In a few days, we will have lived through the first half of the year. If you are someone who plans to read books in the second half of the year, I bring something better than a book review to you. A beautiful compilation of my favorite books. A personal recommendation list based on my favorite kinds of books.
1. THE SON OF THE HOUSE BY CHELUCHI ONYEMELUKWE-ONUOBIA
I am taking this first because it is my latest read. Chaos is birthed when two women who never met each other in their many decades of living have their lives suddenly intertwined. Nwabulu is a woman well into her fifties. Having lost her child as a teenager and having had to deal with disappointments, betrayals, and a lack of love and affection as a child, there are no mincing words in saying that she lived a rough and bitter life as a child and as a young adult.
Julie, a woman in her seventies, has lived a life filled with more downs than ups. After dealing with barrenness and mockery from her in-laws for years, she got a baby boy through lies, half-truths, and deception. How will she keep her thirty-three-year-old secret forever, or will her newly-found friendship with Nwabulu bring down the walls she has strived to build for years? Will she have to lose everything that means the most to her? Even have her dirty linen washed in public? You’ll have to read the son of the house to know.
This book is on my personal recommendation list because I read a couple of ridiculous things that I didn’t know normal people were capable of. Getting to see these things made me laugh so much.
2. ODUFA BY OTHUKE OMINIABOHS
Hmmnnn… Odufa
First, I would like to say that Odufa was quite a read. I ended the book with completely different emotions from what I started with. This book is on my personal recommendation list because while it took me through bouts of emotions, it touched on topics that people don’t talk about extensively. The topics Odufa touched on were domestic abuse, emotional blackmail, mental health, and gas lighting amongst others. The lead characters kept playing a game that annoyed me so much that on occasions, I wanted to tell them to stop messing with my mind.
Tony met Odufa at the lowest point of his life, and her initial kindness made him rely on her so much that he didn’t think straight and did not know when the time came to leave the toxic relationship. Both of them were abusive at different times in their relationship, but Odufa’s abuse was way beyond imagination. Genuinely, although I had heard of physically abusive ladies in relationships, Odufa’s level of physical abuse shocked me. Both of them broke each other in various ways and left me opening my mouth in shock many times.
If you would like to read a book that talks about the topics I earlier mentioned undiluted, Odufa is the book for you.
3. TOMORROW DIED YESTERDAY BY CHIMEKA GARRICKS
You probably have heard someone talk about this book in a positive light, and I will add to the publicity that tomorrow died yesterday already has. What is “tomorrow died yesterday” without Kaniye. Some time ago, there were conversations surrounding Kaniye as the ‘standard for a male fictional character’. To be honest, the reasons are not farfetched. Kaniye is smart, intelligent, a great lawyer, a good friend, and the most loyal fictional character you will probably ever read about. The book gives insight into the lives of four men who have known one another since childhood, the tragedies that befell them, and what friendship and loyalty are.
It tells us that even when it seems like the whole world is against us and the universe is conspiring to make life tiring, as long as we have our people, we will be fine. Asides friendship, tomorrow died yesterday also touched a bit on family relationships and dynamics.
One of the reasons why Tomorrow Died Yesterday is on my personal recommendation list is that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It was a breath of fresh air, it was humorous and I laughed a couple of times.
4. MY LOVELY WIFE BY SAMANTHA DOWNING
Taking a break from African fiction is a personal recommendation of this riveting thriller. My realization upon reading this book was that it takes a level of heartlessness to be who the main character is. Millicent and her husband were nothing but chronic murderers. The way they had conversations about murder was sick, however, what was even scarier was that they did checks and carefully picked people with certain criteria to murder.
At first, I did not know who was the psychopath of the two of them, or if there was anyone of them that wasn’t one. Eventually, I got the answers I needed. Talk about deception, and it was both of them. However, only one of them was manipulative, lied with every breath, and fooled the significant other for years. Only one of them failed to remain cooperative in their plans and tried to ruin the other half and the children.
I have filled the first three books with spoilers, so I will stop at this point for this book.
5. TELL ME YOUR DREAMS BY SIDNEY SHELDON
Saying that I loved reading this book is an understatement. It was an amazing and insightful book. The main focus of the book was multiple personality disorder, also called dissociative identity disorder. The main character, Ashley, had gone through traumatic situations as a child, and that led her to create alters. Creating alters, as the book showed, was not the main problem.
The problem was that in her name, five people died. These deaths occurred in different places, sometimes, even cities apart. However, the circumstances surrounding the deaths were similar, and they were all traced to her. How will she prove her innocence? Is she innocent in the first instance?
If you would like to understand what multiple dissociative disorder is about, this book is for you. Owing to this book, I might just watch a movie I have always wanted to watch on multiple personality disorder.
CONCLUSION
For the days ahead, these five books should be added to your to-be-read list; they all will be worth your while. Do you love African fiction? Or domestic thrillers and investigative fiction? The books listed from my personal recommendation list should be in your next reads. For other book reviews and recommendations, check these out
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