National Authors Day

Today’s authors celebration is specifically towards American authors. Although my favourite authors are British in origin there are a few American authors who wrote the most delightful and inspiring stories. It is important to note that the American author whose novel I have enjoyed the most is  Harper Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my most beloved stories because of the skill in using an effective child narrator and addressing the issues of racism and discrimination. With Harper Lee’s newer novel Go Set A Watchman– published in 2015- it reveals that  To Kill A Mockingbird is actually an edited version and  I thought this editor is really skilled. However it did lead me to wonder at Harper Lee’s attitude towards racism in the South during the time period. I still have not read Go Set A Watchman. It is well to know, also that one of the other American author whose story delighted me is Louisa May Alcott. Little Women is a quaint story surrounding girls in their transition to womanhood influenced by their environment. I am still disappointed by the Theodore and Jo ending though! Another profound American author is Lorraine Hansberry.  A Raisin In the Sun  is one of the most precise, passionate and chilling account of a  black family quest to survive in a discriminatory society.

These are a  few of the American authors whose stories stayed with me for many years. Let us celebrate the authors who made our lives more enjoyable.

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Top 5 Wednesday: Books Without Romance

Hey book people, what’s good? It is Wednesday again with another Top 5 Wednesday. Yay! Today we talk about

July 5th: Books Without Romance
— A few (very, very few) people complained about the “shipping” topics lately, so I thought it would be good to talk about books that don’t have a romantic subplot! This is a really hard one, so if you can’t find any, you can talk about some where the romance is super super minor. Like barely mentioned… at all…

Let us dive into:

1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
One of the stories that I enjoyed the most and the child narrator enhance the story. When I learnt that a new book of Harper Lee was due, I was ecstatic. However, when I understood that it is actually the story the author wrote and To Kill A Mockingbird is the edited version, my hesitation to read the ‘new book’ grew because I’m terrified  it will taint my To Kill A Mockingbird.

2. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by  Ayi Kwei Armah
One of the most graphic descriptions of personal disappointment, poverty and struggle that I have read. The author Ayi Kwei Armah pens the story of a man’s [name never mentioned] interpretation of living in Ghana after Independence. The narrator’s tale is compelling and coarse at times but that made it more engaging and demanding me to read more. Although some aspects of the description were gross, they were a reality that I understood and once lived. Cutting that detail from the story would be taking out the essence of a painstakingly quest for the man to keep toiling and to keep his family alive.

Favourite Polarizing Books/ Top 5 Wednesday

Hello book lovers, I greet you in the name of Top 5 Wednesday on this eighteen day of January two thousand and seventeen. Today we look at:

January 18th: Favorite Polarizing Books
–These are books that people either tend to love or hate, with no in between. Pick some of your favorites that fall into this category.

Let us dive into it:

1.Pride and Prejudice by  Jane Austen

The most popular of JA’s stories and  now that I am rereading- after a 2 year pause of her  collection- I suspect it will tied for my least favourite. In addition, my hunch is if I keep on rereading I may end up disliking the premise. It quite ironic I feel this way about the book when Pride and Prejudice 2005 film adaptation is my favourite movie.

2.To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I am really smitten over this story and I suspect it has more to do with the narrator Jem Scout. I believe following the story through her eyes and smart mouth exposed issues of poverty, racism and family relationship in a profound way that perhaps no other narrator could achieve. Previously I was extremely excited about reading Harper Lee other novel but since a few articles showed me that To Kill A Mockingbird came as a result of an editor’s urging to edit an original script. I am very concern that Atticus Finch and Jem Scout would no longer look the same in my eyes. Therefore, I have put off reading ‘Go Set A Watchman.’

The Forever Book Tag!

Source: Via Word..I Need Words

Hello Wednesday people :). I came across this book tag by Jordan on Words. . . I Need Words. . .  several weeks ago and I am finally making time to try it out because I like the meaning behind the tag (if that makes any sense) . Jordan says :

What to do: In your status, list 10 books that have stayed with you forever, or at least since you have read them ;]. Don’t take more than a few minutes, and don’t think too hard. You don’t have to justify why you are choosing these books. They don’t have to be great works of literature, just books that have affected you in some way. Show others what books mean the world to you. Tag a few friends, and include me so I can see your list.

So let us get into it (in no particular order):

1.Persuasion by Jane Austen

From: http://www.pixiepalace.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love

Love’s the only thing in this world that is unequivocal. There are different kinds of love, certainly, but it’s a you-do or you-don’t proposition with them all.

Jean Louise Finch
Go Set A Watchman

I am waiting to read Harper Lee’s second yet technically first novel. I read the first chapter online (wsj.com)and I already detect : humour, , class, sexuality, urban sprawl etc. The quote above caught my attention and picqued my interest in a possible love/lust angle. I am sure commencing next week and the rest of the summer WordPress will spring to life with book reviews. I hope I can read the novel before the year ends.

True: Harper Lee to Publish Second Novel with Harper – Publishers Lunch

Never say never! This is such exciting news. I want my copy now!

True: Harper Lee to Publish Second Novel with Harper – Publishers Lunch.

“The 88-year-old Lee says in a statement: “In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called ‘Go Set a Watchman.’ It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’) from the point of view of the young Scout. “I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn’t realized it [the original book] had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”