BY SAMINU MACHUNGA
Books are doors to new worlds, worlds we may never get to live in reality. Nigerian literature does not fall short in being gateways to new experiences which help us see our world in different perspectives.
We love some books because we can relate to them and we love others because we can empathize with the struggles of others.
Here are five books you should read this year.
Ola Awonubi’s ‘Love Me Unconditionally’
Majority of Nigerian women will find it easy to relate to ‘Love Me Unconditionally’.
The novel brings together the popular themes of a successful career, a failed marriage, societal constructs and pressures, confused feelings, fated meetings, and the need to feel loved without any past or present restrictions.
Chidi Martin Obi’s ‘When Vultures Die’
Book one of ‘The Songhai Chronicle’, this novel is a political thriller that quickly brings to mind the state of the Nigerian political landscape.
When a philanthropist dies, his daughter, Jidenma Charlene Munonyedi is soon encouraged to run for mayor by people she loves.
Of course, she encounters stiff rivalry, and a ‘cabal’ ready to hold onto power by all means possible. If you like politics and its intrigues, look no further.
Eghosa Imasuen’s ‘Fine Boys’
Telling a story about ‘The Wounded Generation’, born out of the advent of General Ibrahim Babangida’s military presidency which all but turned Nigeria on its head.
The story follows the lives of young boys who were left victim of this time and the effects that it had.
Tony Nwaka’s ‘Mountain of Yesterday’
This is a tale of Amina and Udoka, two people who find themselves amid religious crises in Maiduguri plagued with destruction of properties and a battle for survival.
Soon, one of them, Udoka, is able to relocate to his home in Eastern Nigeria where different kind of crises awaits him.
He finds himself at a crossroad when he’s expected to adhere to the traditions of his people. Will he succumb to pressure or not? If he doesn’t, there will be consequences.
Bolaji Abdullahi’s Sweet Sixteen
This novel will resonate with teens and young adults. Everything begins when Aliya is about to turn sixteen and her father is driven to remind her, through a present and a letter, things she should hold dear as she sails to womanhood.
A coming of age guide on life and loving for the teenage girl.
