What to Expect:
As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London.
Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart and so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face?
Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents and numerous lives, ‘Americanah’ is a richly told story of love and expectation set in today’s globalized world.
I’m doing a mini-review for this one as it’s not at all frothy, but it’s a must-read and there’s no way I can do it justice. The title refers to the nickname given to Nigerians who return home from time in America, full of the culture and accent and feeling a little superior to their compatriots. Ifemelu is decidedly different, she made a conscious decision not to adopt an American accent and began a blog in America with an outsider’s social commentary, majoring in Race, with a side degree in Hair.
It’s a big saga, although we meet Ifemelu as she’s deciding to return to Nigeria we have flashbacks to her childhood, her student years, her decision to go to the US, her life and relationships there, and her turning point. We also have her childhood sweetheart Obinze, his time as an illegal in the UK, and his success back home. Finally we find out what happens when they are both back home, struggling to find their place now that they are equipped with new perspectives.
It’s an amazing tale by such a talented writer. The observations by Ifemelu are incredibly astute. Her experiences in the US as a ‘Non American Black’ are wildly different to that of American Blacks, and her blog entries on the subject are fascinating. Ifemelu’s need to return home is the catalyst for the rest of the tale. Give it a shot. I’d never given much thought to most of the topics involved and even I couldn’t put it down- that’s the power of great writing.
Frothy Ranking: 5/5 cocktails.
Can be obtained from:
UK: Amazon for £2.99
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they took a turn for the psychological thriller. These more recent books are still fabulously readable, possibly better; she’s definite found her genre.
What to expect:
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This is another must-read book of the summer according to many, and with good reason. It’s not remotely frothy so I’m not giving it the full treatment, just an honourable mention! It’s the intriguing tale of a woman who goes missing on the morning of her fifth anniversary, and her husband who becomes prime suspect. We hear from Nick immediately after the disappearance, and Amy, via her diaries in the years leading up to it. The characters are hugely well defined with masses of background, personality and distinctive voices. One of the things that struck me was that this could be a masterclass in writing from the first person point of view, complete with an unreliable narrator at times- who’s telling the truth? 
or kobobooks for 
And now for something completely different! I’m giving this a mini-review, for while this book can’t really be described as frothy, it’s light in tone and only cost 20p, so how could I resist. Allan Karlsson decides he’d rather not celebrate his centennial in a nursing home, run by Director Alice, so he makes a (slow) run for it. One thing leads to another, and he’s on the run from the police with a suitcase full of money and various accomplices eventually including an elephant named Sonya. The story is interspersed with tales from his incredible life up to that point, and once you read them you’ll understand why the nursing home is a little tame for Allan. It’s a big book; the author clearly never met a character, however minor, without an imaginative back-story that needed writing, and thankfully all are shared here. There are shades of Forest Gump in the way that Allan naively becomes involved with world leaders at key moments in history, but the gentle, dry, philosophical humour reminded me of Alexander McCall Smith’s 
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, but the stories are very different. Allan is a gentle soul with a talent for making explosives, which was the catalyst for his life of travel and adventure, as well as many periods of incarceration. It’s amazing that he remains such a sympathetic and likable character given the chaos he perpetuates. The author has an incredible imagination, making the far-fetched stories seem possible. Worth getting for readers of all ages, it’s a bargain for such a big read (even at the US price) and is hugely entertaining.
from Amazon.