Tope Owolabi

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Category: Book Review

CRAZY RICH ASIANS by Kevin Kwan

My initial idea for props for this photo was to attempt to use some designer stuff I have but then it occurred to me that with #CrazyRichAsians designer and designer aren’t quite on the same level so I respected myself. #CrazyRichAsians is your typical love story – Boy meets girl, girl has no clue boy…

BIRTHMARKED

Author – Marvellous Michael (Nigerian) Genre – Crime fiction Number of pages – 317 Independently published at Patridge Africa. My very first thought while reading Birthmarked last year was that the dialogue is better suited for film.

PACHINKO REVIEW

Author – Min Jin Lee. Publisher – Apollo (an imprint of Head of Zeus) Number of Pages – 537 Pachinko has been quite tough for me to review because it is quite easy to hate it for the very reasons you love other books like it, and I will explain what I mean….

Sympathy is more complicated then we think: A Review of THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY: A Family History, by Amara Nicole Okolo.

Alithnayn Abdulkareem has written this review on Amara Nicole Okolo’s spectacular memoir story – THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY; A FAMILY HISTORY, published in August by Catapult. You can read here if you haven’t or just for a refresher to understand it better. The story is so heavy and so dense a second read has had me…

APRIL BOOK REVIEW – HOMEGOING

AUTHOR: Yaa Gyasi (Ghanaian) GENRE: Historical Fiction PUBLISHER/YEAR OF PUBLICATION: Viking (Inprint of Penguin) PRICE: £12.99 NUMBER OF PAGES: 305 (my copy)

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Easter Treats. I hope everyone has been having a nice holiday. If you look closely at my tea pot, you'll see a reflection of me angling to get a nice shot. Looool. In my pyjamas. That's really how it goes when trying to take bookstagram photos. When I noticed this, I honestly couldn't even be bothered to try to adjust. It's holiday, please. Anything you see today, you take it like that. After holiday we get back to seriousness. I started reading #AnAmericaMarriage over the long weekend and I love it. I love the pace, I love the writing. I love the two characters I've been introduced to - Roy and Celestial. Can't wait to get into the nitty gritty of the story, but I can already tell it will be a favourite. It has that glide and surf feeling I had when I read #TheMothers Can't wait to post a review. What have you been reading or what have you been up to this holiday? . . . . Easter tulips - @waitroseandpartners Hot cross buns - @marksandspencer Fresh mint and ginger tea from my fridge. . . . . #Bookstsgram #Easter #Holidayreading #Love #Bookphotography #Bookish #Christisrisen #EasterTreats #Crossequalslove #Fiction

Happy #Easter, #bookstagram family. I recreated the cross, which represents what this season is about with six little black penguin classics. Though the books don't explore forgiveness, it is what I want to use the photo to discuss today. This season, more than ever, I hope we reflect and understand the enormity of what happened on the cross. That blood was shed not only for sins we committed but sins committed against us. That blood was shed for everything we feel after an offence from anger to shame and guilt. That the cross happened so nobody will be damned. Whatever difficulty and fears you are experiencing with forgiveness, I want to remind you that the cross covers it. Whether it's the feeling that the offender is undeserving of your forgiveness or pain from the idea that you may appear a weakling if you let your offender off easily. You may feel like you are betraying yourself or what you stand for. You may be bitter that forgiving may make it appear like your offender has won. The #goodnews is that Jesus won everything. Every battle of pain and shame. ❤ Here to assure anyone struggling with forgiveness that no matter the magnitude of the offence that was done to you, you are the reason the HolySpirit was sent after Jesus. To comfort you, to help you through this journey, to be whatever job description you need him to be as you walk this journey. Don't allow fear consume you into unforgiveness. ❤ I pray today, that you are able to unload everything at the cross where all is finished, and I pray that by the power that raised Jesus from the dead, this fear is drowned in the perfect, undiluted, unfailing love of God and you are no longer a slave to it. I pray that you are able to see your offender through God's eyes, even if you are the offender who needs to forgive yourself. ❤ Forgiveness is relinquishing your right to get even to God, knowing that even God's vengeance is mercy. You are not weak. You can recognise this monumental hurt you have been caused, but God's strength will carry you through this journey. In Jesus name. And by the power of resurrection, all imprisoned hearts are free. #CrossEqualsLove #bookphotogtaphy #holidayreading

New book alert! Does anyone else get so ridiculously happy when they get a new Bible? Even though it's really the same word of God in these different versions and study guides? This came yesterday and I'm excited to spend time studying. I have so many favourite books but the Bible is my most important book and I'm just so happy to have bought this new English Study Version. I remember how giddy I was when I bought my message translation in Uni. I saved my pocket money to be able to buy it back then. I also remember how sad I was to lose my Dake study in the middle of moving countries. Then I found it and lost it again. Anyway a short while after this, my dad gifted me a Yoruba Bible, simply because he thought I would want one. Of course the first verse I went to, was - Olorun fe araye to be ge, o fi omo bibi re kan sho sho fun wa. Ki eni keni ti o ba gba gbo, ma ba segbe, sugbo ko ni iye ainipekun. (Hint: It's the most popular Bible verse.) And every once in a while, I would check a scripture which stood out for me in English in the Yoruba Bible. So, yes, I can pray in Yoruba. I can tell God to di de togun togun. I know that mo ju asegun lo and that awan nkan ija wa kii se ti ara sugbon o ni agbara ninu Olorun la ti wo ibi giga kale. Looks like I'm always fighting in my Yoruba prayers, doesn't it? 😂😂😂😂 Anyway, welcome the newest member of my shelf. Or in this case, bedside drawer. . . . . #Bookstagram #Bible #biblesandcoffee #studygram #bookphotography #swordofthespirit

Saw the #abcbooktitle tag on @always_need_more_books page and I thought I'ld jump on it real quick. Was fun trying to find book titles to match letters of the alphabet. Only problem now is arranging them back in their original spot. I searched high and low but couldn't find J and X. But I'm almost certain I've read a book with a J title before. Anyhoo, here's my A-Z A - A Little Life B - Breakfast at Tiffany's C - Crazy Rich Asians D - Darling E - Exit West F - Freshwater G - Good Strategy H - How to stop Time I - Inside I am just like you J - K - (The) Kite Runner (🙈) L - Lincoln in the Bardo M - Moby-Dick N - News From Home O - Other Minds P - Prisoners of Geography Q - Questions I'm asked about the Holocaust R - (The) Righteous Mind (🙈) S - Swing Time T - Things Fall Apart (This was the easiest. Lots of books begin with T) U - Unholy Ghost V - Voyage en Cote d'Ivoire W - Women Food and God X - Y - You must set forth at dawn Z - (The) Zahir (Big cheat because this book is far away on my Lagos shelf. . . . . . Which of these have you read? Would you be able to do an A-Z with your collection? Who has a J or X title they want to give me? . . . . . #bookstagram #books #bookish #literature

I went away last week on a quick holiday to escape the miserable London weather. It was refreshing but I'm glad I came back to some sunshine and cherry blossoms in full bloom. A Win win. These two books went with me. The plan this year is to try and finish unfinished books on my shelf. As good as #TheGoldfinch is, it happens to be one of the ones I've been reading for way too long. The problem actually is the size. Because my reading is done mostly during commute, I find carrying such a big book in my handbag stressful. So it has mostly been relegated to bedtime reading which means it doesn't get as much time. I will finish it this year by the power of God. Invoking a spiritual force is probably necessary at this point. I want to finish not only for finishing sake but because so far it is such good writing. 📚 I loved #HowToFail by @elizabday and hearing about this book was my first introduction to her podcast with the same title. This is a collection of essays on failing at different things. I didn't read it in the order of the Table of Contents. For every new chapter I started, I looked in the TOC to check for which one I was immediately interested in. I began with HowToFail at #Relationships then #Friendship, then #Babies, then #GwynethPaltrow and continued like that. No I didn't miss important detail because in the end it all felt like catching up with an old friend. I loooved it a lot as it was affirming in many ways. Big lesson? Don't beat yourself up too much when things don't go as planned or don't fall in place despite your best plans. It's just life. And in the words of Truman Capote, Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour." . . . . . #bookstagram #bookish #HowToFail #Nonfiction #fiction #cherryblossom #bookphotography #Spring #holidayreading #DonnaTartt #unreadshelfproject2019

Happy Mother's Day. Thank you all mummies for the incredible work you do. I hope you are getting pampered by the ones you love, curled up on the sofa reading the perfect book like "The Mothers" by @britrbennett or like in my case, watching Marvellous Mrs Maisel on Amazon Prime. Got this tote-ally amazing gift from my little one. Made me smile so much. A tote is always a great idea for a book hoarder. I hope you have all enjoyed this month of March celebrating women. Look over my last few posts for books by women. . . . . . #bookstagram #mothers #balanceforbetter

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