A different kind of blog post from me today.
You might have seen on Instagram this week that I had the absolute pleasure of attending Atypical Reader’s very first event. If you’re not following her instagram account you 100% need to be. Her philosophy is to look at the motivations, inspiration and processes of a writer to better understand them and their writing.
This for me is the perfect approach. I find such joy in first reading and then having a more analytical look at both fiction and nonfiction. It is especially enjoyable within the bookstagram community. So yeah go and follow her account and get ready to be inspired.
This first event was titled Read, Reflect and Rethink. The unbelievably talented Anthonia (aka Atypical Reader) sat down with the equally talented Oyinkan Braithwaite who wrote one of the standout books of this year, My Sister the Serial Killer.
You can read my thoughts on this book on my instagram account! I’ll hopefully post a review on here soon as well.
The debate was fascinating, covering topics like gender identity and class in Nigeria which gave real context to my reading of the novel. Part of the joy of reading is discovering new voices, cultures and stories. I knew very little about Nigeria or Nigerian culture, and this event helped with that.
A large part of the discussion was about why Korede does what she does to cover up her younger siblings crimes and whether Ayoola was born bad or if her upbring made her bad.
I had the pleasure of giving a reading which perfectly summed this up:
“More and More, she reminds me of him. He could do a bad thing and behave like a model citizen the night after. As though the bad thing had never happened. Is it in the blood? But his blood is my blood and my blood is hers”.
What did we decide? As with life it is probably a bit of both and Ayoola most certainly knows what she is doing!!
And I need to talk about the divine venue – The Albright Club in Fitzrovia. This venue is infinitely instagramable – with hanging plants, oversized pink and green velvet chairs and oh so cute mini puddings. This was the perfect setting for such a special event – despite there being almost 100 people in the room it felt very intimate. On a personal note it felt great to be in a room with so many people who are passionate about reading and books.
Also I am currently hosting a giveaway to win a copy of this fantastic book – come on over and enter!!
Otterly Bookish 
You write so beautifully. I am so pleased that you enjoyed the event and that you could see what I was trying to achieve. Looking forward to having you at the next one.
LikeLike