I am a lover of books who loves poring over publications by diverse authors on different subjects. My goal is to improve myself, learn and explore new ideas. Reading is not only the best way to improve one's mind but also a highly enjoyable pursuit. A book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other is one of the best ways to pass away a couple of hours.
When Griffin Tomlin is found dead in his parent’s swimming pool, the Porterfields’ lives are irreversibly changed. Shortly thereafter, Emily Porterfield is arrested and charged with his murder.
Her sister Clara, who has had a crush on Griffin for a long time, knows more about the murder than she is saying. The family is torn apart, with Emily in jail and her parents unable to reconcile their reactions to the news.
It turns out that Griffin was not as perfect as previously thought by all. Clara told her sister about a traumatic event and believes this to be the reason that led to Emily’s act. With the aid of her new friend, Aniston, who is a writer for the school paper and amateur sleuth, she begins to see that there may be more to Emily’s act than she initially believed.
What they uncover is as shocking as it is unexpected. Clara is tormented by what she knows and its aftermath. She also finds herself drawn to Griffin’s best friend, Kolby further complicating her feelings.
This is book addresses the deep themes of sexual assault, torture, and murder. Clara narrates the story vividly. Her complex emotions are extensively explored and prominently displayed.
We equally see the reactions of those around her and how they impact her. The considerable pain and social isolation of sexual abuse victims is evident throughout the book.
The author seamlessly moves from the present to the past as she develops the plot. I found this book interesting and engaging, although it was not an easy read because of the subject.
I was drawn to Clara’s character and acutely felt her pain. I felt like Emily’s character could have been better thrashed out to help us make more sense of her behavior.
I am absolutely going to look out for more of Deanna
Cameron’s work, as I love her writing style.
I rate it 4 out of 5 and recommend it to anyone who enjoys
reading mysteries and does not mind delving into deep heavy themes.
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for a complimentary
copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Murder in Venice
is a historical fiction novel set in picturesque Venice in the 1750s. It
revolves around a murder investigation carried out by Marco Pisani, who is an avagadore (high magistrate of Venice).
When an apprentice stumbles upon a dead body on the streets
on his way to work early one morning, Marco is called in to prepare the trial
and prosecution charges. The dead man, Barbaro is an impoverished noble.
What at first seems to be an open and shut case of a robbery
that has gone badly turns into something else when two more bodies are found.
With the invaluable aid of his lawyer friend Zen, his resourceful gondolier,
Nani and the beautiful Chiara, Marco sets out to uncover the truth.
As Marco works to solve the mystery, we are able to see his exceptional thoroughness and his remarkable dedication to his job. What he discovers challenges the very core of his beliefs and eventually he finds himself torn between his duties as an avagadore and his sense of morality.
This book is the first in a series. It was originally written in Italian. The author gives us a glimpse into the lives of the Venetian people during the 1750s. Venice is no longer the center of commerce that it used to be. As a result, many nobles who relied on trade with the Orient for their livelihood find themselves without the trade interests that sustained them.
The author develops the story against this background. She demonstrates to us how the fortunes of the people have declined. Venice is a city that was once a ‘world leader in civilization and wealth’ but whose citizens now live in abject poverty.
I liked the vivid description of Venice at the time. I was
transported into the lives of the people and got a good understanding of issues
like the place of women in society and the power of the noble families.
The story is well-paced and interesting and kept me engaged until the end. It was easy to read and follow, and I loved the ending. I rate it 4 out of 5 and recommend it to anyone who loves mysteries and historical fiction.
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for a free copy of
the book in exchange for an honest review.
I’m joining the Classics Club today, 6th of September 2019. My goal is to read 50 classics within 5 years, so by 6th September 2024.
Here is the list of books that I have selected, listed in the order that I want to read them. I might make changes as I go along. I selected books that I have heard of before, a few that I have read and others that look interesting, based on the title.
Most of these books are available for free online. Watch out for my progress updates as I move along.
1. Pride and Prejudice : Jane Austen – Completed 26/09/2019 2. Little Women : Louisa May Alcott 3. Things Fall Apart : Chinua Achebe 4. A Doll’s House : Ibsen HenrickCompleted 6th December 2019 5. The Prince and the Pauper: Mark Twain 6. Emma : Jane Austen – Completed 30th October 2019 7. The Blind Assassin : Margaret Atwood 8. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall : Anne Bronte 9. Katherine : Anya Seton 10. Wuthering Heights : Emily Bronte 11. Colored Man Round the World : David Dorr 12. Marriage : Susan Ferrier 13. The Color Purple : Alice Walker 14. A Tale of Two Cities : Charles Dickens 15. Jane Eyre : Charlotte Bronte 16. The Story of an African Farm : Olive Schreiner 17. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain 18. The Comedy of Errors : William Shakespeare 19. The Pirates of Malaysia: Emilio Salgari 20. A Grain of Wheat : Ngugi wa Thiong’o 21. The Professor : Charlotte Bronte 22. An Ideal Husband : Oscar Wilde 23. The Importance of Being Earnest : Oscar Wilde 24. Persuasion : Jane Austen 25. Jo’s Boys : Louisa May Alcott 26. A Handmaid’s Tale : Margaret Atwood 27. Sense and Sensibility : Jane Austen 28. The Invisible Man : Ralph Ellison 29. Little Men : Louisa May Alcott 30. Northanger Abbey : Jane Austen 31. Mansfield Park : Jane Austen 32. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer : Mark Twain 33. Frankenstein : Mary Shelley 34. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde : Robert Louis Stevenson 35. Vanity Fair : William Makepeace Thackeray 36. Gulliver’s Travels : Jonathon Swift 37. Cheerful Weather for the Wedding : Julia Strachey 38. Treasure Island: Robert Louis Stevenson 39. Of Mice and Men : John Steinbeck 40. King Solomon’s Mines : H. R Haggard 41. Satires : Horace 42. Gone with the Wind : Margaret Mitchell 43. Man and Superman : George Bernard Shaw 44. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood: Howard Pyle 45. Little Dorrit : Charles Dickens 46. Much Ado About Nothing: William Shakespeare 47. The Hunchback of Notre Dame : Victor Hugo 48. The Bride of Lammermoor : Sir Walter Scott 49. Dracula : Bram Stoker 50. The Hobbit : J.R.R. Tolkien
I am joining a classics challenge! I was super excited to come across this challenge. It is run by the classics book club which is a community of lovers of classics. The idea is to read at least 50 classics and blog about them, within a period of 5 years.
This is meant to increase the number of people blogging about classics. Since I love classics, I have decided to join the challenge. Not bad, yeah? I can do that in 5 years. It is bound to be a refreshing experience.
My first task is to choose 50 classics that I would like to read and review. In selecting my list, am including books that I have read in the past and would like to blog about. That’s not cheating, it’s allowed.
The first one on my list has to be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, my favorite romance. I’m looking forward to blogging about this one! I have read it multiple times. I picked it up again last year after watching the 1995 BBC adaptation (yes, the one with Colin Firth diving into the lake). I don’t know why it took me so long to find this series, but I loved it once I did.
I am also including several others that I read years ago, as it has been a while and I need to refresh my memory to do them justice in a blog post. The Classics Club has helpfully provided a list to pick from, though you can include any book that is considered a classic. I have created a separate page for this project here where I will update my progress and post my reviews. Feel free to either join me or follow my progress!
The Nickel Boys is Colson Whitehead’s latest novel, published in July 2019. Colson Whitehead is an American author with eight other published books. In 2016, he won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the National Book Award for his book The Underground Railroad. It was also named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year.
The Nickel Boys is a historical fiction book set in the 1960s, a time when racial discrimination was rife in the US. At the same time, the civil rights movement was gaining momentum. The main character, Elwood Curtis lives with his doting grandmother in Tallahassee, Florida after his parents take off in the night. He is a straight-A student who is fascinated by the outstanding teachings of Martin Luther King Jr that he listens to continuously.
Due to his grandmother’s good influence, he is honest, hardworking and well on his way to college. He genuinely seems to have a bright future ahead of him. Unfortunately, life in the Southern parts of the US during the Jim Crow laws era could spring some unexpected surprises on black lads.
Elwood finds himself at the Nickel Academy for boys, a segregated reform school. He makes good friends at the Academy. One of them, Turner, is a streetwise orphan from Houston. The two have contradictory attitudes toward life. Elwood, guided as he is by the teachings of Dr. King, genuinely believes in taking control and transforming the world. Turner believes in lying low in order to survive.
Elwood soon learns that at Nickel, “academic performance has no bearing on one’s progress to graduation” and the teachers do not care much about grades. What counts is “work, comportment, and demonstrations of compliance or docility.” Within a short time, he gets to know what happens when one steps out of line at Nickel.
Life at the academy is brutal, miserable, and it’s easy to get into trouble. Instances of terrible violence, bullying, sexual abuse, and neglect are common. In addition, mysterious disappearances are often classified as escapes. The administration is inept and corrupt and motivated by self – interest. The boys are trying their hardest to survive and get out of Nickel.
Colson Whitehead narrates this fascinating tale of unutterable woe in a captivating style that kept me hooked till the very end. Though it is a short book at just over 200 pages, it is full of emotion and action. I was powerfully drawn into the boys’ lives – horrified by the tragic events and shocked at the excessive brutality that is meted out on them.
I equally found myself rooting for them, though as everybody knows from horrific real-life events from that era, not everybody gets a happy ending. Can anybody escape unscathed and manage to build a happy successful life? What does it take to survive in such an environment?
The book is based on a real school in Florida, known as the Dozier School. In an interview with the New York Times, Colson said he hoped to “highlight the experience of black students at the Dozier school, who, under segregation, “got it worse” than the white boys, and whose stories have not generated as much attention.”
It is heart-rending to imagine that such brutality was unleashed on young boys, in the name of ‘reform.’ Whatever it was those boys had done, such cruel treatment was totally uncalled for. Though a fictional retelling of the story, it conveys some good insight into the unfortunate circumstances that led some of the boys into the school. It clearly demonstrates how the corrupt system terribly failed them.
My sole hope as I read the book was that such places do not exist today. I hope that as a generation, we are able to learn from the events of the past to ensure we are more responsible in the way that we handle matters around racial discrimination.
Unfortunately, like many others, Colson expressed the view that it seems we are regressing as a society, which is highly regrettable. Hopefully, this book will get people thinking and talking about what happens when parts of society are treated as being sub-human.
When despite all their best efforts, they find themselves on the wrong side of the law. To make matters worse, those who are entrusted with the authority to aid their reform have no interest in doing so. Instead, they ensure a speedy descent towards their ultimate downfall.
I recommend you pick this book up today and have a read. It is masterfully crafted by an experienced award-winning author who does not disappoint!
Compiled by : Jack Canfield, Mark Victor & Wendy Walker
Publisher : Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing
Date of Publication : 2009
Number of Pages : 381
My Rating : 5 out of 5
Why Read This Book ?
Somebody in my family gave me ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul – Power Moms’. I still do not know who it was as it was part of the Secret Santa Christmas gift exchange that we do every year with my extended family.
At the time, I wondered why this beloved relative thought this was an appropriate gift for me. Not that I did not consider myself a Power Mom. On the contrary, I knew this description had aptly described me for many years since I became a mother. The issue was that this series consisted of 101 Stories Celebrating the Power of Choice for Stay-at-Home and Work-from-Home Moms.
You see, I did not consider myself as either one of these. I had almost always been a Work from Work Mom, except with my most recent job where I had occasionally been allowed to work from home, one day a week. Before that, apart from maternity leave and the other usual leave days, I was not to be typically found staying at home or working from home.
Not that I did not want to, the choices were just limited. None of my previous positions had provided for a flexible working schedule. So why did this relative think that this book was a good gift for me? Perhaps he/she was predicting my future. You see, for the better part of that year; I had been at home. This was not out of choice but due to a retrenchment exercise, which led to me being laid off.
In as much as I had been home, I did not consider myself a Stay-at-Home-Mom. I was busy searching for employment and any additional day I spent at home and not in an office genuinely felt like a punishment. I did not expect to take so long to get back into employment. Thus looking for work had become my full-time job.
Given that, I did not fully appreciate how good it was that I was at home. I felt that my kids were grown, at 15 and 11 years, and did not need me around. Besides, my son was away at a boarding school and was only around during the holidays.
There are only so many CVs you can send out in a day, so I had plenty of free time. My favorite thing to do with free time is read, so I decided to read the book and see what it was about.
Inspiring Stories by Power Moms.
The book comprises 101 short stories mostly written by Moms about their working lives and the choices they made after getting children. There are also some stories from a few men. It was compiled by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Wendy Walker. There are stories from Jane Green, Melora Hardin, Liz Lange, Jodi Picoult, and Lynne Spears, among many others. The foreword was written by Lisa Belkin.
Moms who share their stories have different professional backgrounds. There are lawyers, doctors, writers, marketers, professors, journalists and so on. The stories are grouped into 10 chapters, based on different themes. They detail the reasons why many women decide to quit their jobs and stay at home. Through their stories, different Moms share experiences that they went through after they made this critical decision.
They talk about financial sacrifices and the effects of spending days with babies or young children at home as opposed to adults in a professional environment. They highlight the satisfaction that ultimately comes from being there for your children and watching them grow without missing out on any important milestones.
Several Moms tell us how they dealt with additional challenges such as children with special needs. Moms who work part-time from home as they care for their children share the struggles involved in balancing the two roles as well as successes achieved as they carved their paths.
We also get to hear from several men. They write about experiences with stay at home moms, be it their wives or mothers. Some men also share their own experiences of staying at home and caring for their children. Finally, we take a look at how it feels when it is time for the kids to move on and start their own lives. The writers relate their experiences with letting go and watching their children start their own lives.
My Reflections on The Stories.
Once I started reading these compelling stories, I instantly realized how I had inadvertently been presented with a golden opportunity to be with my two children and spend more time with them. The genuine joy of being at home to greet my daughter when she came home in the evening was beyond anything I had ever experienced in the past. Previously, I had always arrived home after her. To a greater extent, I would be too exhausted to constructively engage in any meaningful conversation.
Now, we could take a stroll around our gated compound as she narrated to me what had happened to her in school that day. I got to properly know her problem areas in school and could adequately support her as she completed her homework. When schools closed and my son came home for the holidays, we were able to spend time just talking or playing all manner of board games. I guided them to explore different skills like cooking, baking and even ironing. We danced, exercised and told stories.
With time, I came to sufficiently appreciate the opportunity that I had to be home with my children. It is not just a simple issue of being there physically when they need me. It is about being fully present as I am not bone-tired every night from an exhausting workday and a long commute.
The stories started to resonate with me. My kids are much older than those featured in the stories and I do not have the crazy schedules that they narrated. Still, I remember those days. These remarkable women demonstrate to us how rewarding it is to be present in your children’s life. They highlight the key challenges and the rewards of doing this. Additionally, they illustrate how a proper balance at times becomes necessary and show us how they were able to achieve it, either by taking on part time work away from the home or working from home.
I respectfully salute all these women for their amazing strength and incredible dedication. Many of them fully deserve the noble Super Mom title! I was inspired by their tales to look for work opportunities that allow me to spend more time on that most important job of all- being a Mom!
I fully recommend that you pick up this book and browse through these inspiring stories. Whether you are looking for some practical advice, comfort or just a laugh, this book has it all!
I Owe You One is Sophie Kinsella’s most recent standalone novel. Sophie is a British author who has sold over 40 million copies of her bestselling books. I promptly fell in love with Sophie’s Shopaholic Series when I read Confessions of a Shopaholic and later the standalone novel – Can You Keep A Secret? Subsequently, I found that she had authored other books under her real name, Madeleine Wickham, before she started using the pen name, Sophie Kinsella.
I Owe You One is a charming romance featuring Fixie Farr, who has acquired this most appropriate nickname as she cannot help but fix everything around her. Any time Fixie perceives anything that is slightly amiss, she must fix it – be it a person or a wedding reception with missing flower arrangements.
Fixie is intensely loyal to her family, fully living according to her deceased father’s guiding motto of ‘Family First.’ Although all the family is supposed to be running the family shop, Farrs, she typically picks up tasks that her two siblings are meant to be carrying out. Ergo she invariably ends up doing the bulk of the work, leaving her with an immense burden when her mother goes out of town.
One day, a stranger requests Fixie to watch over his laptop in a coffee shop as he takes a call outside. When the cracked ceiling collapses under the crushing weight of leaking water, she swiftly reacts, saving the man’s laptop. Sebastian is so grateful that he steadfastly insists on repaying her for the awesome save. When Fixie gently refuses any payment and fails to name her reward, he presents her with a note that states ‘ I Owe You One _ Redeemable in perpetuity.’ He subsequently tells her to get in touch with him if she ever needs a favor.
Initially, and in line with her generous nature, Fixie has no intention of cashing in the IOU. This undoubtedly changes when Ryan, her brother’s best friend whom she has had a crush on since she was ten years old, returns from abroad. Ryan is in need of a decent job and Fixie cannot help but remedy the situation. She thus reaches out to Sebastian to cash in her IOU. Somehow, this ends up defining their relationship as they continuously trade favors.
This is the familiar story of a young woman’s unwavering endeavors to resolve problems for everyone in her life without devoting enough attention to her own needs. Fixie continually allows her family to push her around. She is unable to stand up to them, even when their reckless and clearly destructive behavior threatens the continued success of the family business.
Having eagerly read the other Sophie Kinsella books, I am familiar with this sort of flighty character. She starts out as completely flawed and fumbles her way through life, humorously getting into all manner of odd scraps along the way. Fortunately, she overcomes her shortcomings and invariably ends up doing the right thing thus saving the day.
Like the other Sophie Kinsella books, this is a fun light read, ideal for a delightful day by the pool or on the beach. That said, I found parts of this book somewhat irritating. Fixie seems to me to be too much of a pushover. Her brother and sister were quite irritating and I felt like the conclusions to their story arcs were incomplete. There were also not as many laugh-aloud moments as I found in the earlier Shopaholic Books, which I thought were totally hilarious!
Nevertheless, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Chick lit romantic comedies. It is ideal for that relaxed easy day when all you desire is to get lost in a light-hearted romance!
One of the most outstanding books that I read in 2018 was Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, so I have decided to write my first review on it. Americanah won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of The New York Times Top Ten Best Books of 2013.
Chimamanda is a Nigerian writer who grew up on the campus of the University of Nigeria in Nsukka. Americanah is her third novel. Her debut novel was Purple Hibiscus which was followed by Half of a Yellow Sun. She won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (2005) and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (2004) for Purple Hibiscus. Half a Yellow Sun got her the Orange Prize in 2007 (presently called the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction). Chimamanda has also written a collection of short stories – The Thing Around Your Neck and an essay titled We Should All Be Feminists. Her most recent book is titled Dear Ijeawele or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. She is additionally a prominent speaker and thought leader.
I have read her first three books and am planning to read all her publications and share my views. I was first drawn to Chimamanda after watching her 2009 TED Talk titled The Danger of a Single Story. Not that I had never seen her books in book shops, I just hadn’t come round to reading them. Half of a Yellow Sun seemed a very abstract title to me, so I did not pick it up. Understandable as that was the phase of my life when I was more interested in much lighter fare for my reading table. Once I read Americanah, I instantly became a fan and picked up her other books as well. I only wish I had started reading her books earlier!
Americanah is a beautifully narrated story of the journey of Ifemelu, a young Nigerian girl who grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. A teenage Ifemelu meets and falls in love with Obinze whilst in High School. The two move on to the University of Nigeria in Nsukka. The country is under military rule and mismanagement prevails. Soon the students start a riot to protest the lack of water and electricity. Lecturers strike to protest a lack of pay, which necessitates the closure of the University. When the lecturers’ strikes become commonplace, many students leave for the US. Ifemelu also eventually joins her aunt who is already in the US with plans that Obinze will join her there after he graduates.
Unfortunately, Obinze is not able to move to the US after he is denied a visa. He ends up in the United Kingdom on a six months’ visa. He unsuccessfully tries to legalize his immigration status and after three years, he is eventually deported. Fortunately, back home, he builds himself up and becomes wealthy.
Ifemelu, on the other hand, struggles to settle down in her new life but is eventually able to make a good life for herself. She still yearns for home and in the end decides to go back to Nigeria. She then has to come to terms with a new Nigeria where she is referred to as an Americanah. Chimamanda explains this as a term used to refer to Nigerian immigrants who return home with affectations such as pretending not to understand Nigerian languages and speaking with an American accent. Ifemelu’s strongest desire is to settle down and to re-connect with Obinze, her old love.
This is a compelling story of genuine self-discovery and personal growth told along with a critical exploration of what it means to yearn for and eagerly seek greener pastures. The prolific author shows us the struggles that lead Africans to leave their homes and the daunting challenges they inevitably encounter trying to fit in in overseas countries like the US and UK. I love the way she uses Ifemelu’s and Obinze’s contrasting lives to show us two different immigrant experiences. One immigrates legally on a valid student visa and achieves a measure of success. The other travels on a short term visa and struggles to obtain residency. Even though they leave on different terms, they both end up going back home.
Most importantly, Chimamanda carefully explores controversial issues on race, through Ifemelu’s personal experiences. An interesting illustration of this is when her class watches scenes from the TV series Roots. A spirited discussion inevitably ensues between an African and several African American classmates around the bleeping of the N-word in the classic film. This gives us a glimpse of the diverse perspectives held by Black Americans on race as opposed to Africans, who have not been exposed to racism on the same scale.
I love how Chimamanda uses Ifemelu’s blog titled – Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negros) by a Non-American Black – to bring out what may have otherwise been tricky to discuss. She gives a frank and unadulterated view. Examples given include – how surprising it is for Africans to always be labeled ‘black’ ; how it can be difficult for Africans to recognize racists statements/questions (Do you like watermelon?) ; and how strange it feels to be asked to give ‘the black’ perspective. I particularly liked that she showed the backlash that many black women face regarding the way they choose to wear their hair.
All in all, this is a story of how it feels to be caught between two distinct worlds. It is about the struggle to remain authentic to who you are, whilst desperately trying to fit in and gain acceptance. It is also a charming love story, and a tale about growth and enduring love for home. I recommend it for anyone who loves a good tale with strong well developed characters, and most especially for anyone who would genuinely like to get a better understanding of the unique experiences of black immigrants.
I love reading and consistently have. I fondly remember eagerly reading as a young girl. I would bury my head in a book and get taken away into a new world. A world that originally only existed in between the pages, but which came alive as I began visualizing it. I visited enchanted lands on The Magic Faraway Tree, went on adventures with the Famous Five, and solved mysteries with The Secret Seven, Moses and Nancy Drew.
With age, I was typically drawn to other books like the Sweet Valley High series which was irresistible to my teenage self. I also discovered successful comics like The Adventures of Tin Tin, Asterix, and the Archie series. There were many other titles I read during this period whose names am not able to recall, either because they were not as popular, or they were standalone and not part of a series. I vaguely recall some hardcover books that I discovered during the one-hour library session that we had in my primary school which featured young girls and their love for horses and riding. No one else even perused these books and there were in pristine condition. Whereas I scarcely remember their titles or authors, I know I found them very interesting. This was to the surprise of my classmates who considered them extremely serious, long and boring. Which they were not, at least not to me.
Other books that I enjoyed reading though many of my friends did not were classics like – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Little Women; Pride and Prejudice; Jane Eyre; Wuthering Heights; Oliver Twist; A Tale of Two Cities; Treasure Island, and The Three Musketeers. Looking back, I am not totally certain what initially drew me to these publications. I was slowly becoming a voracious reader, and if in print, I was going to read it!
Over time, I must have read over 500 Mills and Boon and Harlequin Romance series books! I honestly found them irresistible, even as I typically began finding the familiar plot rather predictable. I would save up my pocket money in High School, so I could go purchase a couple of these books when the school closed. Thankfully, I also discovered espionage and conspiracy genres as authored by Tom Clancy, Jeffrey Archer, and Robert Ludlum. Never has an excellent publication thrilled me as the Matarese Circle invariably did!
During my prime High School years, I read esteemed African writers like Chinua Achebe – Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and A Man of the People. Also Ngugi Wa Thiong’o – A grain of Wheat and The River Between. I should have read all their books. Things Fall Apart was required reading for our exam, and we analyzed it thoroughly in class. I suspect that I did not fully appreciate the message in the other books by these literary giants, possibly due to my maturity and general awareness at the time. I therefore intend to re-read them together with the rest of their collection. It will most likely be a different, insightful learning experience.
This looks like a great reading list. Yet I have scarcely touched on what I read post-high school after discovering John Grisham and Robin Cook. Nor did my genuine love of Danielle Steele, Jackie Collins, Agatha Christie, Lee Child, James Patterson, and Paulo Coelho even come through! Or that time I borrowed a fascinating volume of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and worked through it, story by story, instead of the business book I should have been reading. Or how I am currently reading A Song of Ice and Fire after watching Game of Thrones! Nor how The Richest Man in Babylon and Who Moved My Cheese are my favorite books of all time! I now realize it is not possible to list all the authors I love and all the books I have read over time!
Possibly, what this means is that, invariably, I have lots of essential material for a lively blog on books. My reading habit has stayed comfortably with me, though it suffered a bit of hiatus at times due to extremely busy periods at work combined with after work studies! I continue reading. I love books. Books have defined me and will undoubtedly continue to do so. I proudly accept the noble title of ‘bookworm’ with no apologies. Not even to the dear auntie who always shakes her head in wonder, saying what she recalls of me as an adolescent was the book in my hand! I take it as an ideal compliment, though it is understandable she does not get how a young girl could genuinely enjoy reading so much!
Ergo, as long as authors keep writing, I will keep reading and will indeed re-read what they wrote many years ago. Mostly to see what new lessons I can glimpse that may have subtly escaped me then. And I will continue connecting with other readers to share ideas and get tips on wonderful new books to add to my collection! And who knows, maybe one remarkable day, eventually write a brilliant book too!
Wokeread 