My 2015 Social Media Resolutions

I recently posted a Facebook update declaring that my only New Year’s Resolution was to not make any New Year’s Resolutions. This was received with mixed results.

To soothe the naysayers, I’m reneging on my initial promise and providing a list of my 2015 Social Media Resolutions.

Crosby still is nice and young

He’s only three but he’s tall for his age.  People expect him to behave a certain way based on how he looks, but he’s young and doesn’t live up to others’ expectations. We only have to whisper the word ‘park’ and he becomes attentive. Once outside he has boundless energy. He likes to run, jump, play and frolic like any three year old puppy. His name is Crosby and he’s black.

The Giller’s are coming, the Giller’s are coming!

“I don’t drink Canadian wine.”

“Canadian design? Is that even a thing?”

“I don’t watch Canadian movies.”

“Canadian music is okay, but not Nickelback. I hate Nickelback.”

How many of those statements have you said? Be honest. I’ll admit to most of them. Ok, all of them. Call me unpatriotic, but there’s only so much mediocrity that one person can take.

And truth be told, I used to feel that much of Canadian arts and culture was mediocre. But it’s a fallacy. Home grown Canadian culture—music, art and fiction—is amazing. Especially Canadian literature – I’m a big fan of CanLit.

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I love to read, it’s a glorious, leisurely act. Not the speed-reading you do for university or the report scanning you do at work. I love to read for pleasure. A block of uninterrupted time to languish quietly and read a book is, well, luxurious.

Reading CanLit is time well spent. If you’re unfamiliar with the genre, getting acquainted with it can seem daunting, but doesn’t have to be difficult, even if you don’t know where to begin. I don’t recommend starting at ‘A’ for Atwood, Margaret. I enjoy her fiction, but it’s not for the faint of heart. I recommend starting at ‘G’, for Giller.

The Giller Prize is a judged, annual Canadian fiction award that now comes with a $100,000 cheque for the winner. (Its official name includes the name of the sponsoring bank, but I don’t want to plug them here). Each year, there’s an announcement of the competing titles, which is later whittled to a shortlist. The jury panel changes every year and represents the ‘who’s who’ in CanLit. Each jury citation reads like Supreme Court prose. The winner is announced at a black-tie gala worthy of the Academy Awards. Winning has lifted unknown authors from relative obscurity to celebrity status: the Giller Prize is a very big deal.

I spent all summer reading novels from the Giller shortlist. The jury has shortlisted several titles a year since 1994, meaning I was spoiled for choice. I wasn’t disappointed. What I read this summer was profound, impactful, engaging, informative and Canadian. I laughed, was saddened and became pensive, often for days on end. Sometimes I would get to the end of a book and immediately return to page one to start over. I got lost in the stories, in Canadiana. I received an education, was entertained, challenged and chastised.

This year I had a very good summer of reading, and next summer I’m looking forward to doing it all over again.

My Giller recommended reads from this summer:

• Three Day Road, Jospeh Boyden. Set in the WWI trenches, this gripping story is about the friendship of two Native sharpshooters. This is one perspective they don’t teach in Canadian schools, and should.
• Mercy among the children, David Adams Richards. Parenting is hard, but this father makes a single decision that impacts those around him for years in unimaginable ways. This novel may test your ability to forgive, and to forget.
•  Late nights on air, Elizabeth Hay. This novel provides a fresh perspective about town life in Canada’s far north, where residents rely on local radio for news, entertainment and gossip.

Watch an interview with 2011 winner Esi Edugyan hours after she won the Giller Prize for her fabulous book Half Blood Blues. Courtesy CBC Radio, Studio Q, YouTube, November 9, 2011.