Title: Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike Author: Knight, Phil Publisher: Scribner Pages: 400 Date Read: 09 February 2023 Bookshelves: read, favorites My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 solid stars. A well-written memoir by the founder of arguably the world’s most influential lifestyle brand. The writing was excellent; the insights abundant, and the storytelling – legendary. Read this book.
Title: Eight Letters to a Young Writer Author: Cole, Teju Publisher: NEXT Pages: 40 Date Read: 14 January 2023 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Short. Concise. Excellent. A great read reminiscent of Rilke’s Letters to a young Poet . The author doesn’t introduce any radical opinions but does a fine job of aggregating mundane insights into a truly beautiful and well-written body of work. I recommend.
Title: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Author: Koenig, John Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pages: 272 Date Read: 01 December 2022 Bookshelves: read, favorites My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What do you do when you have no words for what you feel? How do you express yourself in ways language does not yet acknowledge as popular, or as normal? The author’s answer to these questions, well, was to curate a dictionary of nouns, verbs, and adjectives that capture the human experience in ways too subtle to be grasped by language as we know it. And as one who appreciates words, I cannot think of a greater labour of love. ...
Title: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt Author: Lewis, Michael Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pages: 304 Date Read: 23 November 2022 Bookshelves: read, favorites My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was an excellent read. As one who appreciates numbers, good writing, and scale with respect to financial markets, this book gets my complete endorsement. This is my first time reading Michael Lewis and I can confirm that it will not be my last. ...
Title: Playing Safe (The Fox Family Series, #1) Author: Stone, A.J. Publisher: nan Pages: 274 Date Read: 19 November 2022 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I enjoyed reading this book. More than the beauty of the story, I loved the character development and the author’s writing style—a solid first book. Looking forward to reading more books from this series and from this author.
Title: The Red-Haired Woman Author: Pamuk, Orhan Publisher: Knopf Canada Pages: 274 Date Read: 18 October 2022 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐ More like 2.5 stars rounded up. The first half of this book was a chore to read as it was written with a complete disregard for urgency. The second half moved at a faster pace and elevated my rating from what would have been a definite 1 star. This section of the story was very well written but such deftness came a little too late. ...
Title: Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree Author: Nwaubani, Adaobi Tricia Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books Pages: 328 Date Read: 01 September 2022 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book tells the story of the kidnapped Chibok girls from the point of view of the survivors. Framing the story this way was powerful because it allows the reader to appreciate the lives these girls lived, their desire for education, their aspirations for the future, and the tragedy they endured in the hands of the Boko Haram terrorists. ...
Title: Honor Author: Shafak, Elif Publisher: Viking Pages: 352 Date Read: 16 August 2022 Bookshelves: read, favorites My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The best time to have written this review was five weeks ago when I completed the book amidst excitement and measured melancholy. Part of why I stalled was because I felt I did not possess the language for the range of emotions I experienced while reading. So I waited. But the longer I lazed around for these words to somehow find me, the more I found the core of the book slipping away from me. Worried that there would be nothing left to write about when the right words eventually came, I resolved to freeze all these scattered emotions in words before all was lost to time. ...
Title: Your Crib, My Qibla (African Poetry Book) Author: Dzukogi, Saddiq Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pages: 108 Date Read: 16 July 2022 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A gripping collection of poems inspired by loss and grief. Some hits. Some misses. Overall a good body of work
Title: Letters to a Young Poet Author: Rilke, Rainer Maria Publisher: Dover Publications Pages: 80 Date Read: 12 July 2022 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was a short but very well-written book themed around solitude, finding one’s purpose and creative writing. I felt it tapered off towards the end but still made for a pretty compelling read.