#BookReview: Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Why are we so scared of what is different?

We judge. We shun. We shut out. We close our minds to what we don’t understand but yet we could learn so much from someone who leads a life in an unorthodox way or thinks differently than us.

Kya is the pariah of the marshes of the North Carolina Bayou. Forced to raise herself when her family leaves her alone in a shack near the bayou and she must learn the art of human survival. The entire town doesn’t rush to help her but instead believes the absolute worst of her, and outside of a fisherman’s wharf style shop near the bayou, she learns to survive one pot of grits at a time.

The plot and character cadence reminded me of a Bayou version of Little House on the Prairie at first, but unlike Laura Ingalls, Kya’s closest friends are the beachside seagulls.

My favorite aspects of this story were how the author chose to entwine nature and poetry throughout which kept me reading, along with this heart-wrenching pull in my soul to see Kya grow stronger and stronger as the pages turned.

It reads like a good murder mystery but with the strong emotive pull of poetic prose, with a love against all odds storyline thrown in. The descriptions of the marshlands were my favorite and spoke to the author’s background in Zoology and Animal Behavior.

The moral of Where The Crawdads Sing to me is not to use one aspect of someone’s identity to box them in or come to conclusions about them. There is treasure -curious humans that we are- hidden in the depths. The depths of the Bayou, the depths of a poem, and the depths of any human soul.

Sometimes you must dare to venture forth an uncharted path to find the treasures of life, even precious human life.

This review was written for no compensation and is originally written in response to the reading of Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. If you enjoyed this review, feel free to buy me a coffee.

#BookReview: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is a beautiful story that tells of the healing power of nature, the love between family, and the ties that bind our ancestry. Tom Olson is heading out on a backpacking trip in the Olympic Peninsula Wilderness in Washington State with his friends when a knock sounds at his door. On the other side of that door stands Sarah Cooley, an abandoned thirteen year old girl. Come to find out, that thirteen year old isn’t a runaway or a foster child but his long-lost granddaughter. Along this trip comes a story that is a coming together of both Hatchet and A Call In the Wild as the story proves that no matter where you go, it’s what you’re made of that shows when your only choice is to survive.

While reading the book, I found myself instantly enthralled with Sheldon’s writing style. How it sweeps you in like a breeze along a hiking trail. I reminisced about reading books that had similar storylines and plot points in my youth, and what it felt like to escape inside a book again. Reading this book made me love reading again, and for that was the biggest aspect of all. There are few books that I read as an adult and thoroughly enjoy but this one kept me reading, I enjoyed learning nature and geological facts while reading as well as being swept up in the storytelling of the Native American ancestral stories.

Some aspects of the book were two overwhelming with geological facts and I found myself not being able to stay focused in those parts. The emphasis of the strong main characters were what would pull me back in and remind me why I began to read this book and fall in love with this story: Tom and Sarah’s bond was definitely something I connected with on many levels, and felt anyone could find a connection with when reading this book.

I rate this book four out of five stars because while it helped me fall in love with reading again because it reminded me of the stories of youth, it also contained a lot of detail within the geological fact parts that made me lose my focus while reading and actually struggle with certain levels of sensory overload.

My recommendation is that those who go to read this book are aware that a good ten to twenty chapters of the book are geological and nonfiction in writing, they do not read like fiction but instead contribute a lot to educate the reader of real life issues with the ecosystem, etc.

I found no errors while reading but am unsure if I would read the follow-up books in this series because of the geological memoir like sections of the book.

#PoetryMonth: I Found My Heart Will Show You the Strength and Heart of a Woman

Opening Stacie Ann Green Taylor’s collection, I found salve for my wounds, solace for my soul, and my heart felt baptized in holy water’s dew.

After reading this collection, I am encouraged, inspired, her lyrical words and heart-stopping word choice gave me a new source of power.

I am woman.
I am broken.
I once was bruised.

Yet, thanks to this collection,
my heart has arisen anew.

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#NationalPoetryMonth: Grow, Heal, and Thrive With The Evolution of a Girl by Lauren Bowman

The Evolution of A Girl will have you bent, broken, rooting for the flower in all of us to water one another and rise above toxic masculinity, sexual assault, and the difference between love and lust.

These poems empower you and help you see that being born a girl in a man’s world isn’t heartbreaking but a chance for you to grow, heal, and thrive.

Enjoyed this review? Book one for your own book for only $40.

#PoetryMonth: To Walk On Moonbeams by ZombearWrites is a Sweet Taste of Moonlit Poetry

ZombearWrites is a clever soul full of vibrancy and wonder but still her words pinpoint a pain only few know: the pain of a heartbreak.

To Walk on Moonbeams is a petite collection discussing the painful and powerful things that make life worth living.

Enjoyed this review? This review was done in observance of National Poetry Month and to bring awareness to rising talent within the poetry community. The Smart Cookie Philes is an American based small business. To order one for your book, do so here.

#NationalPoetryMonth: Toxicity and Resilience Following Heartbreak Result in a Sunflower With Thorns

Kleio Mousa is a beautiful sunflower with thorns.

Her poetry is simple yet elegant but her thorns will slice you wide open, sever the vein of your heart, until you find yourself and you fall in love with that person again.

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#NationalPoetryMonth: Beekeeper by Blake Auden Book Review

ever have I ever thought to compare the noisiness of love and heartbreak to a colony of bees but Auden does so effortlessly.

His poetry is raw, emotive, and timely, neither sloppy or slimy. It’s free verse instead of rhymed meter.

The Beekeeper will resonate with anyone who has felt the sting of love’s heartbreak, and the memories and processing of letting someone go long after they left.

The Smart Cookie Philes provided this review FREE of charge in honor of National Poetry Month and a low number of content creators who don’t feature poets or poetry books.

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#NationalPoetryMonth: All Things I Should’ve Told You by Shayla Raquel Book Review

Poetry is this beautiful snippet into the window of someone’s soul and so is the case with Raquel’s collection.

The short collection offers much perspective into what it means to grieve the loss of a relative or friend, a love or romance that had to end, and the gain of finding hope in a love that wraps you up on both the good and bad days, and even the hope of finding Christ.

One thing is certain

Poetry is a nice

Reprieve from memoir and fiction

But anyone who reads this collection

Will find a new vice

Unraveling

With the ink of this author’s pen.

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#NationalPoetryMonth: Cerebral Fossil by S.S. Baker is Food For Your Mind and Your Heart

Sometimes in life, without looking, we find all you weren’t searching for. With a unique cadence and story-telling rhythm Shaye Baker’s Cerebral Fossil will have you engrossed from page one.

The collection was inspired by the tragic event, the author’s unfortunate loss of his younger brother. The poems discuss these emotions and all those associated with life, death, grief, and the in-between.

Can, Can, Can, Tethered, Breathe, Garden District, A Fire Pit Story, and God Hates were my favorites yet the poem I personally resonated with was Seeds to Grow.

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#NationalPoetryMonth: Medicine That Burns by Molly S. Hillery is a dark liquor of life’s hard to swallow truths

Hillery is no product of trauma. She is a beautiful rose, rising high above what tried to bury her, end her, and silence her, one poem at a time. She is the voice of those who know the struggle of suffering at the cold, dirty hands of trauma, mental illness, or society’s unmeetable expectations following the divorce and/or infidelity.

“Medicine That Burns” serves you a shot of the dark liquor of life, and helps you come to terms with “not being fine” in a world that glorifies perfection, illusive love stories, but doesn’t want to fall in love with the breaking process of all of us who are broken.

Whether you’ve had you had to mask your pain or survive by masking, Hillery’s poetry will have you drunk on the truth of what it means to live even if the pain still cripples your veins.

You can get a copy of The Medicine That Burns by Molly S. Hillery here and make sure to follow her on IG and wish her a happy book birthday!

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