Books We Read: 11 Readers on Reading in 2016 —Ifeh Agbonmireh
www.read.i.ngIfeh Agbonmire
For the last 6 years I have consistently read 100 plus books. How do I do it? I read 2 books every week. I belong to a book club that prescribes a book a week, so I never run short of what to read. I also found a system of reading early mornings, lunch (also steal time from work) and bed time, so my reading doesn’t succumb to the excuse of there is no time. Reading is one of the pivotally things I believe I was sent to earth to do. Maybe that’s why I was sent in this age not the stone or bronze ages, the democratisation of the options to read is a bonanza, I can start with a physical book, move to my phone, read on my laptop and end the book on my kindle.
Reading 100 plus books makes it hard to come up with a condensed list of 10 notable reads but I will give it a shot.
Notable Reads
No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel García Márquez
Gabo is my favourite author and every year I must read and reread a couple of his books. This book was my favourite of the ones I read this year. The Colonel and his wife are poor and grieving the death of their son. They have nothing; the poverty is well captured by Marquez’s descriptive skills. For 15 years without fail the Colonel has waited for a mail that will contain his pension, but the postman comes every Friday but has nothing for the Colonel. The novel has no beginning nor ending. The reader is dropped in the middle of a pessimistic story without conflict but rich in irony.
Gyasi’s debut is a glorious epic voyage of black history from three hundred years ago to the present day. The horrifying act of slavery is delicately captured and the implications are laid bare for people to see. It starts with the separation of two sisters, Effia and Esi, and tells the story of their genealogy with each person’s story told with discipline and fine craft. It is hard to believe that this is a debut from a writer who is just 26 years old. It is hands down my best book for the year.
The Black Widow by Daniel Silva
This book is the sixteenth of the Gabriel Allon series and I have read all of them and it is my favourite. Gabriel Allon is a legendary Israeli spy, assassin and art restorer. He has led the most delicate and dreaded missions and has paid heavy prices on many of them. In this one he faces a villain, Saladin, who has orchestrated some dastardly attacks on some of Europe cities and is largely unknown. This book takes you the dark and ruthless world of ISIS, shows you the brain-washing it carries out and how amorphous network it is.
The Cartel takes you to the dark world of the drug cartels and the mayhem they create in the Americas. DEA agent Art Keller had put Adan Barrera away in Book 1, The Power of the Dog, but Adan Barrera is out of prison and ready to put his dynasty back again. But the fervent Keller goes all out to stop it from happening. An epic story of power, corruption, revenge, violence and justice spanning ten years of bloodletting and scheming.
Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole
I dare say that Teju Cole is one of the most brilliant intellectual writers from Africa, I admire his thought provoking essays and his photography. I am yet to read his latest book Known and Strange Things so while waiting I decided to reread this gem of a book. I initially didn’t like it when I first read it years ago because at thought it pandered to the single story of wretchedness in Africa the West likes, but now I see it as an honest portrayal of everyday life in Nigeria. It seems the Nigeria of then is even better than now, tells a lot.
Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John
Elnathan John was a literary superstar before he published his first book. He has an enormous talent and ego to boot, so the spotlight was out to see if his book will match the talk. Elnathan John delivered with this delicate and unflinching gaze at what gives rise to fundamentalism and radical movements. Dantala is a street boy who is preyed on by a society that is inverted. He is recruited by politicians during elections to cause havoc and barely escaped with his life when the police tried to restore calm. He escaped and was taken in by a sheik, but the quiet, calm life is upended again when the sheik’s deputy leads a radical movement.
Almost all reviews will state that Blackass is a retelling of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, this is true, but it is a big exploration of the ‘what if’ question and the attendant changes it brings. Furo Wariboko wakes up one morning before an interview and discovers that he has changed from a black man to a white man. This condition instantly changes his status in Lagos. Blackass is an intense black comedy that looks into the identity question.
The conclave is a congregation of cardinals, the princes of the Catholic Church, who assemble to choose a pope when there is a vacancy and it is as competitive as any group of men can be. Cardinal Lomelli is the Dean of the Congregation, he is in charge of coordinating the process, he expected a straight forward election, but when he discovered that a cardinal was asked to resign by the pope before his death and another had fathered a child early in his ministry and they were all front runners, he just had to do something. The more actions he took the more he discovered that he was twisting the race and it was getting out of hand. The pressure to choose a pope, the political system in the Vatican and the expectation of the people are captured here. A thrilling quick read which stays with you. Robert Harris the author of Fatherland and Enigma still has the ability to spike your pulse.
To Quote Myself by Khaya Dlanga
Read my review here.
Read my review here.
Not Worth the Hype
This book was a media sensation in Nigeria. Most illegally downloaded book in Nigeria and also a bestseller. Toke Makinwa is a celebrity in Nigeria. She decided to write a memoir about her life, how she became Toke the celebrity but she just focused on her failed marriage and serial cheating former husband, Maje. The narration was flat and insipid but I think it is a book people still need to read for the lessons inherent in it.
And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile
It had a good start but the story could not be sustained. Jowhor Ile is a good writer with a lot of promise, he was hyped by Chimamanda Adichie and I am sure that didn’t work in his favour with this ok debut book. I look forward to his second book; I hope he fulfils his promise.
Butterfly Fish by Irenosen Okojie
The only book this year I did not finish. May not be a bad book, it may be due to how I felt at that point, but this book did not hook me at all. It dragged and was drab. I like magical realism and I will give this book a second glance in 2017.
Looking Forward to Read in 2017
• Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole
• Never Look an American in the Eye by Okey Ndibe
• Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo
• Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
• Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
Ifeh Agbonmire is a bookworm, has neither cats nor dogs, writes as a way to free the thoughts spinning around his head but primarily is a reader.
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This is the seventh of eleven pieces on Readers on Reading in 2016.