Summer Reading, a little bit of sci-fi, romance and literature

Thanks to Hive account@calluna I have two good books to read this summer:

West of Eden by Harry Harrison.
I knew about Harrison from the Stainless Steel Rat series and this is one of those books that has been on my to-read list for a while. I remember seeing it on the bookstore shelves in the 80s and contemplating it. I think at the time it was a bit "too thick" for me (hey at least I admit it) as I favored shorter novels at the time.

This copy was purchased on Amazon used for around $10 USD. It's in great shape and supposedly a 1st edition but I do think it might be book club which is a different kind of edition. It's hardback which is not my preferred format but when buying older used books I've found better luck getting decent condition with hard backs. Plus, it's not stinky.

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory
It's a romance book but Calluna says the author does a lot of historical research for accuracy. I'm looking forward to reading this! The whole conversation started when I read Hive account@calluna's short story "The Curse That Bound Her."

Thanks to Hive account@seesladen I decided to try something more serious, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. You can read Seesladen's original patriotic poem here "I am Nigeria" for the context of this inspirational book purchase.

I haven't really read much from Africa which as we know most western literature has a very colonial perspective. I know the Royal family likes to vacation in Kenya. There's a weird avante guard music group I like called Die Antwoord that I like from South Africa. I own a Coptic cross from Egypt my mom bought at an airport duty free terminal. Just fragments of whatever American media and culture has injected into me.

I'm really looking forward to reading Achebe's book because it's distinctly Nigerian.

I'm trying to understand Africa more. In American university history courses Africa is touched on, of course explaining the colonialism and parts of the world wars. A little on the Boer war. A bit on apartheid. Egypt. But there's not a lot of deep diving into truly understanding it unless you take a topic centered course.

Then there's things like Ebola that come out of Africa that are just downright terrifying and serve as a global reminder that despite our advances in technology and civilization, Nature rules.

I'm becoming more interested in reading history that is written by the native people and consciously selecting sources to have a more balanced perspective.

Have you read any of these books? What is on your summer reading list?

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Thank you so much for reading!