Adetan Opemipo Hi . I’m sure you guys are now accustomed to the genre of posts that we make on this blog. This is not by chance or incontinence; we have found the need to encourage people to cultivate a healthy reading culture in order to help reduce the number of illiterate persons in Nigeria, which recent statistics say is over 40 percent of the population. I will neither review a book today nor compose a welcome back post 😊, What I want to talk about is the reading culture we have (or don’t have) in Nigeria.      Nigeria is a blessed country occupied by individual minds of great capacity and potential. This is evident in the vast number of first class graduates that are produced by Universities in the country. Notwithstanding, I do not care much about academic books when discussing cultivating reading habit because going to school to get a degree has been anointed by our parents and elders as the sure road to success. Don’t misunderstand my p...

Mariam Constant Ours was a love story, the kind that’s not supposed to happen to black girls anymore,” says Celestial when she recalls how she and Roy met. But then their story changes, becoming a tale of injustice, black incarceration, and interrupted lives. It is what becomes of Celestial and Roy even though they have everything going for them. Celestial is a doll maker, and Roy is a businessman. They have been married one year when Roy is incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit. Then it’s no longer love that shapes and molds their marriage, so much as Roy’s imprisonment. Full disclosure: Although I am not black, and I have not served jail time for crimes I didn’t commit, I was once married to a man who was incarcerated for several years. I understand what that does to a relationship. Just like Celestial, I met another man while my husband was in jail. And yes, dear reader, I married him. There are so many threads to a story like this, but author Tayari Jones does...

Adetan Opemipo Martin Luther Author: Carl E. Koppenhaver Publisher: Muhlenberg Press ISBN: The sixty-two years the reformist spent on earth were captured brilliantly, albeit briefly by the author, Carl E. Koppenhaver in the book Martin Luther. Several books have been written based on the life and works of the zealot, but this epitomised it in a very literal and unambiguous manner. The stories highly connoted the infuriation of the Romanists and the middle age church leaders by Luther when he demolished their ‘walls of defence’ in his pamphlets, theses, preaching and many other published works. The author briefed the reader on every non-discreet information available about the man. However, the author was able to give compelling and highly relevant stories of the life and works of Luther in a concise but utilitarian method for casual readers. It should be said that the book is not predestined for readers who are making scholarly research on the life of Luther and those w...

Mariam Constant This is the next book I would be reviewing,but I am yet to start reading... You can also join me in reading this book. What caught my attention is the title "One of Us is Lying"....This is also a thriller and an investigative novel...A murder happens and there are 4 suspects claiming they are not guilty .. Well, well,well.......I had better grab my pen and notepad as I have jottings to do . Kindly subscribe and comment below. Thanks.

Mariam Constant How una dey now? Just kidding, how are you all doing? I am Oladele Bukola Mariam and i am here to give a review of a very interesting novel which I came across, and I read it and finished in a day. Wow, it was so interesting that I burnt my mum's soup. The book I would be reviewing is titled The Couple's Next Door, which is written by Shari Lapena and this book is outstanding. I would love you guys to sit and relax as we embark on this journey together (laughs)... The Couple Next Door’ had me gripped right from the very beginning. It essentially follows the disappearance of Marco and Anne’s baby daughter Cora, who is taken from her bed one night whilst the couple attend a dinner party next door. The couple are racked with guilt, and as the investigation continues, more and more secrets and betrayals are revealed… The narrative is told in the third-person and follows the experiences of Anne, Marco, Detective Rasbach and Jennings, the couple’s next do...

Adetan Opemipo Title: Born a Crime: stories from a South African childhood Author: Trevor Noah Publisher: Spiegel and Grau ISBN: 9780399588174 Trevor Noah’s ‘ Born a Crime ’ takes the reader on a journey of rather funny stories of the childhood living of the South African comedian. Each story serving the reader with varying degree of humour and jest. The book, divided into three parts with several chapters tells stories at different stages of Trevor Noah’s childhood and teenage years. Living with his single, adventurous and extremely religious mother in township Soweto. At a very tender age, Trevor already knew what it felt like to be segregated racially even amongst the races who were segregated at the height of apartheid in mid-70’s South Africa. Incidentally young Trevor was filled with innocent mischief that would leave both the readers and characters wondering what was marauding his juvenile mind while he wrecked the havoc he became renowned for. He gives the...