Forever
is a dangerous word.
How can a mortal
offer eternity?
Category: Book Review
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I have been reading The Honey Bee: A Business Parable about Getting Un-Stuck and Taking Control of Your Financial Future. This book popped up in my “Read Now” galley on NetGalley and I wanted to read it because I can’t seem to get my finances in check, and also I’ve been exploring modes of investing and saving that go beyond the ordinary “chama” that we have here in Kenya.
It’s written by Jake Stenziano and Gino Barbaro.
178 pages/ River Grove Books The authors take a fictional approach to unpack six lessons that they’ve learned in the course of their lives and financial investments. It’s a short book, easy to read and I love the kind of books that make you want to sit down and re-evaluate your life.
This one does so in the most creative way- there’s the final section in each chapter that summarizes the lessons learned and each lesson builds upon the previous one.
I’m yet to meet anyone who hasn’t struggled with managing their finances and for as long as we can make money, there’s also the desire to find as many ways of doing so, and never running out it. This is why I feel a lot of people would relate to this book.
The greatest lesson I learned from this book is:
Create Streams of Purpose: Money isn’t your reason, it only finds it.
I could spoil it for you and share all the 6 lessons, but then what’s the fun in doing that? You may learn a thing or two, if you go in search of the book- besides who’s to tell what your experience may be reading it?
It’s going for $0.99 on Kindle and $14.93 on Paperback
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I’ve been reading interesting books this August and since I’m always looking to be better each day, it was no surprise that I would automatically read Renee Smith’s “Harness the Power of Personal Branding and Executive Presence.”
This is the kind of book you read with a pen and notebook in hand.
Here’s a bit of the background story about the book: Harness the Power of Personal Branding and Executive Presence has one purpose–to show you how to embody your authenticity and elevate your life and career.
S. Renee Smith, a nationally recognized self-esteem, branding and communication expert, and speaker, simplifies personal branding and demystifies executive presence. With each eye-opening insight, well-illustrated example, compelling story and mind elevation exercise, you’ll be engaged and inspired as you see yourself, your life, and your dreams take flight.
My take on this:
The author takes you through the personal branding journey and each chapter builds upon the previous one, such that when you are done reading, you’ve got so many things you jotted down that you’ve done or are to do that you never even thought of.
I love that she shares tips that you can use every day and not just in tune with business and investing, but also about exuding power and confidence.
Some insights that stood out for me:
Nothing is arbitrary. When someone knocks on your door with a huge opportunity that you think you aren’t ready for, stand on the fact that no one is going to put their job at risk for you. They are connecting with you because they believe you can make them look good.
Challenges set you up for success.
What is the state of of your mind?
Be still until you are ready. This is so true when it comes to change, for once you are ready to change, you owe it to yourself to be fully prepared for that journey.
How much do you charge? Every time we interact with people we are costing them something, be it time, money, emotions, productivity, so ask yourself how much does it cost to interact with you? [I’ll write a post about this one]
You can get the book on Amazon for as low as $9.99
Visit her author page for more titles: here
There are a lot more insights on branding, presence, networking and communication on her website: https://asksrenee.com/
courtesy of the author’s website: http://www.askrenee.com -
Once in a while, you experience moments that call you out or bring such clarity in your life that you cannot help but sit back, reflect and change your path.
I came across Miss T. N. King’s book, “I Lost Me When I Found You” on Netgalley last week- and I wanted to read it, because for a while there have been blurred lines in my understanding and experience on love, with love and for love.
About the book: Have you ever lost yourself? In a candid and inspiring call to action, Miss T.N. King invites every woman who has felt depleted, hopeless, or “not enough” to reconnect and uncover her true, divine self—known as her Inner Goddess.Throughout this book, King exposes the “idols” we create in our minds and the lifestyles we use to distract ourselves—which leave us feeling lost and empty. She breaks down exactly how this happens and how we can transform our pain, fear, and setbacks into power, faith, and success.
King shares details of her personal journey, as well as the stories of several courageous women, and provides practical, proven tools to truly elevate us and our quality of life. Miss T.N. King shines the spotlight on relationships, career, money, body image, social media, the “superwoman” complex, women bashing on other women—and even “situationships”!
I loved the format of this book, first are the stories shared by other women “I lost myself when…” and you can actually relate to their situations. Then come the insights drawn from the Bible, the author’s experiences and famous people’s experiences and finally a call to action and those keys for reflection are amazing. This book would be great if it came with a journal. Some of the things that stood out for me were:
1.
A common mistake I notice us women make is that we stop loving ourselves when we start loving a man.
2.
In order to get something you’ve never had; you have to do something you’ve never done.
3.
What happens when you settle for a situationship? You end up becoming the “New Side Chick”- a woman who has decided to stay by a man’s side after he had expressed his lack of relationship intentions with her through his words and actions.
And finally my favorite:
Be attracted to the way a man treats you, before you are attracted to anything else about him.
If you’d like to read the book for more insights, you can visit Miss King’s website http://www.misstnking.com/ and pre-order a copy of the book on Amazon currently priced at $9.99
Picture courtesy of Miss King’s website. I’m glad that my 30 day new challenge for August has been sparked by reading this book and I made a list of things I love about myself and then another of things I wish I could change about myself and why-and looking at the two is my next step of action.
Can’t wait to see what this new challenge brings me.
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General Fiction(Adult)/ Sci-Fi & Fantasy/ Rebellion Publishing- Abaddon Books
David Mogo is a demigod. His mother is the god of war and chaos and his father, well, he was just a common man- a mortal which is why he hunts gods and godlings, because his essence can sense their presence. And also their presence in Lagos causes nothing but chaos for human beings and he is not pleased about it, not one bit.
About the book: The gods have fallen to earth in their thousands, and chaos reigns. Though broken and leaderless, the city endures. David Mogo, demigod and godhunter, has one task: capture two of the most powerful gods in the city and deliver them to the wizard gangster Lukmon Ajala. No problem, right?
But David’s not perfect: he is conflicted about a host of things that go as far as his birth, being abandoned by his mother, always feeling like he doesn’t belong and now the fact that he’s got high gods after him, seeking to kill him.
It’s an interesting read and David is vivid in his description of what he’s feeling just as he is rash in fighting. For example he says at some point during a fight “Tonight though, it’s because my body aches like I was built by angry carpenters.”
Like in any book, there’s a likelihood that you’ll be taken in by a character or characters and in this book, my favorite character was Papa Udi also known as Payu. He speaks Pidgin and he doesn’t say much, but you realize that he’s the one David listens to and respects the most. He is also the one that David does not want to let down and that kind of pressure does a number on David’s focus in fighting the gods.
Payu shakes his head. “No, no, no. Na die two of una dey and I cannot follow you for such a thing. Good luck if you wan go die, but you cannot drag me along. David, no. I say no. No!”
Like in Chapter Twenty Two, Papa Udi chastises Kehinde when he says:
“You for no talk am like that,” and adds “Wise god my bumbum.”
What the author succeeds in is in thrusting you into a world of chaos, magic, anger and vengeance whilst serving it through Pidgin, and highlighting aspects that are indeed akin to Nigeria and the culture of some tribes therein. It’s also a hilarious read because between the back and forth of Payu and David you cannot help but appreciate their relationship, one as the nurturer and the other son or grandson.
Verdict:
I saw this book on the Netgalley dashboard and I had to read it, because if it’s by an African author, I’m interested-period! It’s been a fun read, there are bits and pieces I relate to and my only sad point is that I cannot quote all of Payu’s lines (yeah, there’s that disclaimer to Advance Readers).
About the author: Suyi Davies Okungbowa is a Nigerian writer of science fiction, dark and contemporary fantasy. His short fiction and essays have appeared in Lightspeed, Fireside, Podcastle, The Dark, Ozy, Omenana and other magazines and anthologies. His urban fantasy novel about gods in Lagos is forthcoming in 2019. Visit the author’s website or tweet at him at @IAmSuyiDavies.
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It’s almost ten o’clock. I should be going through reports, but I have just had a workout session and I can’t seem to catch my breath. I’ll take a shower, finish my coffee, dress up and leave for work in an hour or less.
The morning workout is part of this month’s focus. I’m taking drastic changes by having a list of top ten each month that I feel would have an impact on my life and health.
For May:
- Workout in the morning.
- Walk to and from work every day using the long route!
- Read more of the Old Testament ( there are some epic stories therein I tell you, and I am learning that there are better ways to read the Bible, to engage with it and not just from the “If you will..” perspective)
- Read more articles from: The Elephant: https://www.theelephant.info/
- Drink more ginger + lemon+ honey water in the morning and right before going to bed.
- Listen more often.
- Enjoy listening to: Paradoxology by Elevation Worship and Victory (Live) by Bethel Music
- Write more: both fiction and non-fiction (keep writing those long-form articles)
- Say thank you more often, life’s short.
- Drink more water and get your tasks done!
I started this month on an epic note reading Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay.
And I love epics, just as much as I love any story that’s got dragons in it 🙂 but what made me buy the book was reading about a young man who got the gift of 250 Sardian ( very magnificent) horses and he suddenly finds himself the talk and threat of a whole empire.
It’s a great read, well-paced and I love how the author unpacks his characters and you get weaved into plots and sub-plots that you did not see coming whilst reading it.
However, that’s barely it (let me sip some coffee…) yes, where was I? Right, that’s barely why I am writing this, but I love how books speak to me. Some books can take me on a journey that makes it hard for me to come back to reality because I never know how far gone I am until someone talks to me. A friend called me and I noticed this was so because I told her “Time runs both ways. We make stories of our lives,” and she asked “where did that come from?
I was already quoting this book! So, I’ll throw in another quote for good measure because it seems like this book is still in my system.
“Life offered you love sometimes, sorrow often. if you were very fortunate, true friendship.”
Do you have any goals for May or should I call them your ten little things that you want to do or try out this month?
Have a great week and since it’s Thursday, lo and behold, I smell a weekend, but I’ll be reading something on another Writer who intrigues me:
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Hello World, so, today I want to talk about romance novels! Yes, wait…have I lost a couple of people?
I promise not to truly bore you. I’ll do so without a doubt, but even when I do, simply roll your eyes and read on- but have you noticed that romance novels can make you believe that falling in love is like being dipped in nectar?And why is it that the guys always know just what to say and do to make the women swoon? We haven’t talked about the curvy descriptions in BBW books because the gods of Literature know that I have always found such descriptions worthy of an IG post!
So, let me tell you what happened to me yesterday. I was working on some reports when I thought why not log into NetGalley and see if they have new books that I could read.
I log in and go to “Find Titles” and since I have a 10 minute break, I simply go to “Read Now” and bham!
The gods of Literature approved and I got the book. I read the first part of the blurb:
Nikki Elliot is running out of time. After a season and a half of struggling to rebuild her racing career thanks to a near-fatal accident, she is faced with the ugly truth: it’s going to take a miracle to make her lifelong dream of racing in Formula 1 a reality. The trouble is, Nikki doesn’t believe in miracles. When Fate sends her help in the form of a quiet, sexy mechanic, however, Nikki realizes that miracles do happen: the ones you hope for and the ones you least expect. But just as things look like they’re falling into place, Nikki discovers that miracles come at a steep price.
So, the heroine’s Nikki and the “Quiet, sexy Mechanic” is Jake. Right, this sounds interesting…
Jake’s the guy who found his mom with her wrists slashed in their house. He’s the guy who hated his Dad for being a Mafia boss and got into trouble so much so that he changed his name! He’s also the guy who’s out of prison for assault (he had to defend his mother’s honor by beating the vile out of his stepdad’s mouth) and he can’t get custody of his younger brother, Dario, because one thing’s certain, Jake can’t keep cool! He comes home, finds out he’s been robbed. Hooks up with some girl-Angela (she’s trouble on legs) then finds out that he’d be working with ‘the Nikki Elliot’ the girl he’s been crushing on for years!
And before you hate me for spilling so much tea! Listen to this…they are freaking Italians!
They both happen to belong to two of the most powerful Mafia families, and since both of them changed their names, it takes one temperamental buff- named Damon, to unravel the mystery and while at it, help Nikki find out who’s out to end her life!
Now, I don’t know why authors can make readers swoon because the Italian phrases that were thrown here were enough to make me sit down and drink three cups of tea and then some Fanta BlackCurrant. (Coglione, tesoro, La pormetto,Dio mio, Solo tu per sempre)
What would a romance novel be without the chemistry and the heat? This has lots of it but what struck me Jake’s reluctance to act on his instincts and the welcome invitations he got from Nikki. I was so frustrated at some point that I screamed “Come on! Dude! Go get her and quit selling yourself short!”
The writing is simple and the dialogues interesting. I do however noted that there were characters that were forgotten about so fast I couldn’t help but feel that they were poorly discarded. In this case, it’s Nikki’s brothers.
What would big brothers be without their little brothers? In this book, Dario’s the younger one but he’s also the one to speak up when Jake can’t. When he meets Nikki, he starts:
“I was right,” he said, eyeing her.
Nikki arched a brow. “About what?”
“My brother…He’s crazy about you. He has been since you guys started working together.”
So, I get it that this book is the first in the series. I also get that it’s categorized as New Adult/ Romance but my two-cents believes it should go for at least $1.99 but hey, I’m just a reader who got the chance to enjoy this book and talk about it.
PS: All GIF’s courtesy of Google Images
Here’s one for you:
Prove my fan-girling wrong: Get the book on Amazon today it’s $0.99
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It’s been a week since I got home. However, the truth is, it’s been one month and one week since I wrote anything. When I say ‘anything’ here, I mean, writing to advance a plot or story that I have been working on. I am not bothered by the pace…I should be, but I’m not in the frame of mind to write and I knew I did the right thing by halting the release of Sifuna on May 26th.
What a way to start a post!
Well, have you ever made a decision that you were solely proud of?
I’ve never taken such a long time writing, editing and releasing a book as much as I have with this book. First, I had an idea, I tossed it about for three months, wrote a chapter or two and deleted it and had so many eBook cover changes that I finally decided to let it breathe!
On reading: I got down to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline because of this awesome conversation-> here. I’ll watch the movie!
![Ready Player One by [Cline, Ernest]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51hD3F53GXL._SY346_.jpg)
I read the book in one sitting. Yes, not because it was as remarkable as the star ratings on Amazon, but because I found the 80’s reference too much to my liking and the writing faltered between utter fascination with unnecessary detailed descriptions. I’ll admit that I’m not a Gamer, so the fascination is lost on me, there were some parts where the writing seemed rather clumsy to me. So, here’s the deal…Spielberg’s got reigns of the movie and I am watching it! Ochieng…let’s toast to this “the movie’s gotta be way better than the book!”
I am still reading The Queen’s Fool by Philippa Gregory and cannot wait to finish reading it and get started on these titles!
![Priceless by [Miloszewski, Zygmunt]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51tPpn5CueL.jpg)
So, there you have it…I’ll spend my Saturday reading and maybe drinking tea as I wait for my clothes to dry…I might pick up my pen and go over my drafts sometime next week and see where I go with writing.
Have a great weekend!
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NetGalley has been good to me. I was hesitant when I first received the recommendation from Goodreads to sign up and get to read books in exchange for a review. I thought, “why ask for books just to review them?”
Then the gods of literature struck and I was working in Kisumu and couldn’t find alternative sources of buying books. I was in a literal dry spell and my mind was asking to be nourished by something, so I signed up and since then I’ve read 47 books off NetGalley. I’ve come to know of authors whom I’ll always keep an eye out for like Clar Ni Chonghaile, Timothy Ogene, and now Akwaeke Emezi.
So, my NG experience aside, let me tell you about Akwaeke’s book called Freshwater!
This book held me captive till the very end.
The story follows Ada, a child who upon birth is believed to possess two spirits inside her. As she grows, she’s both sweet and volatile, something that is not known to everyone for her spirits take charge each seeking to meet their own selfish needs.
The author molds a story that is both candid and incomplete for she uses mysticism to weave an understanding of mental illness. You feel as though you are the spirits inside Ada, and you are also an outsider observing Ada which made this book irresistible.
When Ada struggles to come to terms with what’s happening inside her mind, they remind her that she is them and they are her.
Sectioning the Ada gave her isolated pockets of memory, each containing a different version of her. There were versions to whom bad things had happened and, therefore, there were versions of her to whom these things had not happened. This terrified her, because if there were so many of her,then which one was she?
I love how the voice of each of the gods within Ada was firm. There was a certain dominance and certainty to them that made me await the awakening of Ada. I was reading this and when I got to Chapter Twenty, all I could keep saying was “come on Ada, get up Ada!”
It is at exactly that moment that I read this When you break something, you must study the pattern of the shattering before you can piece it back together. So it was with the Ada. She was a question wrapped up in breath: How do you survive when they place a god inside your body?There is a phrase in the book that goes First feed your gods which I found to be remarkable simple but the weight of it stayed with me. If there’s anything that I learned from this book is that people are as unique as they come and no matter how many voices speak up or demand attention in your head, in that shattering moment, you are still the one who counts. Finding out how to make it count is what matters.
Check out her website for more at: http://www.akwaeke.com/
Her story “Who is like God?” clinched the 2017 Commonwealth Short story Prize from Africa: read it here
I’d like to thank Grove Atlantic, Grove Press and NetGalley for the advance copy, for it’s been a refreshing read.
TMI:
Drinking: Tea (my second cup of the day)
Listening to: Lust for Life by Lana Del Ray
Hooked to: Elevation Church sermons (I listen to a sermon every night before I sleep)
Currently reading: Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
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Let’s face it, my first week of August has been awesome largely due to great books. Yesterday I was going on about Rain Falls on Everyone by Clar Ni Chonghaile.
Today it’s Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. After reading Eat, Pray, Love- I was content to read this book because I was eager to know more about Elizabeth and Felipe, how did it turn out for her? Did she commit after swearing off marriage? Did she come to find what she was looking for? (Yes,we all know that I am a hopeless romantic, hence my desire to finally buy a little black dress:-) )
So, here’s the thing about Committed, unlike the first book, this one is downright entertaining. I loved her research into marriage in various cultures and the roles that women and men played in this institution.
I also loved the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and I’m noting them down for future conversation starters!
Be of love (a little)/ more careful/ than of everything else. E. E. Cummings
A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her. Oscar Wilde
Marriage is a friendship recognised by the police. R. L. Stevenson
It’s been a productive day for me and any day that begins with time spent at Java is always an awesome day for me! I am looking forward to casting my vote tomorrow and hoping all the other voters make an informed decision that would see Kenya prosper. I am also moving on to the next book which happens to be Alexander by Valerio Massimo Manfredi.
Yeah, Manfredi is my absolute favorite because his retelling of legends always has that extra spice to it, it’s like the perfect serving of curry! So, I can’t wait to get started on this.
Have a great afternoon.
TMI
Listening to: Long Live the Angels by Emeli Sande
Currently reading: 19 Souls by J. D. Allen.
Drinking: Water
nilichoandika 