Join us in this year’s celebration of Bexley Day with Bexley Historical Society on Wednesday, August 6th at 7:00pm (in person and live stream). Larry Helman will share a new presentation: “10 Bexley Stories to Tell Your Grandchildren.” He will tell ten fascinating stories about Bexley’s history, ranging from airplanes, amusement parks, and the afterlife to traffic circles, polo fields, and a mysterious sighting. You will find these stories amusing and worth sharing with neighbors, friends, and family! Light refreshments will be provided. If you would like to receive an email reminder about this event, please register. Join us in person, or live stream this program on BPL’s YouTube channel.
To learn more information about Bexley’s history, visit Bexley Historical Society online or in-person (2080 Clifton Avenue). The museum is open on the first Sunday of every month from 1pm-3pm and is located next to the David H. Madison Community Pool in the former Jeffrey Mansion Caretaker’s Cottage. You can also email bexleyhistory@gmail.com or call 614.559.4360 to schedule an appointment. Happy Bexley Day!
Today’s book spotlight features a memoir I gravitated towards as if it was magnetic. I noticed it on the new shelf in the library lobby and felt literally pulled to examine it closer, drawn to the arrangement of pressed flowers on the cover, the unmarked sheet music background, and the black cursive typography of the title that appears to be scribed with a paintbrush. The title itself beckoned me; The Witch’s Daughter sounds like the stuff of dark fairytales and straight away inspired interest and intrigue.
Cover design aside, I later learned that Orenda Fink is part of the American dream pop duo, Azure Ray, who I am familiar with from my Bright Eyes days. Fink has toured and played with Bright Eyes and is married to the lead singer of the Faint who I also listened to during the early 2000s. What excited me most about reading her 2024 debut was to discover that while she is known for being a musician, she is a very talented writer.
The Witch’s Daughter is an excellent title for this memoir, but be advised, don’t go into it expecting too much info about witches or the occult. And if you are not into witchy stuff, don’t let the title dissuade you from picking it up either. It’s a memoir less about magic and more about complicated family relationships, more about music, mothers, and mental illness. Fink grapples with what she suspects is borderline personality disorder that presents in her mother, a subtype referred to as “The Witch.”
The Witch’s Daughter will appeal to anyone who likes memoir as a genre or reading stories about self-discovery. A coming-of-age tale, it traces Fink’s life from childhood into adulthood and details how she came to be a musician and songwriter, how she escaped from where she grew up, and how the gravity of her mother kept pulling her back.
Her mother’s possible mental illness is undiagnosed throughout the book, but by learning and reading about personality disorders Fink comes to understand her mother, her mother’s substance abuse, and their relationship together in ways that had previously been incomprehensible to her.
Book Summary
“From indie musician Orenda Fink, a memoir of a tumultuous childhood growing up with a mother who may have borderline personality disorder. Orenda Fink was raised by a darkly charismatic mother who insisted that they were both MAGIC… Fink’s searing prose brings the reader through these tumultuous highs and lows… and into a healed version of herself who is able to walk through the world without being crushed under the baggage of her childhood.”– Provided by publisher.
Reviews
“Equal parts cutting and compassionate, this tale of hard-won peace will resonate with readers wrestling with their own complicated families.” — Publishers Weekly
“A memorable book of raw, unvarnished recollections.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A master text on surviving trauma… I couldn’t put it down.” — Phoebe Bridgers
Podcast with the Author
Musician Orenda Fink on Glass Castles, Witchy Mothers, and Family Dysfunction | Shelf Life podcast
Read-Alike Titles
Just Kids by Patti Smith |book / audiobook (read by the author) |”An artist and musician recounts her romance, lifetime friendship, and shared love of art with Robert Mapplethorpe, in a memoir that includes such influential artists as Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, and William Burroughs.”
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy| book |”The iCarly and Sam & Cat star, after her controlling mother dies, gets the help she needs to overcome eating disorders, addiction and unhealthy relationships–and finally decides what she really wants for the first time in her life.”
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner |book |”The Japanese Breakfast indie pop star presents a full-length account of her viral New Yorker essay to share poignant reflections on her experiences of growing up Korean American, becoming a professional musician and caring for her terminally ill mother.”
Everything/Nothing/Someone by Alice Carriere |book |”This compelling literary debut tells the story of a young woman coming of age in the bohemian ’90s as she navigates through the challenges of adolescence and grapples with dissociative disorder.”
Music to Explore
Drawing Down the Moon by Azure Ray (2010) | YouTube
Matilda is a movie for library lovers. The little protagonist LOVES books. She LOVES to read. She LOVES her public library! The film came out in 1996, and I remember watching it for the first time and absolutely longing to be able to walk to the library like she does. To fill a little red wagon full of books and pull it home is the stuff of dreams — and maybe part of why I ended up working at a library. Wish fulfillment.
So, I was thrilled when my five-year-old niece picked Matilda for our summer movie night. Age five is a magically fun age to be obsessed with Matilda because Matilda is around five years old in the film. And there are plenty of other reasons why it’s an excellent movie night choice:
Page-to-screen! You can read Roald Dahl’s children’s novel of the same name. The film is praised for being faithful to the novel.
Roald Dahl’s bio is very interesting! According to Good Reads, “Roald Dahlwas a spy, ace fighter-pilot, chocolate historian, and medical inventor. He was also the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, and many more brilliant stories. He remains the World’s No. 1 Storyteller.” Wow! So cool!
Matilda’s red headband is iconic! Kick your movie night up a notch and have everybody wear one on watch night!
The film features so many fun food options! She has tea and cookies with Miss Honey, Miss Trunchbull has a box of fine chocolates, she feeds herself Cheerios with her brain powers and flips that baby carrot back at her brother. Oh, and she makes pancakes for herself when she’s four.
What began as just a week back in 1998 has grown into Great Outdoors Month, officially recognized by the U.S. Senate on June 5, 2019. It’s a national celebration meant to encourage people (you’re invited!) to explore and appreciate nature—for all its benefits: mental well-being, stronger communities, economic value, and of course, physical health.
Let me ask you something: What’s your favorite outdoor experience? Maybe it was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure—or just a small, peaceful moment under the trees. Here are a few of my own, paired with books that stir up something similar.
Walking the shoreline of Lake Michigan just after a rain shower—chilly sand between my toes and a remarkably calm feeling in the air. It was a moment of peace, even though all my senses were activated. 📚 Book pairing: Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr | A mystery set in the wilderness, this first Anna Pigeon novel weaves suspense with the rugged beauty of the outdoors—a fitting match for stormy skies and shifting sands. I’ve yet to physically visit the western U.S., but this book made me feel like I already have been baked in the sun.
Following the meandering boardwalk at my favorite nature preserve, no agenda, just the simple joy of seeing how the seasons shape this place. It’s a gentle kind of magic. 📚 Book pairing: Campfire stories. Volume II: Tales from America’s National Parks and Trails | A collection of essays, stories, and poems sharing unique perspectives on our national parks and trails. Revel in each park’s distinct landscape and allow yourself to be transported to the warm edge of the campfire ring.
Many a late summer evening in my parents’ backyard, and now also in my own, taking silly “artistic” photos of the plants and whispering to them how lovely they are. 📚 Book pairing:Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nationby Tiya Miles | An inspiring, thoughtful exploration of how nature shaped the lives and minds of groundbreaking women. Quiet, curious moments count, too.
If you’re looking for something to take with you into your own time outdoors, check out Braiding Sweetgrassby Robin Wall Kimmerer. It’s part science, part story, and part reminder that the land has always had something to say—we just need to slow down and listen.
But this month isn’t just about appreciating the outdoors—it’s also a time to reflect on access: who gets to enjoy outdoor spaces, who feels welcome, and how we can do better. 📚 For a deeper, more critical look: Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks by Mark David Spence. | This important work explores how Indigenous peoples were displaced during the creation of national parks—an essential reminder that our natural spaces carry complex histories.
So, whether you’re headed for a big adventure or just stepping outside for a few minutes of quiet, take a moment to appreciate the outdoors in whatever way works for you. And maybe let me know what your favorite outdoor moment has been. I’d love to hear it.
I wish I loved exercise as much as I love reading. Maybe even half as much as I love reading. I have no problem showing up for the current chapter I’m on. But lately I can’t get myself to exercise. For a while, I showed up for yoga, but now my mat gathers dust. When I started watching Scandinavian murder mysteries while on the stationary bike, I thought I’d solved my exercise problem once and for all. That felt like something I would and could do a couple times a week.
But here I am again, no mystery interesting enough to keep my feet on the pedals, inconsistent with everything I try. That is, everything except for walking.
I can get myself to walk because going on walks is something I do for my dog. For some reason, I get too up in my head when it comes to taking the time to do any kind of exercise for myself, but for him – it helps that he’s bossy about it and stands at the door with a demanding look on his face – I don’t think twice. He waits (almost) patiently while I grab shoes, sunglasses, and his leash, and off we go.
While I absolutely reap the benefits of these walks, I know I would talk myself out of it every time if I was to walk solo, for myself only rather than for Mondo. Any excuse will do. Most of the time my excuses to not exercise have to do with time and to-do lists. I’m sure that sounds familiar.
It’s ironic that exercise gives me anxiety because exercise happens to be great for combatting anxiety. So, therefore I’m grateful for Mondo’s help. Recently, upon our return from the park, I unhooked his leash and whispered, “Thank you.”
I said it out loud and have since made it part of our walks, like saying Namaste at the end of a yoga class. It gives closure to our walk and feels like an opportunity to honor both of our minds, bodies, and spirits, Mondo’s and mine. I thank him for getting me outside and on the move. I tell him, “Thank you for helping me get fresh air and vitamin D and for helping me notice the violets and the honey suckle. Thank you for helping me clear my head. Thank you for getting me the exercise I can’t seem to give myself.”
I don’t ruin all this gratitude by following it up with an apology, but sometimes I want to tell him I’m sorry I rely on him so much. But right now, this is what I need – his help, this help from a friend. And let’s be honest, he doesn’t mind. If he could respond he’d probably say, “Put your sorries in a sack. If this is what you need, let’s go on more walks!”
Mondo posing by Blacklick Creek
He thinks I’m walking him. But he’s the one pulling me out the door, down the sidewalk, along the creek, all the way to the park and back.
Occasionally I listen to a podcast or an audiobook or music. A lot of times I call my mom. Sometimes I pay attention to nature, to the wildflowers and the birds. Sometimes I simply pay attention to him, to how the sun highlights the blonde in his brindle pattern, to how adorable his pointy-eared shadow is, to the musical sound his dog tags make. I inevitably end up singing Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” in my head. “In the jingle jangle mornin’ I’ll come followin’ you” plays right in tune with the jingle jangle of Mondo’s tags as I follow him down the path.
It might be the best advice I’ve ever received or could ever give: Go take a walk. If that also means, go get a dog to take you on walks, if you’re at a place to take on that responsibility, I recommend that as well. In my experience, dogs are good for us, especially when it comes to consistency and accountability. Mondo helps me keep showing up.
At BPL, patrons of all-ages are invited to sign up for our SCR (Summer Community Read) program. Maybe, like me, you have vivid childhood memories of getting your summer reading prize, stamp, or coupon, at your local library. I remember the excitement of going to the library and walking up to the desk with my reading tracker in hand. While I have not been inside my childhood library for many years, I can still visualize the space in my head. Maybe your library memories are being made now, in adulthood and/or retirement. Don’t worry, there’s still the chance for you to make memories around summer reading!
Last Summer, my mom sent me an Instagram post from Books of Brilliance. The post contained a quote from writer Hillary Kelly: “Cruel that an adult can spend her whole summer reading but not have a library sheet to fill in with stickers to document her progress.”
Well, the good news is that you CAN get a library sheet to document your summer reading progress, even as an adult! We have a variety of water bottle/laptop stickers that you can earn, along with the chance to win door prizes, $100 Easton gift card, $50 Kroger gift card, gardening basket, coffee & tea basket, and more! This year’s theme is Color Our World. Make your summer more colorful with reading, fun, and prizes! Register on our website or in person at Bexley Public Library starting Friday, May 30th.We hope you join us!
Over the weekend, Saturday May 10, 2025, I honored World Collage Day by spending time at the table with various papers, scissors and a glue stick. Creativebug, the app available for free with your library card, recently released a new series of videos called “Collage Homage: 15 Women Artists to Know,” and I’ve been working through the tutorials with great joy.
Each episode features an introduction to a woman artist and their particular collage style and follows with a tutorial to imitate that style. I have found the videos both engaging and inspiring and have stretched my artistic boundaries in directions I would not have gone in otherwise.
image by Juliana Farrington
When it comes to art making, I am a person who works well with prompts. I like just enough good orderly direction to get me started. A prompt gives my brain a place to go, to find a focus, to take that first step with some sense of where I’m going. Often the hardest part with creative endeavors is getting started. I like to use Creativebug to help me begin, to set myself up for the desired goal of entering a flow state, where I’m just in it, absorbed enough to lose track of time.
images by Juliana Farrington
No matter how many collages I make I turn to Creativebug again and again to help get my mind situated into art mode, to get settled in with intention. Log in with your library card and see what Creativebug might help you create. For even more inspiration, see the list of books below. Happy crafting 🙂
Contemporary Collage Inspiration
Collage: Contemporary Artists Hunt and Gather, Cut and Paste, Mash Up and Transform by Danielle Krysa |A showcase of cutting-edge contemporary art from across the globe features galleries of collage by 30 practitioners, from the surreal landscapes of Beth Hoeckel to Fabien Souche’s humorous appropriations of pop culture. Each artist has also created a new piece especially for this book — all using the same original image, but with results as wildly diverse as the medium of collage itself.
Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art | Organized in an A-Z sequence by artist, the book features both well-known collagists including Njideka Akunyili Crosby; Ellen Gallagher; Peter Kennard; Linder, Christian Marclay; Wangechi Mutu; Deborah Roberts; Martha Rosler; and Mickalene Thomas, and a plethora of lesser-known names deserving of greater attention. Vitamin C+ showcases 108 living artists who employ collage as a central part of their visual-art practice, as selected by 69 leading experts, including museum directors, curators, critics, and collectors.
If You Can Cut You Can Collage: From Paper Scraps to Works of Art by Hollie Chastain | If You Can Cut, You Can Collage is specially designed for people who feel like they can’t make art. Want to know a secret? You can! You just need a little inspiration, instruction, and confidence.
Picture yourself as a child in the 5th generation of home video game consoles–a time when the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Sega Saturn stood like titans, engaged in a fiery battle for your imagination. You are buckled into the backseat of the family car, clutching your new GameStop gift card like it’s a golden ticket, your mind already drifting to the aisles that await. You can already see them in your head: rows of game cases lined like soldiers with their glossy covers bursting with heroes, villains, and far off lands calling to you. You push past your parents and feel the cool air as the automatic doors whoosh open. Your eyes adjust to the fluorescent lights, and you see the shelves stretching endlessly, glowing like a treasure trove of pixelated promises. You wander, starry eyed through the electric wonderland, your hands dragging along the spines of cases, each one whispering a new adventure to your imagination.
You may have taken various tests/quizzes to figure out your personality type/s (Enneagram, Myers Briggs, etc). Have you ever considered what your reader personality type is? I recently found this list of reader personality types from Author Janie Crouch’s Facebook page.
When it comes to “Page to Screen” movies, like many people, I almost always prefer to read the book before seeing the film. Occasionally I’ve done the opposite – watched the movie first and then decided to read the book it’s based on. When I’ve done this in the past, I’ve found myself bored out of my mind because I knew too much. But what I’d like to present today is an argument for when it is very much OK to watch the movie first.
