Why not get lost in a book?

This is the best time to lose yourself in a book. Reading gives you the opportunity to entertain yourself, forget the world around you, have the travel experiences of your life (all for free) and hang out with some unbelievable characters. There’s no better time than now to discover and experience Caribbean fiction and nonfiction.

The covid19 virus has us all feeling edgy and somewhat helpless, but you have the power to make a monumental contribution to everyone’s wellbeing by staying home to read. By reading a Caribbean author and boosting the sales of Caribbean books, you can send an important signal to international publishers that there is a market for our literature. That means we can preserve our Caribbean voice.

If you’re still able to buy books, look for Caribbean publishers like Ian Randle Publishers, the University of West Indies Press, Peepal Tree Press, Skirt and Blouse Publications, Papillote Press and Macmillan Caribbean.

Two Caribbean books I highly recommend these days are Another Mother, a memoir by Ross Kenneth Urken, which tells the story of his quest to trace the life of his beloved Jamaican nanny and; The Mermaid of Black Conch, a richly layered legend of a mermaid, which is the latest novel of Monique Roffey.

Kim Johnson’s Illustrated Story of Pan, which is in the process of being reprinted, will conjure up memories of Carnival. The bars are closed, but you can disappear into the best bar I know: the Belmont bar in Barbara Jenkin’s novel De Rightest Place.

If you’re not ready to tackle a book, try an engaging article in the New Yorker called The Deadliest Virus Ever Known. This is Malcolm Gladwell’s 1997 article on tracking down the cause of the 1918 Spanish flu. If you google Malcolm Gladwell + The New Yorker + Spanish flu, you can pull up the article online or you can follow the URL: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/09/29/the-dead-zone

If you’re looking for other good reads, I suggest books that provide a sense of purpose during these times when we have difficulty imagining the future. Here are some of my favourite uplifting reads.

* Radical Kindness: The Life-Changing Power of Giving and Receiving – by Angela Santomero – Learn about the power of kindness in this book about how giving transforms our lives. I especially enjoyed the chapter on being kind to yourself, a concept that is difficult for many of us to master.

* Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy -- While suffering from a bad virus over Christmas, I escaped into the ancient world with this colossal biography of Caesar, and finally understood what made Caesar such a powerful man.

* The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates – The wife of Microsoft mogul Bill Gates turns out to be an engaging writer in this book which tells of her family’s foundation and the work it does to help women around the world find a voice and a purpose. The Moment of Lift will surely have you thinking about the rewards of community service.

* Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection by Jia Jiang – We all fear rejection, but Jiang’s personal experiment proved that the requests you often suppress because of fear of failing, often reap the greatest rewards. This is a book that helps you understand the power of taking chances.

* We Should Hang Out Some Time: Embarrasingly a True Story by Josh Sundquest – More than likely, you will have to order this book online, but if you have a teen in the house, I guarantee this is a Young Adult (YA) winner.

Students in my library class became totally lost in this nonfiction book about a cancer survivor with an amputated leg who, in his 20s, looks back at his time in secondary school to figure out why he never had a successful relationship. The books is funny, poignant and strangely uplifting. Most of all, it rings true. There’s a mystery to solve here for teen readers.

* Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee – Objects do make us happy, Lee argues, and she shows just why they give joy. Of course you can’t have a book about joy without a section on Peter Minshall, who appears in this book.

Books help us get through the toughest times. They offer advice, support, joy and escape so find your perfect read if you’re at home waiting out the covid19 virus. Happy reading!