Luggage and Literature

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - St. Augustine

His Only Wife Book Club Questions

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His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie

His Only Wife Book Club Questions

Did you read all of the book? Part of it? Or none of it?

What is your initial impression of the book? Did you like it or dislike it? Why?

At the beginning of the novel, at Afi’s wedding, her groom (Eli) doesn’t show up and participate in the wedding. What does this say about his interest in marrying her?

Eli’s mother, Aunty, helps Afi’s family when Afi’s father passes away and she and her mother are destitute and homeless. Aunty sets up the marriage between Afi and Eli. Do you think Afi went into the marriage willingly, or was she forced into it? Would she have married Eli without the pressure of the families? Do you think this is reasonable? What would you have done in Afi’s shoes? In her mother’s shoes?

Do you think that men and women in our culture are subject to the same pressures as Afi to marry, or to marry someone that their families approve of? Why/why not?

Eli’s family tells Afi lies about Eli’s girlfriend/the mother of his child. Why did the family do this? Why were they so opposed to that relationship? Do you think they manipulated Afi?

Which character(s) did you find most relatable? Why?

Which character(s) did you find the least relatable? Why?

What did you think of Afi’s family and how they handled her newfound wealth? Were you surprised by how her family, and her uncle in particular, responded? Why/why not?

If you could hear the story from another character’s perspective, who would you choose? Why?

Discuss the difference between Afi’s relationship with her mother, and Mawusi’s relationship with her mother (Daavi Christy). Why do you think they are similar/different?

How does physical beauty play a role in the characters’ relationships and statuses? Does the fact of Afi’s skin color play a role in this? Why/why not?

What did you think about Afi and Eli’s first interaction as a married couple? How did their relationship evolve over time?

Do you think Eli ever actually loved Afi? Why/why not?

How do you think Eli should have handled his mother’s arranged marriage between him and Afi? What choices should he have made before and after the wedding?

Afi tells Eli that if their roles were reversed, Eli wouldn’t like it if Afi had two men/boyfriends/husbands. Do you think she is right? Why is there such a double standard for men and women? Is it simply cultural, or something else?

What did you think of the ending? Were you happy that Afi left Eli? Do you think she made the right decision? What do you think the future would hold for her?

Have you read other books by this author? Which ones?

Would you read other books by this author? Why/why not?

What did you think of the length of the book? If too short, what would you add? If too long, what would you cut?

If you were making a movie of this book, who would you cast?

Would you recommend this book to a friend?

Friday Five 05-28-2021

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This is the forty-fifth installment in my sorta weekly series, called the Friday Five. In this series, I’ll tell you about five random things that I love, whether they be books, travel, music, movies…or whatever. So without further ado, 5-28-2021’s Friday Five!

1–Fooling Yourself. This video of Tommy Shaw and student string players and choir doing Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) is so, so wonderful! It brings me such joy! Seriously, it’s worth your time to give it a listen.

2–Pink Senoritas. Coming up on a long holiday weekend, this drink recipe may be just what you (and I!) need.

3–Rattlin Bog. I’ve been reading a lot about Ireland this month, with my reading challenge being Frank McCourt books. This little video clip of a tune sung at 5am at an Irish wedding was just right in line with that.

4–Tiger King. Does anyone even remember this show? It dropped on Netflix a year ago, and for awhile it was all that anyone could talk about (besides COVID, of course). In scrolling through some fun internet things that I’d saved, I came across some hilarious Tiger King tweets again. These tweets just cracked me up all over again.

5–Female Author Home Tours. I’ve been looking for an easy summer getaway plan. Maybe touring some female authors’ homes is that plan. This article details six of them.

2020 Reading Statistics

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In 2020, I read A LOT of books, 196 to be precise. And although I know it’s not a competition, I can’t help but be just a little impressed with myself on that. To note, I don’t ever strive for a particular number of books read each year, but rather do try to read books that I truly enjoy or gain something from, and do try to structure my reading so that it’s a blessing to me rather than a burden. So without further ado, here are some pretty little charts that break down my 2020 reading statistics, with a few notes about what stood out to me in them.

November, what with the election coverage (and me being a political science major in college), was a seriously down month in my reading.

My goal was to read 75 books that I already owned, as part of the Unread Shelf Challenge. I met that plus a couple more, with 77 old or already owned books.

I clearly don’t do as may audiobooks as physical or e-books, which makes sense, since I typically listen to those while driving or doing other things around the house. But 42 audiobooks is still quite a few, and maybe demonstrates that I don’t listen to them at 1x speed (I usually bump them up to 1.2-1.4x speed depending on the narrator, topic, and my level of interest).

Also, if you actually counted up the number here (197) compared to the total number of books that I read (196) and noticed a discrepancy, you’re a nerd. Also, I had one book in two different formats, so that accounts for the discrepancy there.

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