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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes  (FP: 1892; 302) is one of those books that manage to surprise you regardless of how familiar you have become with their titles. The surprise with this book was not in the character or the story-line(s) but the genre. I had always perceived this book as a complete novel. This perception might have been strengthened by the various movie adaptations I have watched. Even when I purchased it, this did not change. So you can imagine my surprise when I finally picked it up to read and suddenly discovered that it is a collection of short stories. The story features the eponymous character Sherlock Holmes as he solved one mystery after the other, sometimes aided by his friend Dr Watson, and it was he who narrated the stories. The eccentric Sherlock Holmes did not care much about the mysteries he solved but to any observing eyes what he did is nothing different from the art of Houdini. Sherlock has more than five ...

Exactly a week ago, the Caine Prize announced its 2014 shortlist. This year's shortlist was announced by the Nobel Prize winner and Patron of the Caine Prize Wole Soyinka, as part of the opening ceremonies for the UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 celebration in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The Shortlist comprises: Diane Awerbuck (South Africa) " Phosphorescence " in Cabin Fever ( Umuzi , Cape Town. 2011) Efemia Chela (Ghana/Zambia) " Chicken " in Feast, Famine and Potluck ( Short Story Day Africa , South Africa. 2013) Tendai Huchu (Zimbabwe) " The Intervention " in Open Road Review , issue 7, New Delhi. 2013 Billy Kahora (Kenya) " The Gorilla's Apprentice " in Granta (London. 2010) Okwiri Oduor (Kenya) " My Father's Head " in Feast, Famine and Potluck ( Short Story Day Africa , South Africa. 2013) Tendai Huchu is the author of The Hairdresser of Harare .  Billy Kahora's Urban Zoning  was nominated in 2012 Ca...

It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. [7] A Frenchman or Russian could not have written that. It is the German who is so uncourteous to his verbs. [8] You do not know her, but she has a soul of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men. [12-3] it was not merely that Holmes has changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime. [20] Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting. [21] As a rule, said Holmes, the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify. [42-3] ...

Chuma Nwokolo may not be a household name. But those who have listened to him read or have read his books have come to appreciate his stories. To such fortunate folks Chuma remains an excellent author with a keen sense of observation and of humour. Recently the author of Diaries of a Dead African  and The Ghost of Sani Abacha  released another collection of short stories titled How to Spell Naija in 100 Short Stories  to mark the centenary anniversary of the amalgamation of the pre-Nigerian states and the formation of the country Nigeria. Those who have read Chuma have come to appreciate his unique writing styles and his prodigiousness. First, according to the author his attention span is too short for a novel, so that even the novel-like DOADA is really three interlinked novellas. Consequently, the author has resorted to the short story genre to tell his stories and over time has mastered the rudiments of this genre.  The Ghost of Sani Abacha contained twenty...

Thou art a young wife, so I shall open all my mouth. On that first day that his adultery comes to light, the whole world is right behind you, so let the force of your fury be known. Be natural, let it all hang out. The plates, the frame photographs of your wedding, his suits even, these are the legitimate, the expected casualties of his embarrassing sex. Noise the scandal to whom you may, what more do you have to hide?  [11, Letter to a Young Wife From an Old ] Nobody wants their husband to be holding and comforting another weeping woman for days on end, even if they are best of friends. Besides, all your married friends have horror tales of their own, and it is in bad taste to complain to a doctor about your pimple, when he is sitting on a scrotum engorged by elephantiasis. [12,  Letter to a Young Wife From an Old ] [T]he clever wife's rage is entirely premeditated. Nothing is ever done in the heat of the moment. She goes through her house carefully, determinin...

Every art enthusiast has at least an artiste he or she is dedicated to, whom he would follow thoroughly. They may not necessarily like everything about these artistes but they make it a point to know them and their works. This is common about musicians and visual artists. Almost five years ago, when I was making a list of  100 Books I want to read in five years , I took such a decision. I promised myself I would read every book  Chimamanda  publishes, irrespective of the reviews that she would garner. (Another author I mentally selected was Ayi Kwei Armah.) Since then I have read all four of Adichie's known published books, including  Americanah  (Fourth Estate, 2013) ,  the author's third novel after the highly-successful  Half of a Yellow Sun  (2006) and her fourth published book following her anthology of short stories,  The Thing Around Your Neck   (2009).  When a writer achieves success and fame with his early works and ...

March was a not-so-good month. Unlike last year, I have been falling behind in my reading targets very early in the year. At the end of March, I was two books behind and have read 13 books instead of 15 towards the target of 60 for the year. Though I am improving on my reading speed, I am slacking on consistency. It is likely that April will not be different.  I read the only book I projected to read in March and three others. The dwindling numbers of unread books on my shelf means that I am not motivated enough to pick a book. Most of the unread books are those I have passed by on several occasions, not that they are not good but I do not have the urge to read them. This reduced degrees of freedom is impacting badly on my vision to read more African books. Thus, any African book that comes into my possession is given priority. Two of the four books I read were African books. Of the four, one was a poetry anthology, two were collections of short stories, and one was a novel...

The Writers Project of Ghana has a book club it prefers to call The Book and Discussion Club which meets once every month to discuss the selected text for the month. The Book and Discussion Club has selected and read several books since its formation in 2011. Last month's (March) book was Mawuli Adzei 's collection of poems Testament of the Seasons . When information reached Dr Adzei - author of Taboo  - that we were going to read and discuss his book, he volunteered to be present. It was always going to be tricky discussing and interrogating the work of a writer in his or her presence. In his absence you could always say whatever you like and this was the first time it was happening. The Book Club has played host to some authors before, though their works were not under discussion at the time of the meeting. We have had Binyavanga Wainaina and Kojo Laing visiting us and reading to us their works. ( Note that this discussion is different from the monthly Book Reading ...