The first novel I read

I was in primary four when I read my first novel.

My dad had this collection of books, kept in a three tier shelve, that we were forbidden to touch or allow our multitude of uncles, aunties and other kin take away, under pain of sever flogging (yes, my father didn’t spare the rod, that’s why I turned out so well bred – I hope).

My and I brothers used to look at those books with awe, pondering what made them so special, wondering if we will ever get to read them.

There were times that the urge to know what made the books so special got too much to bear, times we gave in to that compulsion and standing on a kitchen stool we would take them down one at a time and look at the covers paying special attention to those that had pictures in them.

It was this same compulsion that led to my punishment. As usual I and my brothers had visited the out-of-bounds shelve to look at the books. Everything had gone according to plan until I began reading the notes attached to the pictures and got too engrossed that I did not hear when my father walked in.

I had thought the world would fall down on me when I looked up after a shadow crossed the page I was reading to see him looming over me. He had looked at me for a spell, and then when I had expected his usual ‘my friend what do you think you are doing?’ he had asked for his food which I quickly ran to get.

I was sitting quietly outside, awaiting his wrath, when his booming voice called me back into the sitting room to clear the plate. As I turned to carry the plates away he asked me to hold on.

“My friend, take that book,” he said, pointing to a book lying face down on the table. “That one you were reading is too advanced for you. Read this one but you must tell the story when you finish.”

My heart went flip flop. I had expected the worst. But there was I, with permission to touch one of the sacred texts. I began reading in earnest almost immediately, not that I was overly eager to read the book but on account of the instruction to retell the story afterwards – the punishment for touching the sacred books. At first I found some words strange, but an older cousin soon taught me how to write the difficult words down and check them later in our little oxford dictionary.

Before I knew it, I was caught up in a world of love, money and cars, all of which I knew only little about, in a world I wanted so much to visit. That first book changed my life, gave me an escape from the taunts that usually followed me whenever I went to where other kids played football – I was that kid with a bad leg that everyone laughed at.

That was the beginning of my incursion into books and the world of make believe. Before I left primary school I had read everything in the forbidden bookshelf and by JSS 1, I could tell that James Hadley Chase was a fictional character. Yeah, I already could tell style then.

I was in primary four when I read my first novel. It was a Pacesetters book written by Muhammed Sule. ‘Undesirable element’.

100 writing mistakes to avoid

I got a review copy of the book ‘100 writing mistakes to avoid’ by Maeve Maddox two days ago. As is my nature, I quickly scanned through before reading – from the end downwards.


I must say that the first thing that struck me was the choice of font and colour; they truly stood out and made for an easy read.

Thirty minutes later I looked up from my screen, a smile of intense satisfaction playing around my lips. It is not every day that one encounters gold nuggets, something this book truly is.

Yes, this book aside from being timely is one of those ones that you would readily recommend to friends, but dread giving out. Like the author said in the introduction “it is for writers who want to avoid the most common errors of written English without spending a lot of time looking it up.”

The 100 errors are arranged according to type: spelling mistakes, usage Mistakes, grammar mistakes and punctuation mistakes. All in an easily accessible way.

The errors covered are many of those that cause writers a lot of embarrassment, especially when they appear in works that have passed through the editing process. The book will surely not answer the questions of anyone not familiar with English parts of speech and other basic terms, but it sure would become a very good companion for writers that find it hard commiting things to memory.

For me, I think it is one of the handiest books on the subject matter I have seen so far. I recommend this to anybody serious about error-free writing.

the book is available at http://www.dailywritingtips.com/

Pilgrimage invitation

2011 election draws near, where are the gladiators

They say the change should start with us. I am willing to vote for a progressive next year; it’s just that I can't seem to find any.
Pat Utomi used to be the 'man' but he has since dropped back to the usual wordy posting on Facebook. One had hoped Donald Duke would morph into some kind of Kennedy, but like the others, he seemed to have too many ... See more skeletons to bury.

I hear Dele Momodu is gunning for the top job, but I fear he might move the capital from Abuja to Accra. Besides, beyond musicians, actors, money bags and the like, I doubt if the man on the street knows who he is, abi welders and conductors dey read Ovation.

Bankole could have been a 'to die for' but the guy own worst pass, like Chimaroke, he seems to be keen on squandering a golden opportunity to endear himself to his fellow youths.

As it stands, I want to vote next year, but unlike last time around, when around this time I already knew Pat Utomi was going to get my vote, I am at loss as to who will fly the flag of the progressives.

Jonathanlitics or not, I am yet to be sold on the man, he seems to be a man with purpose and good intent, but so was OBJ.

I WILL VOTE sha, for Fashola... I don't know who else for.

In The Hills Of Anike, Awgu LGA, Enugu State