With the weekend (and a holiday) fast approaching, the streets are going to be filled with people celebrating Nigeria’s independence. If you’d rather stay home reading or you’re the type to bury yourself in a book while at a party, here are some titles to keep you sane through the weekend.
“At War with Love” by Christtie Jay
Christtie Jay’s debut book “At War With Love” is a collection of poems. In 101 pages, Christtie attempts to explore quite a number of intense themes: love (and the lack thereof), heartbreak, abuse, dysfunctional families, unrequited love, lust, short-lived celibacy, hits and misses, the dungeon called the friendzone, flings, returning to ex-lovers, more flings, despair and hope. The style is unconventional, non-conforming, and Christtie churns this one out with no intention of taking any prisoners.
The book is, for want of a more appropriate adjective, intense. The emotion in the verses is palpable, and you can tell that the lines come from the deeper places. If these poems are non-personal, then Christtie’s heightened sense of imagination is worthy of commendation. However, one cannot help but believe that the poems in this collection are borne out of real-life experiences – the longing, the burning, the affectations, the wishing, the yearning and the learning. The stanzas reek of an outpouring, a purging of sorts, and anyone who has ever been (wholly) caught up in the crazy web called Love would find this absolutely relatable. Anyone with half a heart would admit that Christtie Jay brought all the feels with these pages.
Get a copy here for just N500
“On Becoming Thirty & The Gift of a Blue Sky”
This book is a compilation of Bura-Bari’s thoughts, chronicling key incidents from his younger years, as well as major experiences and lessons learnt as he clocks a score and ten. In 116 pages, he dwells on his days in the not-so-quiet city of Nsukka where he obtained his university degree, crises of faith, humble beginnings in Ogoni, his struggles to come to terms with the death of an elder sister, and peers who died young from living too fast. He also attempts to educate anyone who cares to read, on the dignity of labour, overcoming self-doubt, balancing the use of social media and its attendant distractions, the inevitability of waning friendships, aspiring to powerful circles of influence, and he draws lessons from a recent Jay Z track, “The Story Of O.J”. At thirty, Bura-Bari has been through a lot, and he bravely lets us in on his life’s journey in this book.
Get a copy here for just N450
My Mind Is No Longer Here by Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
“My Mind Is No Longer Here” is a novel set in the later part of the previous decade, and it tells the story of four men with different backgrounds who share a common desire to switch climes. There is Donatus, a photojournalist fed up with unpaid salaries and financial inadequacy in his romantic relationship; Chidi, an undergraduate willing to forfeit his education for (anticipated) financial stability and respect among peers; Haruna, a doctor coming to terms with his mother’s death who is sick of the country’s health facilities, and Osahon, a school dropout seeking to put a dark past behind him. These men place themselves at the mercy of Yinka, an aspiring legislator who seems to have the right connections. His offer to help them get into Germany and the consequent visa processing seem too good to be true, but they stick to their resolve anyway, even in the face of suspicion on the part of family and friends.
The book highlights a number of issues, like brain drain, unemployment, immigration hassles and a sinking economy, which ironically has got worse. It also explores drug trafficking, internet fraud (which was at its peak at the time, and which has earned the nation not-so-honourable mentions in series like Shameless and Blackish), and illegal entry into Europe via North Africa, a major thing at the time in which the narrative is set. Sylva loves talking about socio-economic stuff, and that really comes into play here.
Want to read this book? Get a copy here for just N1960.
Happy Holidays!
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