All posts filed under: Books

How About Some New Books?

Published by Osemhen

If you’ve been meaning to cop great books at a giveaway price, here’s your chance. I’m donating dozens of books to a book drive for a good cause. It’s a strange feeling giving away my books. My heart is beating really fast in an anxious way. Lol. I’ve never done this before. But I volunteer with this awesome center and we’re raising money to support the good works being done. We thought it would be a good idea to have a book fair where we sell books in really good condition for way less than they actually cost. And I’ve got a nudging in my spirit saying, “It’s time.” (Possibly inspired by rearranging my bookshelves). So if you want to get really great, fairly used books at less than N1,000 each, you should totally come hang out. Venue: Afara Leadership Center, 25 Thorburn Avenue, Yaba.Date: November 2nd, 2019Time: 12 noon – 4pm Please come (with a friend!) and please spread the word. Great books. Low Price. For A Good Cause. (Or just share the flyer …

I Arranged My Bookshelves

Published by Osemhen

According to topic. Because I tried to do that Instagram thing of arranging according to colour, and it was an epic fail. I mean, it looked pretty. But it was perfectly useless. To find a book, I had to remember if it was a yellow book, or a red book and my books ended up with Jodi Picoult sitting next to Jordan Peterson. It did not make any sense. Another reminder that sometimes, social media trends don’t mean much in real life. This time, my shelves are arranged according to themes. Career. Fiction. Childcare. Interesting Non-Fiction. Husband’s mish-mash of books (because his taste is eclectic). The boys, bless their little souls, have one section of the shelf for their 5 Books of The Week. (No, I’m not a mean mom, but I simply cannot have dozens of children books in my living room. So they’re only allowed to keep 5 in the living room). I have boxes of books to give out. The first idea I had was to exchange them for vouchers at coffee …

Short Story Excerpt: Family Matters

Published by Osemhen

When Renate checked, she saw that Preye had left a single message. Call Me. It was like her sister to be cryptic and annoying. Whatever it is, why didn’t she just text the entire message? Her hand hesitated over the green call button beside Preye’s name. What was the matter now? It was early evening still. As promised, Adeun had brought her to Freedom Park for the monthly Afropolitan Vibes. The band was still setting up and it wasn’t crowded, yet. Adeun had compared it to a concert gathering but it still seemed rather tame. They sat on a raised porch, facing an array of food bars and she’d ordered ofada rice; one of the few cravings she remembered from childhood. Adeun had tried to convince her the ofada wasn’t all that here. “I’ll take you somewhere else. They grind the pepper by hand.” “I’ll take what I get. When did you say they built this park?” “I guess 2010? I first came here in 2011 and…” He was interrupted by a squeal, “Deun!” He turned, …

2015 in Books: Classy, Sublime & Intelligent

Published by Osemhen

In typical eurekanaija fashion, I’d like to talk about my favourite books of 2015. My criteria for this list are: Re-readability: I’d totally read these books again in 2016. Change factor: These books changed me or helped me find/create myself. Let’s jump right to it, shall we? 1. Emily Post’s Etiquette: Why: I was talking with one of my friends early in the year and we lamented the fact that we didn’t go to finishing school. Etiquette is the next best thing. What I Loved: First published in 1922 and constantly updated since then, it remains an enduring reference point for good manners. Before you roll your eyes, it’s not just about using the right fork or the proper way to pour wine (even though I learned that too). The book continuously emphasizes the most important etiquette of being kind to other people. From tipping service staff (waiters, salon attendants) to putting phones away at dinner tables to proper behaviour at different places of worship to introducing people to each other so they aren’t left standing in awkward …

On Writivism, A Great Book I Read, Klo5 and Holiday Season in Nigeria

Published by Osemhen

I’ve meant to blog about this for a while but I kept losing my drafts… Super late, I know but our Pemi won the Writivism Prize 2015! I say our Pemi because she’s ours… Lol. I’m not famzing, I promise. We’ve shared a bed (now I sound like I’m famzing). Anyhow, I’m super-pleased for her, and slightly envious that she got to go on holiday to Uganda as part of making the Writivism shortlist. And now I want to write more stories, so I can enter competitions that allow me go on holidays. Have you read Pemi’s deliciously scary story? Have you checked out the super-cool blog, Nik-Nak.co she collaborates on? Thank me later! I got this amazing book, The Art of Possibility by Ben and Roz Sander, a year ago from Ozoz of kitchenbutterfly.com fame. It’s slightly strange in that it’s not your typical self-help book. It’s not teaching you how to be the best XYZ but how to get to a point where being the best XYZ doesn’t matter. Here’s an example of one of …

Changes, Mid-Year Reviews and A Book I Loved

Published by Osemhen

Hola! I’m so sorry for the long silence. I’m right in the middle of moving from one flat to another and while it’s not super hectic (because we’re taking our sweet time), it is taking up a lot of my energy. The 21-Day Challenge‘s ended! How did it go for you? I enjoyed it immensely (even though I skipped a few days, sha). I feel more…zen. And it forced me into a habit of only seeing the good things. I might have winked at my reflection a few times. And it’s halfway through the year. How are your plans going? Your resolutions? I feel slightly anxious about work. I’m getting to a place where I feel like I need a change, and soon. We’ll see… What books are you reading? A colleague at work recommended “The Rosie Project” by Graeme Simsion and I gobbled it in two days. Loved it. It’s the kind of love story I like and I could totally relate to the main character because I’m slightly obsessive too. Lol. I still …

Book Review: The Good Earth (a.k.a. Mo' Money, Mo' Problems)

Published by Osemhen

Like I’m not even kidding. The book should be called Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems. Because that’s what happened. Mr. Wang Lung starts the book as a poor man and as his fortunes change for better, for worse, so do his problems. Okay, no spoilers. But just remember: Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems. Why did I pick this book? I got it free of charge with my Kindle Unlimited subscription. It said “Pulitzer Winner” on the cover and I’m at that point in my life where I prioritize the books to read. Google says 150,000,000 books have been published in the world. Even if I read one book per day, I would need to live about 350,000 years. So I decided to only read prize winners. Yes, I know I’ll miss out on a lot of really fantastic books that haven’t won prizes. But hey, no time. I find Pearl Buck’s writing style fascinating. I’m not sure if it was intentional but for a long time, the story is told from Wang Lung’s point of view. It …

The Oba's Word

Published by Osemhen

Disclaimer: This post does not aim to preempt the gubernatorial election results in any state, in any way. Fiction. Strictly fiction, albeit inspired by real events. The deed had been done. Despite all the Oba’s warnings, the Igbo (aided and abetted by other Yorubas the Urhobos, Ibibio, Bini, Esan, Kalabari, Hausas, Idoma etc.) had voted overwhelmingly against his candidate. The Oba was furious. “You must throw them in the lagoon, Kabiyesi. You promised. You are an Oba. You cannot go back on your word.” The Oba wrung his hands in vexation. “But the logistics of it, Asiwaju. Is the Lagoon big enough for over a million people? Is it deep enough? What if they can swim? How do I round them up?” The council fell silent for a bit. The Asiwaju glanced at the Balogun who studiously averted his gaze. He had counseled against this madness. Now look. “We could ask them to file out and make themselves available at the banks of the lagoon. They’re quite honest people. Just make an announcement …

These Words Expose Us…

Published by Osemhen

So I have a bit of news 🙂 I may or may not have mentioned that one of my stories got accepted for publication in an anthology. The good news is that the anthology is finally out! *rings bell* The anthology is titled, “These Words Expose Us” (intriguing, I know) and the theme is words. We were challenged to “explore just how important the words we say (or don’t say to each other), affect our lives and relationships with others sometimes for the better and sometimes unfortunately, the worse”. A lot of the stories did justice to that theme, if I do say so myself 🙂 But seriously, the stories and the writing are pretty good. I’m especially proud of the fact that more Africans are starting to own our writing space, as writers and publishers. We’ve been a bit hesitant, I think and this project is a step towards challenging the status quo. We’re telling our own stories, and we’re telling them with a nod to the past, a grasp of our present reality and our eyes on the …

Conversations With a Gold Digger

Published by Osemhen

But I got bored with Excel sheets, and VLOOKUP and Pivot tables so I decided to doodle instead. And I wrote this. Hope it relieves the doldrums of your Monday like it did mine. Her: I have a date tomorrow. Him: Do you now? Her: Yup! Him: Is he tall, dark and handsome? Her: Yup! Him: Is he rich? Her: Stinking rich. Him: He’s going to use you and dump you. Her: How do you know that? Him: Because guys like him don’t date girls like you with your Erykah Badu hair and your weird political ideas. Her: I do not have weird political ideas. Him: You think Mandela was a communist! Her: But he was. Him: Tall, dark and handsome men don’t become rich holding opinions like that. You aren’t suited for each other. It’ll be all over in a week. Her: You’re just jealous. Him: Of course I am. How can you go on a date with a tall, dark, handsome and rich fella? What if he steals you away from me? Her: …