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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"No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark." - Warsan Shire, in "Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth" Today is World Refugee Day 2019. A few #refugee themed books from my shelf. Two fiction and two non-fiction Share some of yours with me in the comments, please. These stories matter. #Exodus #ElsewhereHome #ExitWest #SeaPrayer. . . . . #bookstagram #bookish #literature #refugeeliterature #UNHRC #leilaaboulela #mohsinhamid #PaulCollier #KhaledHosseini #immigration #ShortStories #fiction #nonfiction #migration

Kingsley, the Opara of the Ibe family has to make a decision to keep the family afloat after his father suffers a terrible illness and dies. If you can ignore the endless flowry language, unimpressive use of metaphors and ridiculously exaggerated words, then there's a brilliant story to be found in "I do not come to you by chance", one thats mostly talked about in Nigeria but never quite explored in our literature. The dynamics of internet fraud/scam also known as 419 or yahoo yahoo. 📚 The book profusely suffers from the sickness of purchasing instead of buying. So for simple words like bend over, the author insists on replacing with genuflected. What the hell is genuflected? Who in the world says effluvium when you can say bad smell or unpleasant smell? I liked the story, but the plot unfortunately doesnt evolve until half way through the book. 📚 Many things didn't tie up and there's unfortunately no flash back or forward scenes to tie these ends. I am going to blame this on the editor. I recognise this because editing is my day job. For instance, Kingsley is instructed to be home the day his father is to arrive home from hospital, to make sure that that the house is prepared for him. The reader sees him at home, sees that he's doing all the things required of him. But in the next chapter, the reader also sees him being in the hospital at the point of his father's death. How? Considering his father died on the day Kingsley was home. 📚 Words like koboko and okada are put in italics too which upset me as a Nigerian editor because these are the actual names of things. And from the action in the story, a reader can pick up meaning. If they can't, there's #Google. Anyway, the reader gets a good sense of the main characters, but we also get super distracted by sentences like -"The Okada almost broomed me off the road." Whew. 📚 To be honest, I'm surprised at the kind of emails that many victims (very often white) have fallen for. They are ridiculously obvious emails. I guess if you are already greedy, you'll fall for anything anyway. Good story, rather vague ending. Not rating it, but I recommend it if you have nothing else to read. . . . #bookstagram

I don't think that the #Nigerian literary scene gives Elnathan John enough credit for this brilliant novel. It is beautiful. Finish. 📚 BORN ON A TUESDAY follows a boy, Ahmad whose age we do not know but can attempt to guess as his life unfolds before the reader from page one till the very end. Ahmad, also known as Dantala narrates the story from start to finish. 📚 His story pretty much starts and ends the same way, which was somewhat sad but left me with a glimmer of hope, still. He begins as one who causes chaos but escapes death and ends as one who is a messenger of peace in the middle of chaos determined to kill him. 📚 One of the peculiar things about this book is how Dantala does not lose his boyhood voice throughout the story even though there is nothing less than ten years between Bayan Layi, where we first encounter him as a young boy rolling with touts who do the underground leg work for corrupt politicians and Sokoto where he ends up being accused of having links to Islamic terrorists and their activities, despite his life taking a relatively upward turn after leaving Bayan Layi. 📚 He suffers two main loses that stay with him and play a pivotal role in the upward trajectory of his life. However, it is after a third loss that everything comes crashing. 📚 There is patriarchy as a theme that rears its head often through the story, but nobody engages or fights it. The status quo is palatable. Other themes include brotherhood, ethnic stereotyping, domestic violence, and religion. 📚 This was a fantastic read and I wholeheartedly, 100% recommend it. There are not (yet) many portrayals of the early days and ways in which the Boko Haram sect crept up on Nigeria as a country. This offers a small window. 📚 If you are Nigerian, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the average Hausa man starter pack is his brown leather slippers, incence and white flowing buba. Add the keys to a toyota camry looped round his index finger and a loud shout of Rankadede ✌ is in order.😊 📚 Have a restful weekend, people. Let me know what you are reading or doing. . . . . #bookstagram #bookish #fiction #bornonatuesday #nigerianliterature #bookblogger

Wednesdays are our bin collection day and as I was sorting out the refuse and recycle yesterday, I was randomly thinking about "My Sister The Serial Killer" and then I thought hmmn hang on, I can use this smelly bin as props you know? And thats how I came about this rather ridiculous photo. But I think Huck and Quinn from #Scandal would be proud. Everything they may need is there. The knife is sharp, the bin bag is sturdy, the bleach is thick and there's a mask. Hahaha. I even remembered to lay out a black sheet so that there would be no traces of the body found. The only thing missing, I think, is Annalese Keating's rug to wrap it all up before heading to the woods. I dunno 💁‍♀️ I enjoyed "My Sister The Serial Killer" when I first read it as an eBook called "Thicker Than Water" two years ago and I've equally enjoyed it as its chubbier new title. The @womensprize for fiction will be announced tonight and of the shortlist, I'm rooting for this by @oyinbraithwaite and "An American Marriage" by @tayari If you scroll down my account a little bit, you'll find my review of #AnAmericanMarriage At this point of the shortlist though, I think we can all agree that all the ladies are winners already. Best wishes. Have you got any predictions? . . . . . #bookstagram #met_createchange #womensprize #fiction #bookphotography #literature

It is officially holiday season in the UK. 👙💃💃💃 I think everyone was expectant for warmth in May but we basically got teasers. Two days of warmth and then rain and clouds and misery for five days. But everything is looking up now, because it looks like its nothing less than 17° from here on out. The nonchalance of #summer is already very palpable. People driving with their car roofs off🏎, loud music blaring🎼🔊, loose lips because every hour is Pimms'0clock 🍻, grumpy neighbours being friendly because haha summer boyfriend💑, looooong queues at ice cream shops🍦, people taking a break from work to catch a quick read in the sun📚, excited kids because we are in the last few weeks of term time🗓. Shirts with no ties and skirts with no tights during rush hour traffic🤸‍♂️. Have to bear the smell of sweaty bodies though. Lots of white trainers and flipflops. Sleeveless tops and short shorts have crawled back out from hiding and barbecue smoke rising to the high heavens🥳🍔🍗. So yes, bring out the sunnies😎 and sunscreen. I hope your summer body has fully loaded? If not, don't worry, we live to fight another year. Here's to you, with this bowl of smoky #jollof rice and bbq chicken wings with ice cold pink lemonade. Perfect for all the outdoor parties that will happen over the coming weeks . . . . . #bookstagram #sunshine #nofilter #allyellowgoodness #summerreads #met_createchange #holidayreading #barbecue #readersofIG #bookish #bookphotography #summertoremember #yellowspines #yellow #Jollof

MAY - Short Story Month. When I first began my bookstagram account, I was on top of all these special book months and dates, even had a diary to keep up. These days, so much happens so quickly I can barely even finish two books in a month. Anyway, May is short story month and yes, it is the last day of May but who's monitoring? #StillMay 📚 Short stories are a path way to introducing your self to reading, especially reading #fiction. It's like wanting to #travel the world but not having enough money, so you begin with the village next to yours, you know? As time progresses, you save a little more and go to the big city, then the country across your border, then further and further out. 📚 Short stories introduce you to an author too. The style of their writing, their type of themes etc. Reading an author in bite size chunks allows you decide if they are the sort you might enjoy. After you've read a four thousand word story that you liked, you'll more than likely pick up longer form writing. 📚 Short stories are also a fantastic way to get your daily reading in. Life can get in the way of your reading. Busy schedule, children, no electricity etc. Short stories do the trick. An average collection usually has about 10-12 stories. Read one story before bed time and in 10 days you have finished a book. Magnificent, init? 📚 I have pictured here, two special @everymanslibrary collection of short stories from #NewYork and #Paris. Author's include a wide range from Victor Hugo to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, James Baldwin and Junot Diaz. 📚 Please, share some of your favourite short story collections with me. Mine is a no brainer - "The Interpreter of Maladies", by Jhumpa Lahiri. This book was my first introduction to Lahiri and I've loved her since. Another is "The Thing Around Your Neck", by Chimamanda Adichie. I'm Nigerian, who am I not to like that one? Hahaha.📚 . . . . . #bookstagram #ShortStories #bookish #Readersofig #bookphotography

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