the best place emotionally to write a review for Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther. I plan on writing a review though, I just can’t right now. I also have been thinking of writing a post about the similarities, differences, and psychological aspects of tragic romances/unrequited love/forbidden love/etc. I think it would be interesting to not only write that post and dig deep into the characters of the books I’d write about, but also see what others think about that topic. What I can say about Werther though, is that it is an epistolary novel that takes readers on a trip through Werther’s downward spiral as he not only falls in love with a married woman, but I dare say that he becomes limerent over her. It has such a heartbreaking ending. Even though it didn’t end much different than stories like Ethan Frome, Wuthering Heights, or The Great Gatsby, it just happened abruptly, like you’re riding on a rollercoaster and it’s going downhill really fast and then *screech* you reach the end and that’s it. No going downhill and then a slow ride the rest of the way to the end, giving you a chance to catch your breath. Nope. Goethe knows how to pull heartstrings. It just… ended horribly for Werther… and I was left shocked that an author would do that to their character. It’s an unrequited love story that does not make a reader chomping at the bit for more eyes meeting across the room, more heart palpitating moments, more chances at life finally turning around and letting the two people have a shot at being together. Werther leaves readers with a sick feeling that Werther should have been pried apart from his love interest a long time ago.
In other bookish news, I’m still reading The Odyssey. I took a class called Ancient Masterpieces in World Literature on edX.org and this was one of the works discussed. The Epic of Gilgamesh was the first book discussed and analyzed, and that was a fascinating read! Like many others, I was intrigued by the parts that contained the conversations between Gilgamesh and someone who closely represents, (if not actually based on) the biblical Noah. He is not called Noah in Gilgamesh though, but Utnapishtim. All of that would have to be further discussed in a separate post, but nonetheless it was a great choice for the first piece to read. Even though I’m done auditing the class, I am slowly but surely going over the rest of the works mentioned and will casually go over the notes I took.
I am also listening to audiobooks from the Nancy Drew Diaries series. Those are light and fun reads when I commute to and from work or go on stroller walks. I find it easier to keep up with children and tween books by listening to them so that I don’t feel overwhelmed with those on top of my pleasure reading books and the board books and picture books that I get for my lil bambino. After I’ve listened to a few more in this series I think I’ll post mini reviews for these Diaries on my Instagram page.
In closing, I will share three things that make me happy today since I am working through CBT mindfulness exercises and believe that intentionally focusing on the positives in life will eventually overcome the negatives:
1) I made a chocolate mug cake. Enough said.
2) Even though my car is in the shop yet again, money just pouring down the drain, I choose to remain in a grateful state of mind that I have a vehicle to drive and the money to have it repaired. That is a privilege that I do not want to take for granted.
3) The opportunity to spend time with my child and watch his personality grow always makes me happy! He is already such a prankster too, and he makes me laugh! I love him.
If you’ve made it this far, you should also write or think of three things that made you happy today. Share them with me if you’d like, but definitely take those three happy thoughts and hold onto them for the rest of the day.
-Kena
Book Review: Migrations
Hello readers,
I started this book review back in January… I haven’t read a novel that moved me to tears in a long time and add several years of not writing book reviews, I was met with writer’s block. Migrations ripped me apart and I still cannot stop thinking about it, but I am now in a place in life where I have found my voice again and would like to share with you all what I have to say.
Franny Stone is in constant motion. Always leaving, never staying long. If she leaves first, then no one can leave her. She’s ready to live a willfully detached existence until beautiful and scientific Niall comes into her life and makes her question everything. When tragedy strikes, Franny decides to venture off on her last journey, and does so by talking her way into the hearts of the Saghani crew, who become the family she didn’t know she was missing. Franny and the Saghani crew traverse unknown waters as they follow the last Arctic terns on their migration in a dying world. Arctic terns have the longest migration of all animals, and like the terns, Franny must make the journey toward healing from her past in order to survive. As Franny moves from Ireland to Australia, to all over the Atlantic Ocean heading towards Antarctica, Charlotte McConaghy ushers readers through the rough waters of the consequences of Franny’s actions, and what it means to go to great lengths to find redemption. This devastating tale will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
Content Warning (CW): suicide, suicidal ideation, body horror (car wreck), sexual assault, stillbirth. This review does not contain spoilers, the content warning is there for if you decide to read the novel.
Although this is a tragedy, I was led to believe that this novel would mostly be about climate change, and it is… but also not really. You know what I think constantly goes through Franny’s head? This thought: “If I leave first then nothing can hurt me.” She is psychologically scarred and at one point in her life she was ready to live willfully detached to reality. Then she meets Niall. The one person who she feels comfortable and safe around to finally stay still. Live. Franny is met with a cruel fate though, and when she is finally ready to stop running, tragedy strikes. I sometimes used to criticize lessons in English classes where we’d have to analyze certain aspects of a novel, like the symbolism of colors (for example, the white curtains in The Great Gatsby… hello, why can’t they just be white for aesthetics??) However, I found myself analyzing Franny Stone with a magnifying glass as if she were an ant. Readers cannot deny that Franny has, at the very least, C-PTSD. It’s palpable. She experienced enough childhood trauma that she actually suffers memory loss of certain events in her life until Niall, gently, brings awareness back to everything so that she can properly heal. While Niall isn’t the one who helps Franny find her path towards healing, she does find healing when she is with the Saghani crew. They are the family she never had. All wanderers. The theme is about searching for something important and the lengths people will go to find it. Franny is searching for redemption and healing, the Saghani crew are trying to find their place in the world that hates them simply because of their profession in fishing, Niall is finding solutions for animal extinction and climate change, and the last Arctic terns are searching for their source of food.
I invite you to primarily focus on all of the parts that are about Franny and Niall’s relationship, and I would argue that the rest of the plot will make sense based off of their dynamic. This is about a love story that parallels with a dying world. Migrations asks you what you would do for someone/something you love, and answers with Franny’s extraordinary example. The time she spends with the crew of the Saghani and their migration with the Earth’s last Arctic terns is still important though, because like the Arctic terns, Franny must make the journey towards healing in order to truly live her life. Her travels with the crew propels her toward an acceptance she has fought for years, and redemption is at the end of that acceptance. It is also a tragic love story of the world that we now know, and how our humanly actions affect the flora and fauna of this Earth for good or bad. McConaghy shows us what the consequences would look like if we all continue down a bad path. Migrations is a forlorn landscape, yet readers must make the journey with Franny as she picks up pieces of her life and past trauma to put together a purpose for a greater good.
I loved reading this story and I hope you do too. I also highly recommend a box of tissues by your side when you read Migrations.
Pro(s):
• Character development is on point. Aside from Franny, McConaghy develops each character enough that readers understand who they are but does not bombard you with unnecessary details.
• Wanderlust. This book will give you serious wanderlust!
Con(s):
• Do not read this for a story about climate change unless you are content with the climate change issues being a background theme. As stated earlier, the theme is about searching but truthfully more so about survival. There are many examples of survival in this story but not all are in relation to plants and animals trying to survive in a dying world. In fact, it is casually mentioned that there are plenty of animals that are extinct at this point, but McConaghy does not attempt to accurately describe how this affects ecosystems around the world. It’s not that she’s wrong in what she does write about, because she does give examples throughout the novel, it’s just that this story isn’t required to reveal lengthy details of the affects because it’s not supposed to be focused on climate change.
Favorite Quotes:
“I have always been frightened of dead things, birds more so than anything else. There is nothing so disturbing as a creature born to flight being bound to dull lifelessness.” (43)
“If I had the power, I’d carry the birds all the way. Protect them from the journey’s difficulty. Then again, it’s a fool who tries to protect a creature from its own instincts.”
“I find mine in the sky again, leading the way. She is smaller and smaller, halved and halved again. Don’t, I whisper, inside. Don’t leave. But I know she must. It’s in her nature.” (59)
“Even though they are as varied as a group of people can be, I can tell they are the same, all of these sailors. Something was missing in their lives on land, and they went seeking the answer. Whatever it was, I don’t doubt for a second that they each found it. They are migrants of land, and they love it out here on an ocean that offered them a different way of life, they love this boat, and, as much as they may bicker and fight, they love each other.” (76)
“I’m writing down the addresses when Niall Lynch walks past the row of computers with a pile of books in his arms. He doesn’t look at me but my eyes are pulled to him as if by gravity, or perhaps something less scientific, something for which I don’t yet have a name… I’ve been to his lectures but he hasn’t looked at me once and maybe this is all part of his design because he has turned me effortlessly into a creature made of obsession.” (82)
“My life has been a migration without a destination, and that in itself is senseless. I leave for no reason, just to be moving, and it breaks my heart a thousand times, a million. It’s a relief to at last have a purpose. I wonder what it will feel like to stop… We are, all of us, given such a brief moment of time together, it hardly seems fair. But it’s precious, and maybe it’s enough, and maybe it’s right that our bodies dissolve into the earth, giving out energy back to it… and maybe it’s right that our consciousness rests. The thought is peaceful. When I go there will be nothing of me left behind. No children to carry on my genes. No art to commemorate my name, nothing written down, no great acts. I think of the impact of a life like that. It sounds quiet, and so small as to be invisible. It sounds like the unexplored, unseen Point Nemo. But I know better than that. A life’s impact can be measured by what it gives and what it leaves behind, but it can also be measured by what it steals from the world.” (89-90)
“Niall told me on our wedding night, as we gazed into the wild Atlantic, that for him it was because he’d dreamed of me before we met. “Not you, exactly. Of course. But something that felt as you did that night… It was so familiar. I recognized you.” “What did it feel like?” He thought for a while and then said, “Something scientific.” This, I accepted- a tad disappointed- was his cynicism. But I was wrong. It remains to this day the most romantic thing he has ever said to me, only I didn’t know that until much later.” (92)
“I lie in the sea and feel more lost than ever, because I’m not meant to be homesick, I’m not meant to long for the things I have always been so desperate to leave. It isn’t fair to be the kind of creature who is able to love but unable to stay.”
“It’s impossible to control someone else’s capacity for forgiveness.” (194)
“Willful detachment is a very dangerous state of mind.” (222)
“Before my wife was my wife, she was a creature I studied. Now, this very morning, her fingers were splayed over the lump by her belly button, the elbow or fist or foot pressing itself toward us, wriggling to the sound of my voice, reaching to be closer. It moved, this tiny person, and Franny’s eyes shone like a light so bright as she looked at me, looked in astonishment, in fear and in joy. She loves this child, and it’s her cage. I think she only agreed to keep it because she wanted me to be left with something when she breaks free. The thing that calls to her, whatever it is, will call again. But she has forgotten my promise. I wait, always. Our daughter will wait with me. And maybe one day she too will leave, off on an adventure. And then I will wait for her, too.” (241-242)
“Mam used to tell me to look for the clues. “The clues to what?” I asked for the first time. “To life. They’re hidden everywhere.” ” (254)
Recommended Music:
I’ve always liked recommending songs that I’ve listened to while reading a particular novel, and here are two songs I’d recommend for Migrations:
1) “Experience” by: Ludovico Einaudi
2) “Frigate Birds” by: Cosmo Sheldrake
Read-Alikes:
I’m sure there are read-alikes to Migrations, but this honestly stood out to me as a work all on it’s own.
-Kena
Thoughts and Feelings
I try so hard to revive the lively spirit I used to have in regards to book reviews. I started my first book blog shortly after high school and I had so much fun with it. I was crap at consistent blogging but I posted whenever I had the opportunity (and didn’t forget.) I practically lived in the first library I worked at. Literally. I had a mini stash of cereal and milk along with my own creamer for coffee in the staff refrigerator. We all had keys to the building so I would go in before opening and make a pot of coffee, eat a bowl of cereal, and just wander around the stacks until it was time to open. I didn’t even work all day, I worked the closing shift and was only part-time. I would be there before opening, then ride my bike to campus to my classes, then I’d come back to work, then I’d go to wherever I was living or whoever I was staying with at the time.
Maybe it was the fact that I was constantly surrounded by books that inspired me. Maybe it was because at that time of my life I still believed in my abilities. Ability to write, review, and recommend anything book related. Picking up the book blog again after so long almost makes me feel like a fraud. Why now? Why ever? What good am I now when I’ve been out of the game for so long? My writing skills are worse than before; I sound like such a child. And things have drastically improved in the book world thanks to social media. Booktubers, aesthetically pleasing Instagram accounts, tons of celebrity book clubs, etc. Who am I in the sea of literary bliss and beauty? Most likely no one.
So again… why now? Why ever? I do it because I must. If there’s one thing that I can confidently say is part of my identity, it is books. So, I will push past the feelings of insecurity and push forward with posting reviews and other bookish content, even if it’s crappy content. Past the insecurity is my happiness for this hobby and I will always strive to keep that happiness.
-Kena
Book Review: The Flight Girls
Hey there! I’m finally able to share my review of the novel The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar. I read this with one of my best friends and it was so nice to read together! It’s been over a year since I last saw her, so reading and discussing books with each other along with keeping in touch through social media has bridged the gap. Thank you Sam for suggesting this book to me!
Audrey Coltrane is independent and laser-focused on one thing: her passion for flying. From learning how to fly on a little airfield in Texas to training military pilots in Hawaii, she feels most like herself when she’s in the sky. When the coy and handsome Lieutenant James Hart fits into Audrey’s life like a puzzle piece she didn’t know she was missing, it leaves her confused about her plans for life for the first time. After witnessing the bombing of Pearl Harbor together, they both feel called to serve their country, leading Audrey into the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program and James to fight overseas. In Noelle Salazar’s first novel, we are taken on a journey through the hardships and friendships that Audrey experiences during her time as a WASP. She forms bonds with her fellow, female pilots and it strengthens her spirit throughout times of darkness, especially when James goes missing. The Flight Girls is a touching story of love, adventure, and determination while bringing to light a piece of history that deserves more recognition.
Pros:
-I had never heard of the WASPs before reading The Flight Girls and I was baffled by how that piece of history was not taught in school! Those women were true badasses and I am eager to learn more about them!
-The friendships Audrey makes with fellow pilots in Hawaii and with other WASPs is powerful. I especially loved the friendship between Audrey and Carol Ann. Honestly, Salazar paints a fantastic portrait of friendship.
-The friendship/relationship that Audrey and James have is the perfect war-time, “you’ll always have a piece of my heart wherever you go” vibe and I ate that up! I’m a sucker for a good romance story.
Cons:
-This is advertised as a fictional story about the WASPs but when you dive in it’s really only about Audrey’s journey. The title led me to believe that other characters would be focused on, like a story pie and each character would have a slice, but it really is just about Audrey. Salazar gives the readers just enough character background of the other women that she spends time with, but not enough for them to be well-rounded characters. The Flight Girl would’ve been more fitting.
-The ending felt rushed. The scenes in France would have flowed well with the rest of the story if they were written more in-depth. The surprise ending didn’t feel authentic. It didn’t evoke strong emotions from me. However, I’m still glad it ended the way it did and if there is ever a movie adaptation of this novel, that ending would make me bawl! There’s something about reading a scene versus seeing it played out on the big screen that translates the depth of what is going on differently, and I dare say that sometimes it is better understood on screen.
-Salazar’s writing style is straightforward and reads as if you were reading diary entries about Audrey. Although her writing style isn’t necessarily bad, I personally tend to lose focus at times with this style. There is a lot of dialogue and a lot of telling the readers what conflicts Audrey goes through rather than describing her conflicts.
I give this novel 3.5 stars out of 5. I truly did enjoy reading this though and it has peaked my interest in the WASPs and other period drama/period romance novels. Read-alikes include:
- Resistance Women by: Jennifer Chiaverini
- The Lost Girls of Paris by: Pam Jenoff
- Lost Among the Living by: Simone St. James
My Novel Garden 