{a note from Shelagh Rogers}

For ages, I've been hoping for a White Christmas. There hasn't been one on the lower mainland
of BC for ten years. This week, my wish has come true in abundance. And in the 'careful what you wish for' category, the power has been on and off for the past four days and we just got another warning from BC Hydro to turn off and unplug. So just before I do--this blog.

There is something unifying in hearing the whole country is "in the thralls of winter". There isn't a whole lot to hold us together right now--what an ornery autumn it was--except the weather (and one hopes, CBC Radio).

This is the season Shakespeare chose for Richard the Third's discontent. And it's the season where we sing carols about the "Bleak Midwinter". Andrew Wyeth said " I prefer winter and fall when you feel the bone structure of the landscape--the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show." It's suspended animation, unless you go into high gear to shovel, split your wood or chip the ice.

When the power does go off, it's awfully quiet. And you can't distract yourself with email or downloads or any other electronic goo-gaws that we use as sources of diversion and connection. And you start to listen to your own thoughts. I reflect back on this fall since the election (I'm a politics junkie. Addicted to Don Newman's show...and hey, how come he didn't get a Senate seat!) and the drama and uncertainty that's ensued. This is, to borrow the title of Joe Clark's book, "a nation too good to lose".

The other day, I was re-reading The Christmas Carol...the ultimate 'second chances' story... and thinking about how Canada is, in so many ways, the country of second chances. Here's hoping.

I think about the year that's gone by in my own life and feel grateful for the people I've met, the people I work with, the people who have so kindly consented to an interview, often at the hardest times of their lives, when they lost someone they love. Maybe you lost someone this year. I did...Oliver Schroer, the world's tallest free-standing fiddler, was one.

Peter Marcus, founder of the first kayak tour company here on the west coast who just lived up the hill, was another.

When I was interviewing Brian Francis about his novel Fruit and he talked about having lost his father, all of a sudden Brian was no longer a stranger to me, as I had lost my father, too.

This is what good books can offer us, too. The understanding that this hasn't only happened to you or to me.
But both to you and to me. And that person in the book, fictional or real.

My...this started out as some musings about winter. But it's ended up as something else.

Let's gather together, hunker down, toast absent friends and remember this time of year is about the second chance and making good again...as the herald angels sing: Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.

All the best to you.

Shelagh.

Posted by The Next Chapter at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Authors, songs and titles revealed in our Dec.27th edition

Shelagh Rogers whisks the curtain aside to reveal The Next Chapter's mystery panel with this year's picks. You can click on continue reading for the full list from Margaret Cannon, P.K.Rangachari and J.D.Singh.

One of the champions in this year's Canada Reads debate is singer songwriter Sarah Slean. We'll hear Sound of Water/Change Your Mind from her latest cd The Baroness Redecorates.

She is championing the novel Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards.
Shelagh completes our series on the Canada Reads authors by speaking with him.

We check in with a bookstore in Frederiction - D.A.Richards country- for what's hot at this time of year.

And finally poet and visual artist Isa Milman discusses the inspiration for her latest collection Prairie Kaddish.

The Next Chapter's list of mysteries

Margaret Cannon's picks

"No Such Creature", Gilles Blunt, Random
"A Cure for all Diseases", Reginald Hill, Doubleday
"Ritual", Mo Hayder, HarperCollins
"The Murder Stone", Louise Penny, McArthur & Company

P.K. Rangachari's picks

"Three Bags Full", Leonie Swann, Flying Dolphin
"The Private Patient", P.D. James, Knopf
"The Killing Circle", Andrew Pyper, Doubleday
"When Will There Be Good News", Kate Atkinson, Doubleday

J.D. Singh's picks

"The Roar of the Butterflies", Reginald Hill, Doubleday
"Grief Encounters", Stuart Pawson, Allison & Busby
"The Brass Verdict", Michael Connelly, Little Brown
"Trigger City", Sean Chercover, Morrow

Posted by The Next Chapter at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

A recap on a sporadic subplot contained within The Next Chapter:

1: Shelagh saw fit to convert me to her secret cult known as "people who buy books of poetry", an eccentric subset of the population (roughly 1% of Canadians took part in cult activities last year), significantly outnumbered by those who believe Elvis Presley may still be alive.

2: Doubly motivated by Shelagh's challenge and the words of Octavio Paz, who suggests that society's very survival rests on people appreciating poems, I went to a bookstore, asked for a book of poetry, and discovered that the bookseller was himself an experimental poet, Kyle Buckley. Reading his book made me see the point of Paz's image of poetry as a kind of architecture - a bridge between people.

3: Under a tree, surrounded by pigeons, I encountered another experimental poet, Margaret Christakos. Her poems ruined the idea that poetry is architecture, because they're much more like music - they play upon the internal workings the person reading them. I told Shelagh they made me feel like a piano, or a set of tubular bells. Shelagh reacted politely.

So, now:

This week, perhaps in a bid to get me off the experimental poets, Shelagh asked me to dig up Canadian poems suitable for Christmastime. I found various 19th-century poets whose experiments entailed fitting their experience of pioneering into a catchy rhyme scheme. This apparently counted as entertainment before the advent of more exciting things, such as radio programs.

Many of these poets now reside in the Canadian Poetry Archive, which is searchable by keyword. Missing from the archive, however, is Susanna Moodie's first ever Canadian poem. It happens to be suitable for all wintry festivals:

The Sleigh Bells: A Canadian Song
by Susanna Moodie

’Tis merry to hear, at evening time,
By the blazing hearth the sleigh-bells chime;
To know the bounding steeds bring near
The loved one to our bosoms dear.
Ah, lightly we spring the fire to raise,
Till the rafters glow with the ruddy blaze;
Those merry sleigh-bells, our hearts keep time
Responsive to their fairy chime.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, o’er vale and hill,
Their welcome notes are trembling still.

’Tis he, and blithely the gay bells sound,
As his sleigh glides over the frozen ground;
Hark! He has pass’d the dark pine wood,
He crosses now the ice-bound flood,
And hails the light at the open door
That tells his toilsome journey’s o’er.
The merry sleigh-bells! My fond heart swells
And trobs to hear the welcome bells;
Ding-dong, ding-dong, o’er ice and snow,
A voice of gladness, on they go.

Our hut is small, and rude our cheer,
But love has spread the banquet here;
And childhood springs to be caress’d
By our beloved and welcome guest.
With a smiling brow his tale he tells,
The urchins ring the merry sleigh-bells;
The merry sleigh-bells, with shout and song
They drag the noisy string along;
Ding-dong, ding-dong, the father’s come
The gay bells ring his welcome home.

From the cedar swamp the gaunt wolves howl,
From the oak loud whoops the felon owl;
The snow-storm sweeps in thunder past,
The forest creaks beneath the blast;
No more I list, with boding fear,
The sleigh-bells distant chime to hear.
The merry sleigh-bells with soothing power
Shed gladness on the evening hour.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, what rapture swells
The music of those joyous bells!

Thank-you to all the chilly volunteers on the streets of Toronto who lent their rousing voices to our rendition of this poem. In the meantime, I'm told that poets do more than experiment and entertain. According to a famous poet called Shelley, they also legislate, unacknowledged. At a time of parliamentary uncertainty, I'm now investigating what sort of legislation they're currently working on.

Posted by Tom Howell at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From time to time The Next Chapter checks in with booksellers across the country.
Click on 'continue reading' for a list of popular Canadian authors in those locations. We'll keep updating as we get new information.

Be sure and write to us with your favorite titles at thenextchapter@cbc.ca and don't forget to tell us where you are writing from.

The Book Cellar in Yellowknife, N.W.T.
The Delta Is My Home by Mindy Willet, one of a series of her popular books on past and present life in NWT
Caribou and The North by Monte Hummet and Justina Ray

Audrey's Books in Edmonton, Alberta
Good To A Fault by Marina Endicott
The Story That Brought Me Here edited by Linda Goyette
The Great Karoo by Fred Stenson

McNally Robinson in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Our Towns: Saskatchewan Communities from Abbey to Zenon Park by David McLennan
I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby
The Girl In Saskatoonby Sharon Butala

Posted by The Next Chapter at 12:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Next Chapter celebrates these guests and books on the Dec.20 show:

Tom Howell gets Shelagh to indulge in Victorian poetry, Canadian-style. From the Canadian Poetry Archive they explore Isabella Valency Crawford's "The Christmas Baby" and Susannah Moodie's first Canadian poem, "The Sleigh Bells".

Then it's off to a gathering of family and friends chez cooking icon Bonnie Stern for a talk about her latest book Friday Night Dinners.

Jonathan Torrens aka JRoc on The Trailer Park Boys sends Shelagh his favourite seasonal song - Rita MacNeil's Now The Bells Ring.

Shelagh chats with Brian Francis about his book Fruit. He's another of this year's Canada Reads authors.

Eliana Cuevas sings a seasonal song from the CBC Sounds of the Season album.

And Gerry Bowler gives Shelagh the lowdown on Santa Claus: A Biography.

Posted by The Next Chapter at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More exciting people, books and music on The Next Chapter Dec.13th

Author Nino Ricci talks to Shelagh about his GG award-winner "The Origin of the Species".

The musical duo Dala plays a song called 'Five Dollar Pearls' from their cd Who Do You Think You Are. You'll have to hear the show to find the literary connection in that.

You can hear from our third Canada Reads author Gil Adamson about her nominated book "The Outlander" as well as her fanbook on the X-Files called "Mulder, It's Me".

And panic not - the children's book panel offers lots of reasons to pick these books this holiday season. Click on continue reading for the complete list.

The Next Chapter children's book panel features Michele Landsberg and Ken Setterington.

Michele's picks

"Traction Man Meets Turbo Dog", Mini Grey, Knopf
"We Are All Born Free", Frances Lincoln Children's Books
"Nation", Terry Pratchett, Doubleday
"Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac", Gabrielle Zevin, Douglas&McIntyre
"Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes", Mem Fox, Helen Oxenbury, Harcourt

Ken's picks

"A Visitor for Bear", Bonny Becker, Candlewick
"Animals at the Edge", Jonathan & Marilyn Baillie, Maple Tree
"Would You", Marthe Jocelyn, Tundra
"The Bite of the Mango", Mariatu Kamara & Susan McClelland, Annick
"It's Moving Day", Pamela Hickman , Kidscanpress

Ken points at the Toronto Public Library's website with the library's "top picks for kids under five". It's
Kids Space.

Posted by The Next Chapter at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

posted by Shelagh Rogers

I love to mess around in the kitchen. I love to chop onions and peel carrots. It’s therapeutic and sometimes cathartic.

The cookbook writer Bonnie Stern has been a constant companion in my kitchen. My favourite recipes of hers are stained and tattered. And she has never steered me wrong. Until…

The turkey came out pallid as a supermarket mushroom. The meat thermometer barely registered. Yes, I had something wrong with my gas oven. It seemed to be off by about 100 degrees. So I knew it had to go in for a few more hours. But I’d already timed the brussel sprouts and carrots and potatoes to be ready standing by when the turkey came out. Anyway, back in it went. Then it came out massively overdone
And looking as though it had just been run over by an 18 wheeler.
It was just missing the tire treads.

So we dined on tough bird and mushy veg. With heaps of wine.

I don’t blame Bonnie. Not at all. And I have subsequently tried her “laid back turkey” in a functional oven. (and she has a recipe for it in her new book Friday Night Dinners. Hope you catch our conversation on December 21st).

My other turkey story relates to the radio as well. Back on Morningside, we were getting mail about tricks to surviving the holiday season. A woman wrote in that she loaded the stuffing into the leg of (clean) pantyhose so you could just pull it out of the turkey in one go. I tried this…with black pantyhose that turned the stuffing and the meat around it a nuclear green. There have to be other ways to have a green Christmas dinner…

Posted by The Next Chapter at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Don Cherry to Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard here's a look at the guests, authors and books making an appearance in our Dec.6th show.

Don Cherry regales Shelagh with tales from his book Don Cherry's Hockey Stories and Stuff.
Author Lorna Jackson "yaks about books with a sporty angle" and starts it all off with a review of Lee Henderson's novel The Man Game.
Hey Rosetta singersongwriter Tim Baker talks about the influence of Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale on his song Epitaph
Aislinn Hunter reveals what it's like to be a writer-in -residence.
Michel Tremblay, one of this year's Canada Reads authors, chats with Shelagh about his novel The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant and remarks on the depth of soul in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.
And finally Judith Drinnan tells us what's hot in Canada's most northerly bookstore :
The Delta Is My Home by Mindy Willet
and Caribou and The North by Monte Hummet and Justina Ray.

Posted by The Next Chapter at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This week, Don Cherry leads things off on The Next Chapter.
Don has written a book called "Hockey Stories and Stuff". Well,
he hasn't precisely written it,. He told his stories to the veteran sports
journalist Al Strachan. And he wrote them down, So it reads as though
you're sitting beside Don, maybe enjoying a beverage. Without being blinded
by his suits.

I have to say I was kind of nervous about talking to him. He doesn't
mince words, just journalists. And he doesn't suffer fools. So I read every word.
Not that I don't, normally. But I paid careful, strict attention. Actually, the experience
of reading the book was easy and enjoyable. His stories are often poignant, often funny
and yes, sometimes he rants. It's Don Cherry, right all you kids?

We called him on the phone for the interview. The first thing I wanted to know was
what he was wearing. I won't ruin the surprise here. I had expected him to huff and puff
and blow my house down after he tested my knowledge of how many bull terriers he's
owned (he's on number three, by the way). But he was affable, engaged and is a
fine storyteller with a great memory. And he gets in the occasional rant, too.

Later in the program, the great Quebec writer Michel Tremblay will join me for the second in our
Canada Reads series of interviews with the selected novelists. A TV host named Anne Marie Withenshaw
selected Michel Tremblay's "The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant". She is in her twenties.
I'm betting Michel is ticked pink that her choosing him will turn a whole new generation onto
his writing.

Don Cherry and Michel Tremblay: together for the first time. It could only happen on The Next Chapter.

Posted by The Next Chapter at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)