The Challenge

New year. Many goals. Same love affair with food. Revived appetite for literature.

I am incredibly blessed to be stepping into 2013 with so much joy and energy. Sometimes, I just want to sing out loud and skip all the way home. Ever feel like that? Well, I have decided to channel all this energy into another one of my hobbies: reading! As a science student in high school, my schedule did not really allow me to take literature classes but I worked it out with the teachers so I could have access to all the poetry and prose I could lay my hands on! I remember memorizing so many lines out of Wole Soyinka's "Lion and the Jewel", I could have recited the entire book in my sleep.

Over the years, my love for literature has only grown. I can't say I always have a book in hand, but I find time to read. In efforts to be more intentional about reading, I enrolled in a literature and medicine course last fall and have been exposed to some very fine medical essays, many of which were written by patients and healthcare providers. I only have two more classes to go and I was looking for the next cool thing to do outside of work when I stumbled upon a blog of African literature. I'm African and I wasn't exposed to nearly enough African literature growing up so you can imagine the excitement when I stumbled upon this treasure of a website. Perhaps, much of the joy also stems from the fact that I am away from home and books about home certainly remind me of many fond memories of the motherland.

My goal is to read 20 novels by African authors in the next 6 months and this blog will keep me accountable. I will not only read the books but I will also rate them and provide a short review. I hope you won't just cheer me on from the sideline but that you'll be inspired to explore African literature in your free time as well!

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!