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 Onye ji onye n'ani ji onwe ya: "He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down was one of my favorite proverb from the book. Reading the book felt like listening to an elder's narration of different topics such as colonialism, imperialism, and politics among others, and having the elder chip in personal experience/opinion for clearer understanding. The book is a collection of 16 essays by Chinua Achebe some of which were delivered as speeches on different occasions from the 90s through the 2000s. Storytelling is a powerful tool, so powerful that it can effect a change. Chinua Achebe talks about redefining his relationship with Nigeria and he also mentioned in his next reincarnation, he wants to be Nigerian again. The author talks about the importance of taking charge by writing our own stories. He also mentioned language and diversity and I quite agree with him, "linguistic pluralism" as he puts it is an important determinant of t...

  Apart from the cover which I find absolutely fascinating, the Book was worth the hype. It drew me in to a world of fantasy and it was so nice to see it. A lovely fantasy set in  a place called Otera with diverse Characters. Deka the protagonist, was such a beautiful young girl and although she had a lot of traumatic experience, she  was able to rise up to her call. I absolutely love the plot. Some parts of the story were predictable yet it was satisfying to watch them unfold. I mean, I was literally playing out the war scenes in my head. I really enjoyed the book and I like the fact that it emphasises the friendship bond and looking out for one another, the way Britta, Deka and the girls looked after one another. And the end? wow, I never expected it. It's a 5 star rating for me!

This has been on my reading list for a while now and I am glad I finally picked it up. Set in the 80s in Lagos and Kano Nigeria, the book tells the story of a young girl named Ogadinma who found herself at a disadvantage in gaining admission into the university and a series of events that followed in quick successions such as sexual abuse, pregnancy, abortion and domestic violence including physical assault. Her non-objection may seem like consent but it was definitely abuse, she was just 17 years old and they made it seem like getting married was a chance for her to right her wrongs. When she was going through the abuses they advised her to stay through it and endure because that is what marriage is supposed to be about and she should not disrespect her husband. Although I kept yearning for more at the end,  it was a good read overall and it further shows the way society heaped unreasonable expectations on females back then and even now and how there is still more to be done. ****...

  Queenie!  Strong, fierce, firm, vulnerable, and funny. A delightful read, made me have a rethink about bottling up emotions and taking it all in.  Queenie is a story of a British-Jamaican woman in her twenties. Set in south London, the book openly talks about sex, contraception, relationships, mental health, and STDs.  There is something about being black, being young, and navigating a career path as a young woman, it is tough! and for Queenie who carried the childhood baggage of trauma, it is worse. And yes, it is okay to seek help, enough of the stigma . Trauma changes us in ways that we do not expect and we can only hope to not just be able to recognize the changes but also to seek help to mitigate the damages.  Quite a lot of sex scenes, but it is a great read overall and yes go get it girl.

Safe to say Makumbi is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. This book is a collection of short stories set in Uganda and Manchester. Manchester happened to Katassi in addition to teenage problems. she wanted to dissociate completely from her culture and heritage we also see Luzinda been so worried about his mother and he badly wanted to go back to Uganda for reasons best known to him. Theirs was a dysfunctional family and although Luzinda''s attitude may be regarded as a tantrum, he was just a child who was reacting to all that was going on around him.  I love how it explored the effects of migration on people especially, Africans in the diaspora. Migrating can be beneficial especially when it comes to seeking a job and accessing good quality education but it also takes its toll on people's mental health. Adapting to a new environment and culture shock is portrayed in the lives of the different people in this book. The grass is not always greener on the other side like...

  "Kintu felt for Gitta. He knew the snare of being a man. Society heaped such expectations on manhood that in a bid to live up to them some men snapped." "Primigravida, fourteen years old?" Beautifully written, Makumbi takes us back in time through different branches of the family tree. The book is a journey through generations, delicately addressing important issues in a way that is easy to understand. At a point, you want to bring the story to an end so you can solve the mystery, but each story addresses different themes. History, Religion, Family ties, War, Masculinity, Sexuality, and incest.  "The awakened had shaken off most of Ugandan culture yet aspects of traditional manhood persisted. Cooking is unmanly". As in Kanani's case, that a man would subject himself to eating horrible food even when he cooked better, just because of culture is astonishing. Interesting, enjoyable and quite long💬

The first book of the year💪. A collection of 15 short stories. Set in Nigeria, Toni kan takes us through the life of the different characters excellently and honestly. Many of the stories are relatable, albeit heart-wrenching. The stories are quite too sad to take in at once. Shame, guilt, corruption, and infidelity are some of the themes used in the stories.  "God is listening" and "Devil's overtime" are my favorite stories from the collection. Children should not be left to fend for themselves, it puts them at risk.