Book Review: The Vegetarian by Han Kang

I was defended this book to some fellow bookstagrammers who described it as strange and weird as a book that rightly depicts mental disorder and for that reason needed to be strange and weird. This book spoke to me in so many ways, topics such as mental disorder are close to my heart. For this reason I am thrilled it won the Manbooker International Prize!

PURCHASE/GOODREADS

MY REVIEW

"I can't live like this. My head hearts." This book is heart-breaking. Well-written. I've found myself in so many emotional states as I read it. Anger. Sadness. Fury. Dejectedness. 😔 Imagine This: You go from vegetarian to not having sex with your husband, to being divorced, to being shoved food down your throat, to thinking you're a tree, to going insane. This book shows howb abuse from our childhood sticks with us and manifests itself in ways that could make us mental. Go read this book! #bookstagram #foodstagram #TheVegetarian

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Dec 18, 2016 at 5:22am PST

"Even though I've stopped wearing a bra, I can feel this lump all the time. No matter how deeply I inhale, it doesn't go away. | Yells and howls, threaded together layer upon layer, are enmeshed to form that lump. Because of meat. I ate too much meat. The lives of the animals I ate have all lodged there. Blood and flesh, all those butchered bodies are scattered in every nook and cranny, and though the physical remnants were excreted, their lives still stick stubbornly to my insides..." 😣 Disgusted. That's how I feel as I read this book. The husband's plight of dealing with a wife who won't eat meat. The wife's sordid dreams that make me want to vomit. Too much blood. Too much sick. Nothing to help it. 😷 Read pg50 and I wonder if my buddy-readers (@tackfiction and @sandwavesandbooks) occasionally felt the sick rising up their gullets. 😫 Cat, are you Almost done? I saw meat and turned it down. Beef, to be more specific which our lead character hates. The mum stared at me weirdly, then, "well more servings for the rest of us." She's not going to force it down my throat like it's happening with our lead and her father. Sadly, I must rather admit, sadly. Want some meat pushed down my mouth, my face slapped so I could spread apart my teeth (—which I assure you wouldn't be clenched!) But right now, I'm disgusted with meat. Must finish soon! 😔 #bookstagram #bibliophile #foodporn #bookporn #rice #african #TheVegetarian #vegan #diet #GHANA #accra #foodie

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Dec 7, 2016 at 7:23am PST

Might never lead a healthy life! But don't crucify me, this is what I feel like making my #foodporn tonight! 😜 Anyway @sandwavesandbooks and @tackfiction and I are reading #TheVegetarian together and sharing our thoughts on it. The two are way ahead because I'm supposed to be the worst buddy-reader balancing schooling (#PurpleHibiscus) with fun! 😞 So 25pgs and I believe I should have read this earlier! Loving the writing! I had thought it would be written from the wife's POV, as she's who the blurb is about. OMG moment right from the start. Not far into the story, but feel the scandal a mile ahead. There's a reason it beat LaDivine(—another good read!) to the Manbooker. Would continue tomorrow! 😁 #bookstagram #manbooker2016 #currentread #supper #malereader #menwhoread

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Dec 6, 2016 at 1:57pm PST

Book Review: Good As Gone by Amy Gentry

PURCHASE~GOODREADS

This year, I've read and dropped and didn't finish a lot of thrillers. I was scared the same would happen with Good As Gone, but then I read the first page, and I knew this was one thriller I'd be finishing in a long while. You have my review:

This book was one hell of a good one! I loved it entirely! From start to finish! The kind of book that when done you just have to read the author’s acknowledgement note to get more of a glimpse of her than her bio allows. 😉 Amy Gentry writes well! This year I’ve started and stopped, started and not finished a lot of thrillers, because they weren’t well-written. I mean, if you want to keep me glued to my seat holding your book whilst ignoring a splitting backache, your book has got to be literary and well-written! Suspenseful! Original story-telling! 😉 Imagine This: Your daughter gets kidnapped, according to the version of events of your youngest daughter who must have stayed hidden in the closet and screamed three hours later after the shock wore off. Though with help of the media, the cops, the posters you put around, the fake callers who tell they might just have spotted an exact girl being clubbed somewhere, the search is getting nowhere. Now, years later, you have got to keep on living. Even though your life has become this unfeeling void. Now that you’re done with hope you’ve got to reclaim the pieces of what is left of your family: a daughter who changes her hair colour than she does her underwear, a husband whose hoping you’re beginning to find cloying and irritating. Then one day, YOUR DAUGHTER APPEARS. You’re happy and relieved. But there’s this nagging thought that her eyes are a shade darker than the original. Who’s this girl and what does she want with your family?😄 #Goodasgone #amygentry #bookstagram #malemodel #bookporn #bibliophile #menwhoread #African #KNUST #thrillers #goodmorning #blackman

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Nov 14, 2016 at 2:55am PST

Book Review: Lily and The Octopus by Steven Rowley

Purchase~Goodreads

Well, this was a walk through an unusual genre for me. And I wasn't disappointed. It was good. It was a fun ride. It was harrowing. I liked it! Here's my review on instagram:

Well, they weren't lying. They weren't hyping it so much for nothing. This book is good. A tumurous dog. A protagonist who's afraid of losing his best friend. General fiction with elements of fantasy thrown in. Great read! I emotionally connected with both characters (albeit not on a very strong level). I loved it. But I still wanted more. I kind of got really in during pg 200, I frankly didn't enjoy the sessions with his therapist Jenny. I felt it (those scenes with the therapist) were factored in upon someone's important (editorial) advice. They didn't merge uniformly with the rest. Still, you NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! 😀 Oh, and the background! It's actually a nice print I saw my roommate wearing and stopped him to take this picture before he was out the door! It's called #Dashiki #lilyandtheoctopus #bookstagram #bookporn #dashiki #fiction #funny #dying #pets #dogs #africanfashion.

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Oct 30, 2016 at 5:02am PDT

Book Review: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Joanna Bolouri

Purchase/Goodreads

Joanna Bolouri is always on my must-read list! I read her debut, The List, last two years, and I've been promoting her as the funniest Chick-lit author on the block. She cracks me up! Her leads are hilarious! Her characters so easy-to-fall-in-love with even when they are cocky as hell.

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year was no different! But I did wish, it was as better than her previous, I Followed The Rules. Either way, it's a go-buy-go-buy!

"Maybe not. Look, if he loves you, he'll put up with your family. Between you and me, I cannot stand John's mother, but I only have to see her once or twice a year and, well, she'll be dead one day. Anyway, he's my boyfriend—it's not such a huge sacrifice." 😂 Imagine This: Your boyfriend decides to bail on you on seeing the family for Christmas—due to a shocking reason for which you really hate him now. He's garbage. He's an asshat. You deserve better. 😂 Your family wants you over for Christmas with your man, and you can't stand their pitiful, condescending looks and the jokes they might have at your expense when they are stoned (—because your family is nuts). Your neighbor. He's good on the eye. You hate him for his louder parties and his even louder sex. But, really your cuckoo mother, your bugging little sister, your brother's bad table manners and his girlfriend, might be too much even for a fake boyfriend.  Have a merry Christmas as you encounter the biggest, bestest Christmas holiday with your fake boyfriend and your wacko family. All the while, your boyfriend who your fake boyfriend is impersonating is lurking in the shadows, waiting to attack. 😂 #bookstagram #bookporn #malemodel #themostwonderfultimeoftheyear #hilarious #bibliophile #menwhoread

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Nov 5, 2016 at 4:10am PDT

Book Review: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Theine

PURCHASE~GOODREADS

Loved this books so! So worthy to be on the Manbooker shortlist. Here are my thoughts on it!

Great read! Took me a week to read it because, well, School, and it didn't feel like a book you needed to finish in a sitting. It's slow plot documents the happenings in both present and past. Showing the effects of communism in China from the past to the present. While I loved Madeline Theine's writing style (very literary!), and loved her characters (though it's written in English you could still feel the peculiarities of Chinese culture in the language used and in the mannerisms and words spoken by the characters), and the documentation of the horrors lived through that dark time in China's past (very fast-forward scenes but still you could feel the pains in the evocative writing), I found it hard relating to this. Because a) I have no background in music and b) I'll be biased because The Sellout is a novel that portrays, describes my being and existence. 😔 I feel sad for the judges who are on this panel. While I don't want all the other three books I haven't read to win, I'm bloody frightened this novel may take it! Bloody frightened. But we'll see. 😥 Anyway, do eat something this morning. I pushed my Brunch to earlier this morning. 😎 #MadeleineTheine #DoNotSayWeHaveNothing #Bookstagram #Foodstagram #bookporn #foodporn #manbookerprize2016 #African

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Oct 24, 2016 at 1:46am PDT

BookReview: The Secrets Of Happiness by Lucy Diamond

GOODREADS/ PURCHASE

The Secrets of Happiness by Lucy Diamond was an absolute treat, raised me out of my reading slump tomb. I urge you all to go, read it!

I had been having the worst reading slump ever! (@reads.crime knew). Then this book pulled me out of it! Funny, charming, heart-warming. A sister disappears. Her step (and obviously not close enough) steps in to look after her children and find out why the hell her sister's perfect life has crumbled to a husband who's left her, a job that's given her the sack, and strangers calling her for Irish stew concerning fliers she handed out. Lucy Diamond is one author who'd never dry up with beautiful storylines. My fifth book of hers (—she's written more!) and I still won't stop reading her anytime soon (even though women's fic has been playing fiddle to my thirst for literary works these days!). The characters were engaging! The plot was going! The perfect read to Yank me out of my reading slump. I do hope you guys give it a try! #bookstagram #bibliophile #thesecretsofhappiness #lucydiamond #funny #women #fiction #bookporn #malemodel #fashion #night #goodmorning #black #blue #menfashion #model

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Oct 19, 2016 at 11:33pm PDT

Book Review: The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen

GOODREADS~PURCHASE

I did enjoy this book so, so much! I'm highly recommending it for lovers of anything geriatric (hopefully, the term is not as demeaning and there are a lot of young at heart fans out there!). Check out my review on instagram:

"Another year and I still don't like old people. Me? I am eighty-three years old." 😀 Haha! The quote above! This book is just so quotable! It's funny! It's all kinds of humorous! I have never read something funny like this in a while. It documents the life of Hendrik Groen, his diaries, full of heart, full of charm, and an expose of what goes on inside the walls of an old people's home! Hendrik's almost ninety and he's not mastered the art of cantankerousness, unlike all his contemporaries! There's Evert, the friend behind the goldfish murders, Eejfe the nicer old Lady our main character has a crush on (—Yes, stand the risk of your parents falling in love when you've locked them up!), Mrs Stewalgen the director whose known to abuse the seniors in the home (—you'll find lots of startling statistics on bullying seniors at  homes). It's very hilarious! With people from the dementia unit getting lost and found! It's what you get when you decide to pick up a book on old people and more. Lots of philosophies from the old on how to live, lots of gibes against policy-makers who make laws affecting finance of their children so the children do not visit as much! All through it's soulful as well, you'll find it gutting that contrary to popular belief old people have heart and all the exposure in the media these days are all very crippling, says Hendrik 😞😙 GO GET THIS BOOK! 5★ 😀 #hendrikgroen #old #pension #pensioners #bookstagram #funny #humor #bookporn #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #malemodel #Ghana #africanman #actionhero #jamesbond #gorgeous #black #fashion #mensuits #jackets #menwhoread #readingissexy #menreading

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Oct 3, 2016 at 12:30am PDT