“There are two answers to the things they will teach you about our land: the real answer and the answer you give in school to pass. You must read books and learn both answers”
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I’m halfway through ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ and loving it as well as feeling a little frightened, because it showcases communal violence and I can see bits of it happening in our country right now.
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The story is told through the viewpoint of three people and is set in Nigeria during the time it gained independence from British rule. It talks about the life of our three characters during the ethnic power struggle in Nigeria and the secession of the country known as Biafra. What follows is the chillingly violent, 3 year long war called the Biafran war or the Nigerian Civil War.
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When I was listening to this novel, I thought about how little I know about Nigeria and their history and how I’ve never even known that Nigeria was a British colony. I saw that all the books I’ve read comes from only a handful of countries, and the rest are unexplored. So I’ve decided to challenge myself by reading one book from a new country each month until I’ve completed all the countries. I’ll try to select countries that gives a rich insight into the lives of people there or their history. It’s going to hard finding those books, but I’ll try.
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I’ll be showing you guys the book I’m going to read every month and I’m also introducing #196countries196books so that anyone interested can pick it up too and we can discuss.
booksandtheopenroad.travel.blog 