LC:Have you ever fallen in love with a fictional character? Tell us about it.
PN:Oh yes! Howard Roark from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. He was so strong and defiant. But most importantly he was super brilliant at what he did he managed to scare an entire establishment.
LC: What are you extremely good at?
PN: Panicking! No, really. And playing down what I’m really good at 😛
LC:If you died today? How would you like to be remembered?
PN:As a Passionate, Sassy soul sister. Who shared all she had.
LC: What question have you always wanted to be asked? Please ask it and answer it!
Q. What is the hardest lesson you’ve ever learned?
A. Learning to just apologize. Apologize without explaining, excusing, justifying or countering. Just say ‘Sorry’
“What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Luke 11:11.This verse boldly sits on Gatwiri’s ‘About’ page on Facebook, perhaps alluding to Gatwiri’s straight-talking nature! The multilingual (She speaks German, French, Swahili, English, Japanese and a smattering of Korean, just enough to sound coherent to a drunk Korean. The Globe-Trotter shared a glimpse of her literary encounters with Literary Chronicles.
LC:What did they call you as a child ?
GB: The only nickname I have ever had that stuck was NyamNyam. It was given to me by my mum, and she used it(even in public ) until I was around 18. I think there was a cartoon strip in the Daily Nation in the eighties with that name 🙂
LC:What was the naughtiest thing your mother caught you doing as a child?
GB: Good heavens!! How many sins did I commit? I remember putting thorns from a rose-bush in someone’s bed……I don’t want to say who. It’s still embarrassing to think of….. *facepalm*
Gold-Miss Bundi strikes a pose!
LC:What are your favorite books?
GB: My favorite books would be the Jane Austen novels. All six of them. The best out of the them was Persuasion. The depth of feeling and emotion in this book moves me to no end! It was the last book Jane Austen wrote before she died, and is the real masterpiece of her works. Everyone loves Pride and Prejudice, but those acquainted with Jane well know that this is the real masterpiece!!
I read all types of books, as long as there are words on the pages, and just as long as it’s not one of those motivational / inspirational / pop psychology books. Oh, and I also don’t do biographies and autobiographies. *dodges bullets *
LC:Have you ever fallen in love with a fictional character? Tell us about it.
GB: Every time I read Pride and Prejudice, I fall in love with Mr. Darcy. He is every woman’s ideal man; he is every woman’s dream man. Why do I love him? He is my ideal man, strong, decisive, loving, decisive, dominant, he takes responsibility for himself and his actions, he changes and improves himself for the sake of his relationship (with Elizabeth ) without having to be nagged, decisive ……..please note the number of times I have said decisive. He doesn’t need to consult, or build consensus, or create a committee to probe the cause of a problem!! He decides, and acts! I love him!
Gatwiri Gold-Miss Bundi in Bath, outside the Jane Austen Center. They have and English fella, saying hello to all the ladies.
LC:What is your greatest fear?
GB: Dying, my death. I worry about when and how I’ll die ……. hopefully it will be in my sleep in old age.
LC:Share something about yourself that nobody knows?
GB: If I share, then someone will know…….I dream about being President of Kenya 😀
LC:If you died today, how would you like to be remembered?
GB: A loyal, dependable, trustworthy, responsible and reliable person.
About Maria If you don’t want to know the truth; don’t ask!!!
LC: What did they call you as a child ?
MK: I was mostly called by my name – Maria but my grandfather called me by a pet name Kapilingiti I think it meant last one or something like that…
LC: What was the naughtiest thing your mother caught you doing as a child?
MK: I was caught talking to the neighbor boy while I was outside the gate – we weren’t allowed to leave the gate let alone talk to boys who we weren’t related to. I was beaten till I believed there is something boys have that is dangerous to girls!! 😀
LC: What are your favorite books?What kind of books do you read?
MK: I like all types of books, nowadays I have an affinity for autobiographies or true stories. In my youth I preferred fiction more so romance novels
LC: Have you ever fallen in love with a fictional character?Tell us about it.
MK: The fictional romance novel am currently reading; the hero is who am currently in love with. He fell in love with a little baby and swore to look for her once he was grown up and fate willed it that they are now together though she doesn’t remember their encounter due to her tender age at the time. He is tasked with helping her realize her true self as well as make her fall in love with him.
LC: What is your greatest fear?
MK: My greatest phobia is heights. I can’t even look down from the third floor, I get vertigo.
LC: Share something about yourself that nobody knows?
MK: I experience deep bouts of paranoia especially in the morning immediately I wake up so I sing rock songs or reggae songs to calm myself.. (Why is this relevant??)
LC: If you died today?How would you like to be remembered?
MK: Hhhhhmmmmm…… I would like to be remembered as being helpful / as a source of great relevant knowledge without bias to all persons of all creeds or ethos
LC: What are you reading now?
MK: I’m currently reading a fictional romance novel by Helen Dickson titled Scandalous Secret, Defiant Bride.
In culture. He co-edits for Nairobi.Now [www.nairobinow.co.ke] Occasionally he consults for the MoA on Agricultural Statistics | Techie [iHub member] & Husler2.0. He blogs at http://njathika.blogspot.com/
1. What kind of reader are you?
I am an accidental reader. I came to appreciate reading culture recently. This is mostly as a result of attending numerous book readings.
I like reading books that have historical context, geopolitics, biographies and autographs.
My favorite genre happens to be short stories. This because they are short concise and to the point plus they fit in this rat race we have! However I do humongous books especially those that deal with geopolitics.
During the Hay Festival I came across a new genre: Travel books! I am an adventurous kind of person so I have a feeling I might be doing a few travel books to see if they are really my thing!
2. What are you currently reading?
I have currently finished reading Henry Kissinger’s book On China. An incisive book on how China approaches foreign policy. One thing Kissinger emphasizes in his book is that Chinese culture plays a critical role in the way China looks at the world. I have also come to appreciate that the Confucian philosophy also plays an important role in Chinese deliberations with the world.
The other book I am lazily reading is The Divided West by Jurgen Habermas.
Apart from this I do some heavy opinion reading. My favorite opinion writer locally is Cobbo. He has opinion columns for Daily Nation and the EastAfrican.
3. What books am I likely to find in your bookshelf?
I am an N-1 kind of person. So I will begin with what you will NEVER find in my bookshelf. For starters Romance novels. In mind I have Mills and Boon of this world. Second ‘How to Make It’ books. These are how to make it rich etc books. In my humble opinion these books usually make it for the authors and publishers! I am actually surprised to read in our newspapers that these ‘How to make it’ books are top sellers in our Nairobi bookshops.
Some of the books in my bookshelf are Kwani? Edition Books, M. Wrong and Chimamanda Ngozi books and last but not least J.K. Rowling’s books. I now believe there is some wizardly in each and every one of us! (This should be a dead give away on the costumes I am likely to wear for Halloween)
4. Who is your favourite author?
I do NOT have one favourite author. I have a couple! I know this is weird. However, if I were to go by one then I would go Michaela Wrong. This is because her books offer a set of truths about this region. Starting from DR Congo to Eritrea.
Chimamanda Ngozi’s Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun have been good reads for me. And I am currently discovering Ben Okri’s literature.
5. Which authors/books would you highly recommend?
I will start by recommending what I am yet to read! Currently, I am looking forward to read One Day I Will Write about This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina. I had a chance of listening to Binyavanga Wainaina reading excerpts of his current book during last years (2010) Kwani? Lit. Fest. I have also read reviews of the same. This should be a good read.
I also would also recommend M. Wrong and Chimamanda Ngozi books.
About Rayhab: Writer & Poet.Chartered Marketer.Motivator.Sales Executive. #TeamJesus. Communications Specialist.Studying – Masters in Corporate & Development Communication.Blogs at http://raylitpoems.blogspot.com
1. What kind of reader are you?
I would describe myself as a fanatical reader. Am always reading. Three things that you will always find in my bag is water, an umbrella and a book or two and/or a marketing magazine. I love to read. Been a bookworm since primary school.
2. What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading several things. The CIM Marketer magazine and a Nora Roberts. I try as a Christian to read my Bible every day. That’s a work in progress.
3. What books am I likely to find in your bookshelf?
Books by James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Dan Brown, Enid Blyton, Rick Warren, Harry Porter series etc. Actually I have a wide array of books. I love reading children’s books by the way. They are creatively done. Love books on dragons, fairies, magic
4. Who is your favourite author?
I have several but one of my favorite is James Patterson. One of my favorite books ever though is Sidney Sheldon’s If Tomorrow Never Comes
5. Which authors/books would you highly recommend?
James Patterson. Nora Roberts. Tolkien. C. S. Lewis. Rick Warren. Joel Osteen. Sidney Sheldon. J. K. Rowling
6.Do you buy/borrow books?
I buy books now. Very many. There was a time I had gotten fed up of buying books because people borrow and never return or mishandle them. I joined Bookvilla for about 4 years until it closed. Didnt buy many books during that period.
7. What is your favorite line from a book?
It’s a paragraph actually from a tale of two cities by Charles Dickens. “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. ..”
What kind of reader are you? One that reads everything except lit-erotica & motivational books.
What are you currently reading? The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. What books am I likely to find in your bookshelf?
Mostly books by African writers like Ngwatilo mawiyoo, Taban Lo Liyong, Chimamanda Adichi Ngozi, Chinua Achebe, Yvonne Owuor, Binyavanga Wainana, Naguib Mafouz. I also have books by Khaled Hosseini, Kiran Desai, E.E. Cummins, Jeffrey Archer among others.
Who is your favourite author? It’s a tie between Taban Lo Liyong &E.E. Cummins
Which authors/books would you highly recommend?
The ones I mentioned in 3 above. They are all amazing in their own way.
What question do you wish you were asked as a reader?
That’s a hard one. Let me go with “Do I spread the reading gospel to people who don’t read.”
Meet Bonyo Buogha.Go-giver. Entrepreneur. Dreamer. Believer. Thinker. Writer. Son of The Almighty
You can follow buogha on Twitter:@buogha Nairobi, Kenya or learn more through his websites: http://fikirazangu.blogspot.comhttp://www.thecoinbox.org http://www.bidhaatele.com 1. What kind of reader are you?
Not sure I’m a “kind”; can I say avid moody? 🙂
2. What are you currently reading?
One Day – D. Nicholls / Warrior of the Light – P. Coelho / Atlas Shrugged – A. Rand
3. What books am I likely to find in your bookshelf?
Biography / Philosophy / Business / Spiritual
4. Who is your favourite author?
Harry Bingham / David Baldacci / Ayn Rand / Myself / Branson
5. Which authors/books would you highly recommend?
All the above
6.Do you buy books or borrow? If you buy..where…if you borrow…who…?I buy books, that works best for me. I buy at Booksfirst, Bookpoint, and that joint opposite GPO (keep forgetting the name but I like)
When I want African/Kenyan context books (e.g recently purchased “The Luo”, I go to Nairobi Uni bookshop, it is well stocked with those.
Meet Nicholas Asego. Intelligent, charming and observant. Enjoys his autobiographies. Works as an editor for a local newspaper. Chinua Achebe tops his list of fauvorite authors any day!
1. What kind of reader are you?
I am an avid and wide reader. Will read anything but own very few 2. What are you currently reading?
Am reading UGLY an autobiography by Constance Briscoe 3. What books am I likely to find in your bookshelf?
You get all kind of books but majority are African writer series and autobiographies. I love autobiographies 4. Who is your favourite author?
Favourite writer of all time still happens to be Chinua Achebe though he is yet to pen an autobiography. His books are like a love affair with letters 5. Which authors/books would you highly recommend?
I would recommend Ugly by Constance Briscoe, There eyes were watching God by Zora Nearle Hurston, Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, Obama’s Dreams from my Father and Yusuf Daewood’s autobiography Nothing But the Truth… 6. Do you buy or borrow books? Buy: where…Borrow: Where?….
Yeah I borrow books from friends but yes buy books. From bookshops and even streets, you can never tell where you will bump into a good book. Might be even in the back alley!
Literary Chronicles 