A prescription for this holiday season

By Rick Blechta

Toronto, where I live, is currently in a partial lockdown. My wife and I decided when the current lockdown began three weeks ago, that if we needed anything we were going to do our best to patronize our small local shops because they need all the help they can get.

So no fast food from the big chain restaurants, using our local hardware store instead of Homeless Despot. Sure, online providers such as Amazon are pretty damned convenient and super-fast, but at the end of all this, we want to have small shops still in business so we do our best to help.

If you’re hear on Type M, either as a reader or one of our group of excellent writers, I certain you have the warm and fuzzies for at least one independent book store and I’ll further posit that it is one that specializes in crime fiction. Perhaps it sells nothing else.

Here’s something you may not know, that bookseller — like all others — can easily order any book you might want. Sure, you might have to wait a week or two, rather than next-day service from Amazon, but you will get your book, and you’ll be helping a business that is likely having a hard go of it right now.

Here in Toronto, we crime fiction lovers are blessed with the most excellent Sleuth of Baker Street, so last week, faced with a curtailed holiday season, when my wife and I decided to make use of that down time to enjoy a bit of reading (with no guilt!), the only place to call was Sleuth. Several of our favourite authors have new books out and there are two Type M members who I’m looking forward to get into their work, so we have a big pile waiting for pick-up.

It dawned on me that with all the gift-giving coming up in three weeks, we have the opportunity right now to do some good, so I have a proposal for every one of the people reading this post to buy at least two books this holiday season.

First, you  deserve a book. Since March, you’ve put up with a lot, haven’t you? You need a reward! Could I suggest buying one from one of the Type M authors — especially if you’ve never read one of their books. We have some exceptional authors here, and I can recommend all of them without hesitation, plus we “cover the waterfront” as far as subject matter goes. The bottom line is, though, just buy a book, any book. Then put up your feet and enjoy several hours in a made up world.

Also, as many of us have mentioned in previous December posts, there is a tradition in Iceland, a very wonderful tradition, to give or exchange books on Christmas Eve. Whether you celebrate that holiday or not, why not give someone a book before year’s end? It would make them very happy I’m sure, help out a struggling business, and give you a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Heaven knows we need more of those!

So that’s Dr. Blechta’s prescription for making this month better than it might be. I’ve bought my comfort reading, and I’ve ordered books to be given as presents. I’ve managed to do something good and bring smiles to a lot of faces along the way.

I Like Iceland! (or Giftgiving Made Easy)

by Rick Blechta

Before I get up on my Type M soapbox (always at the ready in a corner of my studio), you must read this article (Literary Iceland Revels in Its Annual Christmas Book Flood). Relax. There’s no test at the end!

I’m assuming that if you’re here, then you’re a book lover like the rest of us. And that being the case, the story linked above warmed the cockles of your heart as much as it did mine.

Iceland, from all I’ve heard, is a very civilized country and the way they feel about buying and receiving books during the holiday season proves it. A book flood indeed! I can think of no better holiday tradition than giving books on Christmas Eve.

Now you’re probably rolling your eyes. I mean I’ve definitely got a vested interest in the purchasing of books. But if I stopped writing tomorrow and all my publsihed books just went poof!, I would still feel the same way. Books are A Good Thing. They nourish your brain and soul, and the fact of the matter is, in many countries (probably most), per capita hours spent reading are way down and still falling precipitously. Is there a corollary between that and the rise in the amount of ignorance in modern society? I think so.

Okay, let’s bring this closer to home. My family has decided that the adults don’t really need to get presents from everyone this year so we decided on a “secret Santa”-type system. We’d come with a list: A gives B a present, B gives C a present, and so on. Everyone will have one present to open and then all can sit back and watch the youngsters open theirs. It makes sense and it’s certainly less expensive. My next thought (since I’d come up with the idea) was what do we give? Do we leave it open or set a theme?

And that’s when I read about Iceland’s book tradition at this time of the year. At that point I thought about the people in my family. To the best of my knowledge, at least three of them seldom (or never) read books. That’s a depressing thing to consider. One of them (and you know who you are) has only read one of my novels, and they’ve always received them as gifts every time one of them is published. (That’s even more depressing.) This person also has no magazine subscriptions and doesn’t generally read the paper.

In North America, I don’t think that’s far out of the ordinary. According to an article I found in The Smithsonian, 25% of Americans didn’t read a single book in 2016. Think about that.

On the flip side, a reason for hope is that 75% of Americans did read a book in the past year. Sales of books went up by 17 million to 571 million. Still, the number of people who read nothing troubles me — and I have some of them in my family. The percentage of people in Canada who did not read a book in that period is 12. (https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2014/3/7/canadian-readers-by-the-numbers.html) Yea Canada!

I’d like to leave you with a thought. Give books to whomever you can this year. Sure, a crime fiction novel by one of us would be great, but to give any book would be great. I’ll bet you could find something for everyone on your list. Just go into a bookstore and browse. Your brother loves cars. Buy him a book on that subject. Your mom loves to knit. There are plenty of books on the subject. And so on.

If you really want to be cool and start a great tradition, do what the people of Iceland do: Give a book on Christmas Eve. If you celebrate something else or nothing at all, you can still start a tradition. Maybe we should just call my suggestion End-of-Year Book Giving.

Regardless, the more people who are reading regularly, the better. The world will thank you — eventually.