Book club: PageTurners Book Club

I love to read because books have always given me access to different worlds. I started reading when I was six- Tom Thumb was my favourite. Later, my mom got me The Secret Seven collection and by the time I was 11, I was reading the Harry Potter series. Now, knowing how much I can learn from books I deliberately deviate to different genres as often as I can. 

It's not easy picking a favourite book. Authors have different styles of writing- but I'd read Letter to my daughter by Maya Angelou a thousand times over. It is a classic collection of events and lessons in Maya's life addressed to a younger generation. In it are invaluable gems of wisdom from someone who dared to be.

I read at least two books in a month.

I start my days very early. I read in the morning- there are no distractions then. I also belong to the PageTurners Book Club where we are accountable to one another.

We concurrently cultivate a reading culture in children from underprivileged communities and also create time to read ourselves. Once a month, a group visits the school we are volunteering in to carry out reading activities with the children. Similarly, we also meet up as volunteers to catch up and review the books we select every month. We are about 20 members. 

We mostly read fiction by African authors. Lately, we are embracing autobiographies and fiction by authors from outside the continent. This month, we are reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. 

The book talks about a man's (Milkman) quest for his identity, born in an era where there was a great racial divide between white people and people of colour. You get to interact with amazing characters in the book like Pilate Dead who bears some aspects of Messianic traits. Her ability to love people and bring out the best in them is something worth admiring.