I saw this topic and really smiled because I loved reading as a child. I developed an early interest in fiction because it was so easy to connect with the stories. My imagination was wild and made reading fiction even better. My earliest memory of reading was a Christian book called My Book Of Bible Stories.
I read this book over and over, it was my favorite at some point. It gave me an edge in children Sunday school quizzes and I so much loved the pictures in it. I don't remember giving it out so it's probably packed somewhere in the house right now. God bless the Jehovah Witnesses for this masterpiece.
I also loved reading my English textbook when I was in primary school. Each new school year got me excited because it meant a new English textbook. They were always filled with comprehension passages that were usually short stories. Up until secondary/high school I still loved me my English textbooks.
I liked newspapers a lot too. You'd find me patiently waiting for my dad to finish with the paper so I could read my favorite portion of the paper, ofcourse it was the short story section.
When I got into my first year of secondary school I developed a habit of buying short story books written by Ghanaian authors. They sold for 50 Nigerian Naira which was the equivalent of $0.30 then. The grammar was really shitty but I loved the stories. They were mostly stories of youngsters living naughty lives and ending up in shitty situations. There was always a moral to the stories that I honestly didn't care about. I just wanted to read naughty shit and poorly constructed romance stories.
We began reading recommended novels for exams and those were my favorite things in the whole world. I still have my stack of recommended novels and they're mostly African literature. I wanted to take pictures but it's already night here, it'd be too much work digging in all that dust.
I have some sentimental attachment to these books, that's the only reasonable explanation as to why I still have story books from over 18 years ago. In my stash I have books like;
Sugar Girl - Kola Onadipe
Chike and the River - Chinua Achebe
The Drummer Boy - Cyprian Ekwensi
Eze Goes to School
The Gods Are Not To Blame
Oliver Twist
Black Boy
These and a whole lot more. About a month ago I picked up one such book from this stash because I think about that book a lot and would love to read it again. I lost count of the number of times I re-read it, it's just too good. It's 'The Last Duty' by Isidore Okpewho.
This was the recommended literature in my third junior year I think. I barely remember the story now but I do know it had to do with the Nigerian civil war and how it affected the lives of the characters. It's messed up that the one scene I can remember now is the village cripple caught in bed with someone else's wife 😩 I'll read it and do a review here on hive hopefully.
One time, my brother sold novels and put them in my care. I don't remember making any sale but I remember reading every one of those books. That was the advent of my love for Danielle Steele, James Patternson and Nora Roberts. I also bought a lot of James Hadley Chase with my lunch money. The best part was my parents encouraged my reading habit.
A lot has changed now, I rarely buy books and when I do, I'm not eager to read them. I'm distracted by social media most of the time and ebooks are not my thing. I miss the days when I was book thirsty, I get jealous of bookstagrammers and the book community in Nigeria, I miss my childhood!
Join me, @macchiata, @starstrings01, @lauramica, @officialuroga and others in this challenge. I'd love to read your posts. Don't forget to use the #bloggingchallenge tag so I see your post.
I can remember reading everything except the black boy. The thing is I can rarely remember their stories.
I don't have any favorite childhood book because I am generally the type that doesn't like reading but I will try to come up with something when I reach day 10.
Black boy was also recommended in school. I had read it on my own before then.
Let's see what you come up with
I read everything except the black boy. But damn! I so much love that sugar girl. First story that made me cry. Will never forget it.
Interesting
You got decent childhood books ! mine was erm far from fictions :D
I read your post, truly fa from fiction