This year has been one most Bajans would rather forget, 2013 seems an apt number in that Barbados went through bad luck like we had 20 Friday 13th’s! As such, many Christmasses in Bim would be sparser than Mother Hubbard’s cupboard… If you missed your chance at an iPad or iPhone in February to hoard as a gift 😉 but you still have a few shekels left to rub together?Here are some reasonable presents, as we’re all within the 12 Days of Christmas and Kwanzaa, etc.

Is your pal or family member into history? How about Bajan writer Annette I. Smith‘s “Etched,” which is her twist on a Caribbean version of Toni Morrison‘s Beloved?

The book is Smith’s first and is a story that takes place in the antebellum south. A nagging question persists: How and why does a Barbados-born woman – she immigrated at age 15 – set a story in pre-Civil War America. As Smith puts it, “I was selected by the ancestors to write it.”

Smith is an avid journal-keeper. In the late 90s, she was awakened by neighbors having a fight and began to write, continuing until dawn. This was the beginning when she met eight of her characters. “This time period chose me,” she repeats.

The story begins in 1813 on the Beauford Plantation in Promise Land, Greenwood, South Carolina and traces the multi-generational story of an African American family through their loves, losses, hopes and trials.

Launched both away and here in Barbados close to Independence she plans to explore the families even further and will soon have a sequel in 2014. If you know your family members are more into contemporary Barbadians and love spy-thrillers and crime novels… What about all of these genres blended in Chill Run from the fertile mind of former track & field star and scientist Russell Brooks with more of this genre awaiting you (he’s the nephew of Barbadian top Photographer Gordon Brooks of Brooks-LaTouche)?

You know a publicity stunt has backfired when someone dies. Starving author Eddie Barrow, Jr will do anything to get a book deal with a NYC publisher. Even if it means getting caught by the media while engaging in S&M with a female celebrity as a publicity stunt. What Eddie gets instead are details of a billion dollar fraud scheme from a suicidal client who’s fatally shot minutes later. Now on the run from the law and the killers, Eddie seeks help from two unlikely friends – an alcoholic and a dominatrix. With few resources, Eddie races to clear his name, unveil the fraud scheme, and expose the killers before he becomes their next victim.

Eddie Russell’s book is about corrupt politicians, a sore topic in Barbados right now, on either side of the fence… Perhaps Santa could instead of dropping reindeer-cakes or lumps of coal at Bay Street or Palmetto Square, should give both the ruling party and Opposition some Yaris 2014‘s and take away their Audis, BMW or Mercedes Benzes? Let them appreciate luxury from an economic setting?

Before this year’s pre-disaster of chopping 3,000 jobs on Fri. 13th Dec. Budget, Nassco had gauged the cost of a 2014 Yaris at approximately $62,000 BBD then suddenly they had to re-examine and lay out a new cost of around $68,000 BBD. 40 units of the 2013 Yaris sold in August while in September only 19 cars moved, any surprise?

There is a 1500 cc edition out, but it isn’t available here in Barbados, but all 2014 Yarises are 20% more fuel efficient (great news if you combine that with SOL’s Go Further petrol). This is just the thing Fumble, Grinchler and even the Opposition (who did not do a Pay Cut like Gov’t) now can sell their gas-guzzlers, especially Mia’s SUV, and opt for a less expensive Yaris 2014? Maybe even earn belated respect from the Public?