Our April Book Club discussion will feature the novel
"Seeing our Sisters"
by:
Munira Hussein, Rehema Zuberi, Hellen Mwololo, Ellah Hallets, Joanna Cockerline, Jacque Nzioka
Sunday, April 27th at 12:00pm
For years, the stereotype has been that women are against each other. While this may be true in some cases, the love women have for and with each other can be one of the strongest. Seeing Our Sisters was born out of sisterhood, the desire to empower, a belief in the power of stories, and what we can do when we come together. This collection of ten stories, written by a collective of women whose experiences transcend borders-demographic, and the ones societal expectations try to impose-is a celebration of diverse voices and visions for what is possible. United by our friendship, our love of storytelling, and our insistence that a spectrum of perspectives and experiences-including those that may be marginalized or formerly unheard-must be shared, this anthology honours both the differences and connections that comprise who we are and how we exist in the world.
These stories are about relationships in its many manifestations as well as self-realization, leaving and finding homes in our lands, in each other, and in ourselves. (Barnes and Noble)
Coming up next!
Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow
by Damilare Kuku
July 10th at 7:30pm Humor and poignance mix in this powerful polyphonic novel about family secrets, judgmental aunties, and Brazilian butt lifts, from the internationally bestselling author of Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad. Freshly out of Obafemi Awolowo University, 20-year-old Temi has a clear plan for her she is going to surgically enlarge her backside like all the other Nigerian women, move from Ile-Ife to Lagos, and meet a man who will love her senseless. When she finally finds the courage to tell her mother, older sister, and aunties, her announcement causes an uproar. Nigerian families can really be an obstacle in a girl’s journey to physical perfection. But as each of the other women try to cure Temi of what seems like temporary insanity, they begin to spill long-buried secrets, including the truth of Temi’s older sister’s mysterious disappearance five years earlier. In the end, it seems like Temi might be the sanest of them all… In Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow, Damilare Kuku brings her signature humor, boldness, and compassion to each member of this loveable but exasperating family, whose lives reveal the ways in which a woman’s physical appearance can dictate her life and relationships and show just how sharp the double-edged sword of beauty can be. (Goodreads)
Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi
October 9th at 7:30pm Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.
Banthology
edited by Sarah Cleave
December 11th at 7:30pm In January 2017, President Trump signed an executive order banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – from entering the United States, effectively slamming the door on refugees seeking safety and tearing families apart. Mass protests followed, and although the order has since been blocked, amended and challenged by judges, it still stands as one of the most discriminatory laws to be passed in the US in modern times. Banthology brings together specially commissioned stories from the original seven ‘banned nations’. Covering a range of approaches – from satire, to allegory, to literary realism – it explores the emotional and personal impact of all restrictions on movement, and offers a platform to voices the White House would rather remained silent. (Goodreads)
Check out our past book club reads...
"Sankofa"
By Chibundo Onuzo
Masterful in its examination of freedom, prejudice, and personal and public inheritance, Sankofa is a story for anyone who has ever gone looking for a clear identity or home, and found something more complex in its place. (GoodReads)
"Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad"
A collection of short stories, structured as case-studies, and a form of love letter in solidarity with the women who have survived romantic relationships with men in Lagos….it deftly analyses the various archetypes women are likely to encounter in the dating scene in the city – from serial cheaters, to mummy’s boys, from the ‘fake it till you make it’ adherents to the ones who can’t commit.
This book underscores with wit, humour, wisdom, and sensitivity the perils of trying to find lasting love and companionship in Africa’s craziest city that will prove universal and illuminating. (Goodreads).
"The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A memoir of family, war and peace"
By Wayétu Moore
Spanning this harrowing journey in Moore’s early childhood, her years adjusting to life in Texas as a black woman and an immigrant, and her eventual return to Liberia, The Dragons, the Giant, the Women is a deeply moving story of the search for home in the midst of upheaval. Moore has a novelist’s eye for suspense and emotional depth, and this unforgettable memoir is full of imaginative, lyrical flights and lush prose. In capturing both the hazy magic and the stark realities of what is becoming an increasingly pervasive experience, Moore shines a light on the great political and personal forces that continue to affect many migrants around the world, and calls us all to acknowledge the tenacious power of love and family. (GoodReads)
"Homegoing"
By Yaa Gyasi
A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.
"How Beautiful We Were"
by Imbolo Mbue
"Told through the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold onto its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom. (Goodreads)
