by E. C. Osondu
I am fully on board the short story train now. There have been so many stellar collections in the past few years. This one actually came out last November and I finally dug it out of the "to be read" pile. I'll actually post pictures of that pile one day.
Osondu's stories are set in Nigeria and the U.S. and focus mainly on the hopes and dreams of the Nigerian people. Young boys living in a refugee camp dreaming of being adopted and living abroad. A young man sent to study in America by the hard work of his family, only to return disgraced. A woman so desparate to have a child that she returns to Nigeria and allows her mother-in-law to take her to a healer. My favorite is "A Letter From Home", where a mother gently prods her son to send money home and remember his roots and not marry a White woman.
In an age where all we hear about Nigeria is corruption and scams, this is beautiful insight into its people, their culture, and their motivations.
How to Get Through What You're Going Through
by Iyanla Vanzant
I bought this book last fall when it was first published because I am a fan of Iyanla Vanzant and have read all of her books. I even read the autobiography that she wrote and then decided that she didn't want published, but her publisher at the time put it out anyway and she sued and won and now the book just seems like an urban myth because you can't find it anywhere. Whew!
Anyway, I've had the book all this time and tried to pick it up here and there but I never stuck with it. It wasn't until she appeared on the infamous two part episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show that I went back to it and dived in full force. While the adage, "those who can't do, teach" is an often overused cliché, when you read this book you will realize the truth in it. Dealing with the illness and subsequent death of her middle child and the erosion of her career, Vanzant begins a journey where she searches through the events of her life that brought her to this point. It is the most honest we've ever seen her and therefore the most courageous. This book will be eye-opening for people who think that successful celebrities have it all together, especially those who make their living as spiritual life coaches.
I will say that I have had the fortune to have met her and her daughter Gemmia a few times, and while she was always professional and charming, I felt an aloofness there that I didn't expect from someone in her position. That also happened to me when I met Deepak Chopra. Maybe it's me...
by Tayari Jones
Let me just begin by saying, this is already in my top 5 books of the year and it is just May. It is that good. And I'm not biased because I currently live in Atlanta, where the book is set in the 1980's, and am familiar with the world of the characters. (West End Mall hasn't changed in 20 years!)
Told in the voices of the youngest ones affected, Silver Sparrow is the story of the families of James Witherspoon - one public, one secret. Like most of these situations, the secret family is well aware of the public one (but not vice versa) and the daughter of this union, Dana, struggles to understand her place in her father's life. Born just four months before her "sister", Chaurisse, Dana seeks to know everything about her and the two form a friendship that threatens to destroy the separate lives that James has created.
Jones does a magnificent job of showing the depth of all those involved, to the point that I was unable to label anyone a villain in this scenario. In lesser skilled hands, James, the patriarch of these two families would have easily been the one to hate. But because Jones made the brilliant choice to give him a stutter that showed up when he was stressed or uncomfortable, I always felt sorry for him in a way (Doret & I disagree on this, LOL!).
If I used a rating system on this blog, it would definitely rate a 5 out of 5.
