So I decided to do a reading challenge to help me read more this year and also still be able to read from a wide selection of genres. It took me one month to read them all and I’m proud of myself for this. I thought to myself “why not blog about it” cause I can’t have these wonderful book recommendations and keep it to myself so here is the list of books I read and enjoyed the past month. (Also I’m I the only one that felt February dragged on for too long and to think it has only 28 days this year)
A biography: I KNOW WHY CAGED BIRDS SING by MAYA ANGELOU.Maya Angelou is a poet and writer. I know why the caged bird sings is the first book in a series of her autobiography. In this book, Maya talks about her life growing up in Arkansas during a period where segregation was still highly practiced. She talks about her difficult childhood as a little young black girl still navigating the world. She also talks about the central figures in her life at that time(Momma, Vivian Baxter, Bailey and finally her son Guy), Her complicated family and also being sexually abused at a young age of 8 by her mom’s boyfriend. She also addresses how she felt about her looks and the way it shaped her thinking while growing up. This book covers her life from 1969-1944(aged 17) and shows us the world from the perspective of young Maya Angelou. I enjoyed this and look forward to reading the remaining six books.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
-Maya Angelou
-I know why the caged birds sing byMaya Angelou
A young adult bestseller: An abundance of Katherines by John Green. This is about colin an anagram obsessed prodigy who has been dumped 19 times by girls named Katherine. Let just say Katherines are his type. Still heartbroken about Katherine 19, He and his non-religious Muslim best friend go on a road trip and randomly end up in a city named Gutshot. Here he focuses on his relationship theorem hoping to get his eureka moment and maybe faces the truth about not being able to become a genius. I found this book to be boring at the start but it became better later on. Frankly John Green has done better. Took me long to actually finish this book but I had to since it was a challenge I gave myself. I didn’t really like the characters and I found Colin to be very annoying but anyways on to the next book I go.
A book set in your home state or a state that you love: Welcome to Lagos by Onuzu Chibundu. Well, this was set in my home country and not my state but hey I like Lagos state so this is fair. This book is about five people who meet while escaping to Lagos due to various reasons. they find themselves muddled in government business and their life threatened by people they barely know but through it all, they are able to find a place in the large bustling city of Lagos. This book set as a reminder of why I love reading books set in my country and this book definitely didn’t disappoint even though the book took a turn I never expected it too.
A book written by a celebrity: I can’t make this up life lessons by Kevin Hart. Before I started reading this, I was probably expecting like a comedy since of course it’s Kevin Hart but well I was wrong. It did have a little comedy but this book was more of his struggle and persistence in achieving his goals. Showed the behind the scene of Kevins’ Jokes and had a lot of life lessons from it. I loved this book so much that I finished it in less than two days. I would recommend this book to everyone I can. It never occurred to me on how long Kevin Hart had been in the scene. All I knew was one day I’m watching this guy movies and listening to his comedy but really man has been busting his ass for sixteen years before he became an overnight success. This book got me soo impressed now seeing all his hard work pay off and also seeing how he learned to overcome bad habits, matured and got his shit together.
A historical book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.This book talks about two Ghanian sisters separated at birth and each chapter follows the generation of each sister. One whose story started through the Fante slave trade and another who experienced life in the warrior Asante nation. For a debut novel, this was really good and I went through a whole emotional ride with this.The way Yaa Gyasi depicts the slave trade era and how it affected the Africans in Arica and those shipped off as slaves. This book is well researched and the descriptions are vivid. I enjoyed every single moment of this book. from The love to the tragedy, heartbreak and everything in between.
A book that has been made into a tv show: Dietland by Sarai walker. This talks about a girl otherwise known as plum who is overweight and therefore let it define her life. She deprives herself of a lot of things and believes she deserves it. She looks forward to being ‘Alicia’ who is a thin sexier version of plum and who she believes deserves to use her real name rather than the nickname(plum). Plum later meet a community of women activist who later helps change her life for the better and now. This book is all about self-love and being your own true self. Not letting others define your life for you and reaching above the stars without letting any obstacle stop you. I really didn’t know what to expect from this book and part of me really didn’t want to read it but I’m glad I finally did. This book has been tagged the perfect feminist book by many and well I kinda agree with them. It’s quite different from any book of its genre I’ve read
A book from 2017 Goodreads choice awards list: Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng: The Richardson family seem like the perfect family till Pearl and her mum move into the small rental house not too far from theirs. This small family of two leaves an impact on every one of the Richardson. As the name implies, it takes the building up of little things to start something huge and I guess that’s what the book showed too. The characters were well developed and this book shows motherhood and addresses some issues in relation to it.
A murder mystery book: Into the water by Paula Hawkins. Well, I started this book like two or three times and I would say that it was not as good as her first book the girl on the train. In this little city, there is a history of women committing suicide in the river called the ‘drowning pool’ by the people. The recent one being a woman writing on the history of the place said to be cursed. The book had lots of POV’s which kinda became annoying and the plot was kinda tangled. I did enjoy the book a little but not as much as I expected it to be.
A book that has been on new york times bestseller list for more than 10 weeks: Where the crawdad sings by Delia Owens. This book is mostly based in the 1950s-70s. It’s about kya who got abandoned by her family one by one and also shunned by the town so kya had to learn to depend on herself, fend for herself and most of all fill up the missing ache in her heart. As she grows older, she gets intertwined with two young guys from the town and well her life changes in several ways. I loved this book a lot especially the ending. At the start, I really couldn’t understand the hype about the book but the more I read it, the more I got drawn into the book and the ending really was the cherry at the top.
An award-winning book; Long way down by Jason Reynold. Jason Reynolds makes use of verse and poetry in this book. A fast read and also really good. Jayson writing was really good and his storytelling was amazing. What pulled me to read this book was the fact that the whole of this book was about an elevator ride which can be about 1-2 minute. I got curious to see what could happen in a whole one minute and well a lot can. This book is about an elevator ride through eight floors and the people will meet on the elevator to the ground floor. They give him some insights and finally leave him with a choice to make.
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