Chapter Forty Seven
The part where we keep on keeping on...
Hey you,
How are things? I hope the craze of the new year has settled. Did you really think I forgot about you? I hope not, you should know you’re always on my mind even when I’m unable to reach out to you.
So much has happened since the last time I wrote to you, I attended Ake Festival where I featured in a panel discussion about spreading the magic of books and hosted a book chat with Sue Nyathi and Maame Blue. I have uploaded the prompts for the #somethingbookishreadingchallenge and it’s live on Storygraph, will you join me this year? If you don’t already, you should follow me on Instagram, I shared my most anticipated titles of 2025 and my most memorable books of 2024, which was not an easy feat I tell you, I read a lot of good books in 2024.
Now, to the reason for writing to you…
I know that at this time of the year there’s a lot of pressure to “new year new me + setting new goals” and I want to be your reminder that while that’s okay, it’s also important to allow yourself engage in continuation. The fact that the new year happened in the middle of the week is the biggest sign that we should allow ourselves continue what we’ve been doing. I’m not against setting new goals or trying new things, in fact you can try all the new things but it doesn’t have to happen at the beginning of the year, you can decide at 5pm on a Thursday that you want to try something new in your life.
Also, I don’t want you to feel like you’re missing out on life’s important bits if you don’t create these new goals or habits at the turn of the clock. It’s fun to create a vision board or bingo card, but who says they need to be done at that particular time? And do you even want those things? Let’s be honest. With the way social media is set up, you might find yourself craving goals and achievements that you don’t even want but because it’s in your face all the time, it seeps into your subconsious as yours. Let’s interrogate before we adopt, okay?
Currently reading: Multiple books as usual and that’s why you need to add me as a friend on Storygraph, but the book I started reading on January 1st 2025 is, Toward Eternity by Anton Hur. He is one of my favourite translators and I was over the moon when I read that he was releasing his debut.
Next show/movie on my watchlist: Exhuma and The Handmaiden are films that I’ve enjoyed before but I have this pull to watch again. The leads from both movies are my favourite Korean actresses. By the way, The Handmaiden is a Korean adaption of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith that I still haven’t read.
A surprising fact I just learned: The world's largest organism is a fungus.
It's called the honey fungus, and it stretches across 2,385 acres of Oregon's Malheur National Forest. Did you know that?
A product I’m loving right now: Roasted seaweed. The Koreans ate with that, I can’t get enough of it.
What’s on my wishlist(bookish or not): I’m manifesting a trip outside Nigeria because I deserve it after the year I’ve had.
Most recent book recommendation: Every bookstagrammer and their mummy has been recommending The Convenant of Water by Abraham Verghese to me. I started reading it sometime last year and DNFed it becuase I just knew it wasn’t the right time but I’m going to go back to it this year, I promise.
My favourite line from what I’m reading: It’s from Toward Eternity, “Language is inadequate, but it’s all we have”. And this is something a character says as they ponder on the expression, “found missing.” Isn’t that fascinating?
A recipe I tried/want to try: Stew with fried catfish, not the regular pepper tomato mix, I want to use the dry tomato and peppers to get that Lagos street food taste from my childhood. Do you know the one I’m talking about?
Most recent purchase: Hair dye. Without me trying, it looks like I now have a signature hair colour, pink. I don’t get it from a box contrary to popular belief and I don’t get it done at a salon. I buy the dye in powder form, mix it up and apply it myself at home.
Something small that recently brought me joy: Banana bread from Whisk n Mix with caramel ice cream. The bread had raisins in it, it’s like a festival of sweetness in my mouth.
What I’m currently bingeing: Because life has been life-ing, I’ve been slow to finish these shows but I’m still watching, My Dearest, Mr Plankton, and When The Phone Rings. I recently finished The Diplomat S2 with my sister, that was pretty nice.
Something I’m looking forward to: A trip outside Nigeria. It’s been too long and I need to leave this country even if it’s for a week.
What I’m most grateful for: You. Not to be corny but you make everything worth it, how you engage with the stuff I put out, it makes me want to do better.
And that’s me for now…
Book Club:
The Indulgent Bibliophile is reading These Letters End In Tears by Musih Tedji Xaviere. We’d be chatting on the 19th of January 2025 at 4pm WAT, you can register here.
Podcast: Episode 97 is now live, and it’s a chat between Niki, a bookish baddie in publishing, and I. We talked about what it was like for her to transition into the field, how being in publishing affects the reading life, some global publishing trends and as it’s custom, she shared 5 book recommendations and 1 book she didn’t vibe with. You can listen HERE.
A Friendly Reminder…
Please remember to hydrate, eat well, sleep well, and poop well. Most importantly, don’t forget to give yourself the grace you always extend to others. You need it too, okay?
If you love my content, you can show support by giving me a shout-out on social media or in real life (prayers are fine too).
See you on the other side, Dearest.
XOXO
Happy New Year, Amyn! So lovely to hear from you, as always ❤️