Books: PELT AND OTHER STORIES by Catherine McNamara

Title: Pelt and Other Stories
Author: Catherine McNamara
Published: 2013
Genre: Fiction

In between my getting stuck into the novels on my TBR list, I have also been dipping into my collection of short stories - that wonderful genre that allows you to escape what may be a too serious, too tedious, or simply too long novel and lose yourself in other worlds in a fraction of the time.

I have mixed feelings about Catherine McNamara' s collection of stories. There are some I really  liked, and a great deal more that I found myself not enjoying one bit towards the end.
McNamara writes of a world I remember with fond memories - West Africa, more specifically Ghana. Her collection of short stories moves easily from Ghana to Australia to Italy and back again to Ghana and so on. The bulk of the collection though is based in West Africa.

Books: WHITE TEETH by Zadie Smith

Title: White Teeth
Author: Zadie Smith
Published: 2000
Genre: Fiction

Zadie Smith's White Teeth took me close to two months to finish. That for me is a very long time, but it was read between a whole lot of other commitments. I read it during my daily commute,  when I had a few moments waiting for my son's violin class to finish, and in between studying and writing and procrastinating. I finally finished it two weeks ago and it has taken me this long to write down my thoughts of it.  I took it off my 'To Be Read' (TBR) shelf expecting to be wowed, after all, the reviews that accompanied the book when it was published in 2000 were more than hyperbolic in their praise of Smith's raw talent:  how it was reminiscent of Rushdie's brilliance, how her turn of phrase was incomparable to none other, so steady and controlled for a debut writer.

Books: CRY BABY by Lauren Liebenberg

Title: Cry Baby
Author: Lauren Liebenberg
Published: 2013
Genre: Fiction

I read Lauren Liebenberg's deliciously-named, The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam many years ago. I enjoyed it immensely and had been looking forward to reading her third book, Cry Baby. It is a story of an upper middle class couple, living in the Northern Suburbs of  Johannesburg  raising their two young boys - one of whom has terrifying nightmares that have an otherworldly significance to them. The author's point of view changes from that of the two adults to that of the little boy throughout the book.

Books: THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA by Hanif Kureishi

Title: The Buddha of Suburbia
Author: Hanif Kureishi
Published:1990
Genre: Fiction

I recently saw an interview on France 24 with Hanif Kureishi discussing his writing. I remembered that I had one of his books, The Buddha of Suburbia,  which I decided to read again. Funny how one's impression of certain books is influenced by so many other factors: one's age; current emotional state; country of residence; reviews read about the book...This one felt like a completely new book to me. I can't even remember the last time I had read it. This time it resonated a whole lot with me. Maybe it is living in France, and that feeling of always looking in being the observer; or it is watching the French tackle multi-culturalism; or maybe even raising my children in a country that is not their own. Whatever it was, I loved how Hanif Kureishi's observations on multi-culturalism in the UK then, circa 1970s, remain just as relevant now.

Books: STUFFED - Adventures of a restaurant family by Patricia Volk

Title: Stuffed: Adventures of a restaurant family
Author: Patricia Volk
Published: 2002
Genre: Memoir

I have read some scathing reviews about  Stuffed, and must say that as accurate as some are in their take on Ms Volk's memoir of her family's restaurant business, there are still some elements worth reading. Personally, I enjoyed reading about some of the misadventures of her family in their restaurant business; about the eccentric aunts and uncles; the family history - all of it. Yes, without a doubt she does write too enthusiastically about even the less than admirable characters, and still manages to find something redeeming in all of them, but it is her family memoir and she has chosen to remember it as she wishes. Writer's prerogative and all that.
I read this in less than a week, much of it on the train during my commutes back and forth. It was entertaining, and funny.
I recommend it, but with a warning that Ms Volk's admiration for her family, warts and all, may come across as either too contrived or boastful. For me it made for entertaining reading about a more than ordinary family life.

Books: FRANCE'S GOT TALENT by Peter Gumbel

Title: France's got Talent : The woeful consequences of French elitism
Author: Peter Gumbel
Published: 2013
Genre: Non-fiction

I have been sitting on this review for a while. Whilst I really enjoyed Peter Gumbel's book, in it giving me a whole new understanding of some of the workings of the french education system, it left me hungry for more.
Peter Gumbel writes of his experiences as the Communications director of Sciences Po, under the then director of the university Richard Descoings, who was a fire-brand and controversial anti-elitist figure. He covers the differences in teaching methods of french tertiary institutions and how they often do not allow for as much debate as say  American institutions; the hierarchical structure amongst the teaching staff; the elite nature of the Grand ´Ecoles and how they have been, are,  and will remain the breeding ground for France's ruling class. But moreover he points to the fact that the elitism in France is, by international standards, not normal.

Books: QUIET: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain

Title: QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Author: Susan Cain
Published:2012
Genre: Non-fiction

I am an introvert, or more accurately as I have recently discovered, an ambivert. I can fake it like an extrovert, but long before all the excitement of socialising and the exuberance of any highly stimulating environment wears off, I am quietly seeking a corner to recharge.

Reading Susan Cain's book was an eye-opener. It explained a lot about my own personality, and gave me more insight into my children's personalities. I am raising both an ambivert and a highly extroverted-introvert - my own term here because my son does not seem to fit into any of the moulds described. It was also the kind of book that I would normally not have read had the subject matter not been close to my heart. 

The author is herself a self-professed introvert, who defied all the introverted stereotypes by firstly attending Harvard Law School - described as  the most unsuitable place for introverts - and by further going on to become a Wall Street lawyer - a haven for all extroverts.

HURRY DOWN SUNSHINE by Michael Greenberg

Title: Hurry Down Sunshine: A Father's Memoir of Love and Madness
Author: Michael Greenberg
Published: 2009
Genre: Memoir

I read this immediate after reading An Unquiet Mind and can definitely say it gave a different perspective to how privilege can earn one a safer place in the world amidst metal illness.
Whilst Jamison's account of her manic-depressive illness was cushioned by the stability of home and subsequently the safety of her medical world, Michael Greenberg's daughter in Hurry Down Sunshine has an entirely different experience. To be fair in making the comparison, Jamison's background made her steely in the face of her illness, and she did throughout her high school and undergraduate years deal with it on her own.

Books: AN UNQUIET MIND by Kay Redfield Jamison

Title: An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
Author: Kay Redfield Jamison
Published: 1996
Genre: Memoir

Kay Redfield Jamison is an academic. She is, according to the bio in her book, a Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, who has written extensively about manic-depressive illness. She also suffers from the illness. I expected the book to read more like an academic text given the author's background. It does not. It is a candid piece of writing about a widely misunderstood illness from the viewpoint of someone who has, and continues to live it.

Books: INDIGO by Catherine McKinley

Title: Indigo:  In search of the colour that seduced the world
Author: Catherine McKinley
Published: 2011
Genre: Memoir

Catherine McKinley writes of her Scottish heritage, and the use of the colour indigo in the tartans of her people. She deftly links it to her African heritage and the indigo in fabrics that she'd seen, namely her introduction to the indigo-dyed fabrics of West Africa.
Her search for the fabrics that are steeped in the historically lucrative dye takes her across eight West African countries - all sponsored by a  Fulbright Scholarship.

Books: RED INK by Angela Makholwa

Title: Red Ink
Author: Angela Makholwa
Published: 2007
Genre: Fiction

In a word: gripping. I love watching the TV show Criminal Minds, and reading Red Ink was like watching an extended show of it. Angela Makholwa writes boldly about the violence that is at the centre of her crime novel. She's descriptive and does not shy away from the details of the blood and gore. In the same way that I cannot turn away from Criminal Minds, I could not stop reading.

Books: THE HAPPINESS PROJECT by Gretchen Rubin

Title: The Happiness Project
Author: Gretchen Rubin
Published: 2009
Genre: Memoir

I finally read Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project. It has been on my kindle for a while, but I felt that it would have been a better read in paperback - but in the same breath I could not bring myself to pay for a paperback copy having already downloaded the ebook. It is one one of the most useful and enjoyable books I have read this year.
It is part memoir, part self help. The author spent a year exploring what is is that makes people happy and testing out whether putting into practice some of her readings could help her become happier. I know, it sounds all really navel-gazing and very much like a self help book. It wasn't any of those. Not really. Rubin has researched her subject extensively and takes some esoteric philosophical debates and breaks them up into digestible chunks to be applied to your everyday life.

Books: AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Title: Americanah
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Published: 2013
Genre: Fiction

I have been sitting on this review for a while. Writing it feels like being unfaithful in some way. Here goes: I was disappointed. I loved every single one of Chimamanda Ngozi's books. A friend gave me a copy of Purple Hibiscus when it was first published, and since then I have read and re-read the stories in The Thing Around Your Neck; have sunk my teeth into Half of a Yellow Sun - eagerly waiting for its release now that Biyi Bandele has had the genius to make a movie of it; and like everyone else that is a fan of Adichie, I eagerly anticipated the release of Americanah - especially since it promised to also tackle that 'hair issue'.

Books: THE WIFE by Meg Wolitzer

Title: The Wife
Author: Meg Wolitzer
Published: 2003
Genre: Fiction

The Wife opens with Joan Castleman making the decision to leave her husband, Joe while en route to Helsinki where he is to be honoured with the Helsinki Prize, a literary award which is the culmination of what he has worked for all his life. Meg Wolitzer takes the reader through the lives of Joe and Joan: from Joan's days as a freshman at Smith. She goes on to have an affair with his professor, Joe. His marriage crumbles, his wife leaves him, taking their baby son with him. Joe and Joan move in together - while he attempts to write the great American novel, she works, supporting his writing dream and in the process abandoning her own writing ambitions. They raise their children, she works, she edits his writing, and ultimately writes his books for him, and he gets the accolades while she plays the dutiful wife by his side.

Books: THE TRINITY SERIES by Fiona Snyckers

Title: Trinity Rising  &  Trinity On Air
Author: Fiona Snyckers                      
Genre: Fiction                                    
Published: 2009  &  2010

The first two books, in a series of three written by Fiona Snyckers were meant to be my holiday reading. I finished them in two days, before the Spring break. I could not put them down. They were hilarious. The protagonist Trinity Luhabe, is a young 'born free' South African about to begin her first first year at Rhodes University. Even though her father is a former Robben Island prisoner and anti-apartheid activist, and her mother a former activist and social worker,  "Trinity Luhabe is so over the whole Robben Island thing."

Books: FASTING, FEASTING by Anita Desai

Title: Fasting, Feasting
Author: Anita Desai
Genre: Fiction
Published: 1999

I enjoyed Fasting, Feasting enough to finish it but can't really say it is was one of my favourite reads. Anita Desai weaves her story around an Indian family with three children - all three of whom represent the family's ambitions in some way.
Uma, the eldest is unmarried, clumsy and not particularly bright. The author describes her hunger for knowledge, and her attempts at being scholarly - but it is apparent that her thirst for knowledge is probably that of a spiritual kind. For this her aunt Mira-Masi, a widow and a rather odd character becomes Uma's guide. She encourages Uma's search for spiritual knowledge, inviting her for spiritual retreats and ashrams, much to Uma's parents' discouragement.

Books: BATTLE HYMN OF THE TIGER MOTHER by Amy Chua

Title: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Author: Amy Chua
Genre: Memoir
Published: 2011

When Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was published two years ago; the furore and debates that followed over the methods used by Amy Chua in her pursuit to mould her daughters; Sophia and Lulu into the perfect little pianists and violinists piqued my interest.  Every other article on parenting seemed to link back to Chua's book and that controversial Wall Street Journal article on "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior".

Books: DARKNESS VISIBLE by William Styron

Title: Darkness Visible
Author: William Styron
Genre: Memoir
Published: 1990

This was a short read about a terrible illness. Styron writes consciously and matter-of-factly about his depression. Consciously because even before he had given it a name, so unaware of the extent to which the disease could be debilitating, he was well aware of his progression into the darkness of it.

Books: THE ASSOCIATION OF FOREIGN SPOUSES by Marilyn Heward Mills

Title: The Association of Foreign Spouses
Author: Marilyn Heward Mills
Genre: Fiction
Published: 2010

After having recently read Ghana Must Go, The Association of Foreign Spouses, a book based in Ghana, transported me right back to this country which holds a special place in my heart. Reading it was like reliving my years there, without the themes of domestic abuse and isolation, but with memories about the awkwardness of being a foreigner.

Books: THE COOKED SEED by Anchee Min

Title: The Cooked Seed
Author: Anchee Min
Published: 2013
Genre: Memoir

Anchee Min has written extensively about her life in China in the years prior to the Cultural Revolution, when she was chosen to be the star of propaganda films , and subsequent to that when China underwent a revolution that saw all and everything ever associated with Chairman Mao be destroyed. In The Cooked Seed she writes of the arduous journey from life as a peasant in the countryside; to a stint in a labour camp; to her years as a star of the propaganda machine; to her escape to the US as an art student to the Chicago Art Institute after the death of Chairman Mao and overthrowing of Madame Mao.