Tag: fiction

We began the year in England around the 1850s when there was a cholera outbreak and several people died. Shortly in this period, Prince Albert succumbed to typhoid. Fallen Grace took us to low-income England where survival was a struggle and those who could not afford shelter went to workhouses. This is the first fiction book I have encountered with a very detailed bibliography mostly because of its historical bit. It assured me that my academic writing skills will still be of use in leisure writing. A friend of mine read this book in French and I would like to have that experience. Since I do not mind re-reading this book I might as well.

Next, we wandered off to Australia. The good sister was a psychological thriller that scattered my cognitive capacity. It was an absolute mind fuck and reminded me of Collen Hoover’s Verity. Mid-year Queenie took me back to the UK. I liked how different this book was. In total, I managed to read 30 books and If I keep up this writing style, the prose will be longer. What was different in my 2022 reading was that I only read the books I liked given that my book club took an indefinite break. Before the break, Our January read was memoirs of a porcupine which I struggled with. I did like the discussion we had about the book and the realization that there was much I had failed to appreciate when reading it.

There was a higher rate of re-reading in 2022 because much as I wanted to read, I wanted authors I am familiar with and books I knew would deliver. I read untamed by Glennon Doyle and let be a woman by Elisabeth Eliott twice. Untamed is my go-to for that push and I have accepted that I will keep going back to it. Morning Noon and Night and The Stars shine Down were my Sidney Sheldon’s re-read for the year. I also re-read The Mothers by Brit Bennet and still on the high of the good writing, I picked up the Vanishing Half by the same author.

I had several notable reads featured in my blog posts throughout the year. Recursion by Blake Crouch which never got mentioned was one of them. He is always my go-to author for good science fiction. I still think Dark Matter by him rates higher maybe because it is what introduced me to him. He is also the only author I follow on social media as I try to understand how he comes up with such stories that trip our reality. Reading his books also makes me appear smart because of the quantum physics picked in the pages. Let me plug in a series called good behavior based on his works. The script and the characters Letty and Javier are it for me.

Colleen Hoover also made a comeback in 2022 with Reminders of Him which I absolutely loved. I have been wary of reading It starts with us because I did not want it to ruin it ends with us. Then, I did not wish to know Atlas’ story but after reading the blurb now, I am certain I will pick it up to usher in February.

In between the year, there were books that were just there for me. I read the Sex Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa because there was a play based on it and all the notable women in the theatre and arts industry had roles in it which made tickets go for 5000KES. My thoughts were that Girl Woman Other by Bernardine Evaristo was better at exploring that theme much as it was not centered on African women. Considering at the start it is quite a difficult read with the lack of punctuation and several characters being introduced, it is a gift that keeps on giving for the readers who stay put.

I read the golden couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekannen as part of my research on whether I should give therapy a try. The book is about a couple who go for therapy. I did see the perks from the book but mostly came out with the idea that 10 sessions are enough. Tell me lies by Carola Lovering was quite relatable. the story not so much but I often drop the title conveniently in situations I believe a significant or not-so-significant other is pulling my leg. The book cover was also among the best for the books I read in 2022. I got this recommended by the bad on paper podcast I listen to.

I wanted to write a review of this book when it was still fresh in my mind but I somehow talked myself out of it. This book will trigger you. well not the whole of it, parts of it. You have either been a Lucy or you know a Lucy. Someone summed it up on google reads as follows and I think this is the best depiction.

Tell me lies is about that one person who still haunts you – the other one. the wrong one. the one you couldn’t let go of. The one you will never forget.

There are three sets of parents; those who are so in love with each other that their children are inconsequential, those who are still together because of their children and lastly those who do their role as partners and parents. The most fun we ever had by Claire Lambard is centered on Marilyn and David, (the first set of parents) and their four daughters. Wendy’s acquired sense of humor, her relationship that is full of love and not so typical. Violet’s perfect family that is not so perfect. Liza finding herself pregnant with a baby she is not sure she wants by a man she is not sure she loves. Grace who has that best friend who can be a boyfriend. Each of the relationships in this book is very close to reality. This was also the longest read of the year with 621 pages.

The following books had covers that I think were in line with the plot: Fallen Grace, Reckless Girls, Born a Crime, Memoirs of a Porcupine, Cilka’s Journey, A man called Ove, Queenie and Tell me Lies. I liked the cover of the Most Fun We Ever Had and Such a Fun Age.

Books in 2022 were what I needed them to be at the time of reading. I hope to discover more books in 2023, revisit some authors from the past and read more of their work. My book-related goal in 2023 is to be more active on Goodreads.

Let us keep traveling in books in 2023.

A lady who has piqued my interest for the past two years declared this her current read. The Author’s name sounded familiar, I had purposed to read, I think I read the book, Kindness of enemies by her. I took up this book to have something in common with the lady. The book cover implores you to pick it up. It looks playful, a simple and easy ready.

The blurp was promising a story about three women who embark on a journey and through it they find themselves. Iman is in her early twenties, already married a couple of times and has no means of self sustenance hence the marriages. Moni is a wife who had given birth to a differently abled child and neglected her role as a wife to be a full time mother. She prides herself in that and feels that there is no greater honor than to be at her child’s beck and call. Some women might have been in this position or still are and I applaud the author for addressing this. Last is Salma who is happily married at least to the outsider but deep down she is fighting battles. Decades into her marriage, she still wonders whether she made the right choice. She stalks her first love on social media to see the life he is living and imagines herself in it.

There might seem to be a trend here of me only reading books about women, written by women and this is not orchestrated. I might have felt strongly about them or was bothered enough to write about them but in between reading city of girls and this, I read men without women by Haruki Murakami and the silent patient by Alex Michaelides.

By now you are accustomed to the way I conduct my reviews. To the new reader, I give snippets of conversations or pick lines from the book and in doing that, I aim to help you in decision making on whether or not to read the book. The lines I pick will not spoil your reading experience in any way if that is your eventual decision.

children can be rude to their parents but never to the waiter

I don’t know which parenting handbook gave this tip that well behaved children should be polite to strangers, people who provide services, adults in general but no emphasis on the parents. As a child one could get away with shouting at your parent but if you pulled the same action to another adult, you would never hear the end of it.

Every holiday was a threat… perfect length turned into indulgence, time sitting heavy on idle hands, the mind free to find fault with time left behind, too much friction between people, familiarity turning into contempt.

The next time you plan a holiday, make it short.. resist the urge of going for a week to Mombasa; three days two nights is adequate. I never thought of holidays as a threat but ever since I read that line that is all I see holidays as. Guests who overstay their welcome eventually leave when things have turned sour. All night spent in the clubs ( back in the day) turns friends to despicable people. When you look back and admit to yourself, you will agree with the author. At least we now know how to prevent that going forward.

For the three women who took the journey too long, they realized that there is freedom from pride and convention, freedom from the need to put on a brave face or pretend that things are not as bad as they appear to be. This is the only positive outcome of such long holidays; one gets to untangle the deeper feelings and if the process does not ruin the relationship in the process, it sweeps cobwebs off it.

The actions considered small and casual not the big ones carried on the peg of self righteousness. It was the small choices the characters had made in their lives that was thrown at them in their attempt to sweep off their cobwebs; questioning their righteousness. Mantra: Resist the urge of a week’s trip ; two nights are adequate.

For coming this far, here is an unpopular opinion from one of the characters: Isn’t marriage a form of religious sanctioned prostitution? She argues, prostitution involves someone giving their body in exchange of material gain. In marriage, much as the holy book says it is ordained for procreation, there is significant material gain and what of the married couples who cannot/ do not procreate, what is marriage for them?