Books of 2013

Hi all, Today, I am going to very briefly review a few of the books that I read in 2013. I think I read more Nigerian books this year than I have all my life - put together - hence four Nigerian books and one American.

1. Half of a yellow Sun: With this book, Chimamanda Adichie solidified her previously semi solid status as the new undisputed queen of Nigerian literature. Usually, when a book is that long, it has the ability to very easily become boring, especially for me. I find a lot of things boring. You've written a great book if your readers cannot forget your characters, and she did that very well. I have a crush on 'Kainene' as a matter of fact.

2. The Great Ponds: Elechi Amadi is Elechi Amadi and he will always be. He writes the way he wants to write and I think that's cool. I have a problem though, with the way this book ended, and to be candid, I did not find it extremely appealing - the whole package. Maybe that's because of the setting, I am not really entirely cool with the whole village thing, However, I thought it was a nice story, a very important story.

3. The Joys of Motherhood: I finished this book today. I thought it was nice. Buchi Emecheta's appealing writing made a book I would have found boring, quite interesting. I also did not like the way it ended, I didn't think she needed to die. I don't know what the writer wanted to achieve with Nnu Ego death at the end. The book would still have made sense if she did not die.

4. The Concubine - I read The Great Ponds before I read The Concubine so I knew what to expect. I must say I feel that The Concubine is up there among the top books I've ever read, not just because of the way it was written, but also, because of the story. As a writer, you can't go wrong with a good story. Big ups to Elechi Amadi.

5. The Brethren: I started reading John Grisham's works late last year, he's a genius and The Brethren has to be the best novel I read all year - and believe me, I read lots. It's a classic definition of two different stories colliding and then walking hand in hand, like a confluence. And, it ended very well too; you can choose the future of the brethren that is preferable to you. It does not get better than that.

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone. Celebrate responsibly and remember the reason we celebrate in the first place. Peace!

AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY

Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Mali, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Lybia, Niger, Angola, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South

Africa, Malawi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Madagascar... These are only a few countries in Africa.
You may be wondering why I'm doing this - naming all these nations - well, it's because still, in the 21st century some people still think of Africa as a big space that contains the same people - black people -, that do the same things and have the same cultures and speak the same language, unfortunately for these people, fortunately for us - Africans - this is not the case.
I was watching TV(cos I do that), and there was a conversation between a black woman and I white one; The white woman asked the black one where she was from.
'Zimbabwe.' The black woman responded.
'You're from Africa?' This white woman said surveyed with her eyes this black woman; Probably trying to find proof of her 'African-ness'
'Yes. I am from Africa.' The black woman responded.
No! You are not from Africa lady, You are from Zimbabwe. Though Zimbabwe is in Africa, you cannot say that you are from Africa. That is wrong.
If for example, the black woman had asked the white woman where she was from, She would have said she was English, or she was from England. She won't say She's from Europe.
Now, let's talk about 'Mean Girls', Yes, the movie - where a bunch of little girls were trying to be cool, and yes, I said little girls, no more than 17. I get that it's an old movie, made over a decade ago but I just cannot look past the way Africa was portrayed in that movie - we were more or less animals, in fact, Africa was portrayed as a 'jungle'. More than once, Cady, the new teen girl (who by the way came from Africa - not South Africa, not Zimbabwe, not Kenya, not Nigeria - but Africa.) referred to the backward behaviour of her unruly schoolmates as the behaviour of animals in the 'jungle', she never said she was from the jungle, she said she was from Africa, and then suddenly bad behaviour could be likened to those of animals in the 'jungle' - it's ridiculous.
Mean Girls is a good movie but the guys who made it could have given a little more dignity to my continent - to Africa, I have never seen a more adept definition of ignorance than was displayed in that movie.

Africa is not a country, It is a continent, containing very any countries - just like Europe or Asia.  

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Love You.

 “Life is too short to waste any amount of time on wondering what other people think about you. In the first place, if they had better things going on in their lives, they wouldn't have the time to sit around and talk about you. What's important to me is not others' opinions of me, but what's important to me is my opinion of myself.”
― C.Joy Bell.

My gums are black, 60% of my smile are my teeth, the remaining 40%, my gum(s). I don't hate myself for that, I think I'm sexy as heaven when I smile. Maybe I am not a model example of greatness, But I'm not half bad, I assure.
I've never understood why people pay so much attention to the thoughts of other people. Life is awesome when you mind the things you can control and let go of what you cannot. One can't control the thoughts of others, so one does not have to mind them.
It is important to like one's self and to be comfortable in one's own skin, because, otherwise, one stands the risk of becoming 'fake', becoming exactly the opposite of what one really is. Why would you want to be another version of somebody else when you could be the original version of yourself? It's criminal!

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

LOST: Becoming an Addict!

I recently wrote an article for a local magazine and I thought I'd share it here. It's about addiction, the start of addiction, any kind of addiction, not just the one represented. We find that we always have a choice. 

Take a look: 

LOST

How I became an addict: A fictional tale.

The place was dark; the light was very dim, the music was loud, very loud, too loud. I thought I would go deaf. Julius and Andrew and everybody else there, did not seem to mind, they were comfortable with it. When I entered with Julius the first time, I had to run back out. But Julius laughed at me, and called me a Jew and then forced me back in.

When I entered again, the people that were not on the dance floor, dancing to the loud music that made no sense, were laughing at me. They had glassy stares, like zombies. Andrew was shaking his head in disgust at me, the chest pocket of his grey long sleeved shirt bulged out.

‘What did I do?’ I wanted to ask, but I thought even if I did, there was no way he would here me.

Julius then went to a corner and sat on one of the raffia woven chairs, there were 6 chairs there, surrounding a short table, I walked sheepishly to join him, as if, if walked purposefully the ground would open up and swallow me. I sat next to him, quietly, staring at the chair opposite me, wondering what genius designed it. Andrew joined us. He sat opposite me and laughed hysterically, I wondered if there was something wrong with my face, I wanted a mirror, to look at myself with, and then he shook his head and mumbled a few words. I did not hear him, the music was too loud.

Julius brought out two bottles of cough syrup from his blue jean trouser pocket; I thought it was strange; he had not coughed even once since that day began. I wanted to ask him if he was sick, but I did not.

Andrew gave him a thumb up, and then brought out two of his own, from his shirt pocket, Oh, that is why the pocket bulged out, I thought. But what were they doing with cough syrups, what was going on? I wondered. Then the music stopped.

Before long, the three unoccupied chairs became occupied; one other boy and two girls joined us, sweating profusely, as if they had been running under the sun, but no, they had only been dancing.

Julius handed me one of the bottles, I cringed, what was I supposed to do with it? I did not have cough. I looked at him, and he looked right back at me, ‘Take it,’ he said.

‘But, I am not coughing.’ I said. 

They all laughed, all five of them, including the girls, I felt embarrassed.

One of the girls collected the bottle from Julius, opened it and gulped. Half of the purple liquid was gone. Andrew nodded in pride, and then said to me: ‘Jew, look at a girl doing it. Prove that you are a man and not a child.’

Julius dropped an empty bottle of the syrup on the table, he had poured the content into a cup that contained sprite, and then he drank it. I watched his eyes slowly enter into its socket. Andrew had challenged me, and I had to act or lose my reputation, as if I had any. I collected the bottle from the girl and slowly started drinking, it tasted like honey, I finished the remaining. Suddenly, I had become a man, in their eyes. They cheered!

Andrew gave me another and I finished it. I felt everywhere become hazy, people became shadows. That was when I slipped away. Now, I no longer have control over it. I am addicted.

But every time I think back to that day, I realize that I had a choice. I am lost now, today, because of something I could have avoided. I can easily blame Julius and Andrew, for introducing me into this life which I now find mellifluous but really is the opposite, into this gaol of drug addiction, but that would be cowardice. It is my fault; I wanted to be a man, I wanted to be cool, I wanted to fit in.

 That boy had a choice, you see. You always have a choice, no matter what.
 Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!

Hi

It's December, normally at this time, we should be experiencing the harmattan season, but we are not. the harmattan mornings are cold, and the afternoon's aren't as hot as what is the norm. but there is no harmattan yet. i was discussing with a friend in another part of Nigeria, it's the same according to her. The heat is consuming, I am almost too scared to go out because the sun looks vicious.
In other parts of the world, it's cold this time of the year, but not hear, not now.
I can't wait till the weather is cold again, and the rain begins again, that's months away though. For now, I'm stuck in the heat.
lucky you if you are not.
Hi. Really had nothing to talk about so I thought I'd ramble about this immense heat. bye!

Till next time,, Keep dreaming!!