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Or, Rusticated
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Reader,
Weeks ago, the brilliant wa Ngamĩro recommended No Place Like Home in a New City: Anti-Urbanism and Life in Nairobi by Bettina Ng’weno and I have been having such a great time reading it.
As a person who was born outside the city and then lived in Nairobi for most of their childhood and adulthood, so much of what she writes about is so familiar and relevant. It’s also given me my word of the week: rusticated. I told my cousin and the look of glee on his face when he said “So you’ve been rusticated!” was priceless.
We have started a 2-person reading group (not a buddy read; he recommends stories to me from an anthology I lent him) and I read the first one yesterday. Like me, he very easily turns the book he is reading into his “book personality”. My thanks to everyone who has been there for each instance. The most recent was when I read Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History by Vidya Krishnan and made TB facts part of every conversation. The short story I read yesterday - Diary of an Interesting Year by Helen Simpson - came up as we talked about current affairs as we watched TV at their house (there was no power at my house) and it was a good recommendation! I wrote a bit about it in today’s blog post so head there for some more of my thoughts 🙂
Back to No Place Like Home in a New City. In the wake of mention of Singapore being all but banned at the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival, reading a book where Singapore is mentioned as a Royal Charter city feels apropos for some reason. It’s always important to remember that lots of things and places are made (up) and people and plans so often merge and clash to create intriguing spaces.
I’m looking forward to finishing it this week and writing my reflections during the weekly round up and maybe here because I can’t recall the last time a book about place made me feel so seen. Happy to recommend it even before I’m done.
If you’re a Nairobian, or a person interested in Nairobi, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book if and/ or when you read it because this rusticated Nairobian is highlighting a lot of it. You’ll be happy to know the e-book (PDF and EPUB) is available for free so have at it!
Quick news/ things that may be of interest:
Tomorrow:
Saturday (register here):
Sunday (register here):
Next weekend:
Ongoing:
Also ongoing (recommended):
Treat someone you like (me, for instance, I have a Switch) to the Tiny Bookshop Game (which is also on Discord)
Subscribe to my WhatsApp channel for texts I find while I spend time online
Film folks: Solidarity Cinema, for your consideration
If you’re in the Global North and would be open to engaging in the North-South solidarity that is sharing a library card, please email or message me so we can figure things out. Thank you!
The Queer Liberation Library 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️, which is free to join here
Digital Library of Korean Literature, which is free to join here
Film folks: Check out the Japan Foundation’s JFF Theater online streaming platform
How to Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the visually impaired
Since Elon seems to want (some of) us gone, I’m trying to post more often on Bluesky. Follow me there if you’re on it!
You can send me books, postcards, letters, and assorted items via PO Box 102439, Jamia Posta 00101, Nairobi, Kenya (I write back!)
I have finished four books since I last wrote to you: Kin by Tayari Jones (e-book & audiobook narrated by Angel Pean & Ashley J. Hobb), We, the Kindling by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek (e-book & audiobook narrated by Shelby Mwambu), Son of Sin by Omar Sakr (e-book & audiobook narrated by Hazem Shammas) and The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World by Antony Loewenstein (e-book & audiobook narrated by Finlay Robertson). I’m primarily using Storygraph now (passively updating Goodreads as I read most e-books on Kindle via the library) and I hope to get back to making videos soon.
As ever, please write back to me and tell me what books you’re reading or looking forward to reading — it’s always a great time talking about books.
Thank you for reading 🙂
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Enjoy the week ahead and have a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!