Hi all,
So, new year. I’m a little punch-drunk from last year, and the year before, to be honest. It’s been a tough time. But that’s no reason not to do lots of planning for 2022, right? I’m a big fan of new year planning. It all feels possible when you do it in those liminal magical days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Those balancing-on-the-knife-edge-of-the-year days that feel not in the old year anymore and not yet in the new. Anything is possible then. I make a lot of goals in those in-between days (the ones this year have even lasted all the way until now on the 9th, which I consider a win), and do a lot of journalling about the old year and what I’m hoping for from the new.
Speaking of journalling, a friend on Facebook sent a link to a list of 10 questions to end your year intentionally, and one of the questions was “What did you read/watch/listen to that made the most impact this year?” This made me look through my list to see what all I’d read last year, and think about the titles in a slightly different way. I came up with three “most impactful” books:
Lost Gospels by Lorri Nielsen Glenn, a book of poetry that one of my teachers from last year sent me. Something about this book really hit me. I’m not sure what it was, maybe the elegiac feel (I’m a big fan of that bittersweet feeling), maybe just that it was so well written. But boy, it made me feel excited about poetry again (still), and about the world in general. That’s what I find most appealing about poetry: it makes me excited about the world.
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, a novel. I can’t remember if I borrowed this from my mum, or if I bought it and she borrowed it from me. I read a fair number of Indigenous authors this year, and they were all impactful. This book is the one I remember best, though. It helped to illustrate to me the effect of Residential School trauma, how it was so incredibly (incredibly isn’t a good word, because I believe all the details. Painfully might be better) devastating, as well as how the trauma followed families down generations. I knew this intellectually before, understood it without really feeling it, but this book helped me to feel it.
Apeirogon by Colum McCann is another novel, given to me for my birthday by my brother who has excellent taste in books. Similarly to Five Little Indians, this book helped me to understand the occupation of Palestine in an emotional as well as an intellectual way. It showed so well the harm done to both “sides” by war, and some of the ways to combat it. It also gave me hope, because the main characters are real people and I am made hopeful that people who do that work are alive in this world (again, I knew that intellectually, but this was more visceral). I also couldn’t help noticing how fascinating the structure was, and learned all these cool facts about birds and Molotov cocktails that I could slide into dinner-table conversations with the family.
What were your most impactful books this year? Please share in the comments, as I’d love to add some titles to the ever-growing TBR list. It’s sort of like a sourdough starter in that it needs to be fed regularly to stay healthy.
More than any individual book, though, what had the biggest impact on me this year was that I started making sure I read for at least fifteen minutes a day (read an actual book; internet stuff didn’t count), and also read at least one poem (again from a book; the email and Instagram poems are fun extras). I’ve always loved reading but was doing less of it, what with being busy and distracted by the aforementioned internet. Reading daily again makes me feel more like a writer, more like a human, more like myself.
I have an announcement: the launch for my book, Big Sky Falling, is coming up on January 22nd (that’s a Saturday) at 3 p.m. Pacific time. I’m going to be talking to Lorna Crozier about the book. I am equally excited to be talking with one of my mentors and terrified to be doing it in front of a bunch of people on Zoom, but would be thrilled if you could come. The link to register is here. Once you register you’ll be emailed the Zoom link to join.
FROM THE SPIRAL NOTEBOOK
If you don’t mind, I’m sharing another link to a reading instead of a written piece this month. This one is a 17-minute reading I did for the Greater Victoria Public Library. The poems are all from Big Sky Falling.
NOTES
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And thanks, as always, for reading.
Yours,
Kelsey
kelseyandrews.ca
Looking forward to your launch! Your book is resonating in a beautiful way … thank you Kelsey.
What a great goal, clearly defined and doable. I wrote IEP’s for a living. (Individual education plans). Creating goals that were concrete and measurable was part of my trade. I am going to borrow your reading goal. The elimination of internet reading , brought it into a whole new realm of brain activity.
My three books that have made me ponder.
Ring of power by Jean Shindoda Bolen. An analyses of the Wagner story/ myth through archetypes and Jungian theory. I loved the destructive powers of the gods and the lens with which she presented and accepted the shadow side.
Body and soul edited by Susan Scott. I have no idea how this book got hidden on my bookshelf. Or for how long it lay there. It is a collection of mainly canadian women writing about faith, lack, or search for. Amazing , funny, insightful.....short pieces of writing that have you writing down names and wanting to know more.
Mennonite valley girl by Carla funk. This book took me on my own journey. Setting is defined by time and place. I grew up in vanderhoof, the town Carla writes about. Despite both of us being born at saint Joseph hospital, growing up in the geographical center of b.c. , and buying soft ice cream at the J&S......our life stories had few parallels. I am presently wondering which has the greatest influence in our life story, time or place.