NEW BLOG ADDRESS

Hello,

This is just to let readers know that I've moved my blog to a new site:
www.laurettasbookblog.wordpress.com

Henceforth, all reviews will be made on that address.

Thank you for reading.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: DARE TO WAIT by JANE IHEJIRIKA

Dare to Wait by Jane Ihejirika takes an in-depth look into the subject of waiting on God. Using her personal experience and biblical stories as examples, Jane explains what it means to wait on God and the benefits of waiting on Him. She also describes the role of the Holy Spirit, the word and prayer in the waiting experience and challenges individuals to have the right attitude while waiting on the Lord.

I must confess that at first I found the book a bit too theoretical. Fortunately, however, the author later infused stories from her personal experience into the narrative thus breaking the monotony and making it a bit more practical.

I also liked the fact that it was not a lengthy book. Some people may feel that it’s too short but one man’s meat, as they say...

Christians especially will find this book a valuable addition to their collection.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: LOVE'S INDENTURE by FEYI AINA

Hello people.

 What is the probability of a rich girl getting married to a mechanic? Well, author Feyi Aina thinks it’s very possible, and sets out to prove it in her sweet romance, Love’s Indenture. Read and Enjoy.

Sassy, ill-mannered Jaiyeola is quite the opposite of her sister, Molade, who everyone regards as sweet and gentle. But Jaiye doesn’t seem to mind being the black sheep of the family; at least, not outwardly. Only Molade understands her and knows how to reach beneath the cold exterior to the warm heart beneath. When, however, death conspires to take Molade away, Jaiyeola finds herself in a fix and only marriage to a car mechanic, Toye, can save the situation and deliver her from the demons within.

I enjoyed reading this book. I must confess that I wasn’t particularly hooked by the first chapter, maybe because it kind of started out a bit preachy and I expected the rest of the book to be that way.

I was pleasantly surprised. Many authors tend to ‘cheat' by declaring that their hero/heroine fell in love  at first sight, thus conveniently avoiding the task of creating the sort of attraction that readers can identify with. This author, however, took her time to build the chemistry between Toye and Jaiye, and by the sixth chapter I was hooked.

The story is also reasonably realistic, which adds to its appeal. Readers who are not fans of lengthy novels will find this book to their taste as it can be finished within six hours.

I do wish though that the author had gone for an edgier book cover. I also felt the ending was a bit abrupt, one more chapter detailing perhaps the birth of their child or the 'happily ever after' may have been in order.

All in all, however, if you like reading romance stories that give goosebumps and make one's heart go linga linga ling, to borrow a line from Tuface Idibia's African Queen, then this book is for you.

Status: Recommended, for lovers of sweet romance.

Get it online:

https://www.okadabooks.com/book/about/loves_indenture__full_version/17006

Welcome to Lauretta Ani's Blog: BOOK OF THE WEEK: LALIBELA'S WISE MAN BY MATSHONA ...

Welcome to Lauretta Ani's Blog: BOOK OF THE WEEK: LALIBELA'S WISE MAN BY MATSHONA ...: Hello people. The more books I read, the more I am convinced that there is truth in the saying ‘Do not judge a book by its cover.’ Som...

WRITING CONTEST ORGANISED BY GTBANK/OKADABOOKS/FARAFINA

Here's calling all writers of fiction,

GTBank in conjuction with Okadabooks and Farafina publishers has a competition for writers. 

Below are the guidelines as seen on csr.gtbank.com/DustyManuscript:

It’s not enough to write, every written work needs to be read because the essence of telling a story on paper is for people to read and learn from it.

With a thousand and one fabulous writers in Nigeria, only a small fraction gets the chance to publish their works, either because they abandon it at some point or do not have a publisher to get it out. This is why GTBank has taken up the Dusty Manuscript initiative to empower Nigerian writers. The idea is to get writers to tell and sell their stories across the globe because it’s high time to dust off those manuscripts and get them published.

The Dusty Manuscript Contest features a two-day book writing and marketing boot-camp for the top 25 long-listed authors. To be selected, writers are required to submit novels that depict Crime and Romance in an innovative way that sheds light on the Nigerian culture.

Entries will be judged by top authors and will be based on writing prowess, interpretation and style of writing, level of interest to the general public on the subject matter, potential commercial success of the book among other criteria.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Word count: 25,000 to 35,000 words
• Genre: adult fiction
• Written language: English
• The manuscript must be unpublished (never been printed in any form – anthology, magazine, newspaper, or online, with the exception of personal blogs and personal websites. )
• Participants should have at least one parent born in Nigeria who holds citizenship of the same.
• All entries must be submitted via the GTBank portal with an overview and synopsis of the manuscript, and a brief author biography.
• One entry per person

NOTE: No entry fee is required

Formatting Guidelines for Manuscript

• Submitted as a PDF or Word file (.doc and .docx)
• Twelve-point font, double-spaced
• All pages should be numbered and should contain the manuscript title.
• Author’s name should not be present anywhere on the manuscript.

PRIZES/OPPORTUNITIES

• First Place: N1,000,000 + publishing contract with Kachifo Ltd
• Second Place: N500,000 + publishing contract with Kachifo Ltd
• Third Place: N250,000 + publishing contract with Kachifo Ltd
• The remaining shortlisted books with the exception of the top 3 will get their books e-published by OkadaBooks.
• Top 25 shortlisted authors receive a two-day bootcamp training on writing, marketing and branding.

TIMELINE

Submission date; February 5th – March 15, 2018
Submission portal closes at 12:00 a.m. midnight (CST) on March 15, 2018.
The long-list will be announced in May 2018
Bootcamp and announcement of shortlist will be announced in May 2018
Announcement of Top three will be announced in June 2018

To submit your story, kindly visit http://csr.gtbank.com/dustymanuscript

BOOK OF THE WEEK: LAND OF SILENCE BY TESSA AFSHAR

Land of Silence is a book written by Tessa Afshar and published by Tyndale House.

In the opening chapter, readers are introduced to the heroine, Elianna, a teenage girl with a younger brother. Elianna is betrothed to Ethan as a result of a mutual agreement between their fathers, who have been friends for as long as she could remember.

Due in part to a fault of hers, Elianna loses her younger brother under unfortunate circumstances and this results in a strained relationship with her parents,  particularly her father.

Subsequent happenings lead Elianna to struggle with self doubt, and the arrival of a Roman Officer, Decimus Calvus, causes a complication in her relationship with Ethan. Things get worse when her menstrual cycle is affected and she begins bleeding regularly and profusely, causing her to become an object of scorn and ridicule in the community. It takes a chance meeting with a prophet in Judea for Elianna to be restored and delivered from the land of silence.

I like the book’s cover as well as its opening chapter. I love how Tessa Afshar takes her time to create book covers with Middle Eastern themes, which form the setting in almost all her novels. The opening chapter is quite poignant and creates a thirst on the part of the reader for more chapters.

The next few chapters come along fine as well, until one gets somewhere around the ninth chapter. From that point, the pace becomes too slow and the story begins to drag. I understand that good stories need to be detailed and to have depth, however, I think the book has way too many details, especially with regards to Elianna’s family business.  I must add though that anyone particularly interested in the production and sale of textile materials like wool and silk will not have a problem with the amount of detail but may be rather captivated by it.

Again, I find some scenes in the book to be overly dramatic, for example; the heroine tends to gasp rather a lot, even at inopportune times. Scenes like this made it a bit difficult for me to connect with the characters.

I think the climax of the book is its strongest point, and it is at that moment readers get to realize that the story is actually based on the hemorrhaging woman described in the bible. This is a testament to Tessa Afshar's writing skills, I think. The fact that she is able to build a story of over 100,000 words, based just on a few lines in the Bible, is a proof of her writing prowess.
Status: Recommended, provided you’ve read a previous Tessa Afshar novel. It’s available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0198UNULS/ref=pd_aw_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QBCV5SK6ZVMQQ48MZ6F6

Set for release in August 2018:

Can't wait to read this juicy looking book with the intriguing title. Can you?

BOOK OF THE WEEK: PEARL IN THE SAND by TESSA AFSHAR

Click on the link below to read the post:

https://laurettaani.blogspot.com.ng/2017/01/book-review-pearl-in-sand-by-tessa_14.html

BOOK OF THE WEEK: SEASON OF CRIMSON BLOSSOMS by ABUBAKAR ADAM IBRAHIM

Hello people.

Months ago, I stumbled upon an online article highlighting Nigerian authors and publishers making a mark on the international scene.

I must confess that I was a bit surprised when I read the article. Hitherto, I assumed Chimamanda Adiche the only contemporary Nigerian author who was well known internationally, in addition to authors like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Buchi Emecheta, and a few others. Now here was this foreign article educating me on other award winning authors and their publishers. I became eager to read the books by these authors after that.

Imagine my surprise months after when, on browsing through author tabs on the Okadabooks app, I saw one of the award winning books, Season of Crimson Blossoms, by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim. 

After reading Season of Crimson Blossoms, it was easy to see why it won the 2016 Nigerian Prize for Literature. There are just two words to describe it: Authentically African. 

Set in the Northern part of Nigeria, the book’s plot centres around Hajiiya Binta Zubairu, a 55-year old widowed grandmother who carries on a secret affair with 25-year old Hassan ‘Reza’ Babale.

Whatever is hidden will eventually come to light, however, and when Hajiya's suitor, Mallam Haruna, and her first son, Alhaji Munkaila, discover the affair, what results is a cataclysmic ending the reader will not see coming.

I love the fact that Abubakar remained true to his roots in this book. Not much is known about the North apart from its ethnic conflicts, tribal wars and Boko Haram menace. Movies which would have educated people about that part of Nigeria are usually done in the Hausa language, and how many Nigerians are interested in seeing a movie they can understand only by reading the subtitles? Fortunately, with this book, Abubakar has given his readers a peek into the life of the average Northerner; a peek I certainly enjoyed taking.

I also find his use of metaphors to be quite brilliant; I mean, who can read this opening sentence and not be captivated by it?

“Hajiya Binta Zubairu was finally born at fifty-five when a dark-lipped rogue with short, spiky, hair....scaled her fence and landed, boots and all, into the puddle that was her heart.”

Brilliant, isn't it?

There is a lot of reminiscing in the book, however, which slows down its pace quite a bit. Also, I must confess that at a point, I found the character Reza's habit of saying ‘You understand,’ a bit of a distraction especially in the opening chapters. 

Overall, the various scenes in the book came together quite nicely, and I daresay anyone who enjoys Chimamanda's novels will like reading this book.

Recommended for ages fifteen and above.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: THE BADASS GIRL'S GUIDE BY C.J SCARLET

Hello people.

In the past, it was not uncommon to hear statements like, “If you don’t want to be sexually assaulted, make sure you dress well. Don’t wear short skirts or dresses with plunging necklines and don’t flirt with men,” etcetera.  

Two things happened, however, to put paid to that line of reasoning. First, research based on available data revealed that sexual assault was not limited to women who dressed provocatively or engaged in flirtatious behaviour. Conservative women also reported cases of sexual assault.

Second,  women’s rights groups insisted on the right of women to dress as they pleased without fear of molestation, and the onus fell on men to keep their hands,[if not their eyes] to themselves.

This point has been a bone of contention in many sexual assault cases. Does a woman’s choice of outfit or social behaviour determine if she gets assaulted or not? Assuming it does, why are there cases of sexual assault even in places where women wear burqas?

 These are tough questions indeed, but whatever the case may be, this week's book by C.J Scarlet titled The Badass Girl’s Guide; Uncommon Strategies to Outwit Predators, contains practical tips for outwitting sexual predators.

In this guidebook, C.J discusses myths and facts about sexual assault and describes the types of predators. She also highlights five possible responses to sexual assault; Freeze, Fawn, Comply, Flee or Fight and is careful to point out how each can be used to advantage.

Reading this book for me was like inhaling fresh air; in fact at a point I found myself exhaling. At last! Here’s someone who is real and not idealistic. No locker room advice is given here [‘carry pepper spray in your bag at all times’], rather, readers are treated to sound advice such as the role of intuition and situational awareness in preventing sexual assault, as well as tips for outsmarting a would-be predator.

I recommend this book to all women; it is worth having and worth keeping. 

BOOK OF THE WEEK: ROYALTY BY BOLATITO IDAKULA

Hello people.

At some point in my life I had two acquaintances with pronunciation issues. One had a habit of exchanging 'ch' sounds with 'sh', e.g pronouncing ‘China’ as ‘Shina.’ The other had the problem of lambdacism; thus it was common to hear words like lamp and lamb being pronounced as ramp and ramb.

 I must admit that sometimes I did find these pronunciations hilarious, and more than once I was tempted to utter some witty remark concerning their tongues. However, after reading this week’s book, Royalty, by Bolatito Idakula [daughter of politician Rashid Ladoja and wife of musician Bez Idakula],  I must say I'm glad I kept my mouth shut on those occasions.

Royalty is a memoir detailing Bolatito's life as a politician’s daughter in a polygamous home, her struggle with low self esteem and the loss of a child, as well as her journey to wholeness.

In the book, she describes the less-than-cordial relationship between her parents and its effect on her when she eventually moved in with her father and stepmothers. She also shares her struggle with low self esteem and describes the grief she felt on losing her child. 

One thing is for sure: a person cannot read this poignant book and remain unaffected by it. The book captures the effect of polygamous home on children and makes one aware of just how much insensitivity can hurt.  It also emphasizes the need for care when dealing with children and teenagers, as one careless word or action could mar them for life. 

Fortunately, the book is not all sorrow . There are points where readers catch a glimpse of sunlight; a ray of hope even in the midst of the storm. Bolatito does not neglect to mention the love story between herself and her husband; musician Bez Idakula, which I believe some readers may be dying to know. She also explains how she eventually found peace in her reconnection to God.

Many, especially women, will find Bolatito's testimony inspiring. It can be downloaded for free via the Okadabooks app.