My 2019 reading feast

2019 plummeted my reading culture. Without realizing, I preferred travelling with a book in hand. It enabled me to withstand traffic and made waiting for people who don’t keep time bearable. Slowly I developed a culture and quickly joined a community of people who love reading. I go for book club meetings once a month, I subscribe to a podcast that has monthly book discussions and several book suggestions, I devote an entire board on my Pinterest to book titles I have to read and lastly I share my thoughts on books I have read and insist that my friends and family read the same.

By the 31st of December 2019 I had finished reading around 35 books. The figure is not exact because I was simply reading for the fun of it and only made a count of those I could remember after getting to know that people had set reading targets for the year. I beat myself up because there are some books I out rightly refused to set my eyes on and others I consider nuanced like the classics but still struggled reading. Thanks to a comment on the bookclub podcast I tune to ‘any reading is good reading‘; It validated my choices and made me more comfortable sharing them.

One book I reread to refresh my memory as it became a book club read later in the year ( It ends with us by Colleen Hoover), four I reread because I enjoyed the story so much and wanted to relieve the feeling the writing had evoked in me at a past time( What the future holds by Sarah Mkhonza, Memories of midnight by Sidney Sheldon, the Other side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon, and Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon).

If it isn’t evident thus far, Sidney Sheldon is my all time favorite author. I have read all his books even the ones Co- Authored by Tilly Bagshawe. Rage of Angels holds a special place in my heart. I prefer the books solely written by him to the co-authored ones. Nevertheless, I am grateful that Tilly Bagshawe brings to life his unfinished manuscripts.

If I had my passport stamped for every place I have traveled to in books, I would have been to Nigeria thrice, France, the US more than 10 times, Greece, Norway, Poland, Thailand, Somalia, Brazil and Switzerland. These are among the notable countries I remember due to their vivid description. Katerina by James Frey took me to Paris, France. I landed at Charles de Gaulle and really explored the streets of Paris. I dined at a local Cafe, had a local bar that I frequented, spent days at the Louvre admiring striking pieces of Art and had conversations next to the Seine.

The genres I read were diverse. The Tattooist of Aushwitz a historical Fiction by Heather Morris made me experience Hitler’s ruling. The fact that I was reading this book while on a luxury vacation heightened the pain felt by those in concentration camps. I remember finishing the last sentence while at Border Control getting my Passport stamped and I shed a tear.

2019 was my first audio book listening experience. There is this podcast called nipe story hosted by a Kenyan, Kevin Mwachiro that gives voice to a compilation of African short story fiction, Kenyan stories. The story that got me looped is The Prostitute and heartbreak by Michael Ochoki. You have to listen to this. The story telling is just amazing and credit should also go to the story itself but the narrator, my oh my! Here’s a link https://podtail.com/en/podcast/nipe-story/the-prostitute-and-heartbreak-by-michael-ochoki/

Eleven minutes by Paulo Coelho is a book that should be read. I had a wild guess on what the tittle would be alluding but the discovery I made in the pages of the book was not one that crossed my mind. Three women by Lisa Taddeo gave me a list of vocabulary as well as a different challenge in life. When I think of a breakdown in a relationship, I tend to focus on the wrong things either party did. What of the things neither party did?

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire was a totally pointless read. I finished the book simply to voice my disappointment at my book club meeting. The only silver lining the book had were the life lessons ‘quotes’ that i’ll share. ” Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer would end in a downpour.” I do relate to this. “Maybe we just lived between hurting and healing” this is food for thought. “I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn’t get- and never would get” I almost conquer with John Green when he says that our favourite quotations reveal more about us than the authors who wrote them.

A girl walks into a bar by Paige Helena was a first read of its kind. It is a book where you get to choose what happens to the character and therefore determine your ending. I enjoyed reading it so much that even after having my ending, I went back to look at what the outcome would have been if I had made a different choice. Don’t we all want this? This reminds me of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. It brings out the existence of a parallel universe and there being different versions of us living the life of the path we did not take when we were at crossroads.

Hidden in Plain sight by Nurrudin Farah is one of those books I am pleased I got to lay my hands on. It is based in Nairobi, Kenya and Somalia. Reading about the streets you know, places you frequent resonates with you. Given that the theme of the book is terrorism, I cried uncontrollably when reading it despite the fact that I was on public transport which raised an alarm from the concerned driver whom I sat next to.

The Blessed girl by Angela makholwa is another notable read. It brings to light challenges faced by young girls and is very realistic.

My author of the year has to be Colleen Hoover. I have read five of her books and enjoyed each one of them. I think she first has a theme then writes around it. Each of the five books has addressed a particular issue. Hopeless is on defilement and its effect, Without Merit is on Mental Health, It ends with us is on physical abuse in a relationship, All your perfects is on infertility and Verity is just twisted. This is the book that introduced me to the author and i’m still intrigued by it. I have questions that only Colleen can address.

Alafair Burke is an author whose books I will read more of in 2020. The two I read this year have been thrilling( The wife, and The Ex). Given the background of the Author, hers is a mind I would love to pick. The Book club podcast I have been referring to is called bad on paper. I got to learn about it sometime in November in time to join them for their December read which I really enjoyed and helped get me in the Christmas mood. The book is titled One day in December by Josie Silver . Three Women by Lisa Taddeo was also a podcast bookclub read and they brought the author in for a discussion which is a rare opportunity.

2019 in books has been an opportunity to live vicariously and I hope you too decide to enjoy life as a different character all through the 365 days.