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Thinking about what your next read is going to be? Author and editor Peter Ngila Njeri shares five reads worth considering. 

Peter Ngila Njeri takes daily evening walks. Sometimes long aimless strolls are all he needs to refresh his mind and see around the world. Other times he does with a book in his hand.

An author of “Changing the World While Changing Diapers” (co-written with Isabell Kempf) and an editor, Peter has been reading all his life. His primary goal of reading is to interact with different cultures. 

How does he pick a book?

“It depends on many things,” he said. “I am yet to read books I got in 2013. I still buy more. It is a bookish thing.”

While feeling stuck in the process of editing manuscripts of other writers, he reads a book. He reads diversely: books by African writers, classical to translated novels. 

Translations are his medium of reading around the world.

“I believe the world is bigger than English. There are many great books first written in other languages. Translations allow me to read those kinds of books,” he said. 

For all book lovers looking for the next read, Peter offers some of his best choices.

“House of Stone” by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma 

Describing it as one of the great books by a young writer, it centers on identity and history.

“It is one of those books which hooks you with its first sentence,” he states.” The plot goes back in time and back to the present moment. It was very multi-layered and gripping.”

After finishing reading the book, it had to take Peter two weeks before he could get to another one.

You can get it here- shorturl.at/iUZ36

“The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón translated from the Spanish by Lucia Graves

It is a historical novel with multiple settings in the middle of a Spanish civil war. The book is set in Barcelona. It was while reading it that I discovered the city is also a character in the novel.

From its story, it shows the impact books can have on one’s life. This book has different points of view. 

It is like a book in a book, a book about books. Here- http://shorturl.at/dqRSV

“Kafta on the Shore” by Haruki Murakami translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel

Peter read a borrowed copy of the book two years ago. One of the longest books he has ever read (615 pages), he did so in a week. The book has lots of dialogue and has elements of surreal. 

“It is a good choice to read in your lifetime. It is one of the books that has had people convinced that Haruki should win a Nobel Prize in Literature,” he says. 

Shop here- http://shorturl.at/pruxQ

“Under the Udala Trees” by Chinelo Okparanta

Terming it as a modern classic, Peter enjoyed its theme around sexuality because “sexuality is part of our identity as human beings.” 

He also loved the novel’s backdrop set during the Biafra War that took place in Nigeria in the 60s.

He also loved how Chinelo has employed the theme of tribal boundaries in the story.

You can get the novel here shorturl.at/tDSXY

“The Shadow District” by Arnaldur Indridason translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb

It is a historical crime novel set in “one of the most wondrous places in Iceland. The writer manages to move from the past to the present day. The characters of the present day affect the ones in the past.”

He looks forward to re-reading it.

Shop here: shorturl.at/xIVX0

Have you ever read translated books? Which ones were they?

Happy International Literacy Day!

It is such an exciting day for the world of books. This celebration is marked every September 8 across the globe to help spread awareness on the valuable impact of literacy. It also aims to pay attention to the issues that contribute to low literacy levels in communities.

Declared by UNESCO, the first celebration took place in 1967. And many decades later, this year’s theme is one of a kind, “literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.”

We can all play a part in promoting literacy in one way or another. Here are some of the ways to do so.

Review a book. You probably have opinions about a book you have read. How about sharing them?

Read to a child. Instilling a reading culture while they are young is impactful. 

Explore a genre that is new to you. Be curious about different genres. Try out science fiction, fantasy, autobiographical, political thrillers, satires, any genre you would not normally pick.

Promote a book. Sing praises about some of the books you truly loved reading. Give a shout-out to your favourite authors. 

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

Read a book. Devour a chapter of a new book, re-read one of your favourite books, finish a book you love.

Recommend a book. Informing other readers about a book is likely to get some of them develop an interest in them. There are times that people do not know which other book to get next. Shared recommendations come in handy.

Donate a book to a library. Mukuru Library and Book Bunk which is restoring the three McMillan Memorial Libraries are accepting books. Look around to also see many other community libraries and individuals who are in need of books. 

Photo by @qu.lit / courtesy

Gift a book to your loved ones, to a stranger, to anyone. 

Buy a book

Start a book club. Virtual book clubs are becoming a thing now, it can still be successful whether you meet on Zoom or on social media. 

Begin collecting books. If this has been a dream hobby of yours, pursue it. Collect books for charity or for your own home library. Collect.

Photo by Alireza Kazemi on Unsplash

Reorganize your stack of books. Dust off your bookcase, rearrange the books in size, colour or any other form as you wish. Give it a facelift.

Support your local bookstore. You can do this by telling other people about the store, buying books and stationeries from the store, pre-ordering books and partaking in their activities such as hosted book clubs.

Amplify organizations that are centered on building literacy in our communities.

Build more awareness around books. Share about your experiences as a reader, benefits of reading, steps that need to be taken to promote literacy, and so on.

We would like to know, how are you going to celebrate the day? 

Many bookworms believe that they need to own more books.

One who has a fully-stocked library at home and another who has just began to purposely collect reads that they love will both enthusiastically tell you that there are a lot more books they wish to hold.

And in the world that we are living in right now, a lot of people all over are picking up books from stores and getting lost in them.

If you are hoping to read or collect more books, how can you achieve that within budget?

Best deals on books

For the one who loves reading inspirational books, there is something for you. A good number of supermarkets in Kenya have special offers on self-help books which you can take advantage of.

Bookstores, too, have some of the great classics like Jane Austen’s, Charles Dicken’s, Niccolo Machiavelli’s that go for as much as KES 250-500.

Thrifted bookstores, anyone?

Photo courtesy of @halfpriced_books

We can tell that most readers love new books. The soft covers, the smells, the neat pages… it all makes sense. But there is also a fascination of the scent of ‘old’ books plus actually getting your favourite books on a good deal.

If this speaks to you, then you can visit Half-priced Books Store in Nairobi’s CBD for, really, half the price of a book! We can attest to the fact that most of their books look like they have never been read before. 

You can hardly find recently published books in thrifted bookstores, though.

Pick-of -the-month discounts

Several bookstores select a book of the month which also happens to be their book club read to promote a buying culture while building a community of readers. For instance, Text Book Centre.

This can be a time to get newly-published books at slightly lower prices.

Book exchanges

Photo courtesy of @gissellereads

For the one who is OK with lending out or borrowing books, you could start a book swapping agreement with the readers in your life.

This works well if your ultimate goal is to read books without necessarily owning them. What can help with this kind of arrangement is to discuss openly about the timelines everyone needs to return books, what books you all enjoy so that this benefits everyone involved, and so on.

Look out for book giveaways

Photo courtesy of @diversespines

Digital content creators occasionally partner with bookstores to give out books or even decide on their own to gift their online community. This can be another way to add to your collection.

You might be in luck!

Explore free eBooks

We can only encourage reading legally-downloaded free eBooks since writing books is an investment and piracy denies writers the opportunity to benefit from it.

It is difficult too to know which eBooks are pirated and which ones are not. One of the legitimized sites is Gutenberg.com. 

Go for low-priced versions

A lot of books have several print versions with different price tags. The first edition of a book can cost higher than its second or third or fourth edition. Paperbacks, hardcovers, e-Books and audiobooks differ in prices as well. Research on what is most convenient to you before making a purchase.

We would love to know, what tips do you use to get more books?

How do you spend your time reading?

Reception rooms, traffic jams, queue areas, restaurants before a date arrives are some of the popular places to crack a book. While it is commendable to always carry a book to devour in your spare time, it can be ideal too to schedule in a good amount of your time just to read. If you view getting lost in a book as an elemental part of our self-care regimen, what is better than to jazz up your reading experience?