My Loves, One day, much sooner than I expect, you’ll stand in front of a mirror and begin to form opinions about what you see. And when that happens, I hope you remember this letter. Or perhaps, I hope you feel what I’m saying here, whether or not you recall my exact words. I met…
Gratitude in the Not-Yet
It’s Thursday and I’m sitting on a park bench, working on a client’s content calendar. The breeze is gentle, the sun is warm, and in the distance, I can see both my children; one in playgroup, one in pre-K. They’re learning, playing, and soaking up life. And here I am, working remotely, doing work I…
Tire Alignments, Yarn Balls, and Therapy
My first real therapy session? I like to joke that it happened when I was about three months old. Not me as a baby, me, the new mother. Three months postpartum, staring down the daily blur of feeds, cries, pumping schedules, and emotional whiplash, wondering how on earth I was still upright. I had done…
This Isn’t a Comeback
Motherhood changes you in ways no one can prepare you for. It’s not about bouncing back to who you were—it’s about evolving into someone entirely new. Letting go of the “old me” was hard, but embracing who I’m becoming? That’s where the real transformation begins.
The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 3/5 I wanted to love this book. But I’ve settled on liking it. Set in modern-day Zimbabwe, the book is a story of two rival hairdressers and serves both as comic relief, social contemporary and an inside view to the ravage of Mugabe’s reign. And at its core, the irrational homophobia of…
Home Body by Rupi Kaur – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 3/5 ‘you are not alone alone would be if your heart no longer beat and your lungs no longer pulled and your breath no longer pushed how are you alone if an entire community lives in you – you have all of you on your side’ Rupi Kaur’s third book was a…
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 5/5 Franz Kafka begins, “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into an enormous insect.” Instead of waking up from a nightmare, Gregor Samsa wakes up into one. And as far as opening lines in a book goes, that one is a real doozy,…
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 4/5 Oh, wow. I didn’t think I would like this book as much as I did. From the cover’s introduction, ‘Tiffy and Leon share a bed. Tiffy and Leon have never met,’ I was a touch pessimistic. But Tiffy’s and Leon’s quirky story is just what I needed. Stage left we have…
The F-Word
If this was the Real Housewives, they’d have been at least spilt wine and broken glasses. A cathartic expression of hostility and anger. And perhaps in that, the distress would have disseminated faster. But this is not Atlanta. So instead there was quiet resentment and silent reproach. Culminating in furious keystrokes in heated WhatsApp exchanges….
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 4/5 stars The first half of We Need New Names is set in Zimbabwe. We meet Darling and her group of friends, who despite the harrowing state of the country manage to do what children do world-over. Be children. From high chase in the uptown Budapest in search of guavas to made-up…
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 5/5 I saved the best for last! Americanah was the only remaining book by Chimamanda that I had not read. The book is longer than all her others and the story more intricate. We follow the lives of Ifem and Obinze from High school sweethearts, to University and then to the point…
Here Lies
Here lies a house of uncommon beauty. Orange from sun, dust and age. Clay bricks molded by hand – each shaped and crafted by deft fingers. Scorched by a relentless sun. Bright. Warm to the touch. Run your fingers. Touch. Feel. The character in the markings, in its flaws. Colour bright fighting for your attention….
No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference by Greta Thunberg – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 4/5 In August 2018, fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg decided to not go to school, starting a strike for the climate outside the Swedish Parliament. Her actions and continued activism began a global movement calling for action for the crisis we find ourselves in. Our house is on fire and we are all calmly…
Assata by Assata Shakur – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 3/5 Google Assata and you will probably find tantalizing news articles like “from civil rights activist to FBI’s most-wanted’. Truth be told, I didn’t know her until I read the book. Party because American civil movement isn’t something we are taught in school in Kenya, and partly because the Black Panther movement…
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 5/5 The second full star rating I’ve given a book in 2020! This book was easy to get through, especially since I predominantly went through it as an audiobook courtesy of Scribd 30-day-free program to make staying home that much better. The second reason why is because I had a book-buddy –…
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 5/5 This book. Part memoir, part ultimate master class, Stephen King has shared practical yet intimate details on the art of writing. Before this book, I wasn’t a big fan of Stephen (I feel that I’m on a first-name basis with him now). His books are known for their good fright, and…
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 3/5 What a year this week has been? 😅 Honestly! It feels like we’ve been wading through a swamp and taken months to reach the bank. I even forgot to post the February book club read, but here we go! Children of Virtue and Vengeance is the sequel to Children of Blood…
34 Things I Know For Sure.
Age is getting to know all the ways the world turns, so that if you cannot turn the world the way you want, you can at least get out of the way so you won’t get run over. ~ Miriam Makeba. I put together a list of 34 things that I know to be true….
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Snappy Review
B.O.A.S Rating – 4/5 This book made me feel. That’s how you tell a good book. I’m an African and save for the brief section in high school on post-colonial Nigeria, there wasn’t much I knew about Biafra’s bid for independence. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche introduces her readers, not just to the life of two sisters,…
Born on a Saturday 