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]

Thirteen Cents by K. Sello Duiker | Book Review

Azure's parents were murdered about three years ago in Cape Town, South Africa. He's twelve years old, almost thirteen, when we meet him in Thirteen Cents, hustling with other street urchins, doing anything to survive each day. Cape Town has a market for sex with underaged boys so Azure sells sex to the white men who pick him up from the dark streets. Selling his body fetches a paltry sum that he uses to eat, cloth himself, pay for protection on the streets, and any leftovers get put away in savings. It's a rough life out there on Cape Town's dangerous streets. It's crazy.

Thirteen Cents is unsettling and very compelling. It's just the right size at 190 pages and I kept wishing I could read it in one sitting without interruptions. The story contains bits of foreign language without any English translations. It didn't affect my reading and I appreciated the absence of translations. Thirteen Cents is bold, dark, and violent. Kudos to the late K. Sello Duiker.

[Image via Amazon]

Tomorrow I'll Be Twenty by Alain Mabanckou | Book Review

Michel's a precocious young boy who lives with his parents in Pointe-Noire, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country located in sub-Saharan Africa. Tomorrow I'll Be Twenty is told from Michel's perspective and he provides great insight into their lives. He watches his surroundings intently, internalizing everything and using his vivid imagination to fill any gaps. His opinions on everything - mosquitos, world dictators, capitalism, inebriation, and materialism - are hilarious and adorable. While he spends most of his time doing what kids do his parents try to find answers to why they can't have any more kids.

Tomorrow I'll Be Twenty was great from the very beginning and I loved it until I became frustrated with the excessive political talk. Most of Michel's knowledge about politics comes from his stepfather and it's a good read until it turns into a dull lecture on local and international politics. The bulk of the political talk was unnecessary and it should have been chopped out of the novel. Even though that soured my reading experience I still love this novel. It's very entertaining. You should read it.

[Image via Amazon]

The Caine Prize for African Writing 2015 Anthology | Book Review

The Caine Prize for African Writing 2015 anthology is titled Lusaka Punk and Other Stories. It contains seventeen short stories. Five of the stories were shortlisted for the 2015 Caine Prize while the remaining twelve were authored by participants of the 2015 Caine Prize African Writers' Workshop. I'll begin with the shortlisted stories.

Shortlisted Stories 2015
Nigeria's Segun Afolabi opens this collection with his short story The Folded Leaf. It's about a group of physically challenged Nigerians who travel by bus to receive miracles at the spiritual retreat of famous evangelist, Pastor Fayemi. They head out with hearts full of hope and pockets full of donations raised by an entire church over a period spanning several months. They're the poor ones who scrape up money out of the little they have because the pastors have stressed the importance of giving monetary donations in direct proportion to the amount blessings you want to receive. When it's all over the group heads back home in silence. It's no surprise there's such a distrust of religion worldwide. We need to do something about these globetrotting monsters who swindle gullible devotees of millions in exchange for "blessings" and then use those donations to buy private jets and mansions in different countries. Segun Afolabi is amazing and he's a good choice to open this collection.

Elnathan John (Nigeria) follows Afolabi's lead with the tale Flying. I love the first five sentences of Flying.  In this tale, a young boy named Tachio lives in an orphanage under the proprietorship of Aunty Keturah. She's the one person he can confide in and she provides some sort of stability in an otherwise routine existence. I won't say more. I like it a lot. It's simple and quite moving.

FT Kola (South Africa) follows with A Party for the Colonel, a story about a troubled Indian family in apartheid South Africa. Ibrahim is a man who works really hard to make something out of nothing for himself and his family. He's sure that wealth is the ticket out of oppression and into respectable ranks. It's a story that seems doomed from the beginning and I like it a lot.

Masande Ntshanga (South Africa) penned Space, a story about a gang of young boys who run around a lot without parental supervision. The ending felt abrupt and thus the story felt somewhat incomplete. I didn't really get this story.

Namwali Serpell (Zambia) penned The Sack. An elderly man lives alone with a young boy named J. They've both lost Nana, a woman they both cared about. Serpell shuffles between dreams and the present and it was disorienting. I'm not really sure what's going on in this story...

Workshop Stories 2015
#Yennenga was written by Jemila Abdulai (Ghana). A well-known journalist has been arrested for murder. Her arrest has the nation taking sides with social media hashtags #FreeYennenga vs #DeathToYennenga. The public has its theory on how she rose to fame and whether or not she's innocent of the charges brought up against her but only Yennenga knows the truth. It's a decent story.

The Road Workers of Chalbi was written by Dalle Abraham (Kenya). I loved it immediately. Chinese workers arrive to a little village, the villagers marvel at their proficiency and gossip about their foreign habits. Everyone co-exists in peace for a while but you already know this can't possibly last forever. It's an interesting tale and one that I like.

Nkiacha Atemnkeng (Cameroon) wrote Wahala Lizard. I got excited a few minutes into it because it seemed fresh and different. An aircraft passenger falls terribly sick and is overheard saying that he hopes he hasn't caught the ebola virus thereby sending the plane's occupants into a panic. A story about an aircraft passenger with ebola, aboard a plane? I prepped myself for the drama I was sure would enfold. There wasn't enough drama to satiate me. There was a discussion among the passengers and then the tale veers off from where you think it's all headed.

Diane Awerbuck (South Africa) wrote Nehushtan, a tale centered around Malan. Malan is an engineer currently working on the construction of a dam located close to a small village. He's still trying to cope with the death of his only child and the effects of that loss on his marriage. He's also concerned about the quality of work on the construction project, a responsibility recently passed on to him after the previous engineer bailed out. I like this story.

Swallowing Ice by Nana Nyarko Boateng (Ghana) is that "sweet center" buried deep at page 157 in this 267 paged collection. In Swallowing Ice a journalist, who writes under the pseudonym "Vivian Quack" for Ghana's Daily Times, lives out her routine existence mostly in her apartment. Everything seems fine until life happens. I love this story so much. I paused for a while before moving on. I'll keep an eye for out anything by Boateng. Much respect.

Efemia Chela (Ghana/Zambia) wrote Lusaka Punk, the titular story of this year's collection. It's about teenagers living life during the holiday. Without much to do they focus their energies on teenage proclivities and punk rock. It's not an exciting page-turner but looking back now I appreciate Chela's work.

The Writing in the Stars was written by Jonathan Dotse (Ghana). This story starts out with a character called "Guardian", there are people on horses, wearing cloaks, bearing swords, and there's a kingdom that needs to be protected... Right from the first page I started thinking: Oh gawdd... This is not really my thing... When will this end... The guardian part of the story represented the past and after that introduction we're taken forward in time to the year 2036, the present. Sarah's working on her second Ph.D. and she has discovered a book buried deep in a shrine. The book is encrypted and she works hard to decode it because she believes it holds some secret from an ancient past. This is a creative story but I appreciated it after I was done reading it.

Burial was written by Nigeria's Akwaeke Emezi. In Burial, a young girl deals with the life-changing death of her beloved father. His burial brings in relatives from all corners and this coming together leads to her discovery of some troubling secrets. I love it a lot. Emezi writes really beautifully. I can't wait to read the novel she's currently working on.

In The Song of a Goat by Pede Hollist (Sierra Leone), a young girl arrives home to tell her mom she has been suspended from school for two weeks. She's surprised when her mom sits her down for a talk instead of punishing her immediately. The talk is a trip down memory lane, a trip her very disappointed mother deems necessary and possibly more effective than thrashing Stella.

Princess Sailendra of Malindi by Kiprop Kimutai of Kenya. A crazy girl believes she's a princess. She and her brother seem to be wanderers and they do drugs. It's a bit confusing and it ends as badly as you'd expect. I don't like this story. It's so murky as though it needs to be read twice but much more slowly the second time.

In Blood Match by Jonathan Mbuna, Hilda needs a kidney transplant to save her life. Her husband and a few relatives offer to help but their blood type and hers aren't compatible. Salvation comes from an unexpected source and leads to an unforeseen revelation.

Colored Rendition by Aisha Nelson (Ghana) closes out this collection but not at all in the amazing, mind-blowing way a Caine Prize anthology should end. A small school welcomes Marcia and Cliff, two teenage lovers who've come down to Africa for philanthropic purposes. The school doesn't seem to be any of the things the expect it to be. I don't really know what the focus of Colored Rendition was. I didn't like it at all. It's another murky one.

Most Memorable Stories
1) Swallowing Ice by Nana Nyarko Boateng (Ghana)
2) Burial by Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria)
3) Flying by Elnathan John (Nigeria)
4) The Folded Leaf by Segun Afolabi (Nigeria)

The Caine Prize for African Writing 2015 anthology is a very eclectic collection. I believe the opening and closing stories are important considerations for any anthology and I do not like the story chosen to close out this collection. It wasn't at all strong and memorable. I'm glad I chose the Caine Prize anthology and I'm excited that I'll be reviewing it every year. I can't wait to see what literary treasures 2016 brings. Have an amazing and fulfilling New Year everyone!

[Image via Amazon]

The Caine Prize for African Writing 2015 Anthology

I discovered the African Roar anthology series last year and I reviewed the fifth edition, African Roar 2014, on this blog on December 19th, 2014. It's a series that's put together by StoryTime Publishing and edited by the amazing Ivor Hartman & Emmanuel Siguake. I loved 2014 edition and I promised to make it a goal to review every subsequent edition in the series. I kept an eye out all year, searching Amazon, frequenting the StoryTime blog and checking its Facebook page for updates so I could plan my winter break reading but I still haven't seen any mentions of African Roar 2015. I honestly hope the series hasn't been discontinued. If you have any clues or details please leave me a comment or email me: incessantscribble@gmail.com.

It's still my goal to review at least one anthology series on my blog site every year. In the absence of the African Roar series, I'll review this years Caine Prize for African Writing anthology series and I will try hard to review all future editions in the month of December. I love this book cover. For some reason I thought of ankara cloth when I first saw the book cover (pictured). The school semester just ended and I need a few days to recover before I start reading all the novels I have lined up. I'll try to have my review of the Caine Prize for African Writing 2015 anthology before the end of this month. If that isn't possible then I'll post it up some time in 2016.

Have a wonderful winter break and a Happy New Year!

READ: African Roar 2014 - My Thoughts

[Image via Amazon]

Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah | Book Review

Years after the end of the war, the people of Imperi trickle back home using the many winding, snake-like paths leading to their village. The first arrivals return to find a deserted village strewn with lots of human bones. It's the bones of those who couldn't escape quickly enough on the afternoon that the faraway war finally came to Imperi. Among the arrivals are the elderly, the young, amputees, the people who amputated the amputees, and victims of rape carrying babies. They all hope to reunite with their loved ones and as they come into town they search for familiar faces. The war has left everyone feeling vulnerable and distrustful and they're cautious about getting attached to the new normal because they fear things could change at any time. So as they work hard to rebuild their lives they keep an eye out for plundering enemies from the outside, completely blind to the monsters amongst them who would turn against them in exchange for the most basic of comforts. Change comes to Imperi but it's not the kind they anticipated or the sort of change they desire.

I approached this novel warily when I found out it was another war story because I was worried it might be a rehash of sorts. However, I picked it up because Ishmael Beah's firsthand account of war in his debut novel A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier was incredibly moving and very memorable. In Radiance of Tomorrow, the combination of the plotline and the narrative angle left me deeply dissatisfied. If A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is a ten on a scale of one to ten then Radiance of Tomorrow is a three. Radiance of Tomorrow is a fairly interesting novel but very, very, very putdownable.

READ: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah - My Thoughts

[Image via Amazon]

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]

TBR Book Tag!

I got tagged to put up a "To-Be-Read" post by Darkowaa of the beautiful and inspiring blog, African Book Addict. Here are my responses to the TBR questions. Enjoy!

1. How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
I have a post-it widget on my computer that I use for everything. There's a post-it with my To-Do list of everything academic and then there's a post-it with my TBR list for my blog. I'm constantly moving around the titles, adding to the list, and changing my book review choices for any particular month. It's always there when I turn on my computer. I like it a lot. It helps me keep track of everything I need to do.

2. Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?
It's 99% print. I only read e-books when I have to. E-books are actually really convenient but I prefer print. I think I always will.

3. How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?
I buy the books I'm interested in reading and I keep them on my bookshelf. Selecting what book to read next from my bookshelf is random a lot of the time. Book covers are very enticing so I could reach for a book on my shelf based on that. Sometimes it's based on the number of pages because I have a fixed window of free time between semesters. Sometimes I select a book based on who the author is.

4. A book that has been on your TBR the longest?
Right now it would be between Tolulope Popoola's Nothing Comes Close and Eghosa Imasuen's To Saint Patrick. I'll get to them one day I promise. 

5. A book you recently added to your TBR?
Darkowaa posted today because she got tagged. I read her post and ordered Baking in Kigali by Gaile Parkin AND Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okoroafor on Amazon before settling down to pen this post. Good job Darkowaa :).  

6. A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?
I like the cover of Alain Mabanckou's Tomorrow I'll Be Twenty a lot and so I bought it. It's not the only reason I bought it but it's one of the main reasons. Again I saw it featured on the African Book Addict blog soo... Good job Darkowaa! My money go soon finish. 

7. A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?
I wouldn't say I "never plan on reading" but I know deep inside that it would have to be the only unread book on my shelf before there's even the slightest chance that I will read it. I won't mention the book title. 

8. An unpublished book on your TBR that you're excited for?
Right now it's The Longings of Jende Jonga by Imbolo Mbue (I'm aware the title has changed but whatever). It's the book whose movie rights were sold for seven figures. I can't wait. I wasn't aware that Teju Cole had a new book coming out until I read Darkowaa's post so I'm excited about that. I hope I can finish Open City before the new release. It has been on my TBR for a while.

9. A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?
White Teeth by Zadie Smith and The Famished Road by Ben Okri have been recommended to me since forever. I need to finally read them. I've booked them for 2016. 

10. A book on your TBR that everyone has read but you?
The Famished Road by Ben Okri. 

11. A book on your TBR that you're dying to read?
The Longings of Jende Jonga

12. How many books are in your Goodreads TBR shelf?
I use Shelfari more often than I use Goodreads and I have the Shelfari bookshelf widget on my blog. My Goodreads TBR shelf has 6 books. 

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

[Image via NPR]