Five mid-year books on my desk for 2019
The year 2019 is a year like no other with all kinds of drama trailing us as a nation. Beyond this is of course the fact that the year seemed to have zipped past us while we were not looking. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were in January 2019 and now […]
The year 2019 is a year like no other with all kinds of drama trailing us as a nation. Beyond this is of course the fact that the year seemed to have zipped past us while we were not looking. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were in January 2019 and now it is July. Amazing how time flies. Like I teach my students at Bingham university where I recently took up a position as Visiting consultant, when today is gone, you can never have it again and you are not the same person you were yesterday, you are growing older.
Indeed, we must all make good use of the time given to us on this earth. We must develop ourselves, be kind to one another and generally be charitable. We must eschew bitterness, back biting and opportunism at the expense of others. We must deliberately go out to improve the life of another person and impact the world positively. We must remind ourselves and our children every day that everything is not about money.
We must as a matter of course be ourselves and not try to be someone else. Be yourself, don’t try to be Mr A or want to be like Mrs B, you do not know their journey. Sometimes we wish to become rich like someone we know and the way to their riches may disgust you. To have money is good but to make it your god and your soul will make you very unhappy. Happiness has eluded many of those we consider very successful and very powerful. The best gift of life is contentment and the path to happiness.
As we enter this crucial mid-year for 2019, I wish you all the very best. Let’s look back and fix those things we carried into 2019 and want out of our lives, let’s go to that school we have been procrastinating about, lets marry that girl/boy we cannot do without before someone else does, let’s get that project on the way. We can start small. Let’s pause and smell the coffee. Let’s share five books currently on my desk that will add some value.
1. Travellers by Helon Habila. My good friend Helon, Caine prize winner and first Chinua Achebe fellow has released his fourth novel, Traveller and what a read it is. In this age where identities are becoming soluble and there is a lot of identity crisis among immigrants while also having to deal with so many immigrants dying at sea this is an amazing book Helon has regaled us with. This book is quite apt for the times and a great read. This 320-page book is the first of his novels set outside Nigeria. The novel roams the continent of Europe making stops at Germany, Italy and the UK. Its characters are from several African countries including Nigeria, Libya, Somalia and Malawi. It’s a novel about exile, identity and it tells of the different kinds of travellers in our modern world. Sudanese writer Leila Aboulela comments about the book says it all. “Once I started reading ‘Travellers’ I could not put it down…”
2. Molara Wood’s Indigo is a book for all times and it’s a book one can return to again and again. This collection of short stories never ceases to mesmerize. Among the stories is one about the arrival of a second wife which gives room for a woman to re-assess her marriage, another is related to a tough challenge in the face of a military coup. There is no story in this collection that does not resonate with us all. The stories carry various themes of loss and longing. This is a mesmerizing collection of short stories. Keep it by your bedside for resonance and relief from the complications of real life. Molara, writer, friend and literary critic does justice to the short story genre in this collection.
3. Naja, by Safiya Ismaila Yero. This is a coming of age novel chronicling what it is to be young female and powerless in patriarchal Northern Nigeria. The protagonist is a smart, strong willed and wants more than just being an old man’s wife. The author is conscious of the role of Northern female writers to be the voice of the voiceless in a deeply patriarchal society. This is an incredibly good read and has been compared to the strong voices of Zaynab Alkali and Mariama Ba. A s a Doctoral candidate of the University of Abuja, this author is a writer to watch as she continues in her upward trajectory in fiction, non-fiction and the academia.
4. Redefining Beautiful is Farida Yahya’s debut book. This non-fiction gem is about Farida’s ten-year journey through going natural to starting a hair care business. And when she told me last year that she wanted to do the book, I told her to go right ahead. I also believed that there is a gap in books about how to start small businesses and the success of Farida’s hair care business should be shared. And so she did. In this 84-page book, she includes the highs and lows and triumphs of chasing your dreams. This has been written as a memoir and is easy to read. It also includes advice on career switching and inspiration for passion and happiness. A really good book to savour this mid-year.
5. Ayobami Adebayo’s debut novel, Stay with me is a devastating story of the fragility of married life, the wretchedness of grief, the undoing of family and the all-consuming bond of motherhood. Described by Molara Wood as a “conversation in a troubled marriage across decades. One that holds out hope for restitution and the ultimate triumph of love” It is a tale about our desperate attempts to save ourselves and those around us. A quote from this tender novel that speaks to all of us will have you seeking the book to devour. “There are things even love can’t do…if the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it’s in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer love.” How profound. A true mid-summer tale. Find it, read it, love it.