Challenges Past, Challenges Ahead

I don't know what happened this year: I read far less than usual and missed participating in some challenges that I've read along with for years. Oh well, things do happen! Here is the roundup of 2017 Challenges


Challenges Done:

I started off the year with a week long Diverse-A-Thon Challenge, as reading more diversely is on my mind as a practice I need to be more consistent with. I read:

One Hundred Days of Rain by Carellin Brooks

Embers by Richard Wagamese

and I started Love, Anger, Madness by Marie Vieux-Chauvet (I've read Love but haven't reviewed it yet, and have the other two novellas ahead to read this year)

I also spent the month of August focusing on #WIT, or Women In Translation Month. This is one of my favourite activities, and this year I read and reviewed 5 books during August (3 Italian, 1 Japanese, and 1 Dutch author) You can see all my reviews in my August posts.



I kept reading for my Century of Books Challenge, though admittedly it did get sidelined a bit with all my other reading going on. Although it started as a two year challenge, I am now just reading until I finish it, whenever that may be. 

This year I read my way up to a total of 79 titles with quite a few still needing to be reviewed, so 21 left to read this year! And with that reading I completed my first decade: the 30s.

I also officially signed up for the Classics Club this year but have only read 2/50 possible titles so far! Time to get cracking.

I read The Diviners by Margaret Laurence & A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor. Lots left to read ;)

And of course I kept reading for the 10th Annual Canadian Book Challenge, and met my personal goal of 13 Canadian titles read and reviewed each month. Whew! I really slowed down when I took over as host of the 11th Annual Canadian Book Challenge, having read and reviewed only 4 titles since July!



Challenges to Come:

My reading challenge goals for 2018:

Of course I'll continue reading for the 11th Canadian Book Challenge which runs July 1 - July 1 -- and you can still join us! Anyone can sign up anytime, if you think you can read and review 13 Canadian books in the time you have left.  Or sign up for the 12th when it's announced on July 1st this year :)

Reading as many titles for the Century of Books as possible (hopefully finishing this year!)

 Reading more Women in Translation all year long, but especially in August.

 And reading for the Classics Challenge -- aim to get at least 10 read this year.

*****************************************

And what about you? Do you take on reading challenges or projects? Do you find they inspire more reading or reader's block? Sometimes I do find that I read less when I feel compelled, even by myself! Will try to overcome that tendency this year and read, read, read.

One Hundred Days of Rain

One Hundred Days of Rain / Carellin Brooks
Toronto: BookThug, c2015.
203 p.

I recently searched out this novel, mainly because it's written by someone I went to university with -- well, perhaps not "with", but at the same time as. While Carellin Brooks was not aware of me & my circle, we were certainly aware of her in her capacity as a Rhodes Scholar, which was very impressive to us. And then just as I finished this novel, I saw that the ReLit award nominee list was finally posted, and this is one of the nominees. It also won the 2016 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction earlier last year.

Told in 99 short chapters, this spare poetic novel relates the story of a breakup. It begins with a domestic dispute, one noticeable enough for the neighbours to call the police. And it turns into an uncomfortable she said/she said situation, as our unnamed narrator is arrested. It's also unexpected, playing against type, as she's revealed as the more delicate of the two women. 

The story is told from her perspective, working through her actions and emotions as this separation and eventual divorce are processed, through many long days of rain. It reads almost like a first person narrative, with emotional distance established by the use of she, her etc. rather than "I": the writer tells the story, not the narrator. 

The continuous focus on the details of weather and varied kinds of rain (it's set in Vancouver) reflect the ways relationships can be perceived differently from moment to moment -- each slight permutation of rainfall is catalogued and described, and the occasional day of sun is celebrated. (after a point I couldn't help being reminded of Ray Bradbury's All Summer in a Day)

The brief sections, which all dissect the narrator's life as she struggles through this rather nasty breakup, carry a repetitive rhythm that made me think of music; layering one instant over another over another until a full symphony is produced. Our narrator has a young son who is caught in the midst of the arguments between she and her estranged spouse, M. The young boy's father is also in the picture, adding another stressor to her new situation. But she makes it through; each chapter is another step in her journey.

The writing is elegant and resists sentimentality. It's precise; Brooks doesn't use a deluge of words to describe the watery themes. I enjoyed the brief chapters -- like glimpses into parts of this character's life, now and then the past, and now again, each one illuminating just a little more about the failed relationship. As you read, the picture expands, and hindsight allows for a pattern and for a little bit of justification on the narrator's part. But, since you only see things from her vantage point, there is still room left to wonder what things looked like from the other side. It's raw and honest, full of sadness, regret, and yet still a bit of hope for the future, all while avoiding easy emotional storytelling.

I think it might be the sympathy shown for the characters that wins over the reader. Each of the people who surround the narrator have their pluses and minuses, each has a part to play in this major change she's going through. And each hurts in their own way, also. And yet there are so many little things that offer momentary escape, like a spontaneous trip on the ferry, a sunny day, even a brief connection to surprised strangers who all experience a moment of hail on the street together. 

The narrator is a sympathetic lead, and her story is told with nuance and precision. The poetic evocation of both the emotional and actual landscape of her life adds something really special to this story. The story is beautifully framed by the 99 chapter structure, the writing is satisfyingly complex, and the emotion is authentic and haunting. I guess I'm still a little envious of the ability of the Rhodes Scholar I admired 25 years ago! 

Embers by Wagamese

Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations
Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, c2016.
176 p.

This is a lovely, thoughtful book made up of musings and meditations by writer Richard Wagamese. His former blog was full of these kind of intimate pieces that I always enjoyed reading for their eye on the world.

So I was happy to see this new book. It is a small book, with beautiful full-colour photos throughout. There are many pages that have an image and a quote in fancy font, which look like they might fit right in on Instagram or Pinterest. 

(for an example, scroll down on this feature at the Tyee to see 3 of these illustrated meditations) 

And yet, this is more than a fluffy visual treat. Wagamese is a deeply spiritual writer, and he values silence and ceremony as a way of life. This is what centres him and brings his art to life. I deeply resonate with this, feeling that more silence and stillness would be very welcome right now. 

I could quote a lot of different passages to illustrate what I loved about this book. There are dialogues with "Old woman" about Creator and the meaning of life; there are appreciations of natural beauty and the small daily joys found in nature. None are more than a page long. This was a great read following on from my recent spate of poetry reading -- these small pieces feel poetic, feel like expressions of attention to the world. They are statements that stand alone, but that track Wagamese's spiritual journey, that are an expression of his personal pondering along the way. It's the kind of book that you can read slowly, page by page, or just flip through and admire the very nicely put together physical book, returning to read beyond just the quotes a little later.

Here are a few excerpts I found particularly meaningful in our current situation.

Me: What if we're wrong?
Old Woman: Wrong about what?
Me: All this ceremony, prayer, meditation. What if, at the end of it, all there is is nothing?
Old Woman: Then we still come out better people. 
Me: How?
Old Woman: Can you think of a better way to live than in gratitude? Can you think of a better way to be than to be kind, loving, compassionate, respectful, courageous, truthful and forgiving? Even if we're wrong, can you think of a better way to breathe than through all of that?


You can't test your courage timidly. You have to run through the fire, arms waving, legs pumping and heart beating wildly with the effort of reclaiming something vital, lost, laid aside or just plain forgotten. When you do that, you discover that we shine most brightly in community, the whole bedraggled, worn, frayed and tattered lot of us, bound together forever by a shared courage, a family forged in the heat of earnest struggle.

And one more dialogue that I loved, with my own interest in and practice of sewing as a craft and a metaphor: 

Me: What's the greatest teaching in life?
Old Woman: You have to make your own moccasins. 
Me: You're kidding, right?
Old Woman: No. You make them from the hide of your experience, all the places you have walked. You sew them with the thread of the teachings, the lessons embedded in all the hard miles. You stitch them carefully with the needle of your intention -- to walk a spiritual path -- and when you're finished, you realize that Creator lives in the stitches. That's what helps you walk more gracefully. 
*
I got busy learning how to sew. 

As you can tell, this is a highly quotable book. I read this copy from the library, but I'm pretty sure this is a volume I'm going to want to own. For Wagamese's take on life and spirituality, drawn from his absolutely focused desire to live in harmony with Creator, I recommend you also check out this book. 

One of my favourite pages :)

Diverse-A-Thon!

I've been meaning to sign up for a diverse reading challenge this year. I just have to get organized! But to help me along is the #DiverseAThon, starting today and running all week. 

Need more info? Check out the DiverseAThon post at Read Diverse Books, where I first saw it... then was reminded by all the Diverse-A-Thon TBRs being posted by various blogging friends today. It was started by a group of BookTubers, and is being hosted by 5 of them this year. Since I don't play along in that arena I'd missed it there, so thanks to all the bloggers sharing it so I can join in. 

Here's my DiverseAThon TBR for this week, a few titles from the books that I have sitting on my get-to-soon stacks. I hope I can share these, if not this week, then soon after.

One Hundred Days of Rain / Carellin Brooks

Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations / Richard Wagamese 

Love, Anger, Madness / Marie Vieux-Chauvet