Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have become a very skeptical reader, and as such, I was kind of dubious for a large chunk of this book. Mostly I objected to the form of the book because it feels like it's part novel and part essay collection. I wasn't in love with that format. Also, the thing about the essays is that I agree with every word of them- or very nearly every word- but they lack the scholarly historical flavor that both the character Blaine and I prefer in our nonfiction.

But by the end I cared so much about the main characters, I love them so hard, I think Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a genius of fiction writing and if she wants to throw in essays, she can do whatever she wants. A new favorite!

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Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was pretty interesting in that it was significantly different in both form and substance than what I usually read. Although substance-wise, I recently read a discussion of The Iliad and its pre-Christian culture having an ethics not of kindness and mercy but rather of strength and beauty, and it reminds me of this sort of narrative.

On the other hand, though Okonkwo often commits terrible acts, the reader is not alone in his judgment. There is often a villager who voices the wrongness of his action. And when Okonkwo is opposing the missionaries, I found myself suddenly sympathetic to him.

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What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Most of these stories were extremely well-written and powerful. She can do simple and powerful, and she can do crazy magical realism.

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