Hey book lovers, How’s it going? I hope you are not putting pressure on yourself to meet any reading target this year because life is too short for all that plus WE ARE STILL VERY MUCH IN A PANDEMIC. So, please relax and take life one day at a time. I somehow was able to read 5 books in October despite how ridiculously stressful October was. I read 4 of the 5 in the first 10 days of the month.
1 When no one is watching by Alyssa Cole
I really enjoyed this one mainly because i love thrillers and books that have me saying ‘WTF’ after reading them. I listened to the audiobook and it was good. The story highlights the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood but then started off as a romance and turned into a full blown thriller and I won’t lie it had me shook. Like from where to where? It was however suspense filled and fast paced. The author is a wonderful story teller and I will be on the look out for her books.
2. The Escape by C.L.Taylor
October started off as a thriller month for me to be very honest. I have had this book for months just sitting pretty on my shelf staring at me and judging me. I finally read it. Whew! I finished this wondering why I hadn’t read any book by C.L.Taylor. This book had me tense the entire time. It was fast paced with the right amount of suspense.
3. Ties that tether by Jane Igharo
This had me almost believing in happily ever after. A story of a Nigerian woman whose family moved to Canada when she was 12 years old afer the death of her father. The author did not really tell us much about her time in Nigeria but what we did get to see was her mother matchmaking her with any and every Nigerian man. As the universe would have it, she fell in love with a man who is NOT Nigerian and all hell breaks loose in her household. Jane Igharo highlights what being in an interracial relationship and balancing cultural differences is like. This was a really cute read but whew Chile! The drama!
4. Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
First of all, Chimamanda did not have to do us like this. Sis kept us waiting for so long that we all consumed this short story like the starved humans that we are. Zikora is a short story about a Nigerian woman Zikora living in D.C. She is a successful lawyer and was living her best life until she got pregnant by her Ghanaian-American man Kwame who happens to be the worst character ever. He abandons her and we see how this entire situation disrupts her life. This story explores not just a romantic relationship but also one between a mother and her daughter. I love how simple and almost effortless Chimamanda’s style of writing is. I also really liked how honest she was about childbirth. Women have become a lot more open about sharing the not-so-pleasant details of delivery and the immediate post-partum period and I’m here for it. What amazed me was how Chimamanda was able to infuse so many themes into this short story.
5. Everything good will come by Sefi Atta
This was the book of the month of October for my book club. I couldn’t have picked a better book considering all that is going on in Nigeria at the moment. I wrote a full review here.
Please always remember to stay safe. I am hopeful that this month will be best month yet for all of us.
- TOSIN
