Five Fav Reads

Here’s a list of some of my favourite books and the reasons why I love them.

Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms

- Angela Carter

No1: A Million Little Pieces – James Frey

                More than anything else, the controversy surrounding this book was probably the biggest motivator to my picking it up and once I had (picked it up) I found the question of its story’s authenticity a non-factor. It is a grotesquely heart warming journey into self discovery. It is also very well written and these factors, above all else are what spoke to me as an avid reader and a lover of stories.

I love this book and I think James Frey is a seriously sparkling gem of a writer.

No2: Still Grazing – Hugh Masekela

                I’m not big on autobiographies, but this one is both genuine and enthralling. It tells, seamlessly, the tale of one of South Africa’s jazz pioneers Hugh Masekela’s life, his struggles through apartheid, his marriages, his battle with substance abuse, the rise of his star and even glimpses into his life with the legendary Miriam Makeba.

If for nothing else, read this book and you’ll find yourself diving head and utterly allured first into the history of both South African and American musical history.

No3: The Madonna of Excelsior – Zakes Mda

                I ‘heart” Mr. Mda so much!!!

Not only does this man write in the most natural of tones, but he also tells stories that are relevant and pertain to real life South Africa and its inhabitants. The Madonna of Excelsior is based on The Excelsior 19, an actual historical event that saw nineteen citizens from a Free State town called Excelsior charged with breaking a law that prohibited inter-racial sexual relations.

This novel plays on innocence and it’s opposite, it has the gooey sticky provocative stink of sin, making the reader feel as though they were peeking through a keyhole of a door they have no business standing in front of anyway.    

No4: Joys of Motherhood – Buchi Emecheta

                This narrative sells a story of perseverance and a belief in the greater good through a Nigerian woman whose biggest mission in life is ensuring the wellbeing of her children in a foreign and changing world. It is more the story than the narration or the narrative act that beckoned me to peel back the pages and finish this book quick quick.

No 5: Seasons Come to Pass

                This poetry anthology is compiled and edited by Helen Moffet and Eskia Mphahlele. I originally came across it through school, but I instantly fell in love. It’s poetry ya’ll, you gotta love it!!!

Some of my favourite poems in the book include Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise, William Blake’s London and In My Craft or Sullen Art by Dylan Thomas.    

Current Read

First published in 1930, Mhudi is the first novel written by a black South African (Sol Plaatje) that reached publication. It’s an epic story of love and courage and combines seamlessly the non-fictional events contained within South Africa’s history as well as spellbinding fiction.

I’ll post a full review once I finish reading it.

Letter to my Demons

Dear demons

Gently embrace me with your sweet caress
Place beneath my anguish the taste of a joyous revelation
Wrap me tightly with the feeling of adoration

The sounds of the strife beat a drum that reminds me bitterly
of a sweet voice I once heard calling from the heavens
Absolution is irrelevant when you hold me firmly in your arms
Singing in whispers love songs that soothe the hurt, even if just for a moment
I call out to you, Give in
Cause the scars you inflict on my forever will never heal

Still I love you
When you lay beside me
Carving ugliness inside me
Leaving the markings of scorn plastered horridly on my limping soul
When you have me screaming your name in deep despair
Violently tearing down my joy and happiness
Demanding I carry your last name proudly

Wide spread zeal has me succumbing
Bowing merrily to serve your needs
I’ll do anything to see you smiling I’ll tell a lie, steal a heart, shatter dreams, kill a soul even if it were my own

You lead me wrong and still I love you