“The Fall of Saints” by Wanjiku wa Ngugi (Kenya) Review From a first novel to a first attempt at a new genre by a well-known writer, this year’s Summer Reading selection of crime fiction covered a wide range of writing styles. “The Fall of Saints” is a first novel set in New York and Kenya that deals with a number of serious topics. With its … Continue reading The Fall of Saints
“We Need New Names” by NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) Review Members of our Summer Reading Group liked the differences in writing styles and themes of this year’s four shortlisted books finding most of the stories highly enjoyable. Nicola has chosen the novel “We Need New Names” as her Coup de Cœur Summer 2014. Set in Harare and Michigan (US) in the present day, readers found the … Continue reading We Need New Names
“Goodbye Lucille” by Segun Afolabi (Nigeria) Review Readers were pretty much equally divided about this book, with half the group enjoying it, while the other half found it disappointing. Everyone agreed that it was an easy read, written in a clear language, and that the story was well crafted. They also liked the fact that it gave them a strong sense of time and place, … Continue reading Goodbye Lucille
“Departing at Dawn” by Gloria Lisé (Argentina) Review With its subtitle “A Novel of Argentina’s Dirty War”, readers said they found the story to be completely different from what they had imagined. Instead of getting details of the horrors of a military dictatorship, which is what they had been expecting, readers felt they were given an introspective and interesting look at life in that context from … Continue reading Departing at Dawn
“Black Mamba Boy” by Nadifa Mohamed (Somalia) Book Club Favourite of Season 16 Review Readers enjoyed this story describing it as somewhat similar to a tale where the hero is faced with many difficulties on his journey, but who also meets lots of kind people along the way. They warmed to the protagonist from the start and enjoyed following him as he grows from a young boy in … Continue reading Black Mamba Boy
The four shortlisted books for this year’s Summer Reading Group all had very different writing styles and, as a result, our summer readers were divided over them! So it was no surprise that, when it came time for voting for Best Summer Read 2012, two books tied for first place: “Open City” and “Please Look After Mother” “Open City” by Teju Cole (Nigeria) is a … Continue reading Best Summer Reads 2012
“The Icarus Girl” by Helen Oyeyemi (Nigeria) Review Readers found this book an easy read and they finished it quickly. However, few of them enjoyed it and one reader said she found it boring. Some felt that it lacked content and that it was repetitive. On the other hand, a couple of readers thought it was a multi-layered story, touching on topics as diverse as … Continue reading The Icarus Girl
“The Brothers’ Lot” by Kevin Holohan (Ireland) Book Club Favourite of Season 14 Review Readers’ enjoyment of this story was strongly influenced by how close they felt to the subject matter. Some found it a difficult book to read, especially since many of the abuses within church-run institutions in Ireland are still coming to light today. Readers who had the benefit of distance from the … Continue reading The Brothers’ Lot
Nicola's Book Club 