Oranges, Peanut Butter and Shiraz

Well at least I now have book number 3 under my belt on my quest to read the 2008 Orange Longlist. I have a countdown clock on my blog which very helpfully reminds me that there's only 57 days to go until the winner is announced. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I feel its presence like a nagging husband in the passenger seat of my car (yes, mine does that too).

My latest literary conquest is Lauren Liebenberg's "The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam". Feel free to have a quick read of my review.

I hate to damn with faint praise, but I'm going to use the word "like". Because I did like it. But I'm afraid with the modern cannon of African literature we have at our disposal these days the bar is set very high so I can't honestly say that we have another Gordimer, Nwapa or Adichie on our hands. Good, but not good enough. Sorry ;-(

Right, I'm off to get stuck into "The Septembers of Shiraz" (do you see what I did, with the title of my post? Clever eh?). Send out a search party if you don't hear from me by Sunday.

The long Longlist and the days that are too short!

I'm desperately trying to eat my way through this years Orange Longlist before the Shortlist is announced. Only just over a week to go, and I'm only on my third book. Yikes!

So far I have managed to read Rose Tremains' "The Road Home" (click here to read the review I posted on my personal blog), and Man Booker winner "The Gathering" by Anne Enright (review fresh off the press!). If it was a straight run between the two books "The Gathering" would have it for me, but I'm holding out for some of the other titles on the Longlist. They seem much more my cup of tea.

My copy of The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam arrived from Germany this morning, just in the nick of time. I've been looking forward to reading this so much because African literature generally goes down well with me and I love the title of the book. Oh dear, I'm just so shallow. Dear Reader... I shall keep you posted on how I get on with it.

I hope your own reading endeavours are going well. I'm off to stick my nose in a book. The ironing is just going to have to wait.

Half of a Yellow Sun - a work of stunning depth

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi's second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun is a worthy winner of the Orange Prize for Literature. For a story that got off to a slow start initially, it really made me sit up and take notice by the end.

Adichie tells an incredible story of how the Nigerian government and population persecuted and massacred it's own people of the Igbo tribe in the late 1960's.

Told from the perspective of a handful of different characters, the tale follows their individual stories as their lives are torn apart. Their beliefs and values are pushed to breaking point as they struggle to stay alive in a country that doesn't want them and a world that doesn't want to acknowledge they exist.

The stark contrast between life before and after the Nigerian/Igbo civil war, which is beautifully portrayed by Adichie, really emphasises the sense that it is all some horrible nightmare which couldn't possibly be true except that loved ones keep disappearing and dying. For me, more than any other character the story of Ugwu the houseboy embodies this sense of unreality, the impossibility that this good man can do such bad things.

Do read it, and do bear with it. If you enjoyed Achmat Dangor's book Bitter Fruit you'll enjoy this.

Other Books by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi;

Purple Hibiscus (2003) winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best first book in 2005 and shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2004

Introducing Sonia (cue fanfare)

Hi, I'm Sonia, and I have loved books ever since the day I could grip them in my grubby little fists. My mum says that I used to sit on the potty for hours at a time with a big stack of books on one side, and I wouldn't get up until I'd read them all and stacked them neatly on the other side of me, leaving a ring shaped groove around my little bottom.

So why am I here writing about the Orange Prize? Well, a couple of years ago I was getting stuck for inspiration for my reading, and so I gave myself the challenge of trying to read the entire Man Booker Prize longlist before judging day. And blow me down, I did it. I got such a buzz from watching the awards ceremony on TV and actually being able to have an informed opinion about the winner.

But after that, such a comedown... what to read next? So I attempted the Orange Prize Longlist (fortunately there was a bit of overlap with Booker that year), and then I tried it again, and again with varying degrees of success. I'll be honest, not every book does it for me, but every now and then I discover a work of pure gold and I wonder at the genius of these authors who for a brief moment transport me out of my tiny existence into another, richer world,

Last year was a bit of a dry year for me in reading terms, as I was starting up my own business, but this year I'm back in the saddle again more determined than ever, and for the first time, blogging my experiences.

Reading the longlist is such a big part of who I am and it's so reassuring to think that there is a group of people out there for whom that passion makes sense...

Orange Prize winners and runners up that I have read before

2007 winner
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Half of a Yellow Sun
2007 shortlist
Rachel Cusk Arlington Park
Kiran Desai The Inheritance of Loss

2006 winner
Zadie Smith On Beauty
2006 shortlist
Nicole Krauss The History of Love
Hilary Mantel Beyond Black
Ali Smith The Accidental
Carrie Tiffany Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living

2005 winner
Lionel Shriver We Need to Talk About Kevin
2005 shortlist
Jane Gardam Old Filth
Sheri Holman The Mammoth Cheese
Maile Meloy Liars and Saints
Marina Lewycka A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

2004 winner
Andrea Levy Small Island
2004 shortlist
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Purple Hibiscus
Shirley Hazzard The Great Fire

2003 winner
Valerie Martin Property
2003 shortlist
Donna Tartt The Little Friend

2002 winner
Ann Patchett Bel Canto

2001 winner
Kate Grenville The Idea of Perfection
2001 shortlist
Margaret Atwood The Blind Assassin

2000 shortlist
Zadie Smith White Teeth

1999 shortlist
Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible
Toni Morrison Paradise

1998 shortlist
Ann Patchett The Magician's Assistant

1997 shortlist
Margaret Atwood Alias Grace

1996 shortlist
Anne Tyler Ladder of Years