The ember months collection 2019

As the year slowly winds to an end, stocktaking begins. As humans, we are now looking at the last 10 months and wondering, what we have achieved. First things first. You are alive. That’s an achievement both physical and spiritual. I know many people who take delight in putting themselves in harm’s way. Extreme sports […]

As the year slowly winds to an end, stocktaking begins. As humans, we are now looking at the last 10 months and wondering, what we have achieved. First things first. You are alive. That’s an achievement both physical and spiritual. I know many people who take delight in putting themselves in harm’s way. Extreme sports lovers are one of them. People who live on the edge also qualify here. People who play with dangerous animals ditto and people who love dangerous adventure. I am not one of them. Evil Knievel was one of them. Visiting my Dad in the United States as a precocious 12-year-old in the early seventies, this man who rode devil may care motorcycles and had many dangerous stunts was trending. I did not fancy him. I don’t fancy anyone who plays God. So physically, we have stayed safe, a great achievement. Spiritually, we are thankful that God has been kind enough to keep us here still with our families. So the year is coming to an end, what are we reading or preparing to read to keep us in focus and lend us enough wisdom to take us to the end of the year. Here are five books doing that for me. I hope they speak to you.

1. There have been many stories about the Malabo oil deal and other related matters. I just received a copy of former Attorney General Adoke’s book, Burden of Service, signed by the man himself to me. I have taken time to read the book which starts with an intriguing hook of him contemplating suicide in The Hague far away from his homeland. It starts with “I woke up distressed. “The connect between reader and writer had been made and I dived headlong into the book. Akin to El-Rufai’s The accidental civil servant, this is a no holds barred book about service, the nation, betrayal, backstories and intrigues and names of principal characters are mentioned to complete the allure of the book. This is a good end of year book with lots of tales of what was going on in the kitchen in Jonathan’s presidency. Everyone should read this book which is so surreal, it reads like Fiction. Grab a copy!
2. Long throat memoirs, soups, sex and Nigerian taste buds by Food blogger Yemi Aribisala is always a good lazy read for holidays. Yes, it’s about Nigerian cooking and all the affectionate and not so affectionate detail therein. It’s about community, the jollof rice, our weddings and that red Nigerian stew to die for.
3. This is when to read that long awaited biography and new book you bought at the top of the year that you have not read. This is when to return to your shelf and pull out Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’. Okay, why was it such a rave and read it yourself, so you can participate in Dinner conversations. This is when to re-read that book that intrigued you three years ago. For me. I am returning to the salacious book on Oprah by Kitty Kelly. Salacious because Kitty is famous for unauthorised biography. Bits and pieces that we don’t know about Oprah. It reads like gossip. Lo. It’s that time of the year. Get a kick and a good laugh. An interesting book.
4. Again as always every year, I return to the Lebanese Poet, Khalil Gibran whose 1923 book is as relevant today as it was then. Hope. Love, prayer, travel, loss and sadness are wrapped in great dollops with many phrases of wisdom in this best seller which continues to be relevant to life and living. Because he was also an artist, I am blessed with a copy of the book that has his sketches in them. Read the words slowly. The Prophet by Khalil Gibran remains my go to book for wisdom and love and hope at the end of every year. Be kind to yourself, elevate your thoughts. Get a copy. There are so many updated versions by countless publishers.
5. Professor Okello Oculi’s slim volume Kanta Riti is a story of hope and retribution using traditional and spiritual dictums to discuss power. The respected Ugandan Professor concludes that out of failed leaders who are under retribution comes a rebirth of civilisation. The book is a combination of political leadership, African dictums and the powers of heaven and earth. A book for introspection by all.