Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is now currently being hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and give the reasons why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

Blurb from Goodreads

One day in 1968, at the height of the Biafran civil war, Ijeoma’s father is killed and her world is transformed forever. Separated from her grief-stricken mother, she meets another young lost girl, Amina, and the two become inseparable. Theirs is a relationship that will shake the foundations of Ijeoma’s faith, test her resolve and flood her heart.

Inspired by her mother’s stories of war and Nigeria’s folktale traditions, Under the Udala Trees is Chinelo Okparanta’s deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly.

Why I Want To Read It

Just like that, the weekend is over and it is Monday again. I know, most of us are feeling a little sluggish. I haven’t really relaxed during the weekend because the heat has been very oppressive. The past few weeks have literally been like a preview of hell; at least that is the joke. There seems to be no reprieve as this dry spell is forecasted to stretch for a couple more weeks (hopefully). Worse, it could extend for months, something I am not hoping for. Anyway, you are experiencing better weather than we do here in the Philippines. Nevertheless, I hope that you are starting the work week on a high note. I hope that the rest of the week will go well for everyone. Here’s to a great work week ahead.

I just realized that today is the second to the last Monday of April. I hope that the year has been kind to everyone. I also hope that the rest of the year will be brimming with happiness and prosperity. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit. Reading-wise, like March, April has been filled with works of female writers; it is an extension of my foray into women’s fiction. It seems that I still have a lot of books written by women that I want to read. This journey also took me to different parts of the world, from Asia to the Americas to even the Australian continent. I am currently reading Alice Walker’s The Temple of My Familiar which transported me back to North America. It has been a while since I read The Color Purple. With the month slowly dwindling down to a close, I just hope I can finish as many books as I can.

As part of my weekly blogging ritual, I am sharing a fresh Goodreads Monday update. While I am still immersed in the works of women writers, I have opted to shake things up by featuring random books, i.e., there will be no theme, for my Goodreads Monday updates this month. With this, I am featuring Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees. It seems that I have already added the book to my Goodreads Want to Read list. However, I am unsure why or when. Nevertheless, I have no iota about the writer. Okparanta, it seems, has published a dozen books already and she has recently released a new book, Harry Sylvester Bird.

What piqued my interest in Under the Udala Trees is its exploration of the Biafran War. I first came across the War in another Nigerian writer’s novel, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. I loved the novel although I am a little disappointed with Adichie’s recent pronouncements. What makes Under the Udala Trees more interesting, at least from my point of view, is that Okrapanta was born and raised in Port Harcourt, one of the main cities in what would have been the Republic of Biafra. I just hope I get to obtain a copy of the book. How about you fellow reader? How was your Monday? What books have you added to your reading list? Do drop it in the comment box. For now, happy Monday and, as always, happy reading!