Books We Read: 11 Readers on Reading in 2016 —Adedapo Adesanya
www.read.i.ngAdedapo Adesanya
2016 was a great year for books and book lovers and the beautiful world of literature. Here are the ten notable books I read in 2016.
Notable Reads
This beautifully written satire is about a young man's isolated upbringing in the unpopular ghetto of Dickens. Raised by a controversial father amidst racism who performed practical tests on him. He enlists the help of the town's most famous resident and initiates the most outrageous action conceivable—reinstating slavery and segregating the local high school in the 21st century which lands him in the Supreme Court. What gripped me about this book was how Paul Beatty painted sad reality in the best way known to man, through humour.
Favourite Quote:
That’s the problem with history, we like to think it is a book—that we can turn the page and move the fuck on. But history isn’t the paper it is printed on. It is memory, and memory is time, emotions, and song. History is the things that stay with you.
Submission by Michel Houellebecq
Submission as the title entails tells the tale of the fatalistic future of France. Told through Fracios, a middle aged professor going through existentialist dilemma in a politically tensioned nation. Alliances have been formed and Islamic laws have come into force; women are veiled, polygamy is encouraged and life in France sets a new course. This book piqued my interest initially because it was released on the same day as the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Favourite Quote:
Only literature can grant you access to a spirit from beyond the grave—a more direct, more complete, deeper access than you’d have in conversation with a friend.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
This tells the coming of age story of a magically gifted young man who grows into the most notorious wizard the world has ever seen. I found this an interesting journey because it was written in poetic prose, every word blending into each other and the ingenuity of mixing magic, music, and poetry into a gripping piece.
Favourite Quote:
We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be.
Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
Berger takes the reader on a journey on six certain factors that makes products and ideas popular. From consumer products, policy initiatives, and even viral YouTube Videos, the professor of Marketing asks the vital question; Why make things popular and reveals the six basic principles that drives all sort of things to become contagious.
Favourite Quote:
People don't think in terms of information. They think in terms of narratives. But while people focus on the story itself, information comes along for the ride.
This captivating memoir of South African comedian Trevor Noah explores the life of being a coloured child during apartheid, growing up with a rebellious, religious mother and an abusive stepfather. Trevor Noah guides the reader through how racism, privileges, violence and humour shaped his life keeping the authors till the painful last pages.
Favourite Quote:
I remember being told as a child, "if you don't hit your woman, you don't love her". That was talk you'd hear from men in bars and in the streets.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Harari's brilliant book on the history of Mankind takes the reader from a timeline of history to the present, from the Cognitive Revolution to the Agricultural Revolution, to the Unification of Humankind and to the Scientific Revolution. Harari wrote this in flowing prose that even a non-science oriented person will find it deep.
Favourite Quote:
How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order is imagined.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
This book depicts the tragic fate of the laws that lay down who should be loved and how. It is a compelling masterpiece that spread the disappointment of love, the disparity of families and the unbalance of nature. This book nearly drove me to tears.
Favourite Quote:
Change is one thing. Acceptance is another.
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
This psychological thriller revolves around Roderick Macrae who commits a triple murder back in 1869. Recounting the actions that led to his conviction in form of memoir, transcripts, and newspaper report made this book really enjoyable.
Favourite Quote:
One man can no more see into the mind of another than he can see inside a stone...
Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey
Set in Ghana, Kwei Quartey introduce the readers to Detective Darko Dawson who is sent to the village of Ketanu to investigate the murder of a young AIDS worker. Not only will he unravel that the murder as a crime of passion but be thrown into a maze that includes clarity on his mother's disappearance and cultural influence of rural life. The other strength of the book is its exploration of modern Ghana where traditional beliefs in witchcraft and healers exist alongside modern scientific and medical practices in an often uncomfortable way and did I mention Darko's love for Malta Guinness?
Wizard of The Crow by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
This African masterpiece deserves an honourable ovation because of its portrayal of Africa's postcolonial mentality. Set in the Free Republic of Abraria, the novel depicts with unwavering humour certain elements of truth through a myriad of character from the anonymous His High Mighty Excellency, the eponymous hero; The Wizard, sycophant ministers and a corrupt world organisation.
Ngugi exhibits his sheer genius with this one.
Favourite Quote:
Does rough weather choose men over women? Does the sun beat on men, leaving women nice and cool?
Worthy Mentions
To Jack, the small room his mother had been confined to was the world, in a twist of fate, he escapes and sees the world and its wonders. Room was truly a captivating read. Personally, this novel revealed how well we are comfortable in our space when there is so much more.
Favourite Quote:
Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing.
The Girl On the Train by Paula Hawkins
Hawkins debut novel takes on a psychological journey about Rachel, whose life has taken a rough turn and takes the same commuter train every day until something changes. Rachel sees this as a chance to offer help but she is thrown into an inexplicable situation where she finds that her perception isn't her reality. A noteworthy criticism is the fact that the reader finds himself faced with an unreliable narrator.
Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John
Elnathan's BOAT focuses on the fifteen-year-old Dantala who grows up in violence in a society crippled by political upheaval, religious intolerances and social fragmentation. In fine prose, Elnathan delivers a worthy debut novel.
Favourite Quote:
Women can be very annoying. Sometimes they are very nice and they make you stay up all night thinking about them, unable to breathe because you feel your heart wanting to jump out of your chest. Other times they act as if the world is theirs to take, as if men were made to fulfil their every need.
The novel opens with Furo Wariboko physical transformation from a Nigerian to a white man, he is thrown in to the daily existential struggle of living in Lagos. The artful description of Lagos and social media woven together to deliver this fierce satire is a force to reckon with.
Favourite Quotes:
Crudity is a disease that exacerbates rather than cure.
One of the reasons I will never leave Nigeria is because, in this country, anything can happen.
Not Worth the Hype
Othuke's debut novel, Odufa, is a lover's tale about Anthony Mukoro and the eponymous Odufa. I dare say this book portrayed masochistic love and this is the kind of book a reader finds himself struggling to finish but couldn't wait to be done with.
The novel centres around a mother and her daughter's life but honestly it took a lot of self-will not to throw my phone at the wall, that was how exasperated I was.
It used to be a welcoming idea to write about the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War, but this book is an exemption the reader will find himself reading a theme that has become a trope in Nigerian literature. One major let down in this book was the writing style, which could have given the book a lift despite the errant plot.
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
This is not a book to be reckoned with except a reader wishes to deal with the abstract and not meaningful writing elements like veritable plot which this book found lacking.
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by Jack Thorne
Told Nineteen years later when the Hogwarts squad from the Harry Potter series are all grown, Harry Potter's son Albus embarked on his own journey with expectations to meet. What didn't do it for me is the deviation from the initial franchise, it is an absurd thing to learn that after Voldermort had dissipated, we learn he had a child. No! No! One can't bear such heartache and then there was also the insipid adoption of time travel. These are more just made the book underwhelming.
Randomly, I fear for myself not to include Toke Makinwa's On Becoming but I have to say, I have mixed feelings concerning this book because it took a great deal of strength to write about so much imitacy and memories but it won't deviate the open minded reader from the fact that so much masochism disguised as love was served in this memoir. Also, the author had benevolently won our empathy till the last few pages where she started blaming herself. Toke well done! You played yourself.
Adedapo Adesanya lives in Lagos. He spends his time tutoring, reading and listen to good music.
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This is the eighth of eleven pieces on Readers on Reading in 2016.