My Review of Karen Madej’s Selected Stories
Reviewing a Collection of Works
Recently, Dr Mehmet Yildiz challenged us to create a list of our own favorite works. Then he gave us another challenge — review the works of one another.
When I was in college creative writing classes, this was always my favorite activity — well, besides the writing! When you get a chance to review someone else's works, you learn so much about them as a writer. I’ve chosen to review Karen Madej💛’s works because I enjoyed her wit when she wrote about each of the selected stories in her collection:
Karen’s first selected story — The Best Things in Life Are Free, 14 Simple Frugal Pleasures — is a no-nonsense list of free or relatively cheap activities that anyone can do to gain some pleasure in life. Everything from writing, photography, reading books from the library (remember those?) to taking a thermos of home-brewed coffee to a park, dancing and even a little mind-altering substance. Karen’s point for all of her 14 simple pleasures is to show that you don’t have to spend tonnes of money to enjoy life. Sometimes the simplest, freest, or cheapest things can bring you joy.
One of my simple pleasures is to rescue trinkets from thrift stores — a small vase, cup, box, etc. I allow myself a set amount of money (no more than $5) and one trip a month to look for one object. That way, I don’t clutter up my home with too many unneeded things.
After you’ve read Karen’s story, perhaps you will be able to make your own list of simple pleasures and implement them into your life.
Oh, and Karen, you finally hit that 1k mark of claps!
Karen’s second selected story is a love letter to herself. She admits to how hard a task this can be, and I agree. I’ve tried it many times and still haven’t been able to complete one. She begins this letter with a suicide attempt and proceeds to acknowledge every beautiful aspect of her life since failing that attempt. And it is a beautiful life! As a people-person, Karen has spent her life devoted to others, including her son. I won’t spoil this for other readers. I just want to say how beautiful this letter is and that it brought tears to my eyes in several places. Thank you, Karen!
The third selected story of Karen’s is a beautiful love letter to her son. In it, Karen expresses her pride for her son’s accomplishments, acknowledges her own failures as a mother, and tells a heart-wrenching story of the second time she sought custody of her son. I think this is the most beautiful letter I have ever read because Karen releases her own ego to express to her son how much she loves him.
Karen’s fourth selected story is a marketing piece highlighting all the wonderful work Dr Mehmet Yildiz has put into creating and maintaining Illumination. She also shows the reader her own method for reading and promoting the works on Illumination. She reminds us that Illumination only works when we, the readers and contributors, work together to promote and highlight this amazing publication. To me, this is a love letter to the good Doctor and his publication. We all benefit!
Karen’s fifth and last selected story is an emotional tale of finding herself and learning to savour all of life’s precious moments. She reminds us that we need to be present, to pay attention, and to use our senses when participating in life. Make memories that will last. Karen admits that she is a recovering alcoholic and that much of her past has been forgotten as a result of her drinking. She now takes the time to savour everything about her, to take photos of places and things so that she will remember them. This is a beautiful, raw and intimate look into Karen’s life, past and present.
While reading Karen Madej💛’s stories, I learned some wonderful things about her — she is compassionate, loving, and caring toward her fellow humans. She knows her flaws and is working toward changing those flaws into masterpieces of a new self. And finally, she remains optimistic about life, even though she suffered trauma in her past. Her words are raw, emotional, passionate and beautiful. I hope this review encourages others to read her stories.
Thank you for reading!
Lori Carlson writes poetry, fiction, articles and personal essays. Most of her topics are centered around Relationships, Spirituality, Life Lessons, Mental Health, and the LGBTQ+ community. She currently writes for Loose Words,💜POM💜 , Illumination, The Friday Fix, House of Haiku, Know Thyself, Heal Thyself, The Purple Pen, Blue Insights, a Few Words, and Tempest in Under 1000