Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi is my current read and the only book I’m reading in July. It’s a Young Adult Fantasy novel and a lengthy read, 531 pages. This is a genre I seldom gravitate to, but the goal is to read outside my comfort zone this year. So far, it’s…
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So, this month I’m participating in the Afrocentric April Booksta Tour on Instagram. This tour highlights African books and authors. Today is day 20, and the prompt is an author new to you. Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Wole Soyinka) was born on July 13th, 1934, in western Nigeria and was the first African to be…
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I had such high reading hopes for March! I thought I would easily read 6 books this month. However, even though I had vacation days this month, I only managed to read 3 1/2 books. I’m still working on How to Read a Book, an impromptu addition. So far, the book has been fantastic, and…
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At the beginning of the year, the book Wahala by Nikki May was all over Instagram. Everything intrigued me – the beautiful book cover, the premise about female friendships, Nigerian culture/food, and even a character with my namesake, what?! Sign me up! The novel centers around three British-Nigerian best friends (Boo, Ronke, Simi) living in…
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Freshwater was the first book I read by Akwaeke Emezi, and I thought it was masterfully crafted and haunting. It demonstrates the struggles of mental health, sexuality, and spirituality. The story was original, creative, and challenged me because of its complexity. Since I tend to gravitate to deep and intense reads, I felt future books by…
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At the beginning of the year, I chose to read novels on my bookshelves instead of purchasing new books; let’s see if I succumb to the new gripping releases. For now, the first thing that caught my eye was a Nigerian classic, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I read the book previously but vaguely…
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Oh, the importance of siblings! Have a relationship with your siblings? What type? I have sisters, and I’m lucky to have a relationship with them. Of course, we have clashes from time to time, but we have developed a warm connection. Reading the debut novel The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma let me reflect on my…
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According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “the prevalence of child marriage is the percentage of women 20-24 old who were married or in a union before 18 years of age”. Did you know Nigeria has the 11th highest child marriage prevalence rate internationally? Or that 44% of girls are married before their 18th birthday?…
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Spoiler Alert Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was the second book I devoured after renewing my passion for reading two years ago. It was absolutely a fantastic piece of work, and I could not put it down. I mentioned it to everyone who would listen to me – mostly Nigerians and other foreigners. Everyone loved…
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During her 2018 interview by NPR, Freshwater author Akwaeke Emezi stated: “I wanted to see what it would be like to look at a life through the lens of a different reality – something that was centered more in Igbo spirituality than in Western concepts of mental health, for example. And so, I used my…
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Bookish Naija Gal 