BOOKS: My memorable 2016 reads (so far)!

I love books and I've found that sometimes the struggle is in finding a good book to read. This year has been good to me, so far, so I thought I'd share a list of some of the memorable ones that I have read together with short details should you consider getting a copy for yourself 😊

1.       The Polygamist - Sue Nyathi

This was such a fun book to read. It took me two days to go through it and it literally reads like a heated gossip session with a group of friends. I loved it. The title really gives off what it’s about and if you are wondering what the story is like from the women’s perspective this is definitely the book for you. Sue is actually Zimbabwean and is currently writing her second book, one I cannot wait to get my hands on!

2.       419 – Will Ferguson

We have all heard about internet scams or possibly even received an email or Facebook message ourselves from someone requesting help or some sort of financial assistance. 419 is a book that dives deep into how exactly this happens from the side of both the victim and the fraudster. It intertwines the lives of all the different characters as you follow through their long journey to ‘justice’ in Nigeria and Canada then ties it all together at the end. It was a bit of a long read for me and I felt like the end just wasn’t arriving but it’s a worthwhile book for perspective.

A similar book if you interested in reading more about this is I Do Not Come to You By Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, also set in Nigeria.

3.       Happiness, Like Water - Chinelo Okparanta

This was a very light read. I managed to go through it within a few days while travelling. What I loved about it most was that the stories were short enough to keep you engaged and also how she highlighted the different dynamics within families at home and abroad. Also set mostly in Nigeria and the USA she touched on several issues spanning from love and marriage, domestic violence, sexuality and the dreams we all have for a better tomorrow. It is a book that any African would identify and if you aren’t looking for depth and considering a light read Happiness, like water is a good idea.

4.       The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

"Okay, so it's like each of these books is a mystery
Every book is a mystery. And if you read all the
books ever written, it's like you have read one giant
mystery. And no matter how much you learn,
you just keep learning there is no much more to learn."

I was initially skeptical about this book. I really felt like it was something I would hand to my son when he was old enough to start reading. I was put off by the drawings and thought it was going to be child’s play. It wasn’t! There were real lessons to be learnt and by the time I got to the end I had grown attached to Junior in all his imperfections. They say it is a book for young adults actually and I guess this is a key group because young adults are more visual and attention spans can sometimes be very short. I read it online and went through it pretty fast considering the only times I was in front of a PC or with my phone are at work or after my son goes to sleep. If you are in search for a light, quick but serious book that you don’t have to buy you could definitely give this one a go.

5.       Me Before You – Jojo Moyes

I picked this book up hurriedly at the airport. I have no idea why because I generally don’t read romance novels. I often find them mushy and predictable. It took me ages to go through it but in the end I felt like it was worth it. The ending was not as predictable as I had anticipated for the agonizing 3 weeks that I read and stopped reading it only to start again. HOWEVER, there is a movie and in my opinion this is probably the first book I have read where I found the movie far more enjoyable than the book. So in light of that I recommend the movie!

6.       Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez

"She reminded him that the weak would never enter the kingdom of love,
 which is a harsh and ungenerous kingdom,
and that women give themselves
only to men of resolute spirit,
who provide the security they need in order to face life."

This is another book about love! I have mixed feelings about this one. I thoroughly enjoyed how it started, however, I didn’t like the ending and in the middle I felt it sort of became monotonous. As I read it I felt as though I was exploring romantic love and the different ways it manifests itself. Love is not always about passion and having butterflies in your stomach. Love also grows on you. I loved the book for its quotes and the descriptions of an entirely new setting (a city on the Caribbean coast).

 

7.       An Elegy for Easterly – Petina Gappah

This book is a compilation of short stories. A friend of mine was looking for a book to read and I had initially given her my copy of this one. I later took it back because I realized that all of the stories were actually really sad. In light of that it is definitely not a book to read when you are in search of a pick me up, however, I did enjoy reading it. The stories were memorable and also set mostly in Zimbabwe such that I could identify with characters and places. After reading it I was so eager to pass it on to a friend so we could discuss. This is an ideal book for a book club!

8.       Happiness is a Four-Letter Word - Cynthia Jele

If you love chic flicks and are looking for a quick read while you are with company this is the perfect book. It’s a light and nippy read but also juicy enough to keep you engaged. It narrates the lives of a group of friends and their love life’s. I think what I enjoyed the most about it was how as I read I was kinda trying to picture which of my friends was which character. This book also has a movie which I ended up watching before I finished the book, bad idea!!! What I didn’t like about the movie was that it was so inaccurate and left out details from the book (as movies do) which I felt were so critical.

9.       The Book of Memory – Petina Gappah

I loved this book! Although there were times I felt so sad and partially gripped with depression and had to stop reading for a while. I loved how it was set in Zimbabwe and so I could identify with a lot of the scenery and language used. In some instances I could even picture the setting. I love how her story is so unpredictable from the very beginning to want to follow so you can find out more about her characters and how they ended up where they did. I love her creativity and how she stings the story together. In this books she uses unpredictable yet lovable characters tackling indirectly issues to do with family, mental health, love, homosexuality, race and identity. If you are looking for depth, this is the book!!

10.   Beneath the Lions Gaze - Maaza Mengiste

When you are convinced that everything that happens
 is the will of God,
what is there to do but wait until God has mercy?

This book was actually set in Ethiopia at a time when the country was going through a revolution. Given what is currently going on in Zimbabwe (I started reading it at the height of the #thisflag movement) I was so enthusiastic! I was all viva viva as events started to unfold but at the end I was literally in tears. I sent heartbroken messages to my friends at 1AM urging them to pray for a better way out for Zimbabwe. Therefore, if you consider yourself a revolutionary or would just like to find out more about the goings on when a government is overthrown (I’m not insinuating anything here) this is a good book to read. I think we can learn a lot from the experiences of others and this is a book from which I learnt. This book also highlighted that life and relationships can be very complicated and that sometimes ‘loyalty’ is not so straight forward.

11.   Kite runner - Khaled Hosseini

"We are melancholic people, we Afgans,
aren't we? Often we wallow too much in ghamkhori
and self pity. We give into loss, to suffering,
accept it as fact of life, even see it
as necessary. Zendagi migzara, we say, life goes on."

This was a book club book and when my book club did it I actually had exams. I watched the movie trailer and had initially decided that I wasn’t going to read it. It seemed far too disheartening. Needless to say my book club loved it so much and literally forced me to read it. For some reason the world loves this book. There must be something wrong with me though because I wasn’t that much in awe. I did appreciate it though because it gave me insights about issues and occurrences in Afghanistan, there are lessons to be learnt about friendship and loyalty and you also get to explore a lot about society and racial inequality. It’s a deep book I suppose and if these issues are something up your drive I recommend you get yourself a copy. It’s always good to learn more about distant but topical places in the world.

12. Far from Home - Na'ima B. Robert

"It must be that, one day, no one will be exiled Far From Home,
but all will be Free to Return, with Open Hearts
and Willing hands, to Rebuild a Home called
Zimbabwe, as our ancestors built the city
of  stone, Dzimba-dza-mabwe, so long ago."

I came across this book randomly, a friend gave it to me when I had nothing to read. It is set in Zimbabwe and narrates the lives of two girls, a black girl and a white girl, in precolonial Zimbabwe then transitions to post independent Zimbabwe. I loved that in this book the reader was able to understand life on both sides of the story. Most times the story is often told from the viewpoint of only the oppressed and while I am a black Zimbabwean, I have always wanted to know the other side of the story. It doesn't read like propaganda with an agenda, as most books that narrate this kind of story do, but innocently tells the lives of two girls living their lives when the land was taken from 'us' and when we went to take it back. I highly recommend this book for any young Zimbabwean who would like to find a little unbiased context r.e our land situation. 

There are also a few books that are on my line up (waiting patiently on my bookshelf) so I thought it might be a good idea to list them here as well just in case none of the above were interesting enough:

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid
Strife – Shimmer Chinodya
An imperfect Blessing – Nadia Davids
Roots: The Saga of an American Family - Alex Haley
Three wishes - Liane Moriarty

xoxo

Chido Dziva Chikwari

P.S. If anyone is interested my Book Club meets once every six weeks or so and all are welcome! It is free of charge, several copies of the book we will be reading are available for circulation (free of charge as well) and you don’t even have to have read the book as conversation is always very stimulating around various themes that arise in the book we would have read. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me for more details, cchikwari@yahoo.com, or you can like our Facebook page – Harare Open Book Club ( www.facebook.com/harareopenbookclub ).