Book Tales: September Edition

From the girl that reads.

The second edition of book tales is here. I am quite excited that I`m keeping up with my reading, I’m realizing my goal. My goal at the start of the year was to share the books I have read on the blog and I only got started last month. In case you missed the August edition, you can find it here here.

Here are my September reads;

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

First of all, I love the title of this novel. It gave me all sorts of thriller vibes. The novel is about two sisters in Nigeria, Korede – a nurse, and Ayoola – the serial killer. Their lives are intertwined and family always comes first until Ayoola starts dating a handsome doctor at the hospital where Korede works.

“Ayoola summons me with these words-Korede, I killed him. I had hoped I would never hear those words again.’’

I love a good laugh and this book gave me one several. I connected with Korede, saw her and the burden she carried as the elder sister. Less of a blessing and more of a burden, many first born children bear it without question in Africa. I am not a first born, but I have walked in those shoes.

Ayoola was the beautiful one and through her the author subtly highlights the concept of `pretty privilege.’’ I couldn`t believe it’s actually a thing! The novel reminded me so much of the series How to Get Away with Murder.

All in all, this novel is gripping and you will not put it down till the end.

Easy Motion Tourist by Leye Adenle

Easy Motion Tourist features Guy Collins, a journalist who poses as a BB journalist when caught in the middle of an arrest outside a club in Lagos. A mutilated body is found in the trenches and police arrests the suspects and Guy Collins is one of them. He is rescued by Amaka, a guardian angel to the prostitutes in Lagos. She is assured that Guy Collins is innocent and deceptively gets him released. She tells him about the body organs trade that involves some of the biggest names in Lagos.

Amaka and Guy Collins find themselves in the middle of a scandal and have to deal with how they feel about each other.

The book ends with those phone calls that put you on edge and make you look around just to cross check that you aren`t being watched. It was such a good ending that I couldn`t wait to get book two.

Easy Motion Tourist is the first crime fiction novel I have read from Nigeria. It is absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend it.

When Trouble Sleeps by Leye Adenle

When Trouble Sleeps is part two of the Amaka thriller. I couldn`t wait to know how Amaka solved the mystery.

Amaka takes on the top dogs in the country. She knows Chief Ojo`s secret and is determined not to let him win the election for state governor even with the famous godfather being his father-in-law. Amaka is determined to find the Harem, a sex city which offers the richest men the best girls and the best sex they could only dream about. A place that is unknown and believed not to exist except for the people who have been there in the flesh. It’s an invite only kind of place.

Book two is tension filled from beginning to end. It gives us a good ending despite that I was unsatisfied with the way some of the scenes were left hanging.

The book left me wondering about the “godfathers” in Ugandan politics. Do they exist? I want to know.

Shanghai Baby by Wei Hui (pronounced way-way)

Shanghai Baby is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Chinese author Wei Hui. It chronicles the life of Nikki aka Coco who is a writer hoping for a breakthrough in her writing. She wants the world to experience her writing and be influenced by it as her idol Henry Miller`s work did for her. She falls in love with Tian Tian but takes on another lover. In her defence the way she loves Tian Tian isn`t the way she loves the other man. The novel highlights the sexual awakening of Coco and the young people of Shanghai in the 1970s.

I loved the liberty with which Coco lived her life. I was jealous. I didn`t understand her relationship with Tian Tian. I enjoyed the creative process of her novel. It revealed the hard work and sacrifice it takes to write a book.

This being the first book I`ve read by a Chinese author, I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of her work.  Wei Hui`s descriptive ability is profound. She wasn`t being obvious with it but by the end of the book, I could see Shanghai`s landscape, Tian Tian`s room, Spider, the lover and the weather changes.

The opening lines did it for me. She stated what she likes and what she`s after with a boldness that is scattered all over the novel. She wasn`t apologetic.

“My name is Nikki but my friends all call me Coco after Coco Chanel, a French lady who lived to be ninety. She`s my idol, after Henry Miller. Every morning when I open my eyes I wonder what I can do to make myself famous. It`s become my ambition……’’

What book did you read in September? Have you read any of the books on my September list?