April 2022 Reading Roundup
This month's reading featured Caribbean literary fiction, politics, economics, and the moving tales of a Berlin chiropodist.
Race & Class in Jamaican Fiction: Dog-Heart by Diana McCaulay
Dog-Heart tells the story of two Jamaicans from very different worlds. Sahara is a light-skinned “uptown” woman who runs a successful Kingston restaurant. Dexter is a poor, dark-skinned boy from the “ghetto” neighbourhood of Jacob’s Pen.
Borges Marathon, Part 7: Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv
One of the fun parts of working my way through the Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges is trying to understand where the boundary lies between fact and fiction. In Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv, as far as I can…
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
How can human relationships be formed without shared memories? Can mathematical order overcome the chaos of a life without memory? Yoko Ogawa's novel explores these fascinating themes through the simple story of a professor and his housekeeper.
Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde
Vagabonds! is a startlingly original Nigerian debut novel that introduces us to a compelling cast of marginalised characters struggling to survive and thrive on the chaotic streets of Lagos.
February 2022 Reading Roundup
Last month I read some excellent books, including Japanese literary fiction and some more Caribbean literature from local bookshops.
Lote by Shola van Reinhold #ReadIndies
Lote, a debut novel by Shola van Reinhold, is an intelligent, beautifully written piece of literary fiction that explores issues of art, beauty, race, sexuality and more.
Pick of the Crop by Nailah Folami Imoja
The annual calypso competition is a big deal in Barbados, so when I saw a novel about it on a recent trip to a second-hand bookshop, I wanted to give it a try. It has a promising start, but the…
January 2022 Reading Roundup
I had a good reading month, including a few books from my trip to a Barbadian bookshop, plus a couple for the Japanese Literary Challenge. Here are the details.