I took two novels to read in Amsterdam. I brought them both back unread. Instead, I spent my train and aeroplane time playing games on my iDevices. For shame!
Meeting Chimamanda
I recently had the pleasure of hearing the Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie speak. She was publicizing her latest novel – Americanah. When I first saw the advertisement, I said to myself, ooh, I must go, but I didn’t realize how much I respected her until I got to the library where she was speaking. The […]
The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
If it’s not clear by now, my reading tendencies are novels by African women and novels highlighting the immigrant experience. I find so much of myself in them and cherish that shared experience described in so many different ways usually featuring a triumphant or not so triumphant strive to assimilate old world traditions with new […]
The Observer’s 10 best contemporary African books
…as chosen by Eliah Wakatama Allfrey, deputy editor of Granta Magazine. I am so behind on my own reading list, but I can’t wait to read some of Allfrey’s nominations. Especially… and Fun!
Passing by Nella Larsen
Picked by my local book club, I once again didn’t manage to make it to the discussion of this novel. Oh well. But I did download a free audiobook version using the Audiobooks app, and listened to it in its entirety on a road trip.I highly recommend the app. But back to the novel. First […]
Juletane by Myriam Warner-Vieyra
This novel found it’s way to my bookshelf courtesy of the African Women’s Bookclub. I read this tiny book in one sitting, with no hesitations though with each turn of the page I could feel the weight of the world on my head and share the despair of Juletane. Powerful! Devastating! Heart-wrenching! These are some […]
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
In a recent trip with no book in hand, I turned to one of a gazillion “free books” loaded on my iPad (Classics, FreeBooks etc). I had read The Hound of the Baskervilles before in my youth but I couldn’t remember anything beyond the hideous looking hound of superstitions that gave everyone a fright. It […]
Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire
I first encountered this novel when I was a college student in the late 1990s. But did I read it then? No! I was too busy trying to get into medical school. I finally got around to reading it over the past few months (it shouldn’t have taken this long) and now I wonder what […]
Maru by Bessie Head
I picked up this thin book for a quick read on a recent trip. It left my head reeling with so many questions and so many thoughts. Who would have thought a tiny book, a novella of sorts, would have so many heavy themes. I can see myself discussing this in an advanced level literature […]
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
This is the sixth novel by award winning author Ann Patchett. I have not read any of her other novels, but the book was selected by one of my book clubs. The book club has not yet met so I cannot say what others thought about it. State of Wonder is a novel about Marina […]
A lover of mangoes. A woman - smart, without pretense, lefthanded, Afropolitan - navigating this thing called life. An unapologetic believer in social justice and karma. Choosing to radiate positive energy and be true to myself. Here, my musings.