Minor Detail by Adania Shibli (translated by Elisabeth Jaquette)

Minor Detail is a book of two parts. The first part is set in the summer of 1949 and follows an Israeli officer who is involved in the capture and rape of a young Palestinian woman. The second part is set many years later following a woman who becomes obsessed with this 'minor detail' of history and makes a journey to find out the truth. Only she is faced with the continual erasure of her people, her disempowerment and road blocks to uncovering a broken history.

In line with the book's title both narratives focus on the everyday detail, so whilst the premise is rather harrowing this doesn't feature in great detail. The narrative focuses on the officer washing himself, a dog barking, the dust from the bombings, the act of chewing gum. There is a lot of repetitive motions and and descriptions within the narrative that reinforce the small details of everyday existence and elements of history that are brushed over.

The focus on the small details enables us as readers to see how a people are so easily erased, confined and constricted as they live a life of occupation. I did not find the first part particularly compelling, but it's readable and fairly short. The second part was much more haunting and absorbing and surprising for how it drew an overall narrative and political message.

Minor Detail is a short book, but rather haunting for the messages it plays out. It's incredibly clever and quite distinctive in its style and focus.

Sairish Hussain's debut novel is an emotional and utterly compelling tale of one Northern, British Muslim family and their trials and tribulations. In reading Hussain's authors note, I was struck by her statement about how this book was written by her drive to see better Muslim representation in fiction. However this is not a book about them being Muslim, they are Muslim, but this is about their family story. This comes through so strongly in the book as it's a book about the bonds and connections of family. The relationship between Amjaad and his two children Zahra and Saahil after the death of his wife when Zahra is born. And then how events following Saahil finishing University change the family again for years to come.

I absolutely loved the fact that this book focused on the life of Northern, working class, Muslim family and reflected the Yorkshire of my own upbringing. I really connected with setting and the backdrop of the story as some of the experiences really resonated with me.

For me though, it was Zahra and Saahil who absolutely stole my heart. I completely understand why everyone says you will fly through this 500 page book. It is an absolute page turner and after the first couple of hundred pages I could not put it down. I was desperate to unravel their story and see how it ended. It will absolutely tug on your heart strings and I cried at the end, but it is honestly such a beautiful book.

Zahra for me was such a fiery character, she became so head-strong and I saw something of myself in her. A girl wanting to challenge the world. I loved her spirit and her love for her family. Then Saahil, I do not even know where to begin. My heart continued to break for Saahil over this book and Ehsan his best friend and I have so many feelings I can't share without spoilers.

This book was a sublime read and it captured by heart entirely. Absolutely get your tissues ready as you will need them. Thank you @reads.and.reveries for making me add this to my shelf and thank you to @minaal.reads for finally getting me to pick it up!

The Gynae Geek's no-nonsense guide is one of the best, most straight-talking, reliable, fact-based and easy reading books on women's health.
It talks all about how our menstrual cycle is connected with our eating, sleeping, exercising and lifestyle patterns.
It talks about what a smear test is and why we should go for one as women - basically if you don't know it detects abnormal cells in your vagina (caused by hpvs) and helps to get those treated before they turn into cancer.
It talks about pregnancy and fertility.
It talks about periods.
It talks about contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and getting tested for those.
It talks about what a vagina looks like and how the vagina is the inside part and your vulva is the outside part.
It has lots of great information about how our hormones are influenced and what they do; why their important.
It screams out that women need to empower themselves by learning more and reading more fact based studies.
It has so many important messages that every woman and man needs to know about.
It's also a book that's driven by a doctor who knows her stuff, but is passionate about her cause and cares about educating and helping people. Dr Anita Mitra makes the book interesting and accessible. It's not laugh-out loud funny, but there are some pretty shocking moments.
The small ancedotes from her jobs make it more interesting and personal (obviously no names are used). It also makes you realise how many women are suffering because they don't feel confident or capable of stepping forward to their doctor.
This book is great for those interested in health in general, those wanting to learn more about women's health and gynaecological health specifically.
Just an all around great book!

Mamphela Ramphele: A Life was a book I picked up as part of my studies, as I'm currently reading through autobiographies/memoirs/fiction books surrounding apartheid South Africa. I'm very glad I did, as this was an insightful read that looked at the life of a woman who bucked many trends in South Africa. She became a medical professional, was feisty and independent despite strong patriarchal structures and fought for her people's freedom. She faced many hardships which made the book emotional, touching and painful to read at times; from the loss of her daughter, to detention, exile and the loss of her true love: Steve Biko.

Mamphela Ramphele captured the feelings of apartheid South Africa well, and I really got an insight into some of the struggles student activists felt and the emotions in this period. She also focused on the plight that women faced, particularly in political structures, as they struggle to be heard and were often overlooked in many histories on this subject.

Ramphele also refused to shy away from the times she did not succeed, when she burned out and when she suffered and these were important moments of recognition. It was interesting that she did not consider herself to be 'exceptional' and wanted to shy away from these 'superwoman' labels to show that she was just a woman. I think this is important particularly in South African history when there has been so much emphasis on 'exceptionalism'. When actually South African history needs to be grounded in global context/African developments as we understand why these events and apartheid happened in South Africa. Her perspective as a black, female doctor is definitely a unique viewpoint and one we have few records of from apartheid South Africa and that makes it invaluable because she offers a different approach. Ramphele sees apartheid South Africa in ways other people didn't and it demonstrates how the background and standing of individuals really impacts on the way we see the world. It really demonstrates to me the point that you cannot only read one perspective on a subject.

The autobiography itself begins when Ramphele was young, her childhood, school years, the breakdown of her first marriage as she went to college. She discussed her involvement with the Black Consciousness Movement and her love affair with Steve Biko who appeared to absorb all of her energies, life and enthusiasm in the early years. We witness a drastic change of views and despondency following Biko's death as she struggled to come to terms with her loss, deal with her feelings and move on. During this time, she is in exile for many years. She then goes on to describe her second marriage, that breakdown and her eventual move to Cape Town, to UCT and her involvement with the rebuilding of South Africa. The book covers a lot of years and offers a good overall insight into how the apartheid era impacted and affected her life.

For anybody interested in women's biographies, African history, books by African women and apartheid South Africa I think this is certainly a must read. It raises questions about how we view the world, how different professions are considered and how the apartheid state functioned.

What's your favourite biscuit?

"Your hand and my hand shake in a union of friendship.
Small and big, man and woman, husband and wife,
We build a new community, a new tomorrow
He who does not accept the ruling, let him leave in peace."

Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o translated the original tale of the origins of the Gĩyũkũ people from Gĩyũkũ. He blends mythology and folklore in a verse style prose, to retell the The Perfect Nine which serves to be an enjoyable and beautiful book.

The retelling follows Gĩyũkũ and Mũmbi and how their daughters, the perfect nine, become the matriarchs of the Gĩyũkũ clans. Each daughter represents a different clan of the Gīyūkū.

When ninety-nine suitors come to propose marriage to the daughters of Gĩyũkũ and Mũmbi, the suitors and daughters alike must set off on a quest up Mount Kenya and face various trials to find the true suitors for each daughter. On the way the daughters and the suitors learn things about themselves, each other and nature around them.

I loved the fact that the nine daughters all had different strengths and talents from shooting arrows, to intelligence and strategy, to pottery and crop growing and much more. The daughters were strong and capable in their own right and the tale was focused on the men having to prove their worth to each of the women.

I really enjoyed the allegory and strong themes of unity, family, and courage throughout the book. The verse style definitely suited the mythology and folklore themes as it made the experience feel like a classic oral tale being handed down in song or verse, rather than just reading a book.

Although I am not familiar with the original tale this was incredibly enjoyable, very feminist and very heart-warming to read. Thank you to @miaandthebooks for the copy.