It’s the 20th edition of The Reading Nook! Eek! 🎉 I’ve rambled about books to you 20 times!

What kind of reading month was it?

It was a slow reading month, not from a lack of desire to read, but from distractions and commitments that sprouted here and there. I finally got into the writing fellowship I wrote about getting rejected from twice here (yay!). So that has kept me occupied, and I’ve been performing auntyhood and free childcare more than usual. So, busyness and exhaustion took a toll on my reading this month. However, it didn’t start this way, and for my first read of the month, I savoured and immersed myself in it. I completed two books and DNF’d one.

June Reads

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe (1964)

A couple of years back, I won a giveaway from the Republic Journal where I got paperback copies of the Things Fall Apart trilogy, Anthills of the Savannah and the Chinua Achebe magazine issue. In 2021, I tried reading Arrow of God but DNF’d it. I picked it up again this month.

Arrow of God is set in 1920s colonial Igboland. It follows Ezeulu, the priest of Ulu – the overall deity of the six villages of Umuaro – as he grapples with the changes a new religion and colonialism bring.

The book is narrated with an omniscient third-person point of view from the perspective of Ezeulu and also two English government officials: Winterbottom (or Wintabota, as the villagers said) and Tom Clarke.

This book wasn’t what I expected. I came in believing I’d find a clear-cut narrative with no meandering, where point A led to point B and so on till the end. But the narrative was more fragmented than I expected in that it captured the minutiae of everyday life in Umuaro. The pacing of the novel slowed down as we glimpsed household drama, inane sibling squabbles, neighbourhood gossip, village inside jokes, jealousy and bad blood between title holders, power tussles, etc. We are immersed in the lives (and drama! There was so much drama) of the villagers, and it was such a fascinating experience.

Aside from that, I also didn’t expect humour from the book. Many people hear Achebe and expect a certain stiffness, but I found myself laughing many times. From Ezeulu constantly telling people, ‘if you don’t like it, come and jump on my back’ when they disagreed with him, to a crowd booing and snickering at performers who made blunders during festivals, there was a humour that lay waiting at many corners of the book.

Achebe wrote such vivid descriptions, especially of festivals and rituals. The masquerades, the music, the fear or excitement that gripped the villagers – everything seemed to come to life.

I was also amazed by his ability to write such contrasting perspectives between the villagers and the colonial administrators. The shift in tone when reading the perspective of the colonisers was jarring. They were condescending, pompous, and self-righteous (and kept using the phrase ‘backwards race’).

Reading this, I thought, this might be what those Nollywood Igbo films on Africa Magic try to achieve but fail at because of poor scripts, no plot or developed characters, and inaccurate depictions of the colonial (or precolonial) era.

Of course, I can’t fail to acknowledge how irksome it was to read all the patriarchal traditions and beliefs that belittled women. But I liked getting a peek into how life looked then, learning about the different market days, the difference between a priest and a medicine man, and reading the many Igbo proverbs that punctuated their speech.

This was my first time annotating a book, and it was so much fun! Here are some quotes from the book I liked:

But life alone is not enough. May we have the thing with which to live it well. For there is a kind of slow and weary life which is worse than death.

It is the fear of causing offence that makes men swallow poison.

Share

I Decided to Live as Me (An Illustrated Checklist for How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others So You Can Learn to Love Yourself) by Kim Suhyun translated by Anton Hur (2024)

I 100% picked up this book because of how cute the cover was. Of course, the title appealed to me, as I am forever searching for ways to stop comparing myself to others and accept myself as I am.

The book is written in small, digestible chapters with cute little illustrations after each one. The author creates checklists and tips on how to live like yourself, live with self-respect, not be caught by anxiety, live a good and meaningful life, live together with other people, etc.

Kim deeply criticises South Korean social and economic standards as well as its emphasis on community to the detriment of the individual. And while I’ve gotten a glimpse into South Koreans’ strange obsessions with academic excellence, attending the top universities, being ultra-rich, etc., through K-dramas, this book reinforced the absurdity of it all. There were some things the author said that I was shocked needed to be said. Like, you’re not a horrible person for not asking random people how much money they earn before you decide if you should befriend them or for seeing your classmates as friends and not competitors whose throats you have to slit in the middle of the night (these are in my own words).

But the book was a reminder that, regardless of the prevalent culture of a certain place, there will always be people who go against the grain, like the author. It also reminded me of other South Korean media I’ve consumed that reinforced this idea, like the show Summer Strike and the book Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum.

My interest and connection to this book were like a pendulum. Sometimes, I’d intensely resonate with something or it’d reveal a new idea I had never thought of, and other times, I’d feel bored or as if what I read didn’t carry weight because at times, the book came across as simplistic in its approach, as if life were as easy as the author suggested. Although I liked that eventually, the author emphasised that while individuality is important, we all have a role to play in creating a better world, no matter how small. We shouldn’t turn away at the sight of injustice. We’re all a part of a whole.

All in all, it was a short, cute little read.

Here are some quotes (I got many quotes) I liked:

When only numbers are sought, true value is forgotten.

True self-discovery is not trying to make yourself into something special but realizing you were already special all along.

But sadness is natural. If you eliminate bathrooms in the Palace of Versailles just because they don’t look nice, don’t be surprised if people defecate in public and even, well, step in it from time to time.
It’s better to be sad once in a while. Just as too many clear days can bring on drought, we need the rains of sadness for the sake of our personal growth. We should try to be happy, of course, and I sincerely wish for your happiness. But the purpose of life will always be life itself, not happiness.

you need time and continuous effort to effect real change, even if it means you have to backtrack or you feel like you’re running in place. That’s just the way it is.

Unexpected problems will always pop up in life. Many of them have no immediate solution.

I’m currently reading: Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

I hope you enjoyed this. I would love love love to hear from you, so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email. Recently, I’ve been listening to my parasocial bestie (Lorde)’s new album.

❀ What have you been up to?

❀ What have you been reading?

❀ What was the last book you read that pleasantly surprised you?

Leave a comment

Last month, I forgot to tell you I wrote about finding your pace in life for ’ What is life teaching you at the moment? Series. She said reading the piece made her feel like ‘i was at a cafe, basking in the parisian sun, knowing everything will be okay in the end.’ You can read it here and tell me what you think:

SUNDAY AFTERNOONS

#62: finding your own pace

I’m beginning to think the Victorian English society was right by taking great joy in constitutionals and times away by the sea. There’s something about walking — participating in nature, moving yourself one step at a time at your own pace — that grounds the soul. Truly, there’s nothing that a good walk cannot …

Read more

a year ago · 24 likes · 2 comments · eatyourgreens and Fatima Mohammed

This newsletter is free to read, but if you enjoy my work and have the means to do so, consider tipping me :)

Tip Jar 🫙🎀

What kind of reading month was it?

It was a month of rereading and a slow month (I read two books), but not in a bad way. I started the month with my first read, then went through DNFs and moments where I couldn’t find the desire to read anywhere in me. Finally, I ended with my second read.

Usually, when I grow through a reading drought, I beat myself up about it instead of taking a break or trying to find a book that will captivate me. And when I’m in reading mode, I usually beat myself up for not reading faster, pushing myself, and entering a competition where I’m the only contestant, with the goal of reading an arbitrary number of books. And then, what? I’ve read books I knew I would’ve liked more if I didn’t rush through them.

This month, I realised how purposeless it is to read this way. It takes the enjoyment out of it. But when I move at my own pace, a slower one that fits me, I get to savour a book, immerse myself in it, and feel it in many ways, and that’s when I can take something away or it can change me in some way.

As I read my two reads of the month, I didn’t push myself when I progressed slower than expected. I didn’t make myself keep reading even when I was tired and wanted a break. I didn’t look at how many days I had spent on a book and scowl. I didn’t compare my Goodreads reading stats to those of other people. I reread lines again and again; when life’s distractions and inevitabilities stood in front of me like a tall person whose shoulder I couldn’t look over, I didn’t beat myself up because I only read a page a day.

I realise that it is possible to consume books voraciously but still give each one the attention it deserves. I know it’ll take time to unlearn the urge to rush through books and move on to the next and the next and the next… However, I want to find my pace and move slowly, rather than reading as if someone is chasing me.

Also, I started a reading journal and I’m so excited!!!

May Reads

Faceless by Amma Darko (2003)

This book was part of the required reading for Literature in English students in my secondary school. Out of all the books we read, this one left a lasting impression, so I kept it safe. After almost ten years, I decided to reread it this month.

Faceless is an emotive tale set in Accra, Ghana, around the late 90s, about the horrors of the street child phenomenon. The story is about Fofo, a 14-year-old girl living on the streets who crosses paths with Kabria, a wife, mother, and an NGO worker. Their encounter changes the trajectory of Fofo’s life: she finds people who care about her well-being, and it opens the door for dangerous secrets surrounding her life to be probed into, including the gruesome murder of her sister, Baby T.

At its core, the book tries to answer the question, ‘What goes into the making of a street child?’ and it does a fantastic job of exploring this topic through the lives of Fofo and other characters.

With an omniscient narrator that carries us through both Fofo’s and Kabria’s lives using wry observations and vivid descriptions, the book aptly details the daily lives of street children, the mental and emotional impact of their circumstances, as well as the role generational trauma plays in it all. The novel also critiques domestic dynamics, deeply questioning the roles fathers play, from absentee fathers to present dads who believe their responsibilities begin and end with financial provision.

I particularly enjoyed reading about Kabria, how she navigated employment, wifehood, and motherhood. Her relationships with her children and her all-female colleagues were endearing.

The book addresses many heavy and traumatic topics, so approach it with caution if you choose to read it.

Share

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2003)

The first time I tried to read this novel, I was 10 years old, and I couldn’t get through it because the vocabulary seemed too advanced for me at the time. Two years later, I finally read it and opened the door for Adichie’s works to have a special place in my life. After over 10 years, I finally picked it up for a reread. As I read it, I discovered that many unidentified scenes and thoughts had stuck in my head over the years, which came from this book.

Purple Hibiscus is a coming-of-age story that follows Kambili, a 15-year-old girl living in Enugu State, Nigeria, with her older brother, Jaja, her taciturn mother, and her wealthy, generous, yet tyrannical and abusive father, Papa, who is also a religious fanatic. The book begins with Kambili narrating how “things started to fall apart” (I assume this is a nod to Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Adichie’s idol) at home when Jaja refused to take communion at Church. Then the reader is led to the past to observe the origin of this falling apart, and we see the role and impact Papa’s sister, Aunty Ifeoma – a university professor and widow – and her children have in both Kambili and Jaja’s lives when they stay with them in Nsukka.

For most of the book, Kambili wears the shoes of an observer, taking everything in but not really participating. At first, we watch her and Jaja struggle to interact with their exuberant and outspoken cousins. Slowly, things start to change.

The book explores religion, toxic family dynamics, abuse, young infatuation, and so much more. Adichie’s writing is beautiful; I love how she uses carefully selected details to bring the story and characters to life – the reader gets to feel Nsukka. I loved Aunty Ifeoma and her kids, as well as the way Igboness permeated the book. Reading a Nigerian coming-of-age story narrated by a teenage girl felt so much like home to me.

This was such an impressive debut, and I will read it again and again and again.

Note: If you decide to read this, Papa is an abuser and his words and actions can be terrifying and traumatising, so proceed with caution.

What else I read (and loved):

❀ This short story: The Future Looks Good by Lesley Nneka Arimah. The author’s use of imagery and metaphors created such beautiful prose that I was in awe; the structure was fascinating, and the ending of the story was tragic, yet creative.

I’m currently (thinking of) reading: Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe, or rereading And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this. I would love love love to hear from you, so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❀ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❀ What are your thoughts on reading slowly and more intentionally?

❀ What are your thoughts on rereading?

❀ What are you currently reading?

Leave a comment

This newsletter is free to read, but if you enjoy my work and have the means to do so, consider tipping me :)

Tip Jar 🫙🎀

I’m delighted to introduce the ‘Interview with a reader’ series to The Reading Nook! Every now and then, I’ll get a reader to answer a bunch of book and reading-related questions to get a peek into their reading tastes, beliefs, etc.

Today, my friend Blessing () is our first guest. We learn about her relationship with reading, her favourite and avoided genres, her thoughts on DNFing and judging a book by its cover, and more. There’s also a this or that section, and the interview closes with Blessing giving advice to struggling readers. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did.

✿ Let’s start here:

Tell us a bit about yourself. What’s your name? Where do you live? What do you spend your time doing? Do you like the things you spend your time on? Include anything else you’d like to add.

My name is Blessing Maraizu. I live in Accra, Ghana, but I am from The Gambia. I am in Ghana for uni. That area of my life is almost coming to an end very soon, as I am in my final year (I am excited and anxious in equal measure about my next steps in life, as you can imagine). I spend my time reading, writing, and watching movies. I also love going out on odd adventures with my friends. I love your question about whether I like the things I spend my time on. I find that many of us don’t actually like the way we spend our time. Most of the time, it is because we have to spend time on other things like work and making money, just so we can make ends meet. I hate that for us. But yeah, at this point in my life, I do enjoy the things I spend my time on. I am very grateful for that because I know it’s a privilege. It is one of the great joys of my life that I enjoy my hobbies as thoroughly as I do.

When and why did you start reading?

I can’t remember when I started reading because I have always had a book in my hands. I was going through my baby pictures the last time I was home and was astounded to find a great many picture books featuring alongside me on the floor. My parents were quite book-mad! I am an only child, so I was left to my devices from a young age. Growing up, we had no TV. My only source of entertainment was from books, and boy, did I embrace that! I fell into the world of imagination so deeply that my head was often in the clouds...dreaming, wishing, for a world that wasn’t mine, a world where things happened.

I was very talkative and rambunctious in toddlerhood; legend has it that the only time I would go silent was when a book was shoved into my hands. I imagine my parents did that quite often, just to get me to shut up. My mother believed in reading with an almost-religious fervency. She read to me since I was in the womb and placed a book in my hands immediately I was able to grasp one. My mother used to drive me to the National Library in Banjul every Saturday to pick out two children’s books for the week ahead. Oftentimes, I would finish the books before we got home. She would buy Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl books in bulk for me anytime she travelled to Europe. C.S. Lewis’ tomes came later, too. Harry Potter was a no-no–my mum being a conservative evangelical. But she loved to read, and she made me read. I’m a lifelong reader and cannot imagine a life without books. The worst year of my life remains the year I only read five books, and I hope to never repeat that.

How do you find the time to read? Do you have a reading routine?

I have no fixed routine. Reading is a compulsion for me. Ironically, my parents now believe that I read too much. This is because I’d rather read than work or do chores. They’ve created a little monster! Like Pandora Sykes wrote in her essay, But how do you read so much?, I am able to read the way I do because I ignore other pressing matters. Here is an example for you: I read in between exam papers to de-stress. To me, that is the height of my dependence on reading.

Do you have favourite genres?

My favourite genres have to be Literary Fiction and Historical Romance. I also love essay collections. There’s something about these genres that satisfies my soul. They scratch a spiritual itch for me, I think. This is because they perfectly capture the human experience, the excitement and angst of our tenured existence. My favourite feeling in the world is curling up with a perfect book from one of these genres. To me, that feeling is a glimpse of heaven.

Favourite books?

I have a lot of favourite books, so I am going to talk about my favourite reads of the year so far. I’ll have to say my favourite books of the year so far are: Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, The Wedding People by Allison Espach, Portrait of A Scotsman by Evie Dunmore, The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, How To Be A Person In The World by Heather Havrilesky and The Education of a British-Protected Child by Chinua Achebe.

Favourite authors?

In quick succession and no particular order: Coco Mellors, Dolly Alderton, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chinua Achebe, Tessa Afshar, Sherry Thomas, Lisa Kleypas, C.S. Lewis & Heather Havrilesky. I’m pretty sure I am forgetting some people, but these are the people that come to mind.

Do you have any genres, books, or authors you avoid?

Anything Colleen Hoover writes can and will miss me! I hate most contemporary romance novels. I don’t get Sci-Fi. I wish I did, all the cool kids get it. But I don’t.

What book has been on your TBR the longest, and why haven’t you read it?

The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee. It’s about three women expats living in Hong Kong, all going through difficult times in their lives. It’s been on my list for a year now. I’ll get to reading it one of these days. I expect I will enjoy it. It’s right up my alley. Also, Stoner by John Williams and Long-Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Anker.

What’s a genre outside your comfort zone you’d like to explore?

Two genres: Crime Fiction and Fantasy. I’d like to read The Thursday Murder Club Series by Richard Osman one of these days. I also really want in on the Fourth Wing hype. I feel left out!

What type of books do you wish you enjoyed but don’t?

Science Fiction for sure.

If your taste in books were a person, how would you describe them? How do they dress? What do they do? What restaurants do they frequent?

Ouuuuuuu, I love this! My taste in books is an overeducated black woman who lives alone in a Melbourne apartment. She loves wearing long, flowy skirts with tight tops. She also loves floral patterns. For some reason, her glasses always match her outfits. She’s always taking outfit of the day selfies for her thirty followers on Instagram. She loves posting her latest reads on Instagram stories. She thinks she’s cooler than she really is. She’s getting her third masters in some niche area in International Relations. She’s addicted to drinking tea. She hates going out to dinner, but you can always find her in a café having hot chocolate and croissants. She’s been to all the brunch places in the entire city, and takes recommending them very seriously.

Do you have a book that you’d like to rewrite its ending?

None that I can think of now. Sometimes I finish a book and wish it ended differently, but then I tell myself “well, you’re not the writer” and just put it out of my mind. That’s why none comes to mind.

What was the last book you read that elicited strong emotions?

Definitely Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe. I read that book and thought: what a life-affirming book! Margo’s my age, and the cards life has dealt her would make anyone crumble. But she doesn’t. She’s spunky and funny and determined to make a way for herself and her son. Michelle Andrews of the Shameless Podcast once said that “the world does not happen to you, you happen to it.” I really gravitate towards that message. I think The Wedding People by Allison Espach also made me feel that way. I love characters that rage against the dying of the light, characters who are brave and courageous even when they don’t want to be. Both books are also laugh-out-loud funny too, which means a lot to me.

What book have you recommended the most, and which would you like to recommend now?

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. Perfect book. 10/10 no notes. I worship at Coco Mellors’ altar.

Where do you get reading recommendations from?

Jack Edward’s YouTube channel, The Happy Noisemaker Book Club, and the Shameless Book Club. The trinity of great recommendations.

What are you currently reading? How’s it going?

I’m currently re-reading Lisa Kleypas’ catalogue because I am studying for exams, and Historical Romances are a great escape read for me. Nothing too serious.

✿ What are your thoughts on:

Judging a book by its cover?

Anyone who says they do not judge a book by its cover is a liar!!!!! It’s a hill I am willing to die on.

Setting reading goals?

I love setting reading goals. I set reading goals for myself. I love anything that incentivises people to read. If this helps, why not?

Recording the number of books you read?

I know this is shallow, but I record the number of books I read, and I take great joy in it.

Reading multiple books at once?

Maybe others can, but I cannot. I like to give things my full attention.

Marking books as DNF (did not finish)?

Love it. Reading should be fun. If you aren’t enjoying a book, why force yourself to finish it?

Rereading books?

There is nothing I love more than rereading books. I think I have reread Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas fifty times now. I wish I were joking.

Reading accessories?

They’re cute and all, but the only one I use is a bookmark. I don’t see much need for the rest.

✿ This or that:

Mood reading/ sticking to a strict TBR (to be read) list

Mood Reading.

Reading in silence/ reading with music

Reading in silence.

E-books/ physical books/ audiobooks

Physical Books.

Hardcover/ paperback

Paperbacks. Maybe it’s because I am too broke to buy a hardback book lolll.

Goodreads/ Storygraph

None? I use none. I’m trying to get into StoryGraph, though.

Annotating & highlighting/ fresh pages

Annotating. C’mon now. Underline those words!! It's a magic on its own.

Bookmarks/ folding pages

Bookmarks.

Reading challenges & buddy reading/ lone wolf reader

Lone wolf reader. Because I always default when it comes to group reading.

Library/ used books/ brand new books

Can I say all? I really endorse going to libraries and buying used books, though. It’s very sustainable, and we need to keep libraries open.

✿ What advice would you give to someone:

Struggling to find their taste in books?

Read one book from every genre to find out what you like.

Trying to get out of a reading slump?

Read a short story or something that has been widely recommended.

Trying to read more?

Make out more time to read. You have to be intentional about it in the beginning. Then, it’d become a habit.

A note from Blessing: I have a newsletter called SUNDAY AFTERNOONS on Substack, where I write personal essays and observations about culture. I think it’s a well-considered newsletter, if I do say so myself, so please subscribe if you like.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. What are your thoughts? Do you resonate or disagree with anything Blessing said? Would you like to answer some of these questions?

Leave a comment

This newsletter is free to read, but if you enjoy my work & feel moved to tip me, I’d appreciate that

Tip Jar 🫙🎀

Hello reader! Thank you for being here again. I hope you’re doing well. I have some changes and new ideas in store for the newsletter (including an interview series for The Reading Nook!!!) which I plan to share with you soon. Till then :)

What kind of reading month was it?

This was a good reading month for me: no reading slumps in sight and effortless transitions from one book to the next. I read seven books – and enjoyed most of them – which is the most I’ve read in a month this year. I think I owe it largely to the fact that I wasn’t watching any movies or shows at all this month and I always had a book queued up before I finished a current read.

April Reads

Tomorrow I Become A Woman by Aiwanose Odafen (2022)

I read the sequel, We Were Girls Once, first (and enjoyed it!) but I didn’t plan on reading this until two of my friends who recently got into fiction wanted us to do a buddy read with a Nigerian novel and we chose this. Because I read the sequel beforehand, I knew the general trajectory of major events, but that didn’t take away from my experience. Tomorrow I Become A Woman is set in Lagos from the 1970s to the early noughties and follows the story of Obianuju as she navigates womanhood, marriage, motherhood, and friendship. Obianuju, the only daughter among three boys, was raised in a home where the differences between her and her siblings were starkly highlighted. Obianuju discovered from a young age that being born ‘a woman’ meant doing and caring about things boys were oblivious to from the quality of your cooking to the length of your skirt. Obianuju observed:

My brothers could barely boil an egg, whereas I started joining Mama in the kitchen the moment I turned eight, learning to cook at her feet. By the time I was ten, I could make a good pot of soup without any help. Once I was tall enough, Mama started to send me to the market for food-stuff and taught me how to bargain for the best price.

So when in her last year of university, Gozie – the handsome, Igbo choir member in church who all the women are pining for – notices her, Obianuju’s mother makes it clear she has to grab this opportunity by the throat. The book spans two decades as we follow Obianuju’s and Gozie’s relationship, which eventually turns sour, and witness Obianuju’s best friends, Adaugo and Chinelo, navigate their journeys of marriage and motherhood. The theme of marriage is heavily explored; what it means to women and the ‘respect’ it earns them. Domestic violence and verbal abuse are also prominently featured. The story impressively captured the varying angles of a Nigerian woman’s experience and her position in society. Although Odafen’s writing style was sometimes awkward with the dialogue coming off as unnatural at times (her writing improved in We Were Once Girls), it doesn’t take much from the story and I enjoyed reading it.

Jackal, Jackal by Tobi Ogundiran (2023)

This is a short story collection of 18 speculative stories of the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres. I was excited when I found this book because I have a thing for African speculative fiction (Drinking from Graveyard Wells and Ghostroots are two of my favourite short story collections). As it happens with short story collections, there were some I thoroughly enjoyed and others I didn’t care for.

Some of my favourites were ‘Jackal, Jackal’, a story about a fugitive whose sins are expunged when he wears a literal Jackal head. He returns to his life and his family, but things go awry the longer he wears the head. ‘The Many Lives of an Abiku’ appealed to me because I love it when Nigerian supernatural beliefs are ingrained in stories. This one follows a tussle between an Abiku (a spirit child who causes their mother anguish by repeatedly dying young and being reborn) and her spirit family because she loves her earthly family and doesn’t want to return to the spirit world. In ‘Lágbájá’, parents tell a cautionary tale to disobedient children about Lágbájá (which translates to nobody, everybody or anybody in English) who replaces obstinate kids by taking over their lives and living as compliant versions of them. I enjoyed the concept of the tale more than the actual story. Lastly, ‘Guardian of the Gods’ is about a girl who has been training to be a priestess for years but never hears from the gods. She’s grappling with anger and embarrassment over the perceived unfairness of it all when she discovers a life-changing secret.

Although I didn’t enjoy all of the stories, especially those that leaned more towards epic fantasy and sci-fi, I was impressed by the author’s range and ability to experiment with several genres under the speculative fiction umbrella.

A drawback for me was that I went in expecting these stories to be very Nigerian but it felt diluted. There were times I forgot the characters and settings were meant to be Nigerian and when the story mentioned something to remind me of this, it felt out of place. I think this was because the dialogue barely came off as Nigerian. Nigerian lingo and speech didn’t shine through.

Obligations to the Wounded by Mubanga Kalimamukwento (2024)

Yes, I read two short story collections back to back. I found this one through a creative writing workshop I participated in that was founded and hosted by three African writers and Mubanga Kalimamukwento was one of them. I adore the cover of this book; I think it’s so pretty. It’s a collection of 16 stories and you could say the thread that connects these stories, aside from the characters’ Zambian nationality, is that each of these characters is ‘wounded’ by something or someone and the stories explore how they contend with these emotional, mental, social and or economic lacerations.

The stories delve into mother-daughter dynamics, navigating queer identities and relationships, immigration, racism, illness, the realities and shortcomings of living in an African country and so much more.

My favourite stories were: ‘Inswa’, a sapphic story about a girl and her friend exploring their sexuality and what that means in a small Zambian village. ‘A Doctor, a Lawyer, an Engineer, or a Shame to the Family’ – which has a clever title and structure and good humour – is written as a letter from the protagonist to her newborn niece. The letter is to be opened on her niece’s 16th birthday and the protagonist narrates her and her sibling’s history and choices, referencing them to make her point on the different paths her niece can take in life and how her choices affect what the family will see her as: a success or a shame. ‘Mastitis’ follows a woman who concurrently lost her mother and became a mother. Her life is permeated with struggles: her marriage is hanging by a thread; breastfeeding is going horribly; coping with the absence of her mother in her life and also in her journey of motherhood is distressing. Until she receives help from her mother in an unexpected way. This story had some speculative elements sprinkled in which was unexpected, but I loved it.

Every time I read non-Nigerian African fiction, I’m always in awe of the similarities I discover between our countries. We’re connected by an invisble thread made of corrupt and incompetent governments and the legacy of colonialism, amongst other things.

It was interesting to see how this collection experimented with structure and uncommon narrators. The stories immersed me in the lives of so many intriguing characters and I feel Kalimamukwento did an amazing job in capturing their plights, their feelings and their perspectives. Her writing goes deep into the intricacies of its characters’ lives and through noticing the small and disregarded, she gives a new outlook to things usually hidden in plain sight.

Share

Tilda is Visible by Jane Tara (2024)

In this novel, invisibility is a very real and physical condition that affects women as they age. It can start with being passed off for promotions at work or not being attended to by waiters at restaurants, but as it progresses, body parts begin to disappear. There is no cure for invisibility. At 52 years old, Tilda Finch is divorced, her twin daughters are old enough to move out and create lives for themselves, and she has a thriving business with her best friend. Life isn’t great, but she can’t complain. Then one day, Tilda notices her pinky finger is missing. The book follows Tilda on the journey of her diagnosis and dealing with invisibility. The point of the novel is for Tilda to fall in love with herself and life again.

I was excited to read this book because I’m all for stories of women, especially older women, re-discovering themselves and falling in love with life. But I got something a bit different. This novel leans heavily into psychoanalysis and meditation, not sparing the reader from details. It felt didactic and I wanted less of the specifics of her recovery and more of her female friendships which seemed amazing but weren’t explored enough. And while the book tried to highlight the meandering nature of healing, there was an unrealistic streak that permeated the narrative. A lack of real obstacles and tension. Things got good too fast and stayed that way. Even the romance had no real hitches – the love interest and his family were irritatingly zen and accomplished.

I liked the idea behind the book but didn’t love the execution. I don’t regret reading it though. I learned some things about mindfulness and it was a nice accompaniment as I try to build a meditation practice. That’s probably why it’s tagged as ‘self-help fiction.’

Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Mezie (2023)

From the author of His Only Wife – a short and captivating read that I love to recommend to new readers – is a tale of two cousins, Akorfa and Selasi, set in contemporary Ghana. The first part of the book is narrated by Akorfa, the quieter one of the duo, who lives a comfortable and secure life with her parents and excels academically. We get a glimpse into Akorfa’s life: her desires, her academic journey, her friendships – especially her perspective on the evolution of her and Akorfa’s friendship – how much of her life is coloured by her mother’s beliefs and desires and eventually, her turbulent journey into adulthood. Immediately after, we return to the beginning of the story to see things from Selasi’s perspective. Selasi, the more outgoing cousin who struggles in school and whose parents aren’t economically buoyant, has an extremely different life. We get a glimpse into her perspective of the evolution of her friendship with Akorfa, and the various circumstances that lined her journey into adulthood.

My eyes were glued to this book and it took me on a gripping and infuriating ride. The novel is first and foremost about Akorfa and Selasi’s friendship, however, messy African family dynamics complete with love, entitlement, gossip, and distrust surround their lives. The distinction of both characters’ perspectives allowed for a deep dive into their worries, preoccupations and journeys with Akorfa’s exploring racism and immigration and Selasi’s exploring abandonment and ambition. But despite their different economic statuses and location, they both exist as women and go through similar unfair and traumatic experiences.

This book was filled with so much family drama that was captivating and frighteningly relatable. I felt as if the ending dragged on a little longer than necessary, but I had such a great time reading it. I’d advise reading this book with someone, or having someone close by who has read it before to rant to because you will need to rant.

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors (2024)

This is my first Coco Mellors read and it was recommended to me by my friend, , who absolutely loved it. I usually try to avoid books exploring grief, but they can turn out to be such good reads, like this. Blue Sisters is a literary fiction novel about four sisters. After one of them dies, the remaining three are left grappling with their grief and their messy lives. 33-year-old Avery Blue, the oldest and substitute mother (as firstborn daughters tend to be), is a successful lawyer in London. She is married to a beautiful and smart therapist and they own an elegant home in a homely neighbourhood. She comes across as perfect, but we soon find out her life is far from perfect. 31-year-old Bonnie Blue was a championship boxer but after a humiliating loss just after her sister’s death, she abandons her dream of boxing to become a bouncer in LA. Then there’s Lucky Blue, the baby of the family who was plunged into a different world when she left home at 15 to begin her modelling career. Currently 26, living in Paris, and still modelling, Lucky depends on drugs and alcohol to get through every moment. A year after their sister Nicky’s death, the sisters struggle with their grief, trials, childhood wounds, and their relationship with each other.

As someone with four sisters, I loved how the theme of sisterhood took up so much space in this book. It is referenced, examined, and lauded. The portrayal of different facets of the sisters’ relationships, from care to indignation and everything in between, is explored. Aside from sisterhood and grief, the book touches on addiction and dysfunctional family dynamics. Although the novel dealt with many heavy topics, I appreciated the humour that punctuated the pages.

Impostor Alert by Uduak Akpabio Umoren (2018)

Set in Nigeria in the early 2010s, this story follows Inyene Okon who is bound on a bus from Akwa Ibom to Lagos state after her plan to marry a man and secure herself financially falls through. Now, she’s returning to her difficult life in Lagos where every moment is spent battling poverty and she works as a sex worker to make ends meet. Seated beside her on the bus is Etima Uko, a chatty woman who tells Inyene so much about her life including her family name, village, and the purpose of her trip to Lagos: to finally meet her handsome and rich boyfriend, Paul, a friend of her brother, who she has been conversing with on the phone. When they are thrown into a ghastly accident and Inyene along with two other men are the only survivors, somehow, Inyene ends up impersonating Etima. Their similar build and skin tone along with the facial injuries that ensure huge areas of her face are covered up with bandages, helps Inyene pose as Etima, especially with Paul who hasn’t met her in person before. Paul and Etima’s family (who are not in Lagos) are generous and all of Inyene’s bills are taken care of. But Inyene’s voice and speech are different from Etima’s – Inyene speaks pidgin English while Etima didn’t – so it doesn’t take too long before Etima’s loved ones, especially her younger sister, Ekemini, start suspecting that something is amiss.

The novel goes back and forth between Akwa Ibom and Lagos and this was my first time reading a book set in the South-South zone of Nigeria. I loved seeing all the Ibibio names I knew and the ones I had never heard of. I was interested in seeing how things would pan out for Inyene and at what point everything would fall apart. The author’s writing style wasn’t complicated and it was easy to read. However, my overall experience of reading this book was mediocre. Sometimes, the dialogue read like a stiff Nollywood film where the actors talked like they were acting in a church drama where the ultimate goal was teaching a moral lesson. Another issue I had was the narration. It got confusing as the perspectives were all over the place, with the reader hearing from up to three different characters in the same chapter or even the same page, with no warning of a shift in perspective. I went into the book expecting a riveting read, but it was unfortunately an unremarkable experience.

What else I read (and loved):

❀ An essay titled ‘make more pointy friends’ by . Days before I read this essay, I had been musing over my desire for friendships formed around a specific interest over which we can connect deeply and this essay put my thoughts into words and so much more.

carotlyns

make more pointy friends

I refer to friendships as “holistic” or “pointy.” It’s a simplified way to categorize complex relationships, but for the sake of brevity, go along with it. These ideas are also not confined to one-on-one friends, they can be extrapolated to groups…

Read more

a year ago · 731 likes · 41 comments · carotlyns

What else I wrote & published:

❀ An interview with the author of African Writer Weekly. I’ve wanted to interview her for a while now because of how much joy and inspiration the newsletter brings me. I finally did it and heard the story behind the newsletter as well as more amazing ideas she has. We also talked about rejection and resources for African writers.

A-Stack

Meet Esohe Iyare of African Writer Weekly

This is an interview with Esohe Iyare, the founder of African Writer Weekly – a weekly newsletter that curates and shares opportunities for African writers and is published every Wednesday by 5:00 pm (WAT). I and Esohe had this conversation via an audio call on Friday, 4 April, 2025. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity…

Read more

a year ago · 19 likes · Fatima Mohammed

❀ In my writers’ group last year, we each wrote a story with an unreliable narrator for fun. I ended up getting accepted to the Idembeka Creative Writing Workshop with that story and recently, the story got published in JayLit’s 9th issue! You can read my story titled Perpetual Latecomer (it’s flash fiction) or download the issue for free to read more pieces by amazing African writers.

I’m currently reading: Faceless by Amma Darko

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this. I would love love love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❀ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❀ What are you currently reading?

❀ What was the last book you read that evoked strong emotions?

❀ Any recommendations you’d like to share?

Leave a comment

Shegbatuba! 👋🏾

Nostalgia Trip is free to read but if you enjoy my work & feel moved to tip me, I’d appreciate that

Tip Jar 🫙🎀

What kind of reading month was it?

It was both satisfying and lacking. There were times when I was immersed in a book and thoroughly enjoyed myself and there were times when none of the books I picked up appealed to me and I kept starting and stopping, like a faulty engine that can’t decide if it wants to stay on or off.

On DNF(did not finish)ing and the shame/guilt attached

I used to be one of those people who always finished every book they start. No matter how terrible the book was or how much I disliked it, I always felt like I had to finish it, as if it was an unwritten rule. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago, that I realised quitting books isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually a brave choice to let go of a book that doesn’t interest you. And like Austin Kleon said, “When it comes to books, quitters finish more.” So I created my Goodreads ‘DNF’ list and began putting books in it.

But when I tag a book as DNF, I occassionally feel a kind of way. Sometimes it’s shame over disliking a widely acclaimed book and other times it’s guilt that I found a book a loved one recommended boring.

This month, I excitedly started my first Haruki Murakami book; his short story collection Men Without Women. I also started Matyr! by Kaveh Akbar. Before I start a book, I usually skim through reviews from my Goodreads friends to get a sense of what to expect. Men Without Women had good reviews and Matyr! had excellent reviews. But I DNFed both. With Matyr! I pushed myself to read on because I felt I should like it since my mutuals did and even extolled it. And because I didn’t connect with the book, I felt like I wasn’t ‘intellectual enough’ to see the splendour that everyone else was seeing.

I’ve decided these fleeting negative feelings are more endurable than trudging through a book I’m not enjoying. I’m also accepting that it’s completely fine for a book that appeals to so many people not to appeal to me because my goal is to create a reading experience that is fully and genuinely mine. So, I hope to DNF more shamelessly.

March Reading Journey 

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

I read Evil Eye, another book by this author, and loved it so I wanted to read her other book. This novel focuses on the lives of Palestinian women. It follows three different generations of women: Isra, Deya and Fareeda. Isra is the only daughter of a traditional Palestinian couple and is reminded at every turn that her place in their home is temporary. Her life is uprooted when at 17, she is married off to a Palestinian man who lives in America and she has to leave all she has ever known behind. Isra has hopes that America will be a better place for women like her, but she is disappointed by the life she meets. Years later, we meet her daughter Deya who is born and raised in America but still struggles with the same plights as her mother. Deya battles with her culture and her desire for more. Lastly, there is Fareeda, Isra’s mother-in-law and Deya’s grandmother. Her perspective is juxtaposed with both Isra’s and Deya’s and we see things from the point-of-view of a woman steeped in tradition. We see how her beliefs interact and impact her relationship with the younger women in her family. This book did an amazing job in portraying the lives of average Palestinian women, their struggles and how tradition permeates and affects every aspect of their lives.

Share

The Parlour Wife by Foluso Agbaje

I absolutely adored the cover of this book and I was sold when I saw it was historical fiction. There isn’t a lot of Nigerian historical fiction especially ones centred on women. The Parlour Wife is set in colonial Lagos, Nigeria, between 1939 and the mid 1940s. The novel opens with the 18th birthday of our protagonist Kehinde and her twin brother Taiwo. Kehinde is raised by loving parents but their kindness doesn’t blot out their inherent sexist ideals. Because her parents couldn’t afford to keep both children in school, Kehinde relinquishes her final year of secondary school for her brother and is to be married off as a third wife to Mr Ogunjobi, a wealthy businessman who is older than her father. Kehinde has received a dream job offer: to work at the West African Pilot, a leftist newspaper founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe, but this doesn’t fit the blueprint created for her. The story follows Kehinde as she navigates being a ‘parlour wife’ (whose purpose, amongst other wifely duties, is to be displayed to guests in the parlour) with her ambitions of being a writer and her dreams of changing women’s lives. The author defly captured the setting of this story and I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the impact of the second world war on a colony. I really enjoyed reading this but felt as if the author held back with the conflict and watered down parts where she could have taken advantage of the tension to create a stronger story.

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Like many Nigerian girls and women, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie means a lot to me. Her books, along with her brazen declaration of feminism in our blatantly misogynistic country Nigeria, was exciting and inspiring to teenaged me who loved reading, dreamed of becoming a writer and was just discovering feminism. So I was elated when I heard about the new book.

Dream Count follows four women: Chiamaka (Chia), a wealthy travel writer who lives in America; her best friend Zikora, a lawyer who also lives in America; Kadiatou, Chia’s housekeeper who is a Guinean immigrant and Omelogor, Chia’s cousin, who has found huge success in the banking industry and lives in Abuja, Nigeria.

The book is set in lockdown but does a lot of time travelling back and forth and focuses on one of each woman’s story at a time, starting out with Chia, the thread that joins all of these women’s lives. Chia’s part of the book is mainly her reflecting on her many romantic relationships with different shades of men. Zikora’s story similarly focuses on her romantic relationships, how her intense desire for marriage and motherhood impacted them and eventually her experience with single motherhood. Kadiatou’s narrative was dissimilar from the rest because her experiences are vastly different. Her story shows her childhood in a small Guinean village, her experience with poverty, loss, female genital mutilation, etc., and then her journey to and stay in America. Last is Omelogor, the confident and no-nonsense finance expert. We get a glimpse into the life she has built for herself, her minimal romantic relationships, and watch her grapple with whether it is all enough.

I think this book had complex (and utterly annoying) characters and I loved reading about Nigerian and African women—I liked Kadiatou and Omelogor’s stories the most. And although there are parts of the book I thoroughly enjoyed, there were also parts I felt dragged on longer than necessary (especially with Chia). I enjoyed reading this, but not as much as I thought I would.

Here is an interesting conversation about the book with so many points I agree with:

Books + Bits

2 Girls 1 Book: Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Welcome to the second edition of 2 Girls 1 Book, a monthly cross-post where literary concubines Ochuko and Pandora chat about a new book via Google docs. (Our first was on The Coin, by Yasmin Zaher…

Read more

a year ago · 111 likes · 43 comments · Pandora Sykes and Ochuko Akpovbovbo

Currently Reading: Jackal, Jackal by Tobi Ogundiran & Tomorrow I become a Woman by Aiwanose Odafen

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this. I would love love love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❁ What’s your relationship with DNFing?

❁ Have you read Dream Count?!!!!

❁ What are you currently reading and enjoying?

Leave a comment

Thank you so much for reading! Eid Mubarak to those who celebrate ✨

Words are magic. It’s amazing how they’re crafted to become things heavy with meaning, melodic to the mind’s ears, with the ability to stick and/or change lives. For a couple of years, I’ve been amassing my favourite quotes from books I read.

For the last edition of The Reading Nook last year, I shared some of my favourite quotes from books I read in 2023, and I’m back to do the same.

This time, I’m sharing 25 quotes with you. Let’s say I was intentional about picking 25 quotes because we’re entering 2025 but in reality, it was a coincidence. Out of the 25, five of them are from Substack newsletters I read this year that fiercely resonated with me and I kept aside to return to again and again.

The reasons I chose these quotes I’m sharing were either because I connected with them, liked the way they sounded, or just found them interesting.

Here it goes:

Substack Newsletter Quotes!

• ‘I can validate myself far better than anyone else can validate me.’ - Widening the heart’s window by

• ‘My job is to witness and nurture my body in its evolution, and to do my best to love it unconditionally, even when that goes against societal expectation.’ - It starts with the body by

• ‘My only job is to keep writing and creating, regardless of what the outcome is. I can’t control the outcome or the impact of my work, and trying to control it only generates suffering for me.’ - Your job is just to keep creating by

• ‘I am learning that change must be slow to last long, and it can only be driven by self-compassion rather than self-judgement.’ - I turn 30 today by

• ‘I don’t share my work to prove the worth of my words or the quality of my art. I share to be seen and as an act of rebellion against the fearful parts of me that’d rather not be perceived by others.’ - Show Up Anyway by

Book Quotes!

What You’re Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama

Life is one revelation after another. Things don’t always go to plan, no matter what your circumstances. But the flip side is all the unexpected, wonderful things that you could never have imagined happening.

Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

But change didn’t happen with a single recognition, a single step in the right direction. It was messy, courage come and gone, steps taken forward, then back. It was bravery laced with fear.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

You won’t know until you start. Don’t decide the future before it happens.

Life is too complicated and expansive to be judged solely by the career you have.

We’re all inadequate, weak and ordinary beings. But because we’re capable of being kind, for a moment – no matter how fleeting – we can be extraordinary.

there’s meaning in the act of trying (it’s important to ascribe meaning to things!). If the process is enjoyable (albeit difficult!), results shouldn’t be the focus.

Co-Wives, Co-Widows by Adrienne Yabouza

I’ve come to understand that life is never afterwards, never tomorrow. It’s only now.

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

What happened will never unhappen, […] what is to happen will happen—better you focus on what’s happening in front of you.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

You must speak if you wish to be heard.

Collapse Feminism by Alice Cappelle

No single human being can transform society, only collectives can.

A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

I’m just trying to decide if marriage is what I want or what I’m supposed to want. It’s so easy to confuse the two.

Sister Spirit by Efua Traoré

‘We are in boarding school,’ she said. ‘It is normal to hear strange noises at night.’

Be(com)ing Nigerian by Elnathan John

In the beginning, the British created the Northern and Southern protectorates. Now, the nation was formless and empty and darkness covered our collective identity. And the British said: ‘Let there be Nigeria.’ And there was Nigeria. And the British saw that Nigeria was good (for them) and they separated the ruling class from the serfs.

I’d like to acknowledge Nigeria, with whom I am (still) in an abusive relationship. (Author’s acknowledgements).

And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu

It is instinctual for the Nigerian state. Their plan, their solution, always, is to ban things, to demonstrate their ability to dominate.

Class war is actual war, with real-life casualties.

Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda

Nonsense hardly ever shows itself immediately.

Women suffer enough. Don’t add man problem on top. Keep your shoes beside the door.

Drinking from Graveyard Wells by Lisa Yvette Ndlovu

The wretched of the earth are not meant to make art, we are supposed to be too busy surviving.

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

If you were ever to unleash yourself, your talents would burn brighter than the sun.

Do you have any favourite quotes you’d like to share? Let me know in the comments or by replying privately to this email.

It’s the last day of the year, how are you feeling?

I hope this new year is kind to you. I also hope that wherever you find yourself in 2025, you are kind to yourself. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate your presence and I hope to see you next year :)

What kind of reading month was it?

The word I’d use to describe this month is fluctuating. My desire to read waltzed in and out whenever it felt like it. Last month, I wrote about trying to read one poem a week to ease into poetry. I was fresh off the excitement from an interesting reading experience with The Applicant by Sylvia Plath. Unfortunately, I haven’t kept up with this routine. Although, I bookmarked this poem and I’m excited to dive into it. Do you know a more sustainable or exciting way to get into poetry? I’m all ears.

On strict reading lists

I read an interview with (unfortunately I can’t find the link) about reading and I was intrigued by how organised and intentional she is with her reading list. Every month, she picks ten books to read, with only one of them being a spur-of-the-moment pick, and she strictly sticks to it. She spoke about varying the lengths and genres of the books for variety and all of this got me so excited. Well, most bookish conversations get me excited.

Although I’m not sure if I can be this strict, I know I have the problem of overthinking what my next book will be to the point that I end up not reading at all. I’ve noticed how much this takes away from my reading experience. One of my fears is starting a book I don’t like, but then DNFing is a beautiful thing that exists and I just have to get the hang of doing it without guilt. I’ve talked about setting up book queues (always having a book lined up before you finish your current read) here before but I fell off that.

So I want to experiment, taking some inspiration from Ochuko, and see how it goes. I’ll try making a list for December. How about you? Are you strict with your TBR, spontaneous, in-between, or you just don’t care?

November Reading Journey 

This has been on my TBR since last year and I finally got to it. When I discovered that the audiobook was read by a full cast and had musical accompaniment to go with it, I knew had to go for it because of how similar it is to fiction podcasts which I love. This is a mystery that follows the murder of the beloved principal of Urban Promise Prep, a painfully strict all-boys school.

Three students who had altercations with the principal on the day of the murder and were in the vicinity of the crime emerge as prime suspects. We get to see things from their perspectives and hear their stories. There’s J.B., a quiet black boy who is constantly misjudged because of his height and size; Trey, another black boy who is notorious for causing trouble but underneath has experienced familial trauma, and Ramóne, the immigrant Latino kid who has bigger plans for himself than what the system intends, but people believe it’s just a matter of time before he joins his cousin in a gang.

I had such a good time listening to this and I was invested in all their stories. However, the ending seemed almost anticlimactic and rushed though.

Share

Thrity Umrigar writes such poignant stories about Indian women. This story is about Smita, a journalist who left India with her family at fourteen and has lived in the US for twenty years. She finds herself in the country she swore never to return to when her journalist friend, Sharon, has an accident that lands her in the hospital. Sharon wants Smita to cover the story of Meena, a Hindu woman whose brothers set her home on fire, grazing it to the ground, killing her husband and leaving her with almost half of her body melted and deformed because Meena dared to marry a Muslim and bring dishonour to the family. With pro-bono legal assistance, Meena sues her brothers and Smita covers her story which forces her to confront her own demons and her aversion to India. This story deals with heavy topics like honour killings, misogyny, and religious intolerance and is difficult to read because of this. I cried my eyes out reading it and was constantly exasperated but it is an amazing story. However, I need space from devastating books.

It’s 1890 in Atlanta, Georgia and seventeen-year-old Chinese American Jo Kuan lives with Old Gin, her elderly father figure, in the basement of a printing press, unbeknownst to the Bell family who owns the press. Jo is navigating the racism and sexism that come as an inevitable attachment with her identity, as well as unpleasant employers, when she decides to become ‘Miss Sweetie’, an anonymous agony aunt who gives advice and speaks on race, gender, etc. It was giving Lady Whistledown but a lot more political, audacious, and controversial. The story also explores white feminism, showing how the suffragist movement intentionally excluded women of colour and paid no attention to intersectionality. It was an inspiring read and I can see teenage me loving this.

Subscribe now

I’ve had this novella on my TBR for so long and I was desperate to read it — I don’t recall why — but never found it until recently. Set in Bangui, Central African Republic, in 2011, the book is about co-wives Ndongo Passy and Grekpoubou. They are married to Lidou, a successful builder in the nation’s capital. He has it all: a flourishing business and beautiful wives. But his sudden impotence hacks at his success so he seeks a solution in Western and local medicine. Soon after this, Lidou drops dead of a heart attack. When this happens, Zouaboua, Lidou’s cousin, is quick to use his connections to swindle the widows out of their inheritance and rights. He kicks them and their children out of their home but the co-wives have always been close and continue to hold each other through the grief and the struggles, even when they are forced to return to their parent’s home. At its centre, the story is about the power of female friendship. It’s set against a backdrop of political corruption most citizens of African countries are familiar with. There were times when the actions of the co-widows made me cheer them on, but I hated how the only redemption they thought was possible for themselves was marriage to another man.

It’s 1426 in a small village in Jeju Island and girls are going missing. Seventeen-year-old Min Hwani returns to Jeju, after five years away, to investigate her father’s disappearance when he returned to investigate the case of thirteen missing girls. She reunites with her sister Min Maewol, whom Hwani and their father left behind in Jeju to be trained as a shaman. Despite their fragile relationship and discordant views on the kind of person their father was, the sisters join hands to investigate. They soon discover a connection between their father’s case and that of the missing girls and find themselves in dire situations trying to uncover the mystery. I didn’t enjoy this as much as I enjoyed June Hur’s last two novels but it was (obviously) well-written and at times had me at the edge of my seat. I was so excited that I guessed the culprit and got it right.

Currently Reading: You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this. I would love love love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❁ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❁ What’s your relationship with your to-be-read pile? Do you follow a strict list?

❁ Will you try creating a reading list?

❁ What are you currently reading or excited to read soon?

Leave a comment

Thank you so much for reading! We’re entering December, one of my favourite months (my birthday + Christmas!!!). Do you have any plans for this season? I’m hoping to slow down and not stress over creating and doing and moving. This might be the last Reading Nook for the year, but I’m still contemplating. If it is though, you’ll still hear from me one more time before the end of the year. Bye, and I wish you a lovely and restful December! 🫶🏾✨

Today, I write about reading slumps and a possible solution to them, attempting to become a poetry reader for the umpteenth time, my love for Nigerian boarding school scary stories, and more. I hope you enjoy this edition.

Side note: I read other things aside from books—essays, newsletters, short fiction, etc. As this is ‘The Reading Nook’, I’m thinking of ways I can incorporate them, specifically the ones I feel the urge to share, into the newsletter. So, there might be a bit of experimenting before I figure out what works. I hope something I share resonates with someone out there.

What kind of reading month was it?

It’s been a terrible reading month for me. After completing a book on the 2nd of October, basically, for the rest of the month, I was writhing in a deep reading slump. Although the idea of reading a book and diving headfirst into a fictional world appealed to me, I felt unmotivated and lacked the desire to pick up a book. I chose instead to rewatch the (original) Charmed series multiple times. Then, when I attempted to read, I either got a few chapters in before giving up, or I couldn’t even make it past the first paragraph. I started and stopped about four books this month, and I don’t think it was the books that were the problem.

I trudged my way through an audiobook for almost two weeks, and after finishing it, I was unable to read any other thing. Then, a couple of days back, for the second time in a row, an Efua Traoré book came to my rescue, and I practically finished it in a day (hopefully!), breaking the reading slump curse.

A probable solution to reading slumps  

How do you deal with reading slumps? The two antidotes I’m aware of to battle this ordeal are either waiting it out and exploring other interests or trying to find the one book that will break the spell. But how do you know which medication to administer? How do you know when to fight or when to accept it? And what if there was a reading slump doctor? I think that would be really helpful. They’d want to know your symptoms. 

Did anything awful or sad happen to you recently? Do you feel like reading at all, or is the desire absent? What kind of book are you looking to read at the moment? What type of story would excite you? And then they find the perfect recommendation. This should be an app or something.

October Reading Journey 

For a couple of years, I’ve tried earnestly reading poetry, searching for the awe and joy that poetry readers seem to find in it. I’ve read a couple of collections, but I know I didn’t read them well. Poetry is not meant to be rushed but savoured. It’s meant to be slowly combed through and appreciated for the way it feels on the tongue. But I always sped through poems. 

Recently, I decided to start small by focusing on a single poem. I went on Poetry Foundation and found the poem, The Applicant, by Sylvia Plath. It had a poem guide, so that encouraged me to read it.

I read it silently and then out loud. As I read it again and again, I was amazed by how much clearer it became and how I found meaning in a group of words I didn’t understand the first time I read them. (Of course, the poem guide helped tremendously).

Slyvia Plath wrote the poem the day her husband abandoned her and her children. It’s a figurative depiction of how she views the arrangement and dealings of marriage. An ‘applicant’ goes searching for a wife in a sort of shop which sells them, and we are an audience to the salesperson interviewing and trying to sell this man—the applicant—a wife. From the way the salesperson describes the potential wife, we can decipher Plath’s thoughts on how women are viewed in marriage.

‘It can sew, it can cook

 It can talk, talk, talk.

It works, there is nothing wrong with it.’ (lines 34-36)

I find the poem intriguing and enjoyed the process of getting to this point. I’m excited by what else awaits me in my journey of poetry reading.

Behind the gorgeous cover, Others Were Emeralds is a poignant story set in Australia in the late 90s. It follows 17-year-old Ai, a daughter of Cambodian refugees who fled the Khmer Rouge, and her friends who live in Whitlam, a fictional town that’s primarily home to Asian immigrants.

The story starts with Ai’s budding relationship with Bowie. Brigitte, Ai’s best friend, is very supportive of the relationship despite shortly dating Bowie when she first arrived in town and before she and Ai became friends. Soon, one of their friends sows seeds of doubt in Ai, and she becomes dangerously suspicious of Brigitte’s motives. A chasm is formed between the best friends. Then, a tragic life-changing event occurs, and the book takes a turn. In the aftermath of the event, and for the rest of the book, Ai deals with trauma and grief and tries to settle into her life in uni.

An important element of this story is that it was set against a political backdrop of the experience of Asian immigrants—the racism, stereotyping and the role the media played in aggravating it. We see how it directly impacts the story as a whole and the lives of Ai, her friends, and her family, who all aren’t strangers to political turmoil, as stories about war and fleeing war are rampant in their conversations.

I loved this book. The writing was beautiful and reflective—sometimes to the point where I thought it was unrealistic because teenagers don’t talk that poetically or think that deeply. At first, I thought it would simply be a book about the chaos of a friendship group. It seemed that way at first, and the conflict in the first half of the book was captivating. But then the tragic event threw all the juvenile drama out the window.

Throughout the book, the reader is a close audience to Ai’s thought process. We see how her mind worked, what went through her head as she made certain choices, and we can understand her insecurities. I was also intrigued by Ai’s love for crafts and creating art with varied textures, and I liked when the author detailed her processes.

The book explores friendship, grief, immigration, racism, and ‘adulting’ in a way I found really interesting.

A quote from the book:

‘Everything could change in an instant, no matter who you were or how much you had. That luck or misfortune could strike at any given moment with the same cold indifference.’

Share

I’ve heard about this book a lot but never read it. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Noah Galvin.

Set in the early 1990s, the book is written in the form of letters by Charlie, the protagonist, to an unknown recipient who remains anonymous till the end. Charlie is about to start high school, and he voices his fears in his letters and tells the receiver about how his only friend died of suicide. 

Through these letters, we see Charlie go on a journey to belonging, participating in life and dealing with his trauma. We also see all the people who were present and instrumental in this journey, including Sam and Patrick, Charlie’s new friends who accept him into their clique and introduce new ways of living to him, Mr Anderson, his English teacher who gives Charlie lots of books to read outside class, and his family.

We’re in Charlie’s head a lot and see everything through his lens. The way it’s written, you can’t help but want things to go well for Charlie. I enjoyed the book’s exploration of identity and belonging, friendship and family dynamics. It’s definitely worth a read.

This book fulfilled my yearning for a Nigerian boarding school thriller, complete with mentions of boarding school apparitions like madam koi koi, embarrassing secondary school slang like the shortening of holiday to ‘hols’, and a perfectly cringey romance. I love how Efua Traoré unabashedly tells our stories and explores our myths.

Sixteen-year-old Tara lives in England with her white adoptive parents. She feels out of place because the colour of her skin doesn’t match that of her parents. Although she never gave much thought to her birth parents, she began having recurring nightmares, which she thinks are linked to her past. After doing some research, she discovers that a rock she’s been seeing in her dream is Olumo Rock, located in Abeokuta, Nigeria. She somehow convinces her parents to let her go there because she thinks it’s a step to finding her roots and finding peace.

When she arrives in Nigeria with her dad, she feels a sense of peace and belonging, whereas her father feels awkward and out of place. They tour the rock in Abeokuta, which causes Tara to see visions. When she discovers Olumo Haven, a boarding school at the foot of Olumo Rock, she knows she must stay in Nigeria to figure things out. Again, she somehow convinces her parents to let her do an exchange year in Nigeria. Initially, her dad is vehemently against this proposal, but he strangely ceases arguing with her and accepts as if something urged him to do so. Her mum, on the other hand, is furious when she hears about it, but she can’t do a lot from England.

When Tara gets to the school, it’s difficult adjusting to life there: although she mostly enjoys it, the food is different, and she sticks out because of her British accent. She also has to room with five other girls, which is another big adjustment for her as an only child. One of her roommates targets her and constantly makes fun of Tara, calling her ‘London’. But she finds a friend in her bunkmate, Bisi, and Bisi’s family friend, Lanre, who is the prefect of the boys’ hostel and whom Tara described as hot.

Still struggling with nightmares, Tara edges closer to answers, especially with the help of Bisi and Lanre. She soon discovers that her dreams are true stories from 1800 Egbaland and tries to decipher the connection between her past and her dreams to finally free herself. 

In between the journey, we witness Tara’s day-to-day, navigating the drama of boarding schools, like dance competitions in the hostel and scary stories after all, like the book says:

‘all boarding schools have ghost stories.”

‘We are in boarding school,’ she said. ‘It is normal to hear strange noises at night.’

This book hauled me out from my reading slump. There’s so much I could relate to as I attended a Nigerian boarding school, and I loved seeing it all portrayed here. There’s a scene I particularly loved where Tara and her roommates were up at night after lights out, sharing scary stories passed around boarding schools all over Nigeria like Madam Koi Koi and the girl who removed her head to braid her hair—we did that too in my school.

It was interesting seeing Nigeria through Tara’s eyes, and the optimistic lens she viewed it with was endearing. The book is a pretty quick read, and I’d recommend it as well as the author’s other books (Children of the Quicksand and House of Shells, which are both lovely children’s books). I love how enamoured Efua Traoré is with Nigerian scary stories and myths and how she incorporates them into her books. 

Subscribe now

Currently Reading: Fox Wife by Yangszee Choo

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this. I would love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❁ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❁ How do you deal with reading slumps?

❁ What’s your experience with reading poetry?

❁ What are you currently reading or excited to read soon?

Leave a comment

Woah, November is practically here. I hope for you, it’ll be filled with many things to be thankful for. ✨ Bye <3

I'm giving non-fiction a chance

For many years, I’ve had a poor opinion of non-fiction books. As a proud fiction girlie, I’ve always found non-fiction boring and pretentious, like the LinkedIn of book genres. So apart from the odd non-fiction books little Fatima somehow got through, most of my reading journey has been spent completely shunning non-fiction, until last year. 

I got a copy of the Collected Speeches of Obafemi Awolowo from my uncle. Because of my slight interest in Nigerian political history, in theory, I’d have liked to find out what the book contained. But in reality, reading non-fiction was such a drag when reading is meant to be fun and exciting. This was around the time when I discovered it was okay to read more than one book at a time and I didn’t have to solely read a non-fiction book, but I could read it alongside a novel. So I began reading ten pages of my non-fiction book or reading it for fifteen minutes before bed and it worked. I very, very slowly got through the book. And while I enjoyed reading it at times, it still didn’t change my opinion on non-fiction.

I recently discovered that the reason I felt this way was because I believed non-fiction only existed in the form of either self-help, books about business, or extremely boring memoirs about people I didn’t care about. I just realised that things change when you’re reading a non-fiction book around a topic you’re interested in and that’s so mind blowing to me. If you’re interested in cats, read a book about cats, if you’re you’re interested in plants, read a book about those, if you’re interested in sustainable fashion, read a book about that, and so on. There are so many books out there focused on a vast variety of topics.

Realising this has gotten me excited about exploring my interests through non-fiction books because there is a lot out there to learn. From previously reading absolutely no non-fiction books in a year, I’ve read six this year which is huge for me. They’ve explored writing, feminism, global political history, yoga and there were two memoirs I enjoyed. Although I might not get through it as fast as I usually do with novels, the pace isn’t important if I’m enjoying it and excited about all the new ideas and perspectives I can get. Choosing to listen to my non-fiction through audiobooks also helps.

So I’m giving non-fiction a chance. I’m not focusing on coming across as an intellectual who reads business books or self-help, rather I’m focusing on chasing my curiosities and interests through nonfiction books and who knows what I’ll learn and discover. It’s exciting. 

What is your relationship with non-fiction? I’m curious to know where readers stand on this topic.

What kind of reading month was it?

Okay. But towards the end, I ran out of steam and didn’t feel like opening a book at all. I also read two lovely translated Japanese novels and they have a certain feel to them that I like.

September Reading Journey 

Yara is the first-born daughter of Palestinian parents who immigrated to the United States after getting married. Evil Eye takes us through her days as a wife and mother, of two little girls, who works at a university teaching art and is in charge of graphic design and photography for the school. It also slowly discloses her past to the reader through snippets, showing us the times when she and her family returned to (what is left of) Palestine during summer and Yara spent her time cooking with her grandmother; we see she and her five younger brothers being a horrified audience to her father’s physical abuse of their mother; we witness her mother pouring her frustrations on little Yara while interminably claiming she’s been cursed by the evil eye, and so on.

As we get into the book, we see that Yara is finding it more and more difficult to get through her daily life as she’s overwhelmed by all she has to do as a wife, mother, and employee, and feels as if she’s drowning. However, Yara tries hard not to complain because she believes her struggles can never compare to the kind her mother, grandmother, and a myriad of Palestinian women before her have gone through. Yara can’t admit that although her life looks different from theirs, it’s still not so great.

Raised with so many restrictions like being unable to leave the house for anything other than academic purposes and not being allowed to move away for college—things her younger brothers could do, whenever she complained, Yara’s father assured her that she could do whatever she wanted when she got to her husband’s house. So when she meets Fadi, who seems less traditional than the other Palestinian men she’s met, she jumps at the opportunity to marry him at 19, craving freedom from her family. But nine years after her wedding, her life doesn’t reflect this. And though it seems like she’s a woman in control of her life, it’s all a façade.

After an incident at work, Yara discovers she has a lot of trauma that’s wearing her down both mentally and physically and decides to work on that. She uses journaling as a tool and her journal entries were a window into her traumatic past, highlighting life-changing moments for her.

Family and generational trauma aren’t topics I’ve necessarily thought about but this book does an amazing job of portraying how the patterns and experiences of the ones who came before us can greatly impact our lives. It also gives us a (fictitious) personal account of the al-Nakba through Yara’s grandmother and this is an opportunity to see how this event greatly affected and still affects Palestinians today.

This is a powerful story of trauma, resilience, and womanhood, amongst other things. The events of the book gave me so many things to be angry about and the unfairness very slowly builds up to a crescendo that makes you want to stick to the story and see how it pans out. As books centred on women’s stories are usually amazing, this was was too and I’d totally recommend it.

You should read it if you like stories centred on women who work through their struggles and ultimately choose themselves.

A quote I liked from the book:

But change didn’t happen with a single recognition, a single step in the right direction. It was messy, courage come and gone, steps taken forward, then back. It was bravery laced with fear.

The Jakarta Method is a book that collates some of the injustices that happened during the era of the cold war, detailing why, where, and how it all happened. Bevins, who is a journalist, deeply researched and worked on this book for a long time, even temporarily living in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and interviewing eyewitnesses and victims to reveal and document the role the US played in creating the world we live in today and the massacre that took place in Jakarta as well as many other ‘third-world countries’. 

The first time I heard the word communism was in government class in secondary school and I remember thinking it wasn’t a horrible idea. I never gave it much thought, but I knew through the American media I consumed that communists had a bad rep. I remember how, in an episode of The Office, Dwight called someone a communist like it was an insult. This book made me understand why the world views communism the way it does—like a poison or cancer that destroys.

The main event this book covers is the government-sanctioned massacre and extermination of communists in Jakarta, in 1965. But it also focuses on events leading up to that such as the victory of the US getting Latin America (Brazil, Guatemala, Chile, El Salvador, etc) and many other countries, to vehemently champion anti-communism as well as events that were inspired by the Jakarta massacre which acted as a sort of inspiration and blueprint for other massacres, hence the title of the book—the Jakarta Method.

The lives of various victims of the massacre are used as a sort of starting point and thread to lead us through the events the book documents. We see the way the US, UK, and other world powers, identify threats to them in ‘third-world countries’—be it a leader, a political party, a union, or simply an idea—and exterminate it. It gives details of the roles the CIA played in multiple countries—smear campaigns, espionage, propaganda, so much propaganda—using declassified documents among other things as sources.

This was an eye-opening book. I’ve always known the US played a huge role globally behind the scenes, tweaking things in their favour and for their benefit without regard for thousands of lives, but I never fully grasped the extent to which they did this and this book shows us only parts of it. It was a painful book to read. It revealed so much bloodshed with the numbers going to millions. So many lives snuffed out like they never mattered. But I’m glad that I read it and am now aware of so many things I was ignorant of.

You should read it if you are trying to understand how the world turned so anti-communist and Americanised (not globalised) or you’re curious about the role the US played in creating the system the world operates today.

Share

The Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul is located in a dingy building in an alley and it’s run by a weirdly chirpy doctor and an aloof nurse who prescribe cats to patients. There are five chapters in this book, each focused on different characters, and each named after the cat prescribed to the protagonist of that chapter. 

The premise of this book is that a cat can solve almost any problem. With each chapter, we meet different characters whose life situations push them to find the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. They never imagine that after consultation with the doctor, they’d be leaving with a cat in one hand and a bag containing various paraphernalia for caring for the cat—as well as a pamphlet that indicates the cat’s name, age, feeding, caring details and personality—in the other.

Some of the characters we meet are a young man in his early twenties burdened by his toxic work environment and verbally abusive boss; a work-obsessed entrepreneur who designs bags; a mother and her young daughter who can’t get along because the mother constantly dismisses her daughter’s feelings and ideas, and a man who feels isolated at work and home with his wife and daughter, believing he’s always on the outside watching. After getting a cat from the clinic, the problems which led them to the clinic are somehow solved or at least better than before.

I can’t lie, this is a weird book but it was so fun and I loved reading about cats! I also like that the author incorporates magical realism into the story and slowly reveals it to the reader. There are also illustrations of the cat of the chapter at the start of every chapter which is such a lovely addition.

You should read it if you’re a cat lover or in search of a hopeful and wholesome book that will bring a smile to your face.

Set in Mexico in the 1920s, we follow the story of Casiopea Tun who was born under an unlucky star and believes this is the reason for the unfortunate events that have occurred in her life. After the death of her father, she and her mother are forced to leave Mérida, the capital of the city, and move to her mother’s family home in the small town of Uukumil. After her mother married a man the family deemed lesser than because of the darkness of his skin and his social status, Casiopea’s maternal family is less than enthusiastic about her existence, believing her to be a taint on their name. 

Eighteen-year-old Casiopea and her mother spend their days toiling away at the family house to earn their stay. Casiopea tends to her grouchy grandfather, hoping to one day escape to Mérida when she gets the money her grandfather promises he left her in his will. But her already difficult life at the family home is made more difficult because of her cousin Martín, the only son of their grandfather’s only son. Martín, a privileged and spoiled young man, despises Casiopea and ensures that he seizes every chance he gets to punish her, whether that’s through a slap, or reporting her to their grandfather.

One day, when the entire family goes on a journey and Casiopea is left alone at home as punishment for talking back to Martín, she finds the key that her grandfather constantly wears around his neck. It opens the ominous chest in her grandfather’s room that is out of bounds to everyone. Out of curiosity and a wish to find money stowed away in the chest which she can use to escape her dreadful situation, Casiopea opens the chest. But instead of money, she finds bones in it and a shard gets stuck in her finger. Suddenly, the bones transform into a person and standing before Casiopea is Hun-Kamé, the lord of Xibalba (the Mayan underworld), who was trapped for the last 50 years in that chest by his twin brother, Vucub-Kamé. 

Before the shard of bone in Casiopea’s finger can be removed, she has to follow Hun-Kamé on the quest to find his missing elements—his eye, ear, finger, and jade necklace—to regain his power and hence, remove the shard. However, as long as the shard is stuck in her finger, Hun-Kamé will feed off of her, slowly killing her and slowly turning human himself. Apart from the fact she has no other choice if she wants to survive, Casiopea sees this as a chance for an escape from her grandfather’s house and also a chance for adventure. She and Hun-Kamé begin the quest—they travel, meet demons, and summon ghosts and phantom creatures—that will end in a final showdown with Vucub-Kamé and his team.

This was an exciting book filled with so much tension. The stakes are high because there is a lot on the line and that makes the whole thing much more interesting. I found the world building that incorporated Mayan mythology impressive. 

You should read it if you love mythology or plots with quests.

Subscribe now

I was so excited when I discovered this book because as I mentioned above, reading nonfiction centred on a topic you’re interested in is an exciting experience and since I began my yoga practice, I hadn’t consumed any piece of literature on yoga. Also, in a society where the standard image of a modern yogi is a white, skinny woman, here is a Black, fat woman practising yoga, teaching it, and writing a book about it!

This book starts out with an introduction to yoga, discussing the eight limbs of yoga which reveal that the asanas (poses) are merely one out of many parts of yoga. It also includes a brief history, differentiating ancient and modern yoga and lists the different types of yoga, what they entail, and what they offer your body and mind. The author also answers some common questions people ask her as a yoga instructor. All of this would be good for someone getting introduced to yoga or even people who have practised for a while and would like to know more.

Throughout the book, the author dives into her journey and relationship with her body and the circumstances that led her to yoga. There are many pictures strewn throughout the book, some from the author’s past, and others showing visual depictions of certain asanas, the correct ways to do them, and their variations.

I loved the section on yoga sequences when the author shares combinations of poses she uses when she wants to feel a certain way—balanced, grounded, to let go of fear—because it made me realise I could also create my own yoga sequences and tailor them to fit my practice which is something I previously never considered. I also loved that this book is a sort of ode to fat bodies (the author also talks a bit about how variations and tailoring certain poses to fit different bodies can be of help to people with disabilities who are interested in practising yoga) and how “every body” can do yoga and it isn’t limited to certain body types.

You should read it if you’re interested in getting into yoga and don’t know where to start or you simply want to learn more about yoga. 

This was the other translated Japanese fiction novel I read this month and three things drew me to it: first, it was recommended to fans of Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop which I read and loved, second is I love books about books, and the third reason is that it had a cat on the cover (unfortunately, there was no cat in the book though😔).

Similarly to We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, this book contains five chapters that each focus on five different characters whose lives change after meeting Sayuri Komachi, a librarian, who recommends a book which somehow has the potential to change their perspective and hence their lives.

Across all the different characters and their stories, they all struggled with work in some form: getting a job, struggling with a job they hated, pondering leaving a job to chase their dreams, and retiring from work. This means the characters’ dreams and desires were heavily explored and I’m always interested in discussions about reconciling your dreams and creativity with your need for survival in this capitalist world. And though I don’t agree with all the book had to say about this, I enjoyed reading it and I got some advice I might consider applying to my life as a creative.

Another thing I liked was that the books the librarian recommended were unconventional and unexpected. They weren’t novels with characters going through the same thing as the protagonist of the chapter and neither were they nonfiction books that would give them the specific answers they needed to hear. The books recommended were a children’s picture book, a book about gardening and worms, another about astrology and the energy of the sun and moon, a book filled with pictures of different species of birds, and a poetry collection. At the end of the day, each character drew their own conclusion from the book, exploring it through their individual lens and taking with them what they needed. 

However, I have to add that it was extremely unsettling how Sayuri, the librarian, was constantly described by her weight, or it was pointed out with exaggerated reactions from narrators of almost each chapter. I found that really weird. Also, according to the blurb, it implies that the librarian has a magical gift of reading minds, but the book never didn’t hint that (or maybe I didn’t notice it) and because the reader never sees things from the librarian’s perspective, we can’t conclude that she read minds and have to believe her when she says her recommendations, which always hit the spot, are coincidental.

All in all, this was a short and easy read that I enjoyed.

You should read it if you enjoyed Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, like books about books, or are looking for a book to inspire and give you hope for your dreams and goals in life

Quotes I liked from the book:

Life is one revelation after another. Things don’t always go to plan, no matter what your circumstances. But the flip side is all the unexpected, wonderful things that you could never have imagined happening

In a world where you don’t know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now.

Non-fiction recommendations

Here are some non-fiction books I’ve read and recommend:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

  Published October 2018 ⬝ 319 pages ⬝ Nonfiction, Self-help, Psychology, Personal development

  I know it’s self-help but I enjoyed what it offers and if I had to recommend a self-help book, it’d be this. I learned about habit stacking from here and it’s been working for me plus I liked that at the end of each chapter the author gives a summary.

• How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

  Published March 2023 ⬝ 352 pages ⬝ Memoir, Nonfiction, Rastafarian Culture, Feminism

  This memoir was written as creative nonfiction and the author narrates true-life incidents using literary techniques found in fiction such as dialogue, setting, scenes, etc. Plus the author is a poet so the writing was so beautiful and I learned a lot about Rastafarian culture that I previously had absolutely no idea about. I went through it quickly because it read like fiction and was so captivating.

• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

  Published May 1994 ⬝ 352 pages ⬝ Memoir, Nonfiction, Writing, Essays

  This was the first book I’ve read about writing.

• The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins

  Published May 2020 ⬝ 320 pages ⬝ Nonfiction, History, Politics, War

Currently Reading: Others Were Emeralds by Lang Leav

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this edition. I would love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❁ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❁ What’s your relationship with non-fiction? Do you have any recommendations?

❁ What’s the last book you read and loved?

❁ What are you currently reading or excited to read soon?

Leave a comment

May October be filled with joyful moments for you and may you be aware of them and fully immerse yourself in these moments ✨ Bye <3

Let’s get into it.

What kind of reading month was it?

It started pretty quick-paced for me. I think that’s because after finishing one book, I had another lined up—thanks to my sisters’ recommendations—so I didn’t spend time thinking, ‘What next?’ and scrolling through my TBR pile, I just dived in.

A while back, I watched a video that said this was a good idea if you were trying to read more books: always have something lined up next because you might spend too much time trying to find the ‘perfect book’ and never end up reading. I realised that if I start something and I don’t like it, I can always drop it. Who will beat me? So having a ‘next up’ for reading, like a book queue, seems like a good idea.

I also read books about books: reading them, selling them, recommending them, and healing through them. As expected, it was a pleasure.

August Reading Journey 

Top Books 

Ghostroots is a short story collection that takes us on a journey through the lives of vastly different characters. Most of the stories merge realism with speculative fiction in a way that takes commonplace circumstances and feelings and puts an unexpected spin on them. The stories didn’t shy away from digging into uncomfortable situations and thoughts.

In some stories, there are no speculative elements, but the author had a way of drawing me in and making me care about the problems of the characters.

I loved the author’s use of unconventional narrative perspectives like the second person ‘you’ and the collective ‘we’ in a story titled Contributions, which is the first time I’ve seen that.

Aside from the fact that I have a thing for African speculative fiction, this book resonated with me because I saw that the author wasn’t afraid to explore her creativity and see where it led her and that’s inspiring to me. It made me think: that weird idea you think doesn’t make sense, follow it and watch something take form.

As with short story collections, I loved some more than others and here were some of my favourites: Breastmilk, Contributions, things boys do, Girlie, and Imagine me carrying you.

Here are some of my highlights from the book:

Nonsense hardly ever shows itself immediately.

Women suffer enough. Don’t add man problem on top. Keep your shoes beside the door.”

Yeongju, a woman in her thirties, leaves her corporate life behind to follow her childhood dream of owning a bookshop. When she opens the Hyunam-dong bookshop in the peaceful neighbourhood of Hyunam-dong, at first, she’s absorbed in her past mistakes and struggling to heal from the life she left behind.

But it isn’t too long before other people in the neighbourhood start to find refuge and meaning in the bookshop and relationships and communities blossom.

The book is written in a third-person omniscient point of view and doesn’t solely focus on Yeongju. In varying degrees, it also follows Minjun, the bookshop’s café barrister, who also leaves a hectic life behind, Jimi, the coffee supplier who is dissatisfied with her marriage but doesn’t believe she can let go, Mincheol, a weary high-school student, Jungsuh, who quit her job because of unfair policies and now spends her time at the bookshop crocheting, knitting, and meditating, and a few other characters. But it doesn’t get overwhelming at all.

This book is the embodiment of cosiness. It’s slow-paced and nothing dramatic! happens so some people might easily get bored, but if you’re a book lover and you’re interested in the concept of slow living and finding your version of success, regardless of what society dictates, then you might enjoy this one.

I loved how much it talked about books. There are some excerpts of interviews and ‘book chats’ with authors. I also enjoyed reading about the different ideas and programs Yeongju came up with for the bookshop.

A lot of time was spent on the characters’ musings and thought trains—which is why this is tagged as psychological fiction—and I liked being an audience to that. I could relate to or was interested in a lot of what they struggled with: the rat race, sacrificing your life for a career, finding fulfilment, carving your own path, etc.

It also portrayed friendship and community in a heartwarming way. The book left me feeling warm and content.

I highlighted so much in this book, but I’ll share only a few quotes:

A day well spent is a life well lived.

A life without dreams is as dry as a life without tears.

You won’t know until you start. Don’t decide the future before it happens.

Life is too complicated and expansive to be judged solely by the career you have.

there’s meaning in the act of trying (it’s important to ascribe meaning to things!). If the process is enjoyable (albeit difficult!), results shouldn’t be the focus.

Share

Themes & subjects explored: Female friendship, Iranian political unrest and activism, the class divide, war, immigration, feminism.

❁ This book got me angry a lot. It was worth the read.

Themes & subjects explored: Family—it portrayed a lovely uncle-niece relationship that I’ve never seen before—and the healing and unifying power of books.

❁ This book is set in the Kanda Jimbocho district of Tokyo, Japan, the largest book market in the world with around 160 bookshops. I loved the first half when the main character was in the bookshop but felt uninterested in the second half of it.

Themes & subjects explored: Body Image and sibling dynamics.

❁ This book was narrated by multiple characters so it had over five POVs which threw me off a little and the book felt a bit excessive at times. But it occasionally made me laugh and I enjoyed how the author explored body image.

Currently Reading: Evil Eye by Etaf Rum & Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this edition. I would love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❁ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❁ Do you like books about books?

❁ Have you checked out any of the books I mentioned?

❁ What are you currently reading or excited to read soon?

Leave a comment

May September bring you bliss and peace ✨ Bye <3

What kind of reading month was it?

It started as a slow reading month until I stopped trudging through a book I wanted to like but didn’t and finally marked it as DNF. Then I moved on to books I enjoyed and surprise, surprise, I didn’t spend as much time reading them.

Aside from that, since I have a hard time finishing nonfiction books, I’m excited about a new reading routine I adopted and have stuck with where I read 15 minutes of my nonfiction book daily. It led me to finish Collapse Feminism in less than two weeks when I had previously been struggling with it for about a month.

July Reading Journey 

Top Books 

❁ The Black Girl Survives in This One Edited by Desiree .S Evans & Saraciea J. Fennell
(Published April 2024 | 354 pages | Horror Fiction, Paranormal Fiction, YA Fiction, Short Stories, Anthology)

This anthology pays homage to Black girls in horror after years of being invisible or discardable. As the name suggests, it’s a collection of stories where the Black girl survives every. Single. Time.

All the stories are either written by women or enbies and they put spins on popular tropes. This anthology has a healthy mix of horror elements. There are werewolves, demons, zombies, ghosts, cults, haunted houses, cursed items, deadly games and more.

Shoutout to who recommended this book in a newsletter post because I had so much fun reading it plus, the cover is amazing! Look at those braids and nails. I also like the foreword by Tananarive Due which gave a brief history of Black girls in horror and made me reflect on why I like horror (I’m still not sure 😭).

Inevitably, some stories fell flat for me or were unmemorable, but the ones that hit, hit.

My top five in no particular order were: Harvesters by L.L. McKinney (the first story), TMI by Zakiya Dalila Harris, Queeniums for Greenium! by Brittney Morris, Inheritance by Camara Aaron and Black Girl Nature Group by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite.

You should read it if you’ve been searching for a Black final girl or you enjoy speculative fiction.

❁ A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur
(Published May 2024 | 368 pages | Historical Fiction, YA Fiction, Romance, Mystery)

It’s 1506 in Joseon and King Yeonsangun (the worst tyrant in Korean history) is killing off people like human life is worth nothing while also kidnapping and accumulating women as if they are objects to be toyed with and displayed.

There’s also a killer on the loose nicknamed ‘Nameless Flower’. The anonymous killer murders nobles and government officials who support the king and leaves mocking messages addressed to the king on their dead bodies written in blood. There’s a reward out for anyone who finds the killer.

Seventeen-year-old Iseul, the spoiled daughter of a magistrate who was executed by the king, loses her older sister in one of the king’s raids and, regardless of their rocky relationship, Iseul is determined to find her sister, no matter what it takes. Even if it’s finding out who Nameless Flower is to bargain with the king for her sister’s freedom.

Daehyun, an illegitimate prince and King Yeonsangun’s half-brother, who has spent the last few years suppressing his grief from losing his mother and brothers because of the king has plans to overthrow him and bring peace to the kingdom.

The chapters alternate between both Iseul’s and Daehyun’s perspectives and when they cross paths, they eventually join hands to save her sister and plan a coup to depose the king. However, there are many obstacles: the king's anxiety over getting assassinated and his army of over forty thousand soldiers, Nameless Flower killing off potential allies, and their budding feelings for each other, amongst other things.

I had been waiting for this book for so long because if you’re looking to read a well-written and viciously captivating Korean period drama with a mystery that keeps you on your toes and a subtle romance that makes you blush, June Hur is the person to read.

I was HOOKED on this book. I loved all of the relationships from the friendships to the romance. I also enjoyed the journey to figuring out who Nameless Flower was and the extreme tension that made me hold my breath in fighting scenes when the characters were cornered and it looked like there was no way out. I didn’t want it to end, but unfortunately, it did.

Trigger Warnings: Violence, murder, lots of blood, & mention of rape

You should read it if you’re a fan of historical K-dramas with a heavy dose of mystery and some subtle romance.

Here are some quotes I liked from the book:

Life had taken me to strange and frightening places before, and even in my darkest and loneliest hour, I had always found treasures hidden in the deep. And I knew I would find them again.

One is imprisoned by a thousand rules as a woman, and no one will explain to me why such rules exist.

Why is it so irrationally difficult for men to simply leave women alone?!

Share

Honourable Mentions

❁ Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibe
(Published June 2024 | 288 pages | Coming of Age, Gay Fiction, Literary Fiction)

This novel set in Port Harcourt follows the life of Obiefuna. After years of trying and failing for a child, Obiefuna is born to his parents and with his birth comes good fortune for them. Obiefuna is believed to have brought along with him ‘blessings’.

As he grows older, his babyish charisma gives way to a boy who strays from the standard rules of boyhood—to the horror of his father who is quick to anger. But Obiefuna can always find a safe place with his mother.

When his father brings Aboy, an apprentice from the village, to stay in their house and soon finds Aboy and Obiefuna in a compromising situation, Obiefuna is sent off to a Christian all-boys boarding school.

Each chapter alternates between Obiefuna’s and his mother’s perspectives. We follow Obiefuna on his journey through secondary school and his first few years of university, navigating his sexuality in a toxic and religious all-boys boarding school and homophobic Nigeria. And we watch as his mother struggles with not having him at home.

I liked that we got to see his mother’s point of view. I’ve never read a mother-son POV story before but I found it fitting because of their deep connection.

It was both comforting and uncomfortable to read through the boarding school scenes. Comforting because I could relate to a few situations and it was nice to see them reflected in a piece of media. Uncomfortable because I was repulsed by the school: its damaged system and the cycle of cruelty passed on year after year. The author deftly summarises it here:

The boys endured what they endured because theirs was a system that promised reciprocity. The time would come when they, too, would be seniors, at the helm of affairs, free to let off the frustrations accumulated over their years as juniors. The promise of this future gratification made the present suffering bearable, even desirable, for suffering would toughen them and make them more brutal, more skilled in knowing how to break a body.

The book has an undertone of grief and pain laced through it with slivers of hope peeking through. It explores a deep mother-son relationship, friendship and belonging, romance and found family, along with state-sanctioned homophobia amongst other things. I think it also partly explores the question: to what extent would you reject yourself to fit in?

Chukwuebuka Ibeh writes beautifully, almost poetically.

Trigger Warnings: Bullying, Homophobia, & Terminal Illness.

You should read it if you like reading books with beautiful writing or are interested in seeing how a character navigates sexuality and belonging in perpetually dangerous environments.

❁ Collapse Feminism by Alice Cappelle
(Published November 2023 | 222 pages | Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, Philosophy, Gender)

This book explores the feminist movement online and discusses a wide range of concepts like the girlboss, the tradwife aesthetic, cottagecore, divine femininity, the manosphere, and incel culture along with the online political battle between the right and left wing.

Alice Cappelle is a video essayist on YouTube and I love her videos. I learned a lot from this book—including new words. I have to admit, there were times I was reading and had no idea what I was reading. But if I gave up every time this happened, I wouldn’t read nonfiction.

I loved the sections on gender expression and beauty standards and choice feminism. I also liked how the conclusion tied everything up by summarising and reiterating her points on why we need to reimagine institutions such as work and the nuclear family, amongst other things.

However, because the book discussed a lot of things and dealt with a lot of topics, it could feel a bit scattered and overwhelming at times.

You should read it if you looking for a short feminist literature read or are interested in the intersection of feminism and internet culture.

Here are some quotes from the book I liked:

No single human being can transform society, only collectives can.

While it is true that patterns of toxicity between women can cause psychological damage, it must be stated that toxic femininity is not physically violent, or, to put it more bluntly, toxic femininity does not kill.

There are, in fact, many forms of work outside the capitalist market: education, volunteering, taking care of one’s environment are all valid forms of work. They are just as (if not more) beneficial to society than partaking in what anthropologist David Graeber called “bullshit jobs”.

❁ House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
(Published February 2023 | 384 pages | Historical Fiction, Adult Fiction, African American)

This book set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington DC follows two Black girls: Ruby and Eleanor.

Ruby is a fourteen-year-old girl who lives with her mother, who had her at 15 years old. Despite her family’s poverty, Ruby is determined to be the first in her family to go to college by winning a full scholarship. She’s focused and no one can stop her until she meets Shimmy, the white Jewish son of her Aunt’s landlord whose eyes she can’t stop looking at.

Eleanor similarly comes from a poor background. Her parents have worked extremely hard to send her to Howard University. She’s juggling school work and two jobs to make ends meet when she meets William Pride, the handsome son of one of the Black elite families of Washington, who’s studying to become a doctor and he has his eyes on her. Everything seems too good to be true.

This book is set against a backdrop of racism but it also heavily explores colourism and classism in the Black community. It sheds light on the forced adoption wave that occurred in the US at the time and the story shows how women constantly get the shorter end of the stick—sacrificing their dreams and sometimes themselves— in the majority of heterosexual relationships.

You should read it if you like women’s fiction and are looking to get angry at fictional men and society in general.

Recommendations

I wrote about my relationship with K-drama last month here: I’m a K-drama girlie and I’m not ashamed and in the comments section, I met some fellow K-drama fans. This recommendation is specifically for K-drama fans who are also readers or anyone else who might be interested in exploring fiction set in Korea.

I discovered June Hur last year and the definition of her work is K-dramas in book form.

June Hur, a Korean-Canadian writer (who is also a K-drama girlie) writes historical Korean fiction. Apart from being an important addition to the fiction world by bringing attention to Korean history, her books make you feel like you’re watching a period K-drama with all the chaos and thrill of palace drama and mysteries. They blend history, mystery, and romance.

They also incorporate popular K-drama clichés like the two leads falling asleep on opposite sides of a table and staring into each others’ eyes 😂. They are also an opportunity to see how titles you hear in K-dramas (like jeonha, ajusshi, pyeha, etc) are spelt with English alphabets.

So if you like K-drama, especially historical K-dramas, you’ll probably fall in love with June Hur. I’ve only read two novels and have yet to try out her other two novels, but as she has ascended to my list of favourite authors, I definitely will.

You can check out:

• The Red Palace by June Hur

  (Published January 2022 | 336 pages | Historical fiction, YA Fiction, Mystery, Thriller)

• A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

  (Published May 2024 | 368 pages | Historical Fiction, YA Fiction, Romance, Mystery)

Currently Reading: Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda and The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins

Excited to read: Nothing at the moment

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed reading. I would love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❁ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❁ What was the last book you read and loved?

❁ What are you currently reading or excited to read soon?

❁ Will you be trying out any books I mentioned? Or have you already?

Leave a comment

Thank you so so much for reading and being here. I appreciate you and I hope August will be kind to you. Bye <3

Today, I’m sharing my reading journey this month and some of my favourite books so far in the year (we’re halfway through already!) along with some quotes I loved because why not?

Let’s get into it.

What kind of reading month was it?

This was another sluggish reading month for me. I guess I’m in a slow reading season. I didn’t spend as much time as I usually do reading but that opened up space for me to explore my other interests like crocheting (I finished my first crochet bag!), watching shows (I finished season 3 of Abbott elementary and started a new K-drama series titled Doctor Cha), and I started a psychological thriller podcast starring Cole Sprouse called Borrasca which I find so exciting.

For a while, I believed spending less time reading was inherently a bad thing since reading is a big part of my life, but I’m realising like all my other hobbies and interests, my desire to do them fluctuates at different times and that’s completely okay.

June Reading Journey 

Top Books 
personally loved

❁ Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
(Published June 2016 | 305 pages | Historical Fiction, Multi generational Fiction, African Literature)

This multi-generational historical story set in the British colony of Gold Coast follows the lives of the two daughters of an Asante woman—known to us as Maame—and their descendants. Her daughters, Effia and Esi, are half-sisters who don’t know of the existence of one another and whose lives take drastically different turns.

While Effia marries James, a British governor, and lives with him in the Cape Coast Castle built for the British expatriates and their families during colonialism, Esi is sold as a slave and lives beneath this castle in a dungeon where over 300 women are kept stacked on top of each other and in deplorable conditions until she is shipped to America.

We see Effia’s descendants navigate life through the ethnic wars between the Asante nation and the Fante nation along with the struggle against the British and slave trade. We also see how Esi’s descendants navigate slavery and racism in the United States, the excruciatingly brutal experiences they face and the absence of knowledge of where they come from.

I’ve wanted to read this for the longest time because it’s a book you see everywhere and for good reason. Yaa Gyasi is such a powerful author who weaves stories that slip into your very being and touch you (I’ve read Transcendent Kingdom and it was such a heartbreaking and amazing novel).

I’m in awe of this book. The point of view changes in every chapter, starting with Effia and Esi and then interchanging between the six generations of their descendants. It’s almost like a collection of short stories with various characters traversing distinct paths across different times and locations connected only by the single thread of their ancestry. I also can’t imagine the amount of research on colonial Ghana and slavery in the USA that went into creating this novel because it was so detailed and fleshed out.

The book explores themes of colonialism, slavery, ethnic disputes, class and culture, family dynamics, and the search for home and belonging. It gives explicit details on the struggles of colonialism, slavery, and racism so approach it with care.

You should read it if you have a thing for multi-generational fiction or if you are interested in reading an intricate story about the lives of people in colonial Ghana, the journey of African Americans into America, and the afflictions they faced.

Share

Honourable Mentions
too good not to mention

❁ Slippery Creatures by K.J. Charles
(Published May 2020 | 265 pages | Historical Fiction, Romance, M/M Romance, Thriller, Suspense)

It’s been over two years since Will Darling returned from fighting in the Great War. Since his return to London, he quickly realises his only skill of knowing how to kill people and his previous career as a soldier aren’t enough to land him a job. He pawns off his military medals but it doesn’t do much to help him stave off poverty. So when his friend suggests that he contact his estranged uncle, he doesn’t see any other option. Surprisingly, his uncle, William Darling, welcomes him with open arms and allows him to work in his antique bookshop. 

Not too long after Will finally has food, shelter, and a salary, his uncle gets a stroke and eventually dies, leaving everything to Will. Will is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of books he now owns in the bookstore and the lack of inventory, but he’s determined to sort it all out and grateful for the turn his life has taken. Until he begins to get strange and sometimes aggressive visits from some men demanding he gives them ‘the information.’

Will soon realises his uncle was in custody of something that has the power to change the world so much so that Will starts getting threats and his store is being broken into. What could be so serious that he’s getting visits from the war office and a frighteningly tall and muscular man with a strange tattoo on his arm offering him money for the information? But Will has no idea what it is or where to find it, especially in a store with over twenty thousand books. Then he meets Secretan Kim, a charming upper-class man who offers Will friendship and assistance. They have chemistry, intimate moments are shared and progress is made with the mysterious information puzzle. But it seems Kim isn’t who he says he is.

This was recommended to me by and it wasn’t a book I’d naturally be drawn to but I had so much fun reading it. It was a funny, action-filled book and I was invested in finding out what ‘the information’ would be. Seeing how obstinate Will was through it all and the trouble his stubbornness landed him in was so entertaining and a bit admirable. The chemistry between Kim and Will was heady and the fight scenes had me on the edge of my seat.

You should read it if you’re looking for an action-packed and funny suspense story with some romance thrown in and a lot of betrayal set in early 20th-century Britain where they talk in a ‘posh’ manner.

❁ Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up by Charish Reid
(Published June 2023 | 320 pages | Romance Fiction, Contemporary Fiction)

Mickey Chambers works as an adjunct instructor at a university teaching writing. She loves it, her classes are engaging and her students like her. But she’s underpaid. And even though her parents brag about their thirty-three-year-old daughter being a professor—which she isn’t and can’t be without a master’s degree in literature—she can barely afford to pay for medication for her chronic illness: hyperthyroidism. So she’s on the search for a new job that can support her through the summer since she’s taking only one online class and paid meagrely for it.

Then there’s Diego Acosta, a grumpy forty-two-year-old widower and bar owner. After dropping out of college in his first year to take care of his sick mother, and then losing his wife, Louisa, to breast cancer years later, he has finally taken the leap to go back to school no matter how awkward and scary it seems at his age. But he’s uncomfortable with the state of the bar because it was Louisa’s front and he was always away in the back office taking care of the background stuff. So he decides they need more hands and that’s when he meets Mickey, a sunny woman with dimples he can’t ignore that gets his heart racing.

When she starts working at the bar, she’s changing things for the better with her bright personality and creative ideas but he finds out she’s his teacher for his online course. It’s dicey. He’s her boss, she’s his instructor, and there are feelings.

I went through this book so fast because it was easy to read and the characters’ bad decisions were entertaining. It was refreshing reading about a more mature couple and I liked seeing Diego go back to school even though it seemed “unconventional” for his age. It’s told from both their point of view and although Diego is quite annoying and Mickey is chirpy almost to a fault, their relationship is cute and obviously messy. It was also a very spicy read.

You should read it if you’re looking for a spicy but cute romance with characters in their thirties and forties making messy mistakes.

My top books of the year so far

Here are my top 5 books of the year so far with some quotes I pulled out of them:

1. How To Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair 

   (Published March 2023 | 352 pages | Memoir, Nonfiction, Rastafarian Culture, Feminism)

Like many young women born into poverty, the scarcity of her choices made her easy prey.

2. Drinking from Graveyard Wells by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu

   (Published June 2016 | 158 pages | Short Story Collection, African Literature, Speculative fiction)

The wretched of the earth are not meant to make art, we are supposed to be too busy surviving.

3. And Then He Sang A Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu

   (Published June 2023 | 304 pages | Gay Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, African Literature, Coming of Age)

Anger is good, if channeled in the right direction,” […] “We can channel it into hate and blame and violence. Or we can fashion it into a fuel that sustains us as we try to make revolution.

4. Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi

   (Published June 2016 | 305 pages | Historical Fiction, Multi generational Fiction, African Literature)

5. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

   (Published April 2020 | 410 pages | Horror, Thriller, Southern fiction)

Why is it always bitches, Kitty thought. As if men believed that word had some kind of magic power.

Currently Reading: Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta & Collapse Feminism by Alice Cappelle

Excited about and hope to read soon: Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this. I would love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying to this email:

❁ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❁ What are some of your favourite books so far in the year?

❁ Do you have favourite quotes you’d like to share?

❁ What are you currently reading or excited to read soon?

Leave a comment

I hope July brings along with it joy and excitement, in the way you desire, into your life ✨ Bye <3

Welcome to The Reading Nook! I’m trying out a new format and also leaving star ratings behind to experiment with a new rating system. Let’s get into it.

On reading children’s and YA books

Subconsciously, I’ve always believed that as we grow older, there are certain things we should stop doing. And if we didn’t, we were failing at being adults. Of course, the source of this mentality is societal markers and the ‘accepted ways’ of being an adult which society declares for us.

This means that I believed once we hit adulthood, we were meant to switch out the children’s books, the Young Adult (YA), the fantasy and adventure books to more serious and intellectual works. I’m realising now how limiting that is and also how black and white that thought process is—it doesn’t have to be one or the other. 

In 2023, I read my first children’s book after a long time: Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traoré, and loved it. Years ago, even though I liked the synopsis, I probably wouldn’t have considered reading it because it was a children’s book. But it had so many elements I enjoyed: a relatable and audacious female protagonist, a captivating plot, magical realism, and it was set in Nigeria. 

I’ve always liked YA, but when I graduated from teenage-hood and ventured into my early twenties, I was embarrassed by this. I felt like it was something I should have outgrown. 

The more I think about it, the more I realise that it all comes down to reading what you want. There’s so much joy in reading what you enjoy and exploring as much as you’d like, across multiple genres, formats, and styles to discover more things you enjoy. Don’t let superficial rules make you feel bad about any of it. In essence, try out new things and do you with your chest.

What kind of reading month was it?

It was a slow reading month for me. I had to come to terms (again!) with the fact that a slow reading pace isn’t something to fight against. It isn’t good or bad; it just is. I’ve spent longer than usual reading one book and I’m not beating myself over it or rushing to finish a race I’m running alone. Moving at an unhurried pace has helped me enjoy what I’m reading without obsessing over how far I’ve gone.

May Reading Journey 

Top Books 
personally loved and would recommend

The Neigbor Favor by Kristina Forest
(Published February 2023| 403 pages| Romance Fiction, Contemporary Fiction)

This book follows the story of Lily and Nick. Lily is the introverted youngest sister in a family of three girls. She works in publishing, specifically non-fiction, but she’d rather be working on children’s books. Lily is overworked and underpaid with a horrible boss. To help with her nonexistent dating life, her two sisters, who are huge successes in their careers, always set her up on dates with people she has nothing in common with. She dreads these dates but never tells her sisters, or anyone really, ‘NO’.

Nick is a travel writer who never stays in the same place for too long, probably due to his traumatic childhood. He published a fantasy book under a pseudonym when he was 21, but it didn’t do well. Of course, Lily has a copy of the out-of-print book and loves it with her entire being. She reaches out to the author, Nick, who keeps his identity a secret, and they become pen pals before he ghosts her.

It’s a story of them finding their way to each other when Nick moves to New York and unintentionally ends up in the same building as Lily.

I liked that although it’s a romance, their relationship wasn’t the only thing going on in their lives. Both Lily and Nick had things to figure out and growing to do. The story was told from both their perspectives, which I loved. I also liked that this book was intentional about not being one of those books where the girl dedicates her life to fixing the man.

It was a slow-burn romance, and although it took a while for Lily and Nick to get together, there was enough time to see them in a relationship. I was so excited that the main characters were Black introverted people who love books! I felt seen.

However, the back and forth before they got together and Nick’s uncertainty and self-deprecation were a bit tiring.

You should read it if you’re on the hunt for a wholesome Black romance with character growth or if you enjoy Joya Goffney’s books. 

And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu
(Published June 2023| 304 pages| Gay Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Coming of Age)

Set in Nigeria, between Lagos and Enugu, this is a story about two young, gay men, August and Segun, and how they navigate identity, family dynamics, relationships and more. It’s told from both their point of views.

August is the last child and only boy of an Igbo family in Enugu. August’s mother basically gave her life for him to exist because although the doctor warned her of the risk of having another child, she was determined to give birth to a boy. She died while giving birth to him and August constantly struggles with living up to this sacrifice and the title of the only son who will ‘carry on the family name.’

He has three overbearing sisters who care for him after his mother’s death and his father’s grief causes him to be uninterested in August’s life. His sisters never fail to remind him of the importance of his status as the only boy. When August discovers his sexuality, he denies and suppresses it. When he gets to university, he even attempts to get a girlfriend because he can’t imagine embarrassing his mother by being gay.

Then there’s Segun who is born as an only child to a middle-class family in Lagos. Segun is effeminate and from elementary school, he was constantly bullied for the way he talked and the way he walked. From verbal assault that is more than enough to break a child’s soul to physical abuse that literally almost ends his life, Segun goes through it all. But he never backs down or apologises for being himself.

In university, August and Segun cross paths and we follow them as they navigate their relationship amidst many obstacles including the signing of The Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill into law in Nigeria in 2014 which criminalised queerness and basically legalised discrimination against queer people in Nigeria, amongst other things.

Share

This book explores subjects of identity, sexuality, homophobia, toxic masculinity, and family dynamics.

It was an equally beautiful and heartbreaking book. There were times it made me smile and many times it shocked me. I enjoyed seeing the different facets of the main characters’ lives, from their family dynamics to their individual interests. I particularly loved Segun, and if he were a real person, would have wanted to be friends.

First, his mother is so badass and outspoken about her politics and desire for a better Nigeria and a world without oppression and that rubbed off on him. I loved his self-assuredness and liked that his part of the story introduced us to The Socialist Students Forum (SSF) in their university, which is such a cool community. I loved his interest in playing a part in revolution, educating himself, and the role books played in his life. 

Ani Kayode is an exquisite storyteller. I got lost in the story and it serves as a reminder of the great and irreparable damage homophobia can cause.

You should read it if you like stories set in Nigeria and would like a glimpse into how queer people navigate the aggressively homophobic culture in Nigeria and if you like commentary on privilege, politics and oppression.

Trigger Warning for suicidal thoughts, violence and homophobia.

Here are some of my favourite quotes from the book:

It is instinctual for the Nigerian state. Their plan, their solution, always, is to ban things, to demonstrate their ability to dominate.

Class war is actual war, with real-life casualties, and the ruling class knows this and they do not give a fuck.

Anger is good, if channeled in the right direction,” […] “We can channel it into hate and blame and violence. Or we can fashion it into a fuel that sustains us as we try to make revolution.

Other Books
didn’t personally enjoy, simply a record

Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington
(Published July 2023| 416 pages | Thriller, YA, Satire)

Since elementary school, Adina Walker has attended New England’s Edgewater Academy, a private school with rich white kids, thanks to a scholarship. She’s one of the very few Black kids there and has always felt like an outsider because of both the colour of her skin and her financial status.

When everything was finally going okay, she had gotten admission to her Ivy school of choice—Yale, and a bunch of others, it was all snatched away when she got in a fight with a rich white girl, formerly her friend, who held the power to get her admissions revoked.

The only option Adina sees is getting into The Finish—an annual contest hosted by the owners of the school and the most powerful family in New England, the Remingtons. A handful of promising girls are selected for this competition and the winner is set for life with the Remington family behind her. She gets a full ride to college and access to the network of the family. Adina gets in but it’s not what she expected. The games seem a little more vicious (haha) and the stakes are higher than she thought; her life is at risk.

First, the cover of this book is amazing. Second, it was objectively interesting and had good commentary on race and class, but I had so many questions as to how things ended up the way they did. A lot of it didn’t add up and that stopped me from enjoying the book.

Recommendations

Here are some of my all-time favourite children’s and YA books:

• Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traoré
  (Published June 2021 |288 pages | Adventure, Magical Realism, Nigerian Mythology)

• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
  (Published September 1998 | 240 pages | Fantasy, Fairy-Tale, Middle Grade)

• TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo
  (Published June 2022 | 368 pages | YA Fiction, Romance)

• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  (Published March 2018| 361 pages| YA Fiction, Poetry)

Currently Reading: Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi

Excited about and hope to read soon: A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur & Collapse Feminism by Alice Cappelle

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this edition. I would love to hear from you so talk to me in the comments or by replying this email:

❁ What kind of reading month was it for you?

❁Do you read children’s books or YA? Why?

❁Do you have any recommendations for children’s or YA books you’d like to share?

❁What are you currently reading or excited to read soon?

Leave a comment

I hope June is filled with lovely things for you ✨ Bye <3

1. Reading feeling unexciting

2. April Reading Journey

Reading feeling unexciting

Have you ever felt disconnected from the books you read? That’s the best word I can use to describe the way I’ve been feeling. On a norm, reading is exhilarating and brings me so much joy. Sometimes, a lot could be going wrong, but when I have a good book to return to, those minutes or hours when I get lost in the book are bliss.

But in April, I didn’t feel any of that. I felt like I was floating through as I flipped the pages. This isn’t a reading slump, by the way, and some of the books I read were really good. So I’ve been wondering what the problem is.

Then it hit me, I’m looking for something I’d be eager to get back to when I’m not reading. That’s it.

This month, I didn’t keep reading a book because I was so invested in it even though my eyes were heavy with sleep. I didn’t long for alone time so I could pick up where I left off in a book I was enjoying. All of that was missing this month so fingers crossed for May.

Has anything like this happened to you too? When all the books you read for a while were good, but you weren’t invested in any of them and the mere thought of reading them didn’t cause you to convulse in excitement?

April Reading Journey

1. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the first Lisa See book I’ve read and it’s everywhere. Rightfully so. It follows the life of Lady Tan from her childhood, marriage, and then old age. It’s inspired by historical records of a Female Doctor, Tan Yuxian, and is set in 15th-century China when women’s lives were defined by how tiny their feet were (foot binding was the norm), and the sons they birthed. It’s a well-researched and captivating book and it centres female friendship which is always a plus.

It also revealed to me all the damage that Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, did to women. One of his famous teachings is that a girl should respect her father. When she marries, she should respect her husband, and when her husband dies, she should respect her son. Another is that people who touched blood were filthy, which is why midwives were looked down upon even though they did life-saving work.

All the struggles women had to face were heartbreaking, but there are so many smart and amazing women characters in this book and there’s also a tiny bit of a mystery. I’d definitely recommend it.

2. Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my third attempt at reading this book. Somehow, I never finished. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author and it was good. Maya Angelou is a talented and inspiring woman.

3. This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the second book in the Skyland series. It’s about Soledad, a stay-at-home mum, and how everything falls apart when her husband is arrested for embezzlement. With their accounts frozen, Soledad has to figure out a way to keep her and her three daughters afloat while coming to terms with the fact that she didn’t really know her husband and her marriage was falling apart. We follow her journey of independence, entrepreneurship, and self-love.

Then there’s Judah Cross, the new forensic accountant who discovered and called attention to Soledad’s husband’s sins. He’s divorced and has twin teenage boys with autism (yes, there’s autism rep in the book) and after years without dating or being attracted to anyone, there’s something that draws him to Soledad.

The book is told from both their point of view and it was a fun read.

4. No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After reading Things Fall Apart and Achebe’s short story collection Girls at War, which I loved, I tried to read the other books from the Things Fall Apart trilogy (yes, it’s a trilogy). But every time I tried to, it didn’t work out. So I gave up on Achebe and admitted defeat. Then I decided to try out No Longer at Ease, the shortest of them, and I finished it and mostly enjoyed it!

The book explores corruption among civil servants in Nigeria. It’s set just before Nigeria gains independence and follows Obi Okonkwo (The grandson of the main character of Things Fall Apart) and his downfall after being caught accepting a bribe.

The book literally starts with him in the courtroom on trial, then goes back to when he left his village to study in London. As we follow his journey back to Nigeria and finally getting a job in the civil service, it’s perplexing how Obi, a ‘bright young London graduate with so much potential’ who claims to be too well educated and upstanding to take a bribe, ends up being caught in the act.

It’s a nice, short read and it wasn’t hard to get through.

5. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a book about writing and the struggles associated with it. It’s filled with basic advice from the shitty first draft to taking things a step at a time and figuring it out on the way.

I appreciated Lamott’s humour, sometimes. And I liked that she talked about how a lot of the time, writing feels difficult. I always thought that if writing didn’t happen flawlessly and without hitches, it meant I was a bad writer. But not anymore.

She talks about dealing with other difficult emotions as a writer like jealousy, and also the false belief that when you get published, everything will fall into place: your finances, how your self-doubt and struggles would disappear. A quote I like is:

If you're not enough before publication, you won't be enough with it.

6. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my first Toni Morrison book. I was looking for which book to start with and I think a random website recommended I start with her debut. It’s the story of a little girl, Pecola, whose greatest wish is to have blue eyes so she can finally be pretty. We see over and over how Pecola is insulted for the colour of her skin and the way she looks, even by other Black children. The book is narrated from different points of view, never Pecola’s, and is kind of disjointed.

I can’t say I enjoyed this book. It’s a very painful and uncomfortable read with vivid descriptions and multiple triggering themes (rape, incest, bullying, paedophilia, molestation, etc). But there is also no denying that Morrison is a beautiful writer. The book is written so poetically and each time I started it, I found it hard to put down.

7. Homebodies by Tembe Denton Hurst ⭐️⭐️

This book is about Mickey, a Black beauty writer whose company fires her. She’s seen as the Stargirl back home, who lives in New York, writing for a big publication and is verified on Instagram. So Mickey sees her termination as the end of the world.

She spirals and soon, she and her long-time girlfriend are fighting. She writes a public letter to the new Black girl who replaced her at work and talks about all the microaggressions and discrimination she suffered at the company. She posts this online and nothing happens. Soon, Mickey decides to return home to stay with her grandparents and figure things out.

I didn’t enjoy this book. The main character is painfully annoying, makes bad decisions and constantly treats the people who love her like they don’t matter. The blurb did a big disservice as it led me to believe the story would follow the aftermath of the letter she wrote about her company blowing up. But that didn’t happen until around 80%. It was mostly her being depressed, ignoring her friends’ advice and making bad decisions.

7. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-ju ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book apparently sparked a conversation on gender inequality and played a role in inspiring the 4B feminist movement in Korea. Talk about the impact of books.

It follows the life of Kim Jiyoung who has given birth and given up her career.  She starts having episodes where she perfectly impersonates other women she knows, both dead and alive, but doesn’t seem aware of this. Freaked out by this, her husband takes her to a psychiatrist and then we follow her life from when she was little to the present, with bits and pieces of the lives of other women in her life.

The book is filled with a myriad of misogynistic experiences women go through, the many ways women keep getting the shorter end of the stick and getting punished for men’s actions. From the preference of having male children, to sexism in school and in the workplace, sexual assault and harassment, and the normalisation of all of it. We see the different ways the patriarchial system we live in breaks down Kim Jiyoung and women like her.

A lot of people say the book reads like both a fiction and nonfiction novel and I agree. Although it’s fictional, it’s narrated in a third-person point of view and backs up facts with sources and references.

It’s a short read. Very exasperating, and very important, and I’d definitely recommend it.

That’s it! Let me know if you’ve read or want to read any of these books, your thoughts on reading being unexciting, or any random thing by directly replying to this email or commenting.

Bye, and I wish you a new month filled with lovely things and exciting books ✨

1. Focusing on enjoying books I read rather than reading more books

2. March Reading Journey

3. Book quotes

Focusing on enjoying books I read rather than reading more books

I started tracking books I read in 2020. I like tracking because I get to see the types of books I read, the ones I enjoyed or didn’t, how much I read, etc. But along with tracking came this desire, almost an obsession, to increase the volume of books I read. At the start of the year, I said my 2024 reading goal would be 30 books because I believed I could easily achieve that. Then I changed my mind and said I didn’t want a reading goal anymore.

The reason I decided against a reading goal was because I noticed how I tend to rush through books just so I can finish them and add them to my list. To draw nearer to that goal. I’m not a fast reader but I’m not a slow one either. I’m somewhere in the middle but I lean more towards the fast side, depending on how much I’m enjoying a book. But sometimes I find myself reading faster than I normally would and not necessarily because I’m enjoying the book but because I want to get through it as fast as I can. This takes away from the experience and the joy of reading.

Books are meant to be savoured. The only time you should rush through a book is because you’re enjoying it so much, you can’t help yourself. When it has its fingers around your neck and you’re at the edge of your seat, breathing erratically because you just have to find out what is going to happen next. Not because you want to add it to your numbers.

A part of me has made the connection that reading a large number of books equals being a superior reader; a cooler reader that all other readers should aspire to. And I want to combat that notion. I want to focus on enjoying the books I read and not on the numbers.

One way I plan to do this is by picking a book to read because I genuinely want to. Because I’m excited to pick it up and not because I feel I should. If I don’t feel like reading at a particular point or on a certain day, I won’t force myself to.

Also, I want to stop comparing the pace I read books with other readers. Sometimes I’d feel bad that someone read a book in a day while it took me four days to read it. But it’s not a competition.

Like most things in life, if not all things, the process matters more than the results. It’s in the process you find joy, you learn, you grow, and you enjoy yourself, not in the result.

It’s in the actual act of reading you get the benefits. Not from forcing yourself to finish a book so you can say you read 8 books in one month (I’ve been there, haha.)

March Reading Journey

1. The House of Shells by Efua Traoré ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Efua Traoré has officially made it to my list of favourite Nigerian authors.

This is a children’s book that explores the myth of Abiku (or Ogbanje, whatever you know them as). It’s set in Lagos and follows our protagonist, Kuki, who has moved to a new house with her pregnant mother and new stepfather. Kuki and her mother don’t believe in the story of abiku and claim it’s merely a superstition. However, the name Kuki’s father gave her before he abandoned them, Kokumo, which means this one will not die, haunts Kuki. It doesn’t help that her mother gets alarmed at any sign of Kuki feeling unwell because of that one time she fainted as a child. Or that her new aunty suspects Kuki is possessed by an abiku.

One day Kuki stumbles upon a creepy, dilapidated but beautiful beach house with sea shells everywhere and a creepy tree. Behind this tree, she finds a girl with a tattered dress and bare feet. She and this girl, Enilo, become friends which is amazing since Kuki is struggling with making friends in her new school.

Enilo and Kuki click and have a lot of fun together, but Enilo doesn’t want Kuki to tell anyone about her. She seems to live in the creepy beach house, and Kuki barely knows anything about her.

Things get stranger and Kuki has to deal with the possibility that the story of abiku isn’t merely a myth.

This was a really fun read. We get to witness a female friendship, character growth, and a blended family, and it’s set in Nigeria which is a plus. I can imagine 10-year-old me reading this, having the time of my life and gisting my friends about it.

2. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In a bid to read more horror, I chose this book. I barely read books written by men and I was sceptical that I wanted to read a book centred around white, middle-class, suburban moms. But I was pleasantly surprised.

As the name indicates it’s about a book club and vampires and if that isn’t amazing I don’t know what is. It’s about five women who start a book club where they read true crime novels. A stranger comes into their peaceful town but there’s something up with him. Strange things start happening in the Black part of town and little kids start killing themselves but that doesn’t raise a buzz, you know why.

The protagonist, Patricia, knows there’s something up with this man but everyone loves him, even her kids. And who’s going to believe her and her friends, a ‘bunch of housewives who have nothing better to do with their time but make up stories inspired by the true crime novels they read?’

The book explores subjects of class, race, and good ‘ol misogyny amongst other things. It was really fun to read. It was captivating, funny, and annoying, I couldn’t drop it. It’s important to note that there are a few gory and disgusting scenes. I’d definitely recommend it.

3. The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was everywhere and I thought the cover was cute, so I read it. It’s about two women with different lives. There’s Jasmine, an illegal immigrant from China who is trying to pay off the debt she’s accrued from illegally crossing borders. She escaped her abusive and controlling husband—whom she was married off to when she was young—when she found out he lied about her daughter dying at birth when she was actually alive and in the US.

Then there’s Rebecca, a white, rich and privileged editor who has a lovely family: the perfect husband and an adopted Chinese daughter.

We see their lives intersect and also get to see how one’s background and beliefs can have a huge effect on the way they view others and life in general.

There’s some romance, but it doesn’t take centre stage. There’s also a cool plot twist but I definitely wouldn’t tag it a ‘thriller’ which people keep calling it. However, it was a fast and interesting read.

4. Drinking from Graveyard Wells: Stories by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved the cover of this and knew I had to read it when I saw it. It’s written by a Zimbabwean author and is a bunch of stories that explore sexism, the entitlement to and control of women’s bodies, misogynistic traditions, immigration, poverty, corrupt government, among other things. The stories make use of folklore, fantasy, and supernatural elements to communicate their point.

The author writes beautifully and I related to so much especially the ambivalent feelings of hatred and love for your country, hope and what it means to be a woman in this world. I think a word to describe the stories is “powerful”.

It was an absolutely beautiful collection I’d love to read again. Some of my favourite stories were: Home Became a Thing with Thorns, Plumtree: True Stories, Water Bites Back, and Ugly Hamsters: A Triptych.

5. Going Dark by Melissa de la Cruz ⭐️⭐️

I thought this book was going to be about social media and influencer culture but it was completely different from what I expected, and not in a good way. It was kind of like Gone Girl, but YA,

It’s about a travel influencer, Amelia, who goes missing when she takes a trip to Rome with her boyfriend. Her story trends online and her boyfriend claims to know nothing about it even though her blood is found in his suitcase. It’s told from her boyfriend’s point of view, Amelia’s and another uni student who is a hacker and wants to get to the bottom of the matter.

Some parts of the story felt long and unnecessary, especially from the hacker’s point of view. Honestly, I didn’t love it.

6. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author and it was an interesting but heartbreaking read. I’d recommend it if you’re interested in the life of child actors and all they go through.

7. Girls with Bad Reputations by Xio Axelrod ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is about an all-female rock band which already sounds so badass. The book is centred on the drummer, Kayla, and Ty, a Black man whose tragic life circumstances caused his path to cross with Kayla.

Kayla lost her brother, who was also a drummer when she was fifteen. Her mum is very strict and wanted perfect kids who did everything she wanted them to and never slacked because Black people don’t have the space to slack. Kayla keeps her rockstar life a secret from her parents.

When they’re on tour, she meets Ty. He was falsely accused of plagiarism and assault by a ‘friend’, spent a few weeks in jail, went through a legal battle and had to drop out of college even though he was innocent. All he has is his grandpop since his parents both passed away when he was younger. Now Ty is a driver trying to earn some money and he’s driving the tour bus for Kayla’s band so they meet.

I love how much of a bookworm Ty is and that he always has a book in his hand or an audiobook playing. I like how aside from the attraction they felt for each other, the book built their romance based on their common interest in books and the conversations they had.

I didn’t like how their romance escalated quickly and I also felt the focus was so much on Kayla and Ty that they neglected the other bandmates who were always around and their characters fell flat. It was an okay book.

Book Quotes

You know when sentences from a book just resonate with you? Or you like how they sound? Here are two I came across this month and decided to make designs out of:

That’s it! Let me know if you agree with anything, found something cool, or absolutely hated something in the comments or by replying to this email. Bye!

On the agenda today:

1. Thoughts on reading books as a means for cultivating empathy and understanding

2. My February reading journey

Recently, I’ve been thinking of the ability of books, specifically fiction books, to open up our minds and stretch them to accommodate new experiences. With stories, we can understand lives, struggles, troubles, feelings, pain, cultures etc, foreign to us.

As humans, we tend to be overly occupied with our struggles and be ignorant of those of others. We don’t understand why certain people act the way they do, we shrug at another protest in a country we barely know how to pronounce its name, and we dismiss other people’s experiences because we haven’t lived them. With books, we can, to an extent, live and understand these experiences better.

For instance, in Together Tea by Marjan Kamali, I got more awareness of the immigrant experience. I got to understand how difficult it is to leave your country—your home, your family, friends, everything you’ve known all your life—and begin afresh in a new country where you know no one and barely speak the lingua franca. Where you aren’t necessarily welcomed and you struggle with overwhelming loneliness.

In Fine Boys by Eghosa Imasuen, even though cultism in Nigerian public universities was a topic I was vaguely familiar with, this book showed me how it could ruin lives on a personal level and the extent to which it is a menace to society, especially young boys.

With Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett, I got to understand how uninformed we are about HIV and how the stigma stemming from ignorance can affect the lives of people living with HIV.

I could go on and on. I love that books give us a window to peep into experiences foreign to us and help us understand these experiences better. Along with this awareness and empathy comes kindness, compassion, and inclusivity which translate into action to change our world. Research even supports this. Here’s to reading to learn and understand other people’s experiences better ✨

February Reading Journey

Despite a short reading slump and forcing my way through a book I eventually DNFed, I read 7 books this month! And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. (Btw four of the books were audiobooks and two were really short, less than 100 pages so, yeah).

1. Together Tea by Marjan Kamali ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is about a mother and daughter, Dahlia and Mina, navigating their relationship and their lives after their family immigrated from Iran to the US. The book is narrated with both their point of view being alternated and it shows us their lives in Iran and also the US.

We see Dahlia obsess over finding the perfect Persian man for her daughter and how she struggles with being away from home while we see Mina’s desire to become an artist going up against her parent’s wish for her to graduate successfully from business school as she also struggles with calling two vastly different countries home.

We get to see their lives in Iran and their lives in the US and I liked how the book portrayed the immigrant story.

2. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this in 2019 and loved it. This time, I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author and it was amazing.

The book follows 15-year-old Xiomara, an Afro-Dominican child of immigrants, who has a very complicated relationship with her strict and religious mother.

Here are some things to know about Xiomara: she has questions about her faith, she wants to kiss a boy, she’s used to getting nasty comments from boys and men about what they’d like to do to her body, she’s also used to fighting and defending both herself and her fragile twin brother. Lastly, she’s a really good writer.

The book is written in verse and the whole thing reads like a spoken word poem. The author narrated it beautifully and strongly and in scenes where she switched between Spanish and English, it was exhilarating to listen to. I’ll be rereading it again and again.

3. Be(com)ing Nigerian: A Guide by Elnathan John ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a nonfiction satire that criticises Nigerian politics, the nonprofit space, religion, etc. In the acknowledgements, the author says, “I’d like to acknowledge Nigeria, with whom I am (still) in an abusive relationship” which is so apt.

It was funny and relatable, especially as someone who lives or has lived in Nigeria, and it’s a good pick if you want to try out satire.

4. Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a really short book that serves as a sort of introduction to non-binary and gender non-conforming persons.

I like that it raised important questions surrounding gender norms and the gender binary. It questions people’s obsession with the gender binary to the point where they perceive non-binary and gender non-conforming persons as threats to society.

The book also shines a light on the abuse trans, non-binary and nonconforming people face in society. How society tries to demonize them but at the same time, brutally attack, main and kill them.

5. The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First off, the cover of this book?? It’s so beautiful!

The book is about a group of people who have survived Luis Ortega as the title says, haha. So Ariana, the protagonist, is on the autism spectrum and also has selective mutism.

And there’s Luis Ortega, the pretty, popular boy who is just a piece of shit manipulator, abuser and so much more. I don’t want to ruin it, but things go down and a group of people who Luis has ruined their lives find Ariana and they team up to bring him down.

It was a good book that dealt with the topics of abuse, neurodivergence, friendship, complicated mother-daughter relationships and more really well. I liked how the author emphasised that there is power in naming an abuser and not keeping silent, hence the title of the book.

TW for off-page rape.

6. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wrote about Ella Enchanted in the last edition of Nostalgia Trip and talked a bit about my love for the movie. I decided to read the book because people kept on talking about how it was better than the movie and I thought they meant it in that usual way that books are better than movies but I wasn’t expecting what I got. The book and movie are two completely different stories save for the ‘curse’ and character names!

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Eden Riegel and it had medieval-like music playing at different points with sound effects so the audiobook experience was amazing.

For the book itself, it was funny and engrossing. I like how it explored the concept of ‘choice’. I love how Ella is a badass female lead who is smart and witty. The friendship and romance in the book were lovely and Prince Char>>>

It was such a good book and I understand people’s anger towards the movie. It’s valid and if I read the book before I watched the movie, I‘d definitely be angry too. The book had so much flavour and life and the movie seemed to dilute and flatten it. This is a book I see myself rereading again and again. It’s part of my top favourite books now.

7. Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is my first graphic novel and it was so cute and fun!

It’s about female friendship and follows four friends navigating the complexities of life. The ritual of Black Woman hair care—from wash days to sitting down to get your hair made in a salon or with a friend—is an important aspect of the book. I can’t overemphasise how beautiful the art was and the attention to detail.

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts on reading books as a means of cultivating empathy and if you’ve read or will read any of these books.

Also, how has your 2024 reading journey been so far?

On today’s agenda:

1. January reading journey

2. Reading parties??

Remember in the last edition of The Reading Nook where I said my reading goal for the year was 30 books? Haha, I changed my mind.

I noticed how last year, even though I didn’t push myself to read books I didn’t enjoy, sometimes I rushed through books so I could add to my book count.

I’ve decided to let go of the pressure to hit a target and take my time reading. Let’s see how it goes.

I read four books this month.

1. How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve had this book since 2021 but I never read it because of a comment by one of my friends on Goodreads and someone told me they wouldn’t read it because the book sounded ‘too serious’ so I assumed I wouldn’t like it.

It’s about a fictional village in Africa called Kosawa. The people of Kosawa lived a beautiful life before Pexton, an American oil company, found oil under their land and began operations to extract the oil.

Since then, things started to fall apart (haha). Death became a frequent visitor in this formerly peaceful village, carrying mostly children along with it. The air wasn’t clean, the rain was acid, the wells were contaminated, the rivers turned black, crops were dying, there were oil spills every other day, and nobody was doing anything about it until Konga, the village madman decided to do something.

The book is narrated from the point of view of a little girl, Thula, and her family members and through the collective narration of ‘The Children’ of the village.

We follow the years-long struggle of Kosawa for justice.

The book deals with the subject of imperialism, corruption, a bit on the patriarchy, the roles women are subjugated to, etc.

I liked it, Mbolo is a beautiful writer and yes it deals with serious topics but there’s enough drama to keep you hooked for most of the book.

2. Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Storygraph recommended this book to me (as they knew I’m down for anything that explores social media and beauty standards). I finished it in a little over a day.

It’s about a former Instagram influencer who is about to go through a risky and potentially life-threatening surgery known as ‘Aesthetica ™️’. This surgery claims to reverse all the cosmetic procedures a person has gone through on their face, botox, fillers, rhinoplasty, you name it.

The narration goes back and forth to the day before the surgery when the unnamed protagonist is 35 years old and to when she started her influencer career at 19 years old. We see how opposed her mother is to her career choice and all the things the protagonist does to acquire social media fame.

The ending was a bit unsatisfying for me; I wanted more. But the book was intriguing and a bit dark.

TW for explicit drug use and rape.

3. How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a memoir (yes I read a nonfiction book). I added it to my TBR list because I liked the cover and when I found out it was a memoir I was about to dump it then I saw that about four of my Goodreads friends gave the book five-star ratings and I was like whaaat.

The author gives us an account of her Rastafarian childhood. Living under her Rasta father’s strict and confining rules and growing up with her siblings as the only Rasta children in their school in Jamaica, life wasn’t easy for them.

We get to see her journey as she leaves behind all she has known from childhood and chooses the life she wants.

This book was obviously amazing and the fact that the author is a poet means it was beautifully written. The scenes in the book, through her candid details and amazing portrayal of emotions, came to life and had me crying and sometimes smiling.

I also learned a lot about Rasta culture which I had so many misconceptions about. (Did you know Rastafari is a religion and Rastafarians were a minority in Jamaica?)

I recommend it a thousand times over!

5. A Broken People’s Playlist by Chimeka Garricks⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was everywhere at a point but I never read it because of that. When I started, I didn’t want to like it. But as I went on, I couldn’t deny that the stories were good.

They were funny sometimes, but a lot of the time they were sad. All twelve stories are set in Port-Harcourt which is refreshing. They deal with infidelity, confra culture (Fine Boys by Eghosa Imasuen is referenced), police brutality, broken homes, and so much more.

And what’s intriguing is that each story is titled with the song that inspired the story.

If you like short story collections set in Nigeria, give it a go.

YouTube recommended this video to me about a group of friends in Brooklyn that started holding ‘book parties’.

These are organised meetups (not book clubs) in a cosy place where people come with whatever book they are reading. Everyone reads their books silently for a while and then breaks off to discuss with other people.

The books they are reading act as ice breakers and people are meeting new friends(and romantic partners) and it’s a nice alternative for popular ways of socialising.

I think it’s a really cute idea and I’m so down for it if I ever have the chance.

I’m all for having communities of people who are interested in a certain hobby (Btw I’m starting a virtual reading club and writers club soon, watch out!)

Watch the video here:

Yeah, that’s it. How was your reading journey this month?

So was this a good reading year for you? Or was it meh? Are you already planning for next year? Or whatever happens, happens?

I did it, sha. I achieved my goal of 50 books this year and I’m elated. Although, I’ve checked out for the year. It’s dead week and my urge to do anything, aside from lying down and watching a show, is gone. So once I dropped my 50th book of the year, I checked out of reading for the year.

Instead of telling you about my December reading journey, the agenda for today is:

1. My favourite books of the year

2. My favourite quotes from books I’ve read this year

3. Reading goals for 2024??

I’ve read a lot of good books this year so narrowing them down was difficult. Here are my top 5 and some ‘honourable mentions’ according to genres:

1. These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany

This was my favourite book of the year. I started 2023 with it and as women’s fiction is one of my top genres, I fell in love.

It follows the lives of three second-generation immigrant Muslim women living in the UK. The chaos of their friendship, family, relationships.

I love how much female friendships (and its importance) were centred and the growth each character experienced.

2. The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven

This is a dark academia thriller about a haunted college that reopens after being closed for around ten years because of some mysterious deaths. The two main characters, who are roommates, try to solve these ‘murders’. There are rituals and there’s suspense and drama and a sapphic romance.

It’s chilling and captivating and absolutely amazing.

3. Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander

This book follows Meredith who hasn’t stepped out of her house in about three years. She works remotely, gets her groceries delivered, exercises indoors, does her therapy online and has a loyal friend and her kids who visit her as her human contact.

It’s a bit slow-paced and sad, but we get to watch Meredith work through her problems and trauma, grow, and take steps to get back into the world which is beautiful to see.

4. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

This novel is set in the Chinese colonial community of Malaya and follows Li Lan, whose father is impoverished and suggests to her a chance to become the ghost bride of a recently deceased son of the rich Lim family.

Although Li Lan doesn’t agree to this arrangement, soon she starts getting pulled to the Chinese afterlife every night and being haunted by the deceased son who tries to cajole her to accept his proposal.

Obviously, Li Lan wants to marry a man whom she loves and who is alive. So we follow her on this eerie journey trying to free herself from this haunting, watch her fall in love and in the process, learn a lot about the Chinese afterlife.

5. TJ Powa Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

I’ve talked about this book more than once here, so I won’t say a lot. It’s a young adult novel that follows TJ Powa, an Indian-American, and her struggles with body hair and societal beauty standards.

It’s so well-written, I loved it, you should read it.

According to genres:

Fave YA romance: This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang & Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Fave Nigerian fiction: Vagabonds by Eloghosa Osunde

Fave historical fiction: The Red Palace by June Hur (also a mystery novel)

Fave children fiction: Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traoré

Fave short story collection: Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

Fave sad book: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi :(

Fave nonfiction: Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay

Here are some of my favourite quotes from books I read this year:

• “Ageing is nothing to be ashamed of, especially when the entire human race is in it together” -Girl, Woman, other by Bernadine Evaristo

• “What you get out of being loved, it’s supposed to be worth the compromise. When it’s good, it makes you want to compromise.” -Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

• “Too much is going on and revealing itself for you to think love will conquer all. Does he educate himself, follow the news, raise his voice in uncomfortable conversations? Does he ever question the system that works very well for him but does the opposite for you? He doesn’t have to do it with a megaphone, but he does have to do it. You don’t want a boyfriend who isn’t racist, Maddie. You need a boyfriend who is actively anti-racist.” -Maame by Jessica George

• “I’ve never met a policeman I liked on any continent.” -Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

  Vagabonds by Eloghosa Osunde

• “That it’s the only way you know does not mean it’s the only way there is.”

• “This is the only commandment with a promise: that if you do anyhow, you will also see anyhow.”

• “All oppression is linked, shey you know?”

• “There’s a whole world, and people are being forced to live in closets.”

• “Abandon the cultural myth that all female friendships must be bitchy, toxic, or competitive. This myth is like heels and purses—pretty but designed to SLOW women down.” -Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay

• “The truth of it is that humans are ugly little creatures by our own standards, and no one’s immune to being human, although some of us try to hide it.” - TJ Powa Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

• “You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.” -Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey

• “We’re getting better at portraying female friendships but we’re still a long way off. Growing up the residing stereotype was still that women are catty and competitive with one another, when in truth, women save each other every day.” -These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany

In a bid to be intentional but avoid putting unnecessary pressure on myself, I’ve decided to set my reading goal for 2024 to 30 books again. It’s realistic for me and attainable even amid distractions.

My other goal is to continue to read more of what I enjoy which means not giving space for books I don’t enjoy and DNFing more.

Lastly, I want to be more experimental this year and read genres and books (including more nonfiction) I wouldn’t usually go for so I hopefully run into exciting and cool stuff I never would have gotten into.

That’s it FOR THE YEAR! Let me know in the comments how your reading year went or if you have any reading goals for 2024 or just anything else you have to say (and you can privately reply to this email too).

Thank you for being here, I appreciate it and I hope 2024 unfolds gracefully for you and has an abundance of joy and ease. See you soon :)

On today’s agenda:

1. Random thoughts on books titled with the main character’s full name + a phrase

2. My November reading journey

3. Recommendations (??)

Let’s get into it!

Random thoughts on books titled with the main character’s full name + a phrase

Recently, I’ve been thinking about books titled with a character’s full name and a phrase. This year, I’ve read a couple of them. For instance, TJ Powa Has Something to Prove by Jasmeen Kaur Deo, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado, Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes, and my current read, Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin.

Aside from the last book which I’m just starting, I’ve really enjoyed all the others I mentioned. I think I rated them all five stars. So I’ve started to think, hmm, maybe books with these kinds of titles are where it’s at.

Then I started to think again, if my life were a book with my full name + a phrase as the title, what would it be called? Literally, the first thing that came to my mind was ‘Fatima Mohammed gets money’ lmao. So let’s just assume that’s a manifestation for 2024.

Then I thought again, it would be pretty sad if that was all it was. I feel like as a society, we’ve consumed a lot of media that shows us if the sole focus of a character or a story is getting money, things don’t usually turn out for the best.

So I thought again. Fatima Mohammed: ‘Finds peace? Finds herself? Does her? Survives the chaos of the twenty-somethings? Destroys climate change and the patriarchy? Finally finishes the crochet bag she started?’ I don’t know. Those are also good.

But what would yours be? Let me know in the comments or reply to this email :)

November Reading Journey

1. Fine Boys by Eghosa Imasuen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading started out slow for me this month. I think I didn’t feel like reading any of the books on my TBR list, but I knew I wanted to read something. Then one night I thought, I should read Fine Boys by Eghosa Imasuen. A friend recommended it to me last year and I felt like reading a book set in Nigeria. So I started the journey.

This book was set in the early 1990s in Warri and Benin City, Nigeria. It follows the main character, Ewaen, and his friends on their journey as they became students at the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

If you know anything about UNIBEN, you’ve probably heard that it has the most notorious cult groups. Now Ewaen and his friend, Wilhelm (whose mother is German and was born and lived there for some time but speaks the best Pidgin English among all the other boys) are ‘fine boys’. Literally and also because they were raised in Warri, which means they are peak material to be confra (confraternity) boys.

The leading confras in the university are the Black Axe (which actually exists) and Cosa Nostra. Ewaen and Wilhelm try to avoid the pressure to join these cults, while some of their other friends don’t.

This was a heavy book and the ending is like a stab to your heart but I really enjoyed it. It managed to warn against the consequences of cultism without being didactic. It shone a light on toxic marriages, police brutality, the military coups, dictatorships and the fight for democracy that underlined that time. Trigger warning for domestic abuse, and use of weapons.

2. Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The word for this book is ‘wholesome.’ The book starts with Evvie Drake who is finally leaving her husband and about to enter her car to drive off when she gets a call that he was in an accident. He dies. Now everyone thinks she’s a sad widow who misses her husband. And that’s far from the truth.

It’s also about Dean, a baseball player who gets the yips and suddenly can’t pitch anymore. Dean needs to get away from NYC and all the talk about him and through a mutual friend, Andy, Evvie rents out the apartment connected to her huge house to Dean.

You know what happens next. The romance was kind of a slow-burn and it literally had me blushing at times.

When I was reading reviews of the book, a lot of people said they liked that the characters actually talked through their problems like real adults and omg yes.

I also liked the friendship between Andy and Evvie—platonic soulmates and all that. Plus, the romance wasn’t at the centre of the book but more of Evvie’s healing and growth. We love to see it. I’d definitely recommend it.

3. The Red Palace by June Hur ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“To enter the palace means to walk a path stained in blood”

Omg, guys?? If you watch K-dramas, you know how scandalous and thrilling palace stories can be. This is that in book form and the author does a fantastic job.

It’s about Hyeon, a ‘bastard lowly girl’ who works hard to become an uinyeo, a palace nurse. One night, a massacre happens at the Hyeminseo, which is like a school for nurses. Four women are killed; two students, one teacher and a court lady who shouldn’t have even been outside the palace.

Now Hyeon’s mentor, Nurse Jeongsu, is the suspect and the Commander is hell-bent on proving that she had a part to play in the massacre.

Hyeon wants to save her mentor so she starts privately investigating but she meets Eojin, a young police inspector and they team up. Also, rumours are going around that the Crown Prince is the killer!

This is a YA with a slow-burn romance and it fulfils some of the best K-drama tropes (like the main character and love interest falling asleep on a table and waking up face to face). With all the secrets going around, it’s the kind of book to have you on the edge of your seat. Definitely recommend.

So that’s it! I’m on book 49 of the year by the way and I want to reach fifty because I can’t stop at an odd number. I’m so excited about surpassing my goal (of 30 books) for the year!

Recommendations

This would be the perfect time to recommend Christmas-themed books. I mean ‘tis the season and all that.

But I only remember reading one Christmas-themed book.

The Holiday Switch by Tif Marcelo

I read it in January 2022 and barely remember anything but this is my Goodreads review verbatim:

“This was okay. An easy and quick read. I loved the fact the MC loves books and wrote reviews. I actually really enjoyed her book reviews. Felt as if the romance could have been better. It was just meh. I hated the author's use of the word 'growl.' Do humans actually growl? And if they do, why did the characters in this book love growling?”

It’s YA and fluffy and cute and clean. If you’re into that kind of thing, you should read it.

If you have any Christmas recs, share them in the comments because sharing is caring.

By the way, here’s an Instagram video that promises to give you the ultimate secret on how to read up to 30,000 books in a year!

That’s all I have to share. Thank you for reading and see you soon ;)

Three things on the agenda today:

1.) My recently changed views on rereading books

2.) My October reading journey

3.) Two (fiction) book recommendations based on the theme: beauty standards.

Let’s get into it!

On rereading

Rereading books isn’t something I considered to take much space in my reading journey. Until very recently, I wouldn’t tag myself as a rereader. Then it dawned on me how many times I’ve read assigned books from Secondary school like My Last days at Forcados High by A.H Mohammed and Faceless by Amma Darko out of boredom or a lack of new books to read and how that counts as rereading.

I used to be one of those people who said they wanted large libraries in their houses, books aesthetically arranged from wall to wall and all of that. Then when I learned about into intentional consumption, I started to wonder if I wanted a library at all.

I realised how with those huge libraries, I’d probably have so many books I wouldn’t read lying around doing nothing. So I left that dream behind. I started thinking of better ways of engaging with books like borrowing them from a library and a friend and I even entertained the idea of starting a book swap thingy in Abuja. This would make sure I didn’t end up having too many books or books I didn’t care for in my possession.

But back to the topic of rereading. I’ve realised there are books you read that are too good to not read again or are very close to your heart. I’m understanding there are some books where you have so many highlights or marginalia (if you’re the kind to highlight and write in books) and having a copy is so important. That there are comfort books you keep going back to. And this is what a personal library should be made up of. These kinds of books.

So rereading books is a good reason for having a library. I’m an avid rewatcher of movies so it’s funny I thought I wouldn’t be a rereader of books. We tend to forget books we read so when we reread, we’re reminded of how amazing a book was. Sometimes, it takes us back to a different time. Sometimes, you read it and are awed by how much things have changed and how much you see differently. Or how you relate differently from the last time because you’ve grown.

There are too many good books out there that deserve to be read and savoured over and over again and I’ve decided I want a library filled with those books. (I still want to start a book swap btw!)

October Books

1. Yellowface by R.F Kuang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I finished it this month and it was a crazy ride! to be honest. It has been making rounds online for a reason. We follow the story of June, a white not so successful writer, as she steals the unpublished manuscript of her successful Chinese-American friend(?), Athena Liu, after her death which happens right in front of June.

Reading this from June’s perspective and seeing how all her horrible decisions brings chaos and watching the huge role race and social media has to play in it all is what makes it a crazy ride.

As a writer, I love that there’s a lot of details and lingo about the publishing world, but it might not be so fun for some.

I recommend this a hundred times, it’s so crazy and will make you go what the hell?! a lot.

2. Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traoré ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After finishing Yellowface, I started and stopped about two or three books before accepting I was in a slump. But then I came across this book and 🤯

I was so excited to see a Nigerian book (actually set in Nigeria) crafted around Yoruba mythology and Nigerian juju.

It’s a children’s book, I think for preteens and it’s about a girl, Simi, who is sent to her grandmother in the village, Ajao, for the summer. But the thing is she never knew her grandmother existed. Her mother never talked about her. She also didn’t know her grandmother is the Priestess of Osun and that Ajao is a village filled with magic.

This book was so easy to go through plus it has adventure and an evil forest. It was so good and a nice story for kids on Nigerian gods and mythology.

3. The List by Siobhan Vivian ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Speaking of rereading, I reread this book after maybe five or six years. It’s close to my heart probably because I read it when I hadn’t seen a lot of stories about girls struggling with beauty culture and standards.

It’s about a highschool that has a nasty tradition of annually releasing a list of the ugliest and prettiest girls in every grade. The books follows the journey of eight of these girls from freshman to seniors and we see the consequences of this objectification of girls.

It has eight POVs which might be overwhelming, but I enjoyed each girls’ story. And the characters are not diverse at all and it would’ve been more inclusive and interesting to see the way other forms of prejudice that intersect with sexism, like sexuality or race, play out in this situation. But I guess that might have been too much or not the place of the author to write.

I don’t have a specific reason for picking the theme of beauty standards but it is an interesting and important issue in society for everyone, but especially women. These two books explore that theme from the perspective of Asian women.

1. TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jasmeen Kaur Deo.

This is a young adult book about an Indian American girl, TJ Powar who is used to going through all of the extensive maintenance to keep up her looks by taming her hair. Her mom does it, her aunties do it, her and her close friend have been doing it since they were preteens.

But TJ’s cousin doesn’t do it and it isn’t until a meme that compares her to her cousin swamps the internet that TJ starts asking questions and decides to forgo all her hair removal habits.

It’s an uncomfortable journey through beauty standards, culture, and the exploration of body hair and so much more. It is such a powerful book (the rereading type ;)) and I’d recommend it a thousand times.

2. If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

It’s been years since I read this book but I have it imprinted in my mind over how much of a good book it was. Its set in Seoul, Korea and it’s about four women and how they deal with Korean beauty culture and the obsession with surgery and how it can all change your life. I’m probably going to re-read it soon as I can barely remember anything but it was so good!

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this edition and if you’ve read any of these books or are going to, let me know in the comments and just let me know anything you have to say!

Thank you so much for reading. I hope November will be a fabulous month for you✨