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?