Shameless Shelfies & a 2013 Recap

Happy end of the year! 2013 is slipping out from under us as we speak and it is a perfect time to reflect on all the good, the bad, and the inspiring reads we all experienced this year. I already have a wish list of 2014 titles that I’m anxious to get my hands on. Another year, another million stories to choose from. It’s something you can always count on.

SHELFIE noun, 
a photograph that one has taken of oneself and their bookshelf, or their bookshelves on their own, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.

This year, in honour of the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year (Selfie!), I’ve asked some of my fellow bloggers and publishing professionals to throw their social media dignity out the window and let me post their best shelfies! The art of the selfie is something I have definitely not mastered, though as word of the year (beating out heavy hitters like twerk, binge-watch and schmeat for the title), it’s probably a skill I should hone and list on my resume. But a shelfie… now that is a whole different animal. Now, I realized very quickly that asking for a shelfie is not an easy request for a book lover. A singular photo can only capture so much! What section of your shelf do you choose to capture? What angle to you decide on? Because we aren’t just talking about ourselves here. These are shelfies, which means your photographic artistry, natural beauty, AND literary choices are up for scrutiny.  But these guys were great sports with sultry stares, duck face, poised reading stances, and some great auto-timer action and their shelfies are definitely something to be proud of. In the new year, do yourself a favour and read these blogs! These darling who happen to be my fellow Short Lit Crit contributors (Chad Pelley, Andrew Wilmot, Steven Beattie, Steph Vandermeulen, and Bryan Ibeas) basically have their own personal libraries in their homes, and obviously know a thing or two about books. Click their photos for links to their blogs, but not before admiring the personal portraits they so happily provided me:

Chad Pelley, Salty Ink

Andrew Wilmot, Backlisted

Steven Beattie, The Shakespearean Rag

Bryan Ibeas, founder Short Lit Crit

Steph, Bella’s Bookshelves

My reader resolution for 2014 is a two-parter:

1. Read more Classics (at least 12, one for each month)
2. Get a bigger bookshelf. And fill it (so that I can take a better shelfie next year)
3. Read more book blogs (like the ones above!)
4. And last but not least, keep writing and book-pimping because there is nothing more exciting than sharing a great story with someone else.

Tell me your reader resolutions! What’s on your list this year? Have you ever taken a shelfie?

All I want for Christmas is the Classics

Um. Hi. So I guess it’s December 16th now. Paul McCartney is permanently playing on all the radios all the time. There’s an Xmas countdown on my browser… Where did the time go? Thankfully I did all my shopping in September because this past month has been a whirlwind. I had the phenomenal pleasure of performing in an adaptation of Oliver Twist with local theatre company Arbor Theatre: a troupe that gives kids as young as four a chance to perform onstage for their peers. We did nine shows in 4 days (!) and I’ve been sleeping ever since we wrapped on Friday.

….But if this week taught me anything (besides how amazing, talented and hilarious kids can be) it was that I am highly under read in the Classics category. Case in point: I had to google Oliver Twist. Embarrassing. I mean, I know the I-want-some-more-glorious-food-pickpocket tragedy story, but living and breathing it for a week made me ever so aware of not having actually read it. During our Q&A period at the end of the show, one audience in particular schooled (ha!) us in Twist Trivia…which lead to the googling and then the literary shaming of myself.

So this year, all I want for Christmas is the Classics. And there’s something about Dickens that screams Christmas to me. Probably the subconscious images of the The Muppet Christmas Carol DVD emblazoned on my childhood (oh my GOD I need to read more…) or his creation of the best Christmas Villain ever, Ebenezer Scrooge. Either way! And nobody does the classics better than Penguin. Specifically the Coralie Bickford-Smith clothbound hardcover editions that came out in 2010 and includes everything from Alice in Wonderland to The Odyssey.  Books make the best gifts because the stories we love never leave us. There is such a beautiful, unique variety with different covers and editions, you can personalize a book to someone’s aesthetic taste as well as their literary taste. The best part is a personalized note scribbled in the front cover will ensure that your thoughtfulness is never forgotten.

This might have to be an ongoing collection effort since there are 31 titles in the series at 25$ a piece. But, I have been a good girl this year…

Review: My Heart is Not My Own by Michael Wuitchik

My Heart is Not My Own is a heart wrenching novel that follows former relief doctor John Rourke back to Sierra Leone in search of his two former colleagues and friends: a gifted nurse named Mariama Lahai and a doctor named Momodu Camara. The last time he saw his friends was the night the rebels raided their hospital in Freetown. Dr. John was evacuated immediately leaving Mariama to deliver a young woman’s baby. Momodu also fled, leaving Dr. John with his heirloom wooden mask for safe keeping. 10 years later, the arrival of Mariama’s journal in the mail sparks a need to return for Dr. John to uncover the fates of his friends and find closure for himself. Half set through Dr. John’s eyes while travelling through Sierra Leone, and half recounted through the written passages in Mariama’s journal, the novel is a compelling, emotional journey from a war torn past to a healing present.

Writing something like this can be difficult. Not only for the task of describing versions of truly horrible scenes and experiences that occured, but also in attempting to fictionalize a brutally true war time through the words and eyes of a Westerner. Even though the author undoubtedly did immense research and used as much authenticity as possible, it is a challenging position to be in that treads a precarious line between exploring and exploiting. However, I think Wuitchik’s use of Dr. John as first-person narrative was a very smart and effective way to anchor this story. Through the eyes of John, we get to see Sierra Leone as he sees it. And though he is very informed, experienced and educated, he still remains ignorant to many of the deeper cultural roots and reasons that have created the country he’s visiting. Like Dr. John, we can’t know the whole story, but we get to see pieces of it through his eyes and his understanding. As a character, John is a little flat, although he did grow on me as the novel progressed. His main purpose seems to be a funnel for information, to ask questions and remark on the contrast between what he’s used to and what he’s experiencing. But thankfully, he is surrounded by strong, interesting characters that carry him through his journey and offer the story a authentic punch. Mohamed his determined Kamajor driver. Bonnie, the insightful two-spirited colleague. And of course, the words of Mariama carrying him across the country as he follows her harrowing footsteps.

Whereas Part 1 took it’s time introducing the novel, the story finally hits its stride in Part 2 when Dr. John lands back in Sierra Leone. He arrives with two things, the leather bound journal belonging to a Mariama and the wooden mask from Momodu. His intention is to return them both to their owners, hoping they are still alive. Although the storyline with the Kamajor mask and it’s magic opens the door for some very interesting insight on African secret societies, I don’t think it’s omission would have lessened the story.  The strength really lies in the search for Mariama and her personal accounts as a rebel captive. As Dr John searches for her deeper and deeper into the African townships, he learn about the legs of her journey, as each step took her farther into dangerous and unpredictable conditions. Her unyielding faith and savvy pulls us through some brutal scenes and recollections while her voice has the ability to see both the victim and the oppressor in each person she encounters. Her time with young rebel boys and girls are particularly unsettling, but her eloquent, poetic confessions are the real heartbeat in the story. Kudos goes to Wuitchik for writing about “women’s business” so powerfully.

This novel introduce’s a beautiful, vibrant culture in a time of turmoil and demonstrates the resilience, mystery and strength that resides in the people there. After reading, I found myself interested in learning more of the facts suggested in the novel and I think that is a pretty excellent indication of great storytelling. Michael Wuitchik also writes about his personal experiences on his blog and many of his inspirations for his novel.