Sunday read: Our House

Jul152018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: Our House

Sunday read: Our House Murder, property fraud, adultery, betrayal - Our House is brimming with suspense and twists. Fi arrives at her home to find a family moving into her house. The home she and Bram, her husband, had owned for years and had no intention of selling, suddenly belongs to someone else and Fi cannot account for how that happened. (more…)

Jul82018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: indulge me an opportunity to reflect

Books

Sunday read: indulge me an opportunity to reflect Today, I want to reflect on why I read. I definitely have a “type” of novel I gravitate to. I definitely don’t read a book because someone says it’s a bestseller or because it’s been shortlisted for or the winner of a literary award. I read because I love the act. I read because it allows me to lose myself in a solitary space in the pages of a book peopled with characters that I can imagine as I wish them to be. I read because a book is “unputdownable”. (more…)

Jul12018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: The Poet X

Books

Sunday read: The Poet X The Poet X is a novel-in-verse by award-winning slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo. To truly appreciate it’s beauty you The Poet X should not be read but spoken. Take a look at Acevedo’s video to understand how this beautiful piece of writing was conceived. (more…)

Jun162018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: Who Fears Death

Books

Who Fears Death Let me say it up front: this is not an easy novel to read. But it is still one of my top novels of 2018 and I think it’s worth reading. Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death is set in post-apocalyptic Sudan. Her protagonist is Onyesonwu – a daughter of genocide. Her dark-skinned mother of the Okeke people is brutally raped by her pale-skinned father, a Nuru. His people believe they are the chosen ones. Onyesonwu’s father hopes that the son born out of this rape will help him annihilate all of the Okeke people. What he doesn’t bank on is that Onyesonwu (whose name means “who fears death” in Igbo) is a girl who will grow into a fiery-tempered woman with magical powers. Her mission will…

Jun102018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: An American Marriage

Books

Sunday read: An American Marriage An American Marriage kicked off the resurrection of the Oprah Book Club, so there has been quite a bit of hype around it. And I could not wait to get hold of this book. The novel itself has all the necessary ingredients for a tragic love story. But it is so much more. An American Marriage is a timely interrogation of themes and issues that reverberate in African-American society. But it also takes the discussion into new realms. (more…)

May202018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: The Last Romeo

Books

Sunday read: The Last Romeo Someone described The Last Romeo as Sex and the City meets Bridget Jones’s Diary. James is 34 and has just emerged from a 6-year relationship with Adam. He hates his job and his best friend Bella is heading off to Russia - leaving him behind. And what is there to do when you’re adrift, single and lonely in London? Online dating, of course! (more…)

May202018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: What Lies Within

Books

Sunday read: What Lies Within I’ve had a few “burning-issues” kind of books land on my desk recently. These are my favourite kinds of books. Stories that weave an intricate narrative with social observation and even commentary are what I gravitate to. However, I find myself turning to a lighter read every now and then … just to get off the hamster wheel. Sometimes I read just for a good story, a bit of romance and intrigue and to escape the sometimes overwhelming reality of what is going on around me. (more…)

May202018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: A Kind of Freedom

Books

Sunday read: A Kind of Freedom I was eager to begin reading this novel. Reading is an emotional journey for me. It is about testing my emotions, my empathy, and my understanding. For me, a book is gripping because it appeals to me emotionally, it tests me and it leaves me thinking about what I’ve read for a long time to come. (more…)

May202018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: The Betrayal

Books

Sunday read: The Betrayal I’ve just read the first chapter of Kate Furnivall’s The Betrayal and I can’t wait to get into this one. The first pages of this novel are tense and image-laden — filled with dripping blood, despair, collusion … and betrayal. Twin sisters, Romy and Florence, share a horrible secret about the murder of their father. (more…)

May202018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: The Girl Who Saw Lions

Books

Sunday read: The Girl Who Saw Lions There’s no better press drop than a book drop in our home. And when it’s a young adult novel, there’s inevitably an argument about who gets to read the book first. The Girl Who Saw Lions by Berlie Doherty landed on my desk last week. Abela is from a village in Tanzania and has lost everything. She’s forced to flee her home to Britain, where she is an illegal migrant.⠀ (more…)