Happy December! With winter and the holidays upon us, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a good book, hunt for the next bestseller (or something more obscure) or find the perfect literary gift. Lately, one of my favourite distractions has been surfing the Internet for fun and unusual websites for book lovers, word nerds and people who read too much. So forget Amazon, Indigo, Chapters and the other big bookselling sites for a while and check out a few new online spots to expand your digital literary experience.

1)    Book Crossing: www.bookcrossing.com

If you love your books set them free. This site lets you to share and send your books “out in the wild” with a special identification label that tracks the book, sometimes around the world, and lets you know who’s reading it. The site has a system to follow a book’s journey and the lives it touches, as well as a way to add journal entries, reviews and searches for books that have been “released.” It’s been described as a “modern day message in a bottle.”

2)   Bookslut: www.bookslut.com

Ok, this one made the list just for its name. For those of us who’ll read anything anywhere, Bookslut is a daily blog of insightful features, reviews, and outrageous commentary, including regular columns such as Cookbook Slut, Latin Lit Lover, and UnAmerican. The blog itself is a good read, not just its passionate book recommendations.

3)    Bookninja: www.bookninja.com

This one also gets points for its name. Bookninja is a Canadian literary site and according to its homepage one of the top literary sites in the world, and nexus for news, opinion and discussion about fiction and poetry. Also part of the site, Bookninja Magazine contains original articles and reviews.

4)    The Book Bench: www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books

If you love The New Yorker magazine (and I do) this blog is “loose leafs from the New Yorker Books Department.” That includes reviews, clever commentary and all the NY buzz about what’s popular, hot and happening on the literary scene.

5)    The Believer: www.believermag.com

The monthly online magazine, by its own admission, “covers book reviews that are not necessarily timely and are often very long, and interviews that are also very long.”  That said, the current issue has a weirdly entertaining interview with actor/writer James Franco in conversation with an artist called “Carter.” I also like that the magazine states outright: “We will focus on writers and books we like.

6)    Narrative Magazine: narrativemagazine.com

As its tagline reads, Narrative Magazine is “a non-profit organization dedicated to storytelling in the digital age,” sometime described as the PBS of literature. All content (which is a lot – stories, poetry, novel excerpts, articles and writing contests) is free to readers. The site acts as a virtual bridge to connect readers and writers around the globe, and celebrates work by established authors as well as emerging ones. There’s a “Story of the Week” and “Poem of the Week” as well as my favourite find, “Six-word stories.”

Of course, this is just a smattering of the many fun and fabulous literary sites online. Let me know about some of your new and wonderful finds in the digital literary world, and leave a comment below.

This week while Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, we in Canada are also gearing up for the season of giving. Signs (and advertising) about the holidays are inescapable, and in this season of gift giving (and over-giving) it’s easy to get swept up into the mood of consuming and the “joy of spending” for family, friends and significant others.

At Winnipeg Women/Winnipeg Men magazine, our holiday issue has just gone to press, and while it includes some glittering gift guides and wish lists, it also has a list of a few charitable organizations where people can donate their time, energy or financial support. I love this list (see below) and it reminds me of what Kahil Gibran said: “You give but little when you give of your possessions, it is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

Here are a few charitable organizations in Winnipeg where you can share your joy this holiday season.

Champs War Amps Program provides financial assistance for artificial limbs, as well as counselling programs and seminars to bring young people together. To make a donation visit waramps.ca

Rossbrook House offers youth a safe alternative to the streets 365 days a year. For donation information go to www.rossbrookhouse.ca

The Manitoba Riding for the Disabled Association is a non-profit organization that provides a therapeutic riding program for children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, visual impairments, autism and other physical disabilities. To make a donation go to www.mrda.cc

Meals on Wheels of Winnipeg has a long history of service and today their volunteers deliver to over 1000 clients in Winnipeg. For more information or to make a donation visit www.mealswinnipeg.com

The North End Women’s Centre has been serving women and their families for over 25 years, providing a place where women can receive the understanding, support and resources they need to make informed choices about their lives. For more information or to make a donation go to www.newcentre.org

Oyate Tipi is a non-profit organization that accepts donations of gently used household goods and furniture. All items are distributed to women and children who are trying to better themselves by escaping poverty or abuse. Schedule a free pick up by calling the Oyate Tipi donation line at 204-589-2265.

Siloam Mission serves people in need in Winnipeg’s inner city and offers a Christmas dinner. Financial donations can go toward the purchase of Christmas meal tickets (just $2.97 feeds one person) or to support other services. Online donations can be made at www.siloam.ca

Winnipeg Harvest is a non-profit organization that collects and distributes food to people who are hungry as well as offering training opportunities to help people step up and out of poverty. To donate money, food or time, go to www.winnipegharvest.org

Of course, donations can also be made to arts groups, health care organizations, foundations and other charities… it’s simply a matter of choosing who or what you would like to support.

For all those giving of your time, energy or dollars this season, may your gift(s) bring you and others great comfort and joy.

Enjoy the gift of giving, and have a happy, meaningful holiday season.

I do a lot of writing for CancerCare Manitoba, an organization doing life-saving work, research and health care in our community, and the writing includes many stories about people who are dealing with cancer every day. Recently, I wrote a piece about an inspiring two year old, diagnosed with leukemia, who is leading his family through the whole experience with his high-energy and positive attitude… sometimes it’s the children who teach the adults.

On both sides of the story – from the perspective of those who give (individuals, groups or organizations) and those who receive – these tales of transformation can inspire and inform, and it’s important to tell them.

To read more about the story I wrote for CancerCare Manitoba click here

What a powerful story can achieve…

Stories capture moments that define a life, or a lifetime.
Stories inspire, challenge and sustain us.
Stories test our imaginations, and our truths.

Stories illuminate our world and our hearts.
Stories mirror what we fear and what we love.
Stories expose our vulnerability, and our strength.

Stories create space for the light to get in.
Stories build connection, community and creativity.
Stories take us on roads of the earth and roads of the spirit.

Stories are merchants of ideas and agents of possibility.
Stories transmit beauty and transformation.
Stories offer deep diving for the soul.

Stories change lives.

This week has been an eventful and insightful one. My dad passed away last week, after a long life (85 years) and a relatively short stay in hospital.  Now, with Dad at peace, the funeral and celebration of his life over, and my family having returned to their homes far and wide, there’s time for reflection.

Death, or even near death, always offers new perspective – on what we can and cannot control in life, on what truly matters… and what is simply irrelevant or insignificant.

As someone who has had a few brushes with death, I am always grateful for the reminder of how precious life is, and the opportunity to ask myself: Am I living in the present? Do the people I love know that I love them? And if this was my moment to “exit” would I leave the world a better place? In other words, am I doing what matters – to me and to others?

At my dad’s funeral, his granddaughter (my niece) read this poem by Michael Josephson.  It was a fitting and beautiful tribute to my father, who led a life of authenticity, kindness and generosity that mattered to so many. In this poem, Josephson truly captures what in the end will be the measure of one’s life.

What will it matter?

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won’t even matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

Even your gender and skin colour will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built,

Not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.

It’s not a matter of circumstances but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.