Five mid-season recommendations

This week, I have decided to publish one lovely letter and then go on to give my mid-season recommendations. These are not favourite books as such but books you must go out and buy at this time. First the letter from Suleiman Abbas who wrote in from Dutse, Jigawa state. Hello, I just want to […]

This week, I have decided to publish one lovely letter and then go on to give my mid-season recommendations. These are not favourite books as such but books you must go out and buy at this time.

First the letter from Suleiman Abbas who wrote in from Dutse, Jigawa state.

Hello, I just want to commend your efforts in the marvellous job you are doing in your column “five favourite books” in Sunday Trust. By featuring all those trail-blazing personalities and letting us know what books they read. You can tell a whole lot about a person if you know what he reads. Kindly also permit me to use this medium to doff my hat to Chinua Achebe for being the author of “Things fall Apart”. Since the inception of your column, hardly would a guest be featured who would not mention “Things fall Apart” among the list of his five favourite books. As is being said; the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Others may receive all the accolades and media reviews but the testimonies of readers is enough evidence of his being a great writer.

FIVE RECOMMENDED MID-SEASON BOOKS.

Sliding from dry to rainy season in Nigeria and from spring to summer in most parts of Europe, It’s a good time to alter your perspective on a lot of things or introspect on a number of issues. Here are five take home books.

1) STEVE JOBS: The authorised Biography, by Walter Isaacson. There is nothing like a really good biography. It’s often a wakeup call when you are wallowing in self pity. I have no job, no one loves me, etcetera. It’s time to take your life in your hands. And if it’s a biography like that of the founder of Apple, Mr Steve Jobs, then you are on your way to reforming your life. He invented his take on the computer in his parent’s garage, he was adopted, dropped out of school and had made 256 million dollars in the flotation of Apple when he was 25 years old. He had no Godfather and had no notes from anyone. All he had was his head and incredible ideas.

2) A LONG WAY GONE: Memoirs of a boy soldier, by Ismael Beah. At 14, he was already carrying AK47s in his native Sierra Leone conscripted from the street on his way to a rap gig at a neighbouring village. By 17, he had killed dozens of people, burnt people alive in several villages. He did not even know why he was fighting and would routinely see blood from water taps after he was rescued by UNICEF. This is hallucination and he was lucky to be flown to the U.S where he was treated and currently lives. All stakeholders of the Nigerian Nation who drum war songs should think again. A very disturbing book. A must read.

3) Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, by Christie Watson. This is the story of a family in the Niger Delta told through the eyes of a twelve year old girl. The writer is British married to a Nigerian. Nigeria is missing in most parts of the story and there is no timeline. By all means tell a Nigerian story but please let the details of being Nigerian be authentic. It’s okay to bring in all the things wrong with us as a Nation but let them be true. It’s impossible to have a petrochemical engineer who has a driver who takes his grandchildren to school but they are unable to eat meat for months and are constantly starving. That rankles. The answer, more Nigerians should tell our own stories and more Nigerians should review the book. It’s already being shortlisted for awards. Good craft, inauthentic details, poor research.

4) A Man Of The People, by Chinua Achebe. To read politicians and get a sense of understanding of how they operate. Do take another look at the master story teller’s depiction straight after independence. C’est la meme chose.

5) The stoic philosophers, Seneca, Aurelius and a bit of Shakespeare. It’s time to read about human beings, human nature and those things we take for granted. It’s time to remember that life is about what you know, how spiritual you are and how much wisdom you have got. Now more than ever before Nigerians should introspect and ponder. It is time to think and pray.

TWO BONUS BOOKS

Because we can never give up on life, humour is good in trying times. Two of my favourites.

1) Tropical Fish by Ugandan writer Doreen Baigana. Utterly hilarious.

2) The Thing Around Your Neck, a collection of short stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Authentic characterisation of Nigerians. Brilliant writing. Everyone in the book reminds you of someone you know on the streets of Lagos, Abba or New York.