No Willpower

You know the quote “where is human nature so weak as in the book store.” Well that would be me. In my last post I mentioned a few plans for the weekend and the only ones I was successful at were the ones involving books.

Here’s what I got at the library book sale: Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, Crabwalk by Gunther Grass, The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and some mysteries. All for the grand price of $6.

I also went to see some mindless entertainment at the movies and in between I read Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Now, that is not a book to read when you are feeling down but all the good reviews I had read about it were definitely well deserved.

Purple Hibiscus is the story of Kambili, a 15-year-old Nigerian girl who on the outside is living quite a nice life. Her father is a wealthy businessman who is well respected by the community, she has a loving mother and brother but what no one sees is the sheer desperation in which she lives every day for fear of incurring her father’s wrath. He is a domestic tyrant and religious fanatic.

Only when Kambili and her brother are sent to her Aunt Ifeoma’s house does she start to trust herself and question her place in her household and in Nigeria. I particularly loved the character of Aunty Ifeoma. She is smart and has a no-nonsense approach to life.

So yes, it’s not an “easy” book to read but well worth it. Go check it out.