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onemorebookpodcast's reviews
82 reviews
Things They Lost by Okwiri Oduor
2.0
'Her shinbones were made of paper. Different people's shinbones were made of different things. Some people's shinbones were made of bamboo flutes, and some people's shinbones were made of lemongrass stalks. She knew that her shinbones were made of paper because she knew the story of herself. Back in the Yonder Days, she was wriggling in the sky, and then her mama looked up with her eyes, and her mama said, Please-please-I-need-you.'
Ayosa is a 12 year old girl living in the fictitious town of Mapeli whose mother keeps on leaving her behind. I haven’t read a book written in such a beautiful & flowery prose since 'One Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous' by Ocean Vuong, that’s what I can compare Okwiri Oduor's writing to. The book uses IMO magical realism to tell the stories of mothers & daughters, intergenerational memory & trauma, friendship & community care. She does so well by weaving in Kenyan folklore while also throwing jabs at colonialism, patriarchy & Christianity.
Notwithstanding the above praises, I unfortunately did not enjoy reading this book. Can something be too good that it then turns bad
Ayosa is a 12 year old girl living in the fictitious town of Mapeli whose mother keeps on leaving her behind. I haven’t read a book written in such a beautiful & flowery prose since 'One Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous' by Ocean Vuong, that’s what I can compare Okwiri Oduor's writing to. The book uses IMO magical realism to tell the stories of mothers & daughters, intergenerational memory & trauma, friendship & community care. She does so well by weaving in Kenyan folklore while also throwing jabs at colonialism, patriarchy & Christianity.
Notwithstanding the above praises, I unfortunately did not enjoy reading this book. Can something be too good that it then turns bad
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Totally worth the hype! Ivan & Peter are brothers who are grieving the loss of their father, in totally different ways. Peter, an accomplished Human Rights' lawyer continues to juggle work & his personal life but inside, he is literally falling apart. Ivan on the other hand immerses himself in Chess as he tries to keep a routine going.
I loved the range of emotions that Sally Rooney's characters showed, I loved being in their heads as their thoughts meandered & meandered page after page. I was mad at them for the way they treated the women in their lives, the blame games that they played, the Therapy that seemed completely not to be in their vocabulary but I still rooted for them to find their way back out of the depths of grief.
Signed,
an (almost) Sally Rooney Stan
5.0
Totally worth the hype! Ivan & Peter are brothers who are grieving the loss of their father, in totally different ways. Peter, an accomplished Human Rights' lawyer continues to juggle work & his personal life but inside, he is literally falling apart. Ivan on the other hand immerses himself in Chess as he tries to keep a routine going.
I loved the range of emotions that Sally Rooney's characters showed, I loved being in their heads as their thoughts meandered & meandered page after page. I was mad at them for the way they treated the women in their lives, the blame games that they played, the Therapy that seemed completely not to be in their vocabulary but I still rooted for them to find their way back out of the depths of grief.
Signed,
an (almost) Sally Rooney Stan
Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
A witty but also insightful exploitation of the monolithic view of Africa that many people especially from the west still hold. By using wit and humor, Dipo Faloyin reminds anyone who is looking to expand their understanding of Africa and its people not to lump the 54 diverse countries of Africa into a single, homogeneous entity but to approach Africa with curiosity and respect, to look beyond the headlines, and to understand the complexity and diversity of a continent that has far too often been reduced to a set of oversimplified narratives.
Truly an essential read especially in the current times that we find ourselves in.
If My Skin Could Talk. Life is a Story - story.one by Brigitte Lunguieki Malungo
What is the first thing that someone sees when they come into contact with you? For the majority of us BIPOC people living in a country where we are the minority, it is our skin color, there’s no denying that. The 'safest' place that I know & have created is my home, this for me is one of the few spaces where I never have to think about the color of my skin, here within these walls, am just Flo!
This book narrates how it is to exist outside of such 'safe spaces'. How we try to navigate them while still being true to ourselves which can be exhausting. I have a feeling that we've been doing this for so long that it has become a routine but this book goes to show that existing in our skin is actually work, it’s like something we 'sign in & sign off' from but unfortunately there’s no compensation for us.
Thank you to the Author for putting our feelings into words & thank you too for sending me a digital copy of your book for review purposes.
4.0
What is the first thing that someone sees when they come into contact with you? For the majority of us BIPOC people living in a country where we are the minority, it is our skin color, there’s no denying that. The 'safest' place that I know & have created is my home, this for me is one of the few spaces where I never have to think about the color of my skin, here within these walls, am just Flo!
This book narrates how it is to exist outside of such 'safe spaces'. How we try to navigate them while still being true to ourselves which can be exhausting. I have a feeling that we've been doing this for so long that it has become a routine but this book goes to show that existing in our skin is actually work, it’s like something we 'sign in & sign off' from but unfortunately there’s no compensation for us.
Thank you to the Author for putting our feelings into words & thank you too for sending me a digital copy of your book for review purposes.
Frau Müller, die Migrantin: Wie Deutschland und ich uns aneinander gewöhnt haben by Evelyne Waithira Müller
Evelyn is a fellow Kenyan & someone who has become sort of an Internet friend over the last couple of years. I believe that I first came across her content online & was drawn to it because it was my first time to see someone who looks like me talk about the 'loneliness epidemic' that many migrants are experiencing here in Germany. It’s something we talk about in our family & friendship circles but never online. Maybe because we were raised not to put our business out there in public for all & sundry or maybe because of the fear of judgment by those back home who will not understand that loneliness even exists in these 'lands of milk & honey'.
But in her newly published book, Evelyn who is a trained, certified & practicing Psychologist, not only digs into this loneliness but she also shares about her own experiences of life as an immigrant facing racism, the constant longing to belong, loss & finding new relationships, partnership, motherhood, the hurdles that arise in work environments, language barriers… I could go on & on about all the things that are in this book that I found relatable but let me save that for a future Podcast interview that I hope to do with her soon.
Evelyn, thank you for sharing your(our) story with the world & for making me(us) feel seen. Asante sana!
4.0
Evelyn is a fellow Kenyan & someone who has become sort of an Internet friend over the last couple of years. I believe that I first came across her content online & was drawn to it because it was my first time to see someone who looks like me talk about the 'loneliness epidemic' that many migrants are experiencing here in Germany. It’s something we talk about in our family & friendship circles but never online. Maybe because we were raised not to put our business out there in public for all & sundry or maybe because of the fear of judgment by those back home who will not understand that loneliness even exists in these 'lands of milk & honey'.
But in her newly published book, Evelyn who is a trained, certified & practicing Psychologist, not only digs into this loneliness but she also shares about her own experiences of life as an immigrant facing racism, the constant longing to belong, loss & finding new relationships, partnership, motherhood, the hurdles that arise in work environments, language barriers… I could go on & on about all the things that are in this book that I found relatable but let me save that for a future Podcast interview that I hope to do with her soon.
Evelyn, thank you for sharing your(our) story with the world & for making me(us) feel seen. Asante sana!