Books and Poetry :-)

So 2015 I figured one of the things I would do is read a book a month. I have mostly stuck to this and so far I have read 7 books. YASSSSSSSS this is like 80% achievement, ok 77% but if you round this off its 80% right? And I still have time until December Insha aa Allah to make this 100%. There is the notion that is sold to all of us that the more you read; the better you’ll write (assuming you write for a living), you’ll be able to have intelligent conversations with people. I agree maybe you could do these but it depends on what books you read.

Most of the books I have read have this year are love/romance themed plots (nothing to do with me and my taste in books), I read based on recommendations so maybe I’m hanging out with the wrong people or does this say they think I need to learn a thing or two on love or worse they think this is what I want to read!. People why wouldn’t you recommend serious books, on topics like I don’t know maybe- how to move a country from a third world economy to a first world economy things that would make me more informed.

I wouldn’t say I can now write about love( I can maybe do two paragraphs of fiction-I joke, but I can write about Sokor and Maryaney-the two little gals who have stolen my heart  :-) :-) )  or hold intelligent conversations around this (I’m not too sure such a thing exists), I’m still unable to add anything meaningful to awkward conversations(mostly normal until it gets to the season of love part) when people talk about activities they do during the rainy season and they list serious stuff like increased sale of livestock, sale of milk, planting and then they add and it’s the season of love, So dry season is what?.  How easy is it to say ‘You know, I know these two people; Obinze and Ifemelu and they loved each other so much so, that they stayed for 13 years without seeing each other, no talking/any communication for most of this time and she came back to Lagos when it was hot and dusty (clearly Jilaal) and he bought her a cold drink and they picked-up from where they left :-) :-). Trust me I am an ‘authority’ 7 books is no joke there is  nothing like season of love at-least in these books I have read nothing of this sort exists’. Would they believe me and my arguments based on the stories I read, I highly doubt they would.

But all is not lost despite reading books that haven’t added to me being able to either have more intelligent discussions or write better, I discovered Warsan Shire and fell in love with her writing (so much so that anyone I know gets a daughter I’m campaigning they name her Warsan which means the one who brings good news).She makes me a better person, ama the line is; she makes me want to be a better person? yaani she speaks for me and to me through her poems.

With this said allow me to introduce you to the epicness that is Warsan Shire's writing, because of her I now have a books of poetry wish list-Teaching my mother how to give birth, Salt, Nejma and Bone. If high school literature did anything it made poems complicated as you’ll read poems and will be required to identify stylistic features used, hidden message in the poem and like all the time what I thought was the hidden message was wrong  :-( , therefore I did not like poetry much, because we all couldn’t think like the English teacher and her word (marking scheme?) was final and there was no room for you to explain what you thought.

Warsan Shire writes so very beautifully, below are some of her quotes that I currently like but if you (I'm assuming someone actually reads this :-) ) have sometime google her and I promise you’ll love her as much as I do, if not more.