My Year in Books | Incessant Scribble 2017

If one meme could sum up my life in 2017 it would be the Kylie Jenner one where she talks about a year of realizing stuff. I literally realized so much stuff in the year 2017. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. I moved out of my parents house permanently in January to a city five hours away so I could work full time. It has been a lot of work but I'm really grateful for every experience and every blessing that came my way in 2017.

I had always imagined that after I'm done with grad school I would have a lot of time to read all the books I've ever wanted to read. My resolution for 2017 was to review at least two books every month and at the time I felt it was a very achievable goal. However, I only reviewed nine books on this platform even though I read fourteen books in all. That's roughly one book a month so I did achieve my minimum expectations for myself which is great considering the kind of year 2017 was for me. One of the reasons my book count is low this year is because I abandoned a good number of books midway! Let me use lists to explain.

Books I READ in 2017
1) Voice of America by E. C. Osondu
2) Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
3) The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
4) The Mothers by Brit Bennett
5) Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
6) Ruby by Cynthia Bond
7) What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah
8) Eyo by Abidemi Sanusi
9) Yellow-Yellow by Kaine Agary [Didn't review]
10) The Day Ends Like Any Day by Timothy Ogene [Didn't review]
11) How to Make Lemonade by Beyonce Knowles-Carter [Didn't Review]
12) Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire (Poetry) [Didn't review]
13) Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman [Didn't review]
14) The Caine Prize for African Writing 2017 Anthology

Books I ABANDONED Midread in 2017
1) Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
2) When We Speak of Nothing by Olumide Popoola
3) Season of Crimson Blossoms by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
4) The Famished Road by Ben Okri
5) Stock Investing for Dummies by Paul Mladjenovic
5) How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu
6) Gratitude in Low Voices by Dawit Gebremichael Habte
7) Resemblance by Afolabi Opanubi
8) Unstoppable: Challenge Accepted Volume 1 by Tariku Bogale

Here are a few words on the five books I was unable to review earlier this year:

Yellow-Yellow by Kaine Agary is about a girl called Yellow-Yellow, the only child of a single mother. Her mother has dreams of her going to school and rising out of poverty and does everything in her power to make sure her daughter has an education. Does Yellow-Yellow want those same things? The last forty pages gave me anxiety. This girl who had grown up in squalor and had been handed great opportunities seemed like she was about to squander them because of fleshly desires. After I read the last page I just stared at it for a few minutes and then I shut the book and sat in silence. I like this novel. I hate, hate, hate the book cover art on my copy published by "Dtalkshop" in Lagos, Nigeria. It's so ugly! Whoever approved it for publishing should be suspended. That person and "CLAM" who's credited with "designing" the cover.

The Day Ends Like Any Day by Timothy Ogene was a good read but somehow I couldn't find the words to review it and I really, really wanted to. Ogene writes with tremendous skill and I savored his words. The novel is about a young boy who's from a poor background and never quite seems destined to lift himself from all of that. He's also harboring same sex attractions deep inside. He goes to college and meets a boy but... I was impressed with Ogene at the beginning but then the novel became foggy with big words and big thoughts. Maybe it's just me. Get yourself a copy.

How to Make Lemonade by Beyonce Knowles-Carter is a beautiful work of art that chronicles the Lemonade album in its entirety. It's a coffee table book with lots of photos interlaced with lyrics and poetry. Its foreword, written by the amazing Michael Eric Dyson, is a gift in itself, a delightful read wholly befitting for a work of this calibre and magnitude. While I waited for my copy to arrive this unboxing video by Kalen Allen had me laughing out loud. My copy is No. 2254. How to Make Lemonade is a treasure.

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire is beautiful. Beau. tiful. This is the first book of poetry that I've ever bought and it's worth it. I discovered Warsan Shire through Beyonce's monumental visual album, LEMONADE. Warsan's poetry is airy and pretty at times but also really dark and deep. I love it a lot. You should read this collection of poetry. It's really tiny collection too about the size of a pamphlet.

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman is my pick for BEST BOOK I READ IN 2017! It's so deep and humourous and sexual and well written and poetic and generous. It's a tale about a seventeen years old boy whose dad hosts graduates every summer. Elio is deeply, deeply infatuated with their newest guest, Oliver, and he spends a lot of the novel pinning for him then... You should read this.

That Ladies and Gentlemen was my year in books! I'm currently reading Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward and it's so good. So good. I'm on page 47 as at the time of this post. I want to read it greedily but I also want to take my time with it. I just discovered last night that it was one of Barack Obama's Best Books of 2017! Obama and I have similar tastes in books LOL :P

New Year Resolutions for 2018
1) Return back to reading diversely - For quite a while I've been focused on blogging about books by African authors and then I expanded to African-American authors. Henceforth I'm going to go back to reading the way I read before all of this extra stuff. I'll read everything and anything I find interesting :)

2) I'll drop a book if I don't find it interesting - I'm done struggling through bad prose just so I can say I've read a certain author or to increase my count of the number of African countries I've read from or to increase my book review count in general. If I buy a book and I start reading it and it's difficult to get through I'll drop it like it's hot and move on to the next book on my shelf. There are way too many novels out there to waste time on one. It makes me sad to imagine all the books I'll never ever read.

Have a WONDER-FULL, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! May 2018 be everything you hope it will be! 

Eyo by Abidemi Sanusi | Book Review

Eyo's a young girl who lives with her parents and two siblings in Ajegunle, Lagos. Early every
morning she and her little brother head out to hawk ice-water in Lagos traffic to supplement their family's income. They battle heat, street bullies, purse snatchers, lecherous perverts and head home at the end of the day where she, barely ten years old, fights off sexual advances from men many times her age. It's a daily cycle with no end in sight. Her lazy, abusive father pleads with one of his "friends" to take Eyo to the U.K. in the hope of a better life for Eyo and by extension the rest of the family. Eyo gets smuggled into the United Kingdom but life there is nothing like what she or her family expect.

EYO is a novel about child abuse and the horrors of child trafficking. The details of physical and sexual abuse that Eyo suffers were so, so disturbing. I wondered how anyone let these ideas into their head not to talk of sorting them out and working through endless drafts of it. Abidemi Sanusi is a former human rights worker per the novel's back cover page so she probably dealt with cases such as this. Anyway, the subject material and its ugliness caused me to put this book down a lot. It's one of the reasons why this review, originally slated for the month of May, is coming out so late. Even as early as page 26 I wondered if I should ditch the book. It wasn't something I wanted to deal with at the time. It is a good tale though and I like what Abidemi does with the story especially as it progresses to the end. Abidemi sheds light on the darkness of child trafficking but she's also very blunt about the realities of the life in which we live and that is especially manifest in the series of events leading to the end of the novel. It's an ending that, with Abidemi's superb skill and discernment, elevates this novel to a level that would be unachievable in the hands of a less gifted author. Kudos to Abidemi.  

What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah | Book Review

What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky is a collection of twelve exceptional short stories by new author, Lesley Nneka Arimah. It begins with
The Future Looks Good, a tale spanning three generations of women, then continues with War Stories, Wild, Light, Second Chances, Windfalls, Who Will Greet You at Home, Buchi's Girls, What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky, Glory, What Is a Volcano? and ends with Redemption, a tale about a young girl who's enamored with the new housemaid next door and unable to put into words the new feelings this arrival stirs in her. I loved every story in this impressive debut collection. Every. Single. Story.

The first time I read anything by Lesley was last year when I reviewed the Caine Prize for African Writing 2016 Anthology in which What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky was shortlisted for the prestigious prize. In spite of that I still felt like I was coming to this collection without a good sense of Lesley and the directions she would/could go literarily. The Future Looks Good is a great opener. It's heartwarming from the beginning but in the last sentence Lesley thrusts a knife into my chest. I had to pause like...ohh gawd... Why would you string us along like that? Like everything would be alright? I was shocked, "hurt", impressed, and nervously excited about the rest of the collection. Again and again Lesley showed that she wasn't one for happy endings and I love that in any author that I read. Her tales cover love, heartbreak, grief, guilt, homosexuality etcetera. Windfalls was goood. Who Will Greet You at Home seems like the sort of tale you'd expect from Stephen King. I couldn't finish it in one sitting lol. My anxiety rose with each page I flipped especially because I had become aware of what Lesley could do. I love Who Will Greet You at Home a lot. Love it. Somehow What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky felt like a brand new tale and that ending... No... (insert sad emoji). What Is a Volcano is brilliant, well written and so absorbing. I love it. I don't know if it's drawn from an actual folklore told by any of the various community of peoples Lesley's multicultural background has exposed her to but I really like it. Lesley's tales are unforgettable. Thank you Lesley. Thank you. You should read this. 

Book Release!!! | "Resemblance" by Afolabi Opanubi

Resemblance is a new novel authored by Nigeria's Afolabi Opanubi. Bloggers will recognize him as the man behind the captivating blog site, Through My Eyes. It was his platform and a space where he shared short stories and think pieces one of which is The Tufiakwa Syndrome, one of my favorite pieces written by him. Afolabi disappeared for a while from the blogsphere and now he has reappeared bearing his debut effort, Resemblance. We don't often see bloggers successfully pursue their literary dreams and that's one of the many reasons I'm excited about Resemblance. Other Nigerian bloggers who've walked this path before include Onyeka Nwelue and Myne Whitman. Onyeka Nwelue ran a now defunct blog and then went on to pen his debut novel The Abyssinian Boy and the rest, as they say, is history. Myne Whitman ran multiple blogs and websites and went ahead to pen A Heart to Mend and A Love Rekindled and has been linked to many exciting projects. I'm rooting so hard for Afolabi Opanubi and his new novel. Here's a synopsis:

"Bose, an art and fashion photographer living in Toronto, discovers on meeting her estranged father, that he has become a man with no past. After years of keeping her distance from him, Bose decides to reconcile with her father. But when she meets with him, she quickly learns that he has mysteriously lost his memories of not only her, but of his family and himself. Shaken, Bose tries to find a solution to her father's ailment. She suspects that he suffers from a form of dementia. She will later discover that to help him regain his memories and lost self, she will have to contend with her own past. Resemblance follows Bose as she traces her family's journey from their home country, Nigeria, to Canada, and confronts the tensions which tore them apart. Reasons behind her family's troubles and their experience of racism are laid bare." 

Here's a brief introduction to the author:

Afolabi Opanubi

Afolabi Opanubi was born in Lagos, but grew up in Port Harcourt. He left for university in Canada when he was sixteen; he studied and worked there for over six years. He writes both fiction and non-fiction. His writing has appeared in The Drum Literary Magazine, 34th Parallel, Brittle Paper and Africa is a Country. He has participated in literary workshops such as: Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop, and The Toronto Writers' Cooperative. He currently lives in Lagos. 

Resemblance is 424 pages long (based on my e-book page count), I'm currently at page 141 and I'm impressed by Afolabi's storytelling ability. BUY your own copy of Resemblance via: 

- Okada Books 

- Glendora Book Store at Ikeja City Mall

- Konga

- Indigo Books & Music Inc 

Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo | Book Review

In Chibundu Onuzo's Welcome to Lagos two soldiers Chike and Yemi flee their army base because they can no longer continue with the atrocities being committed by their platoon. They desert their base on foot and under the cover of darkness with no definite plans on where they're fleeing to. Along the way they pick up a bunch of characters all of whom are fleeing something in their lives. The group heads to Lagos in the hope that they can begin life afresh. Their first night in Lagos is spent in a hotel and then financial constraints force them to make a home under a busy Lagos bridge. The menial jobs they pick up help cover their expenses but the question of how long they can continue to live this way hangs over them. Their lives change forever when they come into contact with Chief Sandayo, the former Minister of Education, who's currently on the run.

Welcome to Lagos is the first novel to be released in 2017 out of the many highly anticipated books slated for release this year. There were a lot of times during my reading, especially in the beginning quarter, that I wanted to put this book down and move to another because I was bored by the storylines. By the time I was halfway done with it I knew it wasn't one that I'd recommend. Welcome to Lagos had its moments though. I was intrigued by some plot twists and I followed through to see where it was all headed but those moments don't make up for everything else. I do have to say that I was saddened by the novel's ending. I finished it and sat there in the kitchen thinking about it all. That ending was a product of all their choices especially those made by the group leader Chike. Welcome to Lagos is one of those novels you appreciate in the end.

READ: 
The Spider King's Daughter by Chibundu Onuzo | Book Review

[Image via Amazon]

Voice of America by E.C. Osondu | Book Review

Voice of America is a collection of eighteen short stories. It begins with Waiting and ends with the titular story, Voice of America. Some of the characters live in Nigeria and fantasize about the American life while swapping and parroting myths about Americans. Other times the characters are immigrants living in America and grappling with the realities of the American way of life. Of the eighteen short stories I only like seven - Waiting (I love, love, love this one. There's a reason it won the 2009 Caine Prize for African Writing), Bar Beach (love this), Our First American (love this one), Jimmy Carter's Eyes (I love this one a lot. It was a finalist for the 2007 Caine Prize for African Writing), A Letter from Home (love this), The Men They Married, and I Will Lend You My Wife. I had a mixed reaction to some of the remaining nine stories and disliked a couple of them.

Voice of America is E.C. Osondu's debut collection of short stories. It was published in 2010 and I've seen it referenced and recommended so many times over the last few years. Because it's so well regarded I expected to like it or at least a good chunk of it but things didn't turn out that way. I loved the first few stories but as I got further in my reading I encountered more and more stories I did not care for. Welcome to America was where my reading completely stalled for the first time. Every other entertainment choice in my house was more appealing than returning to that story but I finally got through it.

The first E.C. Osondu book I read was his second collection of short stories This House Is Not For Sale when it was published last year. I love that book a lot. Voice of America bears some similarities with This House Is Not For Sale except that the country of obsession by its characters is America instead of Britain. Voice of America is very enjoyable at the good points and E.C. Osondu's humor cracked me up just as it always does. I honestly would have liked to walk away loving the majority of stories in this highly regarded collection by Osondu. Honestly. If This House Is Not For Sale is an 8 out of 10 then Voice of America is a 5 out of 10.

READ:
This House Is Not For Sale by E.C. Osondu | Book Review

[Image via Amazon]

Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John | Book Review

Dantala's a Muslim boy living in northern Nigeria. His dad is dead, his mother is a shell of her former self due to a family tragedy, and his siblings are scattered. At the beginning of the story he lives with a band of stray, unruly boys who survive the streets by letting themselves be used by political parties to carry out election mischief. He gets redeemed by a Sheikh and is able to live a different sort of life. It's a new chapter in his life and an important part of his growth into a man. A chance happening leads to a sexual awakening but not the kind of awakening a devout Muslim can afford to entertain. These feelings arouse, sober and repulse him. Will he suppress his feelings or seek outlets for exploration? While he deals with that deals with his inner turmoil there are important, life-threatening issues needing attention. His father figure, the Sheikh, and Mallam Abdul-Nur are the heads of two factions who are continuously in discord about what Islam should mean, especially in the wake of international terrorist attacks, and what is the best path going forward both for their community and Islam in general. Tensions rise, things escalate, and people fall left and right.

I haven't read a lot of novels set in northern Nigeria and featuring Muslim protagonists. It makes this book especially more important in the overall quest for more diverse voices from Nigeria and the African continent. While reading Born on a Tuesday and after I was done with it I kept thinking that the novel would mean a little more and I would feel a little more if I could really understand the context of the life portrayed and the gravity of its weighty issues. I'm not saying only northerners or those with a Muslim background would understand Born on a Tuesday. I'm saying I'd probably be a little more heartbroken at the end if I had been able to connect to all of this a little more. I first read Elnathan John in the The Caine Prize for African Writing 2015 Anthology titled Lusaka Punk and Other Stories. I liked his short story Flying. Born on a Tuesday is a good read.

READ:
The Caine Prize for African Writing 2015 Anthology | Book Review

[Image via Amazon]

Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun by Sarah Ladipo Manyika | Book Review

Morayo is an elderly woman living in San Francisco, California. She lives alone with her multitude of books in a prized apartment with a choice view of the city. She has never had children and she has no family member geographically close enough to be there for her when she needs it. She used to be a Professor of English and she also used to be married to an ambassador. Using flashbacks and the narration of other characters in Morayo's life, Manyika gives us a great perspective of the life Morayo now lives. Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun is a portrait of a woman who's living out the last years of her life the best way she can.

I honestly couldn't wait to be done with this novel. Honestly. The knowledge that it had just 118 pages kept me going because I knew I could do it if I just kept at it. I like Sarah Ladipo Manyika. I enjoyed and reviewed her first novel In Dependence and I even interviewed her for this blog in the post 12 Questions for Sarah Ladipo Manyika back in 2009. Morayo's story is boring. It has no spark. I understand that it's a story about an elderly woman but I wanted it to be much more than this. It's all good though. I'll still be in line for Manyika's next novel.

[Image via Amazon]

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi | Book Review

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is a collection of nine short stories, four of which have been published previously in various journals. It begins with Books and Roses then continues with Sorry Doesn't Sweeten her Tea, Is Your Blood as Red as This?, Drownings, Presence, A Brief History of the Homely Wench Society, Darnicka and the St. Martin's Day Goose, Freddy Barrandov Checks...in?, and ends with If a Book is Locked There's Probably a Good Reason for That Don't You Think? Of the lot I liked the second, seventh, and ninth stories with the ninth one being my favorite.

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is the fourth Oyeyemi title I've read out of the six she has published so far (I'm not counting the book of plays) and I still have the same problems that I always have when I read an Oyeyemi novel. I have a problem connecting with her stories... It's not because her main characters are sometimes caucasian as opposed to being Nigerian or having an African ancestry. I grew up devouring stories about caucasian characters in novels written by caucasian authors just like every other Nigerian in my generation so I can connect to anyone regardless of race, that's not a problem. Oyeyemi has a penchant for penning mystical stories or stories with fairytale-y roots and while that's not my thing in this phase of my life, I still expect to enjoy these stories or at least appreciate them but most of the time I do not. What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours was a struggle to read and I was glad when I was away from the book even though I was on a tight reading schedule in the first quarter of 2016. When I finally finished it, I still got the "I finished this story but I don't know exactly what I read" feeling that comes often when I read an Oyeyemi title.

January 30th, 2004 edition of The Guardian

I purchased White Is for Witching via Amazon in April 2013 and I still can't get past the first few pages. I've thumbed through White Is for Witching many times over the past three years just to see if it gets better somewhere (usually that encourages me to give the book another shot) but that hasn't worked. Every now and then I search for Mr. Fox on Amazon and preview it using Amazon's "Look Inside" feature but I can tell it's not good for me so I never buy it. I don't know... Maybe Oyeyemi's books are not for me. I don't want to keep battling through her novels only to arrive at the other end to write a review saying how much I don't like it. That's a waste of my time and yours. Especially here in America where there are millions of novels, sitting in gorgeous, air-conditioned buildings that are too nice to house only books, begging to be read. I have decided that I'm going step back for a while and when I'm ready I'll be much more thorough before I select and purchase another another Oyeyemi book. Someone somewhere is going to call me a hater but I'm not a hater. I really want to connect to Oyeyemi's stories. There are only three Nigerian authors whose interviews/features I have cut out of newspapers and Oyeyemi is one of them. I even brought the 2004 newspaper clipping with me when I moved to America in 2009. Above is a photo of my newspaper clipping along with my copy of this novel. It's from the January 30th, 2004 edition of Nigeria's The Guardian. I clearly did a lot of highlighting lol. I have posted this photo to show I'm not some hater. This review is just me trying to be honest about an author I care about and someone whose career I have followed for quite some time.

Helen Oyeyemi is amazing. It's something I've always admitted. It's something that's unquestionable. Half the time when I read her books I'm wondering how she makes all of this stuff up. She's impressive. I'll wait. I'll try to not just buy another novel because it's an Oyeyemi book. The future will bring me an Oyeyemi offering that will excite me just as much or even more than The Icarus Girl did in 2008. I know it will.
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READ: 
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi - My Thoughts 
The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi - My Thoughts
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi - My Thoughts

[Image via Amazon]

Efuru by Flora Nwapa | Book Review

Efuru is a beautiful young woman who elopes with the young man she loves. Her elopement is a source of embarrassment for her father and the rest of her family especially in a traditional society that prides itself on propriety. Everyone can see that her husband is lazy and underserving of her except Efuru. Eventually after a lot of hard work they are able to put together enough money to settle all the marriage rites required of them traditionally. Soon there are rumors that Efuru is barren because even after the passing of a year she still hasn't shown any signs of pregnancy. Efuru visits a dibia (native doctor) and even considers letting her husband marry another woman who can bear him kids. Eventually she gives birth to a girl and her worries disappear. It's not too long before Adizua abandons Efuru and his child to run off with another wealthy woman. For a while Efuru plays the faithful, long suffering, jilted wife and then she gets up and leaves the marriage. The ending of that marriage isn't the end of Efuru's woes but she remains the same all through - fearless, hardworking, always ready to get up and leave a bad situation - and that's why she survives all that life sends her way.

Efuru was published in 1966 so it turns 50 years old this year! It was really refreshing to read Efuru because I've been reading tons of African stories with globetrotting characters for the last few years. Efuru takes you back to your Igbo roots. It takes you back in time to the village with all of its superstitions, antiquated practices (female circumcision), local remedies (for seizures, fevers etc), Igbo proverbs, the delicious gossiping and shade throwing, everything. It also brought back memories of all the other authors published by the African Writers Series that I read when I was younger. I had always wanted to read Efuru but I never got around to picking it up. I was finally motivated when I heard that Onyeka Nwelue is researching, filming and producing a documentary on Flora Nwapa. She's touted as Africa's first female novelist! No documentary or movie has been made about her to my knowledge until now. Please, please, please GO TO Onyeka Nwelue's GoFundMe page and DONATE anything you can to support this very important work. His deadline to raise the money needed to finish up this project is the end of this month (9 days!). It's not enough to sit back and applaud Onyeka Nwelue's efforts. Let us all chip in to support this great project!
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READ:
The Abyssinian Boy by Onyeka Nwelue - My Thoughts
The Onyeka Nwelue Effect 
305 Marguerite Cartwright Avenue, University of Nigeria Nsukka
10 Questions for Onyeka Nwelue

[Image via Wikipedia]

Helen Oyeyemi Will Read in Houston, Texas!

Helen Oyeyemi will be in Houston, Texas on March 28th! She's one of the two authors featured this month in The Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, one of the best and most popular author series in the U.S.A. The other featured author is Mat Johnson, author of the novel Loving Day. Oyeyemi's new book What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours was released in America yesterday by Riverhead Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House) and my copy arrived yesterday thanks to Amazon's amazing & very reliable "release-date delivery" service. I will post my review of What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours as soon as I'm done reading it.

If you would like to see Helen Oyeyemi read from What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours you can purchase your tickets from Inprint Houston. Visit Inprint Houston's website and Facebook page for more information about this event.

READ:
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi - My Thoughts
The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi - My Thoughts
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi - My Thoughts

[Author image via Green Apple Books]

And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile | Book Review

Paul tells his younger brother that he's off to his friend's house then he buckles his sandals, picks up his backpack and heads out the door. When Paul doesn't return that evening, his family isn't alarmed. Paul's the exemplary child. He's the smart, dutiful firstborn who has never given them cause for worry so there had to be a good explanation for his failure to return home. His father suggests that Paul might have decided to spend the night where he was instead of risking a nighttime trip on Port Harcourt's roads.  "We will see him in the morning" his father says confidently to the family before sending Ajie and Bibi, Paul's anxious siblings, off to bed. He and his wife remain in the living room, awaiting the return of their son. Paul doesn't come back home the next day or the day after. In the days following his disappearance radio and TV announcements are made and missing person flyers are distributed. Where is Paul Utu?

Jowhor Ile's debut novel And After Many Days was released on February 16th by Crown Publishing, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House. I liked And After Many Days a lot especially in the beginning. Jowhor's prose has a beauty and clarity that is enviable. The tale begins with Paul's disappearance and then it travels back and forth between the past and the present in its narration of the events leading up to that fateful day. The answer to Paul Utu's disappearance finally arrives in the last twenty pages and it's disappointing. Couple that with the flat, undramatic wrap up of this tale and I ended up feeling like I had invested my time in a novel that hadn't rewarded me generously in return. Regardless of my feelings there's no denying that Jowhor Ile's a very gifted storyteller and I'll be waiting in line with everyone else to buy his next book.

[Image via Random House]

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin | Book Review

Bolanle is Baba Segi's newest wife and her arrival threatens to destabilize his household in all the
ways you'd expect but there's more. Bolanle is an even bigger threat because Baba Segi's three other wives are guarding a secret so scandalous, it's in their best interest to get rid of Bolanle. Iya Segi, Baba's first wife who's also the one with the most to lose if everything crumbles, takes it upon herself to make Bolanle leave using every trick she can think of. When nothing seems to be working she decides to go for the kill...

We meet Baba's wives, see their individual reactions to the brand new, college educated wife whom their husband is smitten with, and then Shoneyin delves beneath their outward appearances to show us what lies beneath. Every wife has her own remarkable life story and our knowledge of their private struggles and the journey to this point in time affects how we react to them. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives is a delightful page-turner. You should read it.

[Image via Amazon]

Bitter Leaf by Chioma Okereke | Book Review

Bitter Leaf is set in Mannobe a small regressive village located somewhere in Africa. We meet Jericho as she returns to Mannobe under the cover of darkness. She has lived in the city for a long time and is finally pulled back home to Mannobe by the guilt induced by her mother's letter. Babylon is a gifted musician and local sex object who's more interested in bedding numerous village women than furthering his career. He's smitten by Jericho but her heart belongs to her boyfriend back in the city. While Babylon courts Jericho's affection, Magdalene, a dutiful village girl who has never felt anything close to the consuming love she has for Babylon, tries desperately to keep his attention. This is an engaging tale of love, pain and lust with lots of interesting characters.

The book title paired with the author's Igbo name made me expect a Nigerian tale but Bitter Leaf isn't Nigerian. It comes across as a story set in some other African country when you take in the way the characters talk and the snippets of a local language I can't identify. I found Okereke's descriptions of lust and the convoluted feelings of sexual attraction humorous and very enjoyable. I'm impressed by her narrative style and attention to detail in the 409 pages of this novel. I assume I'm late to the party considering that this novel was published in 2010 but the more I read Bitter Leaf, the more I wondered why I haven't seen Chioma Okereke's name floated around more often on the various lists of contemporary Nigerian authors. We need to applaud the verve and skill that Chioma Okereke greatly displays in this beautiful debut. Kudos to Chioma Okereke.

[Image via Amazon]

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta | Book Review

Ijeoma is a young Nigerian girl, an only child, who lives with her parents in Southern Nigeria. We are introduced to her family in the time period of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war. Everything around them is crumbling down and it's not long before Ijeoma's dad dies from an air strike. Ijeoma's mom sends her off to live with her father's close friend because living conditions in Ojoto are getting worse even though Ijeoma would prefer to follow her to Aba. When they both reunite one and a half years later it's because Ijeoma has been caught doing something "abominable" with another girl, Amina. Her mother decides to nip this in the bud by conducting protracted daily Bible studies with Ijeoma, painstakingly covering the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelations, and coupling that with loud, fervent prayers, beseeching God, begging Him to banish all abominable desires from her daughter. That was many years ago. An older Ijeoma looks back on her life as she narrates this tale, taking time to describe surroundings, seasons and dreams as she lays the groundwork for this very important story.

Okparanta explores and questions the complexities of the Bible's teachings in a way that Christians are often taught not to. Her selected scriptures, especially those from the Bible book of Lot, are fitting, poignant, and thought provoking. In the telling of this tale Okparanta grabs the bull by the horns and forces you to confront this controversial issue in the hopes that you (especially her countrymen) reexamine your thoughts on the subject matter. Under the Udala Trees is shamelessly honest, a moving tale of forbidden love by the amazingly gifted and incredibly courageous Chinelo Okparanta. This is a tale well told, a job very well done. You should read this.
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READ: 
Happiness, Like Water by Chinelo Okparanta - My Thoughts

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Happiness, Like Water by Chinelo Okparanta | Book Review

Happiness, Like Water is a collection of ten compelling short stories. It begins with Chinwe and Eze in the story On Ohaeto Street. Chinwe is quiet and dutiful woman who becomes a Jehovah's Witness in order to marry Eze, a prosperous and materialistic Jehovah's Witness whom she first meets when he arrives at her mother's doorstep to preach the good news of God's Kingdom. After marriage and with the passage of time, Chinwe's disquiet grows and she questions her choices and weighs her options. The collection continues with Wahala, Fairness, Story, Story!, Runs Girl, America, Shelter, Grace, Designs, and finally Tumors and Butterflies. These are stories about relationships, domestic abuse, colorism, immigration and girls who love girls, narrated by female protagonists for the most part. Each tale sits comfortably on its own, weighty and deep, ready to be lengthened if Okparanta chooses.

When I found out Chinelo Okparanta had been raised a Jehovah's Witness I hoped that she would explore that religious background deeply in one of the stories but she didn't and that's fine. The stories America and Grace are bold in their exploration of Nigerian protagonists attracted to members of the same sex but still somewhat tame in its handling of the accompanying issues. I don't think any Nigerian author has written this openly about same sex relationships since Jude Dibia broke the ice with his debut novel, Walking With Shadows, and followed up in his third novel, Blackbird. Happiness, Like Water is a well written short story collection that can't be ignored in any line-up. Chinelo Okparanta is a bold new voice and an excellent addition to the literary throng of voices from Nigeria. Her full length novel Under the Udala Trees will be released in two weeks on September 22nd, 2015.
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READ:
11 Questions for Jude Dibia

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Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett | Book Review

Furo Wariboko is a Nigerian man who wakes up Caucasian. In this situation where I would have screamed loudly yelled loudly in shock, Furo worries about how to leave his house for a job interview undetected by his family members. And so I wondered if he had a mental illness. Maybe this change from a black man to a white man is all in his head. How can anyone wake up as a person of a different race and still be concerned with making it to a job interview? I waited for him to interact with other humans so that I could gauge his mental health. Furo isn't mentally ill as far as I know. He did wake up Caucasian and after he successfully leaves his parents house undetected he never returns. Blackass is about him dealing with his transformation and taking advantage of all the opportunities that are now open to him as a white Nigerian. Even though Furo's white on the outside he's still Nigerian in all the ways that count. His feelings of inadequacy are borne from a life of academic underachievement juxtaposed with his sister's academic prowess and her constant ability to impress. He shoulders the burden and expectations that come with being a first son and he's desperate to succeed, desperate to show he won't be that man who can't provide for his family. He won't be his father.

Blackass is one of the best literary offerings from Nigeria in 2015. It shines brightly next to Chigozie Obioma's Man Booker long-listed debut, The Fishermen and E.C. Osondu's full-length novel, This House is Not For Sale. Blackass is richly layered, it's fresh and it's engaging. I flipped the pages greedily as I neared the end wondering if Igoni would give this a happy ending. He does right by leaving us where he does at the end of this tale. It's an ending that raises many questions. A. Igoni Barrett delivers everything you expect and more. If your reading list doesn't already have Blackass on it you need to pencil it in. Blackass is one of 2015's must-reads.
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READ:
Love is Power or Something Like That by A. Igoni Barrett - My Thoughts
13 Questions for A. Igoni Barrett

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Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi | Book Review

Boy Novak is a caucasian girl living with her abusive father in Manhattan, New York. She finds the courage to run away from home then she starts life afresh in Flax Hill, New England. There she meets Arturo Whitman, a widower and an unlikely love interest at first, marries him and becomes stepmother to his gorgeous little daughter, Snow. Snow's blonde haired, hazel eyed, and gorgeous. An "extraordinary-looking kid" who's the pride of the Whitman and Miller families. The Whitmans and the Millers are concealing a secret that is revealed later on when Boy gives birth to her daughter, Bird.

When I found out on the first page of the novel that the protagonist, Boy, is caucasian I raised my eyebrows and wondered what direction Oyeyemi would take this. I've read novels by authors who write as the opposite gender in first person but I hadn't read a novel in which the author was writing in first person as a different race and I was curious as to how she was going to accomplish this. Oyeyemi's story does not mention or evoke Nigeria in any way and that's fine by me. In the Guardian article Stop Pigeonholing African Writers which made its rounds on the internet last month, Taiye Selasi talks about the need for our authors to have the freedom to do whatever they please artistically. It's a great piece and I agree with her completely. I like Boy, Snow, Bird much more than The Opposite House (the last Oyeyemi book I read) but I don't think it's more intriguing than The Icarus Girl. Boy, Snow Bird is remarkable. Helen Oyeyemi's imagination and talent know no bounds.
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READ:
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi - My Thoughts
The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi - My Thoughts

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This House Is Not for Sale by E.C. Osondu | Book Review

There's a house called "Family House" in E.C. Osondu's 2015 novel This House Is Not For Sale and it's at the center of everything that happens in the city. It's a large, wealthy household run by "Grandpa" and its members are not all related by blood or marriage. Some members of the Family House are runaways, abandoned children, and at least one's a murderer. Each chapter in this novel covers one of the many characters inhabiting the Family House and each character commands attention from start to finish. Grandpa is generous with his wealth and so the Family House is a source of assistance to the community but also a ready source of entertainment and the subject of much gossip. The Family House is a spectacle and with every occurrence the city's inhabitants are always there to dish truly delicious commentary.

This House Is Not For Sale is my first book by E.C. Osondu who won the 2009 Caine Prize for African Writing for his 2009 short story, Waiting, and also authored the short story collection, Voice of America. It's an interesting medley of great characters, myths, social commentary and all things Nigerian. The gossip and murmuring of the city's inhabitants, always preceded by a hyphen right after an occurrence in the novel, are some of the best parts of This House Is Not For Sale. It's a really good read.
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The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma | Book Review

The Fishermen focuses on the lives of four brothers - Ikenna, Boja, Obembe, and Benjamin - but it's also about the disintegration of a family of eight in Akure, a town in western Nigeria. Benjamin, the youngest of the four brothers, narrates their story as he looks back on their life together. The Fishermen begins with the family's reception of the news that Benjamin's dad had gotten transferred to Yola to work, and he was going to leave his family behind in Akure. While he's gone, Benjamin's mom finds it really hard to rein in four adolescent, headstrong boys, and thus begins the crumbling of their family unit. It starts slow at first and then it all goes south shockingly quick.

In The Fishermen, Chigozie weaves in events from Nigeria's history into this story, pegging his tale into a period of time we can all recognize. I liked the nostalgic references to Chinua Achebe, M.K.O. Abiola, Amokachi, and the lyrics from Onyeka Onwenu's famous "Iyogogo" song, among other things. I got a little frustrated early on and every now and then because The Fishermen felt clogged with detailed descriptions about things, areas, paths, locations... Details I honestly did not care about. Were they essential to the story? Probably. Probably not. It's not so bad but it's enough to warrant mentioning. About 60 pages from the end is when I finally begin to really, really feel something. A mounting dread that the worst wasn't over yet and that things were really about to fall apart for good. After I was done reading The Fishermen I realized that I had grossly underestimated this book and Chigozie's skill even though I had been rooting for his debut to be triumphant long before this book came to me in the mail. Chigozie's a good storyteller and without doubt someone we all need to watch in the future.
[Image via The Millions]