Reading Challenge: How did I fare in the first quarter of 2016?

I started this blog as a way to document my yearly reading challenges. I was able to read 59 books last year, only one book short of my 60 books challenge. I set up the same challenge this year hoping to exceed my goal. To meet or exceed this goal, I must read at least 5 books a month. So, how did I do in the first quarter? Am I ahead or behind and should I reconsider my challenge? To help put things into perspective, here are the books I read each month.

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Book Review: Nairobi Heat by Mukoma wa Ngugi

Nairobi Heat is a crime fiction about how two detectives who live in two different continents and have never met each other before but later became good friends joined forces to solve the murder of an unidentified young white girl. Ishmael, an African American is the book’s narrator and the lead detective on the murder case. The prime suspect is Joshua, a former headmaster and African hero who saved innocent lives during the Rwanda genocide but now a Professor living in a very rich white neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin. Joshua found the body on his doorstep raising many questions that landed him at the top of suspects’ list, but his air tight alibi made it difficult to convict him of the crime.

Book Review: Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole

 

Every Day is for the Thief tells the story of a young Nigerian American who finally visits home (Lagos, Nigeria) after 15 years of living in America to discover things are no longer as they used to be. Corruption and bribery are the norm, which he sadly experienced right from the consulate office in New York when he was asked to give a second undocumented money order to get his passport processed faster than normal.

Book Review: Foreign Gods Inc. by Okey Ndibe

Foreign Gods, Inc. was set in two places – New York City and Utonki, a village in eastern part of Nigeria. The book told the story of Ikechukwu Uzondu, Ike for short, a Nigerian cab driver based in NYC who thought stealing his village’s war deity, Ngene will solve his financial problems. It also briefly told the story of Stanton, an arrogant and violent British missionary who landed in Utonki with the hope of destroying Ngene, but things went terribly wrong for him.