Guest Blog: Bodwells Bakers Dozen

Bodwell’s Baker’s Dozen: My Favorite 13 Books of 2009

By Joshua Bodwell

If you’re anything like me, when those ubiquitous lists of “The Year’s Notable Books” arrive every December, you read them with a mixture of excitement and guilt. The lists are rarely short, and often stretch as long as the “Top 100 Book.”

“Oh, god,” I find myself thinking, “look at all these great books I didn’t have time to read this year!”

So why, you might ask, did I find myself adding to this madness by creating my own list of notable books this year? Well, the answer is simple: connection.

I am the sort of person who distractedly steals glances at the bookshelves in the homes of people I’ve just met. I believe I can get a sense of the person by surveying the spines of their books, and with that sense make a potentially deeper connection. Books offer us, perfect strangers, some sense of a shared history, a common ground. So, it felt appropriate to me to share my imperfect little list of books on my bookshelf.

I hope there’s something here of interest.

LINK: CLICK HERE

PS: Here’s a tease for a book already sure to appear on my 2010 Baker’s Dozen: for Christmas I received Carol Sklenicka's fine biography Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life and plowed right through it. The book, of course, has its faults and does, as the Christian Science Monitor pointed out, focus “more closely on his self-destructive nature than on his talents.” Yet, I found the narrative style compelling. Though, during the last quarter of the book I found the information lacking at times. It was, I suppose, because many of Carver’s closest friends from that time period (including Richard Ford, Tobias Wolff, and his editor, Gary Fisketjon) had opted not to be interviewed for or take part in the biography. I can’t say I blame them. But the contextualization they’d have likely added is sorely missing. Yet, in the end, this is a biography of one of the most important writers of his generation. That alone is cause for celebration.

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5 Journaling Inspirations to Help Fuel Your Personal Narratives

As writers know, good writing comes from a variety of strategies, among them regular practice of the craft. One way writers can achieve this goal is by keeping a regular journal. While it is great to chronicle daily activities and occurrences in your journal, it can also be very helpful to change things up from time to time and think outside of this model. Looking for inspiration can be difficult at times, but here are a few suggestions to help tap into your storytelling side in your journal entries.

Look Through Old Photos

Looking through old pictures that are sitting around collecting dust can help you to recall events that may not have been accessed by your brain for some time. Take a good long look at the pictures and do your best to remember everything you can about that moment in time. Before you know it, your journal entry will be longer than you expected and a great story just may come out of it.

Clean Out the Drawers

Start digging around in your desk or top dresser drawer and see what kinds of interesting items you come across. It could be something as simple as a concert ticket or a tag off of a favorite jacket you bought years ago. There is a story in everything you have, no matter how mundane it may seem. All you have to do is look hard enough and you will find inspiration.

Old Toys

Remember childhood, how much simpler things seemed? Dig up some old toys or even the toys of the children in your life and try to recall a specific memory related to that toy in particular. Describe the toy. How did it make you feel when you first got it? Was it your favorite toy? If not, what was your favorite toy? Use these kinds of items as a springboard for deeper storytelling.

Best/Worst

The best/worst method can get your juices flowing in a pinch for sure. Best restaurant experience, worst day of your life, best family holiday, worst friendship ever—take your pick. There are so many angles available to write about when you look at extreme examples of regular events. Often, there are opportunities for much humor and/or reflection when using the best/worst method.

Travels

Whether you have traveled around the world or to the county fair, changing scenery is important and has a profound impact on our worldview. Limited worldviews can be just as interesting as the worldly adventurer, but it is all about the way you decide to tell the tale in the end. Make it your own and make it personal. Use your voice and you may have a gem on your hands.

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of the distance learning top universities. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com