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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"Cult" - Inkitt's Writing Contest

Inkitt's "Cult" Writing Contest ENDS in 30 Days! 

Inkitt is a free platform that aims to help writers achieve their fullest potential. For their "Cult" writing contest they would like you to submit your best mystery and thriller stories! "Have us biting our nails over stories full of adrenaline and espionage. Keep us on the edge of our seats with your best mystery and thriller stories. We want you to leave us breathless with your tales of unmatched suspense."

Contest Guidelines

Authors will retain all rights to any and all works submitted in the contests. Original stories of any length are accepted. All entries to the contest must be posted on the Inkitt contest page to be considered eligible. The contest opens on August 17th and closes on September 17th. The "Cult" contest is completely FREE to enter! The top 10% based on reader votes will get the chance to be picked by the Inkitt staff for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. 

All entrants will have the chance to show their work to a rapidly growing community of authors and readers hungry for high-quality fiction. SUBMIT your stories today for the Mystery/Thriller writing contest! 

[Images and post content via Inkitt]

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

[Image via Amazon]

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

[Image via Amazon]

Beyond Time - Inkitt's Writing Contest

Inkitt's "Beyond Time" Writing Contest Ends in 13 Days!

Submit your most imaginative and fantastic Science Fiction stories to Inkitt on or before July 27th! Take your readers on a journey; ride a spaceship, explore an extraterrestrial universe, travel through time - the possibilities are endless and the universe is yours. Be spellbinding, be world altering, and let your imagination run free. 

Contest Guidelines

Authors will retain all rights to any and all works submitted in the contest. Original stories of any lenght are accepted but entries must be posted on the Inkitt contest page to be considered eligible. The top 10% based on reader votes get the chance to be picked by the Inkitt staff for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize. All entrants will have the chance to show their work to a rapidly growing community of authors and readers hungry for high-quality fiction. 

Submit your stories HERE

[Image and post provided by Inkitt]

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.
[Image via Amazon]

Fated Paradox - Inkitt's June Writing Contest

Inkitt's Writing Contest for June 2015 Has Begun!

Inkitt's theme for their latest writing contest is "Fated Paradox: Tales of Gripping Suspense" and they want you to keep them on the edge of their seats with your best mystery and thriller stories. Submit accounts of murders and red herrings, or have them biting their nails over stories full of adrenaline and espionage. Leave them breathless with your tales of unmatched suspense! 

Submission Details:

Inkitt will accept original fiction stories of any length. ALL entries must be posted to the Inkitt contest page to be considered eligible. The contest began on June 4th and closes on July 4th! This contest is completely FREE TO ENTER, and authors will retain all rights to any and all works submitted in the contest. The top 10% based on reader votes will get the chance to be picked by the Inkitt staff for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize. 

Prizes: 

1st Prize: $50 cash, 5 printed copies of the winning story with custom typography (created by Inkitt's designer). 

2nd Prize: $40 cash

3rd Prize: $20 cash

ALL entrants will get the chance to show their work to a rapidly growing community of authors and readers hungry for high-quality fiction. 

Contest URL: www.inkitt.com/fatedparadox

Twitter Handle: @Inkitt

Hashtag: #FatedParadox

[Image and post content provided by Inkitt]

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]

Epic Worlds - Inkitt's May Writing Contest

Inkitt's Writing Contest for May 2015 Has Begun!

Inkitt's newest writing contest is titled "Epic Worlds: A New Adventure" and they want you to submit your best fantasy stories. Submit your ancient tales about dragons and griffins, or tell your vision of the future through a science fantasy story. Unleash your imagination and write that truly unforgettable fantasy adventure. Write an adventure that Bilbo Baggins would envy, one that enchants, and excites, astounds and has everyone on the edge of their seats. 

Submission Details:

The contest began on May 6th and will close on June 3rd. The contest is free to enter and you can submit any fantasy story of up to 15,000 words. As always, authors who turn in entries will retain all rights to their work. 

How to Win: 

Collect the most community votes to get bumped into the top 10% of entries, from there the Inkitt staff will choose the Top 3!

Prizes:

1st place: $100 Cash and 5 printed-and-bound copies of story with cover created by Inkitt's designer

2nd place: $50 Cash

3rd place: $30 Cash

Get in on the adventure! ENTER the competition now and prepare to enter a world of fantastic fantasy where anything is possible! 

[Image and post content provided by Inkitt]

A Bit of Difference by Sefi Atta | Book Review

Deola Bello seems to be doing okay when we meet her. She's the Director of Internal Audits at the London office of LINK, an international charity foundation that monitors other charities and ensures that they use charity donations in the right way. At thirty-nine years old she's single and under a lot of pressure to get married. In true Nigerian fashion, her personal accomplishments are overlooked because she's unmarried. Deola travels to Nigeria on a business trip for LINK and there she meets Wale Adeniran, an attractive, equally accomplished widower. Meeting him causes her to reevaluate her life and her choices.

A Bit of Difference sat unread for the longest time because I just couldn't get past the first couple of pages every time I tried. Once I got past that I finished the book within a day. It's a really good read. There's still that love of Lagos and Sefi's picturesque descriptions that we've seen in her other novels. A Bit of Difference is not the most exciting book I've read but I really like this novel.
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READ:
Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta - My Thoughts
Swallow by Sefi Atta - My Thoughts
[Image via Amazon]