What books are you reading?

Books remain my veritable companions for grey days, brighter days, easy days and difficult days.

Books that make me tear up, which I cannot read in one stretch because I have mood swings as a result, and books that make me giddy, gay and happy. Then there are books that make me reflect and others, especially creative non-fiction, that make me emulate someone or want to kill a character in the book who has annoyed me or has been ultra mean.

Other non-fiction books give me grand ideas or make me want to write my next book. A number of them inspire me beyond words.

So what books are you currently reading? Please note that I have mentioned ‘book’ in a plural form, which means a lot. This is because I never read one book at a time. I am famously known for reading two or three books at a time. I am also quite well known at rereading books that spoke to me a year or two ago. Sometimes longer. What I read depends on my mood. If I am sad, I am likely to read a perky book; if I have the happiness of two people, I can read a teary book; and if I am in my writing season, I would read an inspirational book or a similar book to what I am writing.

So in the last couple of months, here is my list of books.

Let’s start with the last four weeks.

I have read and concluded the autobiography of one of my favourite American actresses, Viola Davis. “Finding Me” is her memoir, the incredible story of her life. The story of pain to triumph. A truly formidable tale of the pain, sufferings and violence that Viola Davis faces as a child and a young adult before her opportunities in acting. Her strong faith in her latter years and the breakthrough to becoming one of America’s most decorated actresses. I highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks that there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

The second book I am reading, which is ongoing, is the coming-of-age book of the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai. “Finding My Way” is an intimate look at her journey growing up, navigating life at Oxford and experiencing normal young adult milestones like first love and messy friendships. Her arrival at Oxford is very interesting: the loneliness, the aloneness, the clash of Asian and Western cultures. Add this to the parties, the slide in school grades, the discovery of some deception by some international personae and her feeling used. Add this to the epic fights with her parents over her new western-style clothes, the pressure of her compatriots from her home country; finances, and her first bong smoke. This is a truly intriguing book. I am still reading, but it’s a great investment.

My third book is one by a church minister and a powerful singer, a woman very much after my heart, the lovely Raquel Igila. Her book, The Healing Room, is an inspiring book that talks about how to conquer fear, be our brother’s keeper and be the best that we can be. A book that motivates you and serves you great things of the spirit. When you are down and out, this is the book for you.

So there you have the list of books on my desk in the last four weeks.

Before now, I had settled into one of my favourite books, the adventures of one of my favourite TV chefs, the late Anthony Bourdain, in his phenomenal culinary adventures, Kitchen Confidential. After he passed, I grabbed the copy and re-read it.

Another book I am re-reading is Chilean writer Isabel Allende’s Aphrodite, a truly knock-me-over book about food, love, lust and infatuation. It also has a collection of delicious recipes by her mother. African American award-winning writer Maya Angelou’s memoir is unputdownable. “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” is the memoir of her childhood and the extreme racism in the deep South of America. This is another re-read of the American presidential inaugural poet, the great Maya Angelou.

As re-reads go, Oprah-nominated Nigerian writer Uwem Akpan’s top-level collection of short stories makes the list. I particularly recommend the cover story, “Say ‘You Are One of Them'”, a haunting story about the Rwandan genocide. But every

The story in this collection is platinum.

So that’s my list.

A book is an adventure. A place to disappear into when the world is tough, travel with characters in a fictional book and derive motivation and multiple reflective vibes from a creative non-fiction book.

Share your list with me at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.