'Fatima Mohammed gets money'

The Reading Nook #3

Hi! Welcome to the Reading Nook. Get cosy and let’s have a bookish (mostly one-sided) conversation!

On today’s agenda:

1. Random thoughts on books titled with the main character’s full name + a phrase

2. My November reading journey

3. Recommendations (??)

Let’s get into it!

Random thoughts on books titled with the main character’s full name + a phrase

Recently, I’ve been thinking about books titled with a character’s full name and a phrase. This year, I’ve read a couple of them. For instance, TJ Powa Has Something to Prove by Jasmeen Kaur Deo, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado, Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes, and my current read, Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin.

Aside from the last book which I’m just starting, I’ve really enjoyed all the others I mentioned. I think I rated them all five stars. So I’ve started to think, hmm, maybe books with these kinds of titles are where it’s at.

Then I started to think again, if my life were a book with my full name + a phrase as the title, what would it be called? Literally, the first thing that came to my mind was ‘Fatima Mohammed gets money’ lmao. So let’s just assume that’s a manifestation for 2024.

Then I thought again, it would be pretty sad if that was all it was. I feel like as a society, we’ve consumed a lot of media that shows us if the sole focus of a character or a story is getting money, things don’t usually turn out for the best.

So I thought again. Fatima Mohammed: ‘Finds peace? Finds herself? Does her? Survives the chaos of the twenty-somethings? Destroys climate change and the patriarchy? Finally finishes the crochet bag she started?’ I don’t know. Those are also good.

But what would yours be? Let me know in the comments or reply to this email :)

November Reading Journey

1. Fine Boys by Eghosa Imasuen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading started out slow for me this month. I think I didn’t feel like reading any of the books on my TBR list, but I knew I wanted to read something. Then one night I thought, I should read Fine Boys by Eghosa Imasuen. A friend recommended it to me last year and I felt like reading a book set in Nigeria. So I started the journey.

This book was set in the early 1990s in Warri and Benin City, Nigeria. It follows the main character, Ewaen, and his friends on their journey as they became students at the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

If you know anything about UNIBEN, you’ve probably heard that it has the most notorious cult groups. Now Ewaen and his friend, Wilhelm (whose mother is German and was born and lived there for some time but speaks the best Pidgin English among all the other boys) are ‘fine boys’. Literally and also because they were raised in Warri, which means they are peak material to be confra (confraternity) boys.

The leading confras in the university are the Black Axe (which actually exists) and Cosa Nostra. Ewaen and Wilhelm try to avoid the pressure to join these cults, while some of their other friends don’t.

This was a heavy book and the ending is like a stab to your heart but I really enjoyed it. It managed to warn against the consequences of cultism without being didactic. It shone a light on toxic marriages, police brutality, the military coups, dictatorships and the fight for democracy that underlined that time. Trigger warning for domestic abuse, and use of weapons.

2. Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The word for this book is ‘wholesome.’ The book starts with Evvie Drake who is finally leaving her husband and about to enter her car to drive off when she gets a call that he was in an accident. He dies. Now everyone thinks she’s a sad widow who misses her husband. And that’s far from the truth.

It’s also about Dean, a baseball player who gets the yips and suddenly can’t pitch anymore. Dean needs to get away from NYC and all the talk about him and through a mutual friend, Andy, Evvie rents out the apartment connected to her huge house to Dean.

You know what happens next. The romance was kind of a slow-burn and it literally had me blushing at times.

When I was reading reviews of the book, a lot of people said they liked that the characters actually talked through their problems like real adults and omg yes.

I also liked the friendship between Andy and Evvie—platonic soulmates and all that. Plus, the romance wasn’t at the centre of the book but more of Evvie’s healing and growth. We love to see it. I’d definitely recommend it.

3. The Red Palace by June Hur ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“To enter the palace means to walk a path stained in blood”

Omg, guys?? If you watch K-dramas, you know how scandalous and thrilling palace stories can be. This is that in book form and the author does a fantastic job.

It’s about Hyeon, a ‘bastard lowly girl’ who works hard to become an uinyeo, a palace nurse. One night, a massacre happens at the Hyeminseo, which is like a school for nurses. Four women are killed; two students, one teacher and a court lady who shouldn’t have even been outside the palace.

Now Hyeon’s mentor, Nurse Jeongsu, is the suspect and the Commander is hell-bent on proving that she had a part to play in the massacre.

Hyeon wants to save her mentor so she starts privately investigating but she meets Eojin, a young police inspector and they team up. Also, rumours are going around that the Crown Prince is the killer!

This is a YA with a slow-burn romance and it fulfils some of the best K-drama tropes (like the main character and love interest falling asleep on a table and waking up face to face). With all the secrets going around, it’s the kind of book to have you on the edge of your seat. Definitely recommend.

So that’s it! I’m on book 49 of the year by the way and I want to reach fifty because I can’t stop at an odd number. I’m so excited about surpassing my goal (of 30 books) for the year!

Recommendations

This would be the perfect time to recommend Christmas-themed books. I mean ‘tis the season and all that.

But I only remember reading one Christmas-themed book.

The Holiday Switch by Tif Marcelo

I read it in January 2022 and barely remember anything but this is my Goodreads review verbatim:

“This was okay. An easy and quick read. I loved the fact the MC loves books and wrote reviews. I actually really enjoyed her book reviews. Felt as if the romance could have been better. It was just meh. I hated the author's use of the word 'growl.' Do humans actually growl? And if they do, why did the characters in this book love growling?”

It’s YA and fluffy and cute and clean. If you’re into that kind of thing, you should read it.

If you have any Christmas recs, share them in the comments because sharing is caring.

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By the way, here’s an Instagram video that promises to give you the ultimate secret on how to read up to 30,000 books in a year!

That’s all I have to share. Thank you for reading and see you soon ;)