Book Review: Never look an American in the eye by Okey Ndibe

I enjoyed too many stories in this memoir but I will only highlight a few of them. I enjoyed the story about how he came to America even though he was initially denied a visa. I thought he was very lucky to have known someone who had the kind of power to influence a visa decision. In addition to that, he was personally invited to America by Prof. Chinua Achebe to take on the role of the founding editor of the first ever African Commentary magazine.

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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.

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.

My review of Arrows of Rain by Okey Ndibe

The fictional country, Madia is based mostly on postcolonial Nigeria. If you know nothing of postcolonial Africa this book will give you a small history of events that took place during that era.

Some major characters – Bukuru, Iyese aka Emilia, Femi Adero, Dr. Mandi aka S.P.J.C. Mandi.
– Bukuru is the falsely accused rapist and murderer. A former journalist who stripped himself of his identity and lived an anonymous life. People identified him as a mad man due to his appearance.
– Femi Adero is a journalist who spent most of his adult life searching for clues about his birth parents.

To know is sometimes good…

To know is sometimes good, but to have the wisdom to accept what you cannot know is better.

Arrows Of Rain by Okey Ndibe

A story that must be told…

A story that must be told never forgives silence. Speech is the mouth’s debt to a story.

Arrows Of Rain by Okey Ndibe

The death that kills a puppy…

The death that kills a puppy first blinds him. The headstrong who won’t listen will finally obey the summons of the death mat. The housefly who has nobody to advise it follows the corpse into the grave.

Arrows Of Rain by Okey Ndibe

In the real world necessity…

In the real world necessity sometimes takes precedence over conscience

Arrows Of Rain by Okey Ndibe

Her skin was sallow, daubed with…

Her skin was sallow, daubed with black splotches, and a smell like that of rotten onion gave her away as a skin bleacher.

Arrows Of Rain by Okey Ndibe