Issue 09 |
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In partnership with |
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👋 Hi there, and welcome to our new subscribers! Now that October is coming to an end, I hope we all have our costumes ready? African horror has many scary stories to explore, and with Halloween around the corner, it’s the perfect time to do so. |
We'll also look at an old Nigerian stage play, new book releases, a Bookaholic community interview, and more. |
Here’s the menu for today so its easier to scroll: Let’ |
Currently Reading: Five African horror stories In Conversation With: An interview with Temidayo Ajibola Backlist Gem: Echoes of Hard Times and Other Plays New Release Round-Up Quote of the Week This or That?
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Kindle Readers Are Asking: Why Didn't I Find This Website Sooner? |
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A single ebook can cost $15 or more. This site offers bestsellers starting at $2. |
It’s changing the way people buy ebooks. Readers no longer have to pay top dollar or spend months on a waitlist for the books they want. |
Free to join and simple to use, this site helps readers find bestsellers for a fraction of the price. It’s called BookBub, and it’s an open secret for 15 million readers who are saving on today’s biggest ebooks. |
Readers can expect: |
Personalized picks based on their taste New deals every day to surface new favorites Flexibility to buy from all major ebook retailers
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Each deal is only available for a limited time. Sign up for free to see them before they’re gone. |
See today’s $2 bestsellers |
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The Juice at Lagos Cocktail Week |
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At this year’s celebration of bartenders, bars, and cocktail lovers from across the continent, we showed up and brought some fun along. |
At our booth, attendees stopped by for drinks, games, and a spin of our fun wheel, with prizes ranging from featured posts and free cocktails to The Juice stickers, hand fans, and even a chance to be featured in our Hot Seat! |
Beyond the games and prizes, we got to meet some of our subscribers, connect with new people, and welcome new members to The Juice community. |
A big welcome to our new subscribers! We’ll keep bringing you newsletters covering pop culture, music, film, books, sex and relationships, and everything in between. |
It was great seeing you all at the Cocktail Village. Until next time! Cheers🥂 |
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Currently Reading |
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Five African horror books to keep you up at night |
It’s towards the end of October, and the sounds of Halloween preparations are in the air. Many have sorted out their costumes, and for those in places where trick-or-treating isn’t common, there are weekend parties to look forward to. Others are cuddled up in bed watching horror films or tucked in with a scary book. |
If you’re looking for something to send a chill down your spine, we have five horror books by African writers to add to your reading list. From haunted houses and missing children to curses and secrets that refuse to stay buried, there’s plenty to keep you up at night. |
White Is for Witching - Helen Oyeyemi |
If you love a good haunted-house story, White Is for Witching is one to check out. This 2009 horror novel by Helen Oyeyemi follows the Silver family, who have been confined by the strange hold their home has over them. Since her mother died, Miranda Silver has developed a strange craving for chalk and the walls of their creepy house. |
There is grief in the house, but something more sinister is growing, fueled by the memories of Miranda’s female ancestors. The house has always kept the rest of the world at a distance, but things begin to change when Miranda meets Ore at university. As Ore becomes a bigger part of Miranda’s life, the house sees Ore as a threat, and she must figure out what is happening to Miranda before the home turns against her. |
The Sleepless - Nuzo Onoh |
The Nigerian Civil War was shaking up the country, but Nuzo Onoh finds a way to weave a horror story into this era. Six-year-old Obelé lives with a father and his mistress who murdered her brother. But Obelé is no ordinary child. She possesses powers that reveal secrets to her, and knowing too much puts her life in danger. |
As she runs from the adults who want her dead, she befriends spirit girls who have experienced the same toxicity she has. But their friendship comes at a price. Between wartime bombs, people hunting her, and a powerful witchdoctor’s curse to break, Obelé must find a way to survive and free her dead brother’s tormented ghost. Can she survive long enough to put an end to the horrors chasing her? |
We Run The Night - Peace Mbengei |
Boarding school is haunted, but home isn’t exactly an option either after a tragic death. That’s Shani Bara’s story, especially when she wakes up covered in soil, with torn clothes, and a pounding headache. |
The community is gripped by fear as monsters called night runners sweep through the streets once the sun sets. The school administration thinks it’s just students being students and playing pranks, but now it’s up to the students to fight these monsters, who might not be strangers at all, but people they know or even themselves. |
Will Shani and her best friend race against time to reverse this curse before matters get even more complicated? |
House of Margins - Tlotlo Tsamaase |
Five writers enter a colonial mansion for a residency, but what happens when one goes missing, and the house begins to reveal its secrets? |
Anaya and four other writers arrive at the renowned Gunter House colonial mansion to confront Africa’s colonial legacy by writing the next bestselling story for a grand prize competition. But when Anaya goes missing, her sister Ranewa takes it upon herself to find the truth. |
A year later, Anaya’s disappearance becomes the subject of a sensational true-crime podcast hosted by the only white writer in the group. As Ranewa makes her way to the residency house, she encounters chilling visions, warped timelines, and strange occurrences that send shivers down the spine. |
African Horror: An Anthology - Different Authors |
Our top recommendation this week is African Horror: An Anthology, edited by Tahzeeb Akram. If you enjoy horror stories that get under your skin, this 15-story collection should be checked out. It brings together writers with different voices exploring different kinds of fear, with stories about unsettling situations. |
In Zuma Keeps Her Count, Samuel Kozah follows Zuma, a woman who lives in a tight-knit community gripped by terror due to a sudden wave of child deaths, and her own left hand starts behaving strangely. Amani Mosi’s Cedar and Old Paper is about Amara’s journey to a remote cabin where her disturbing past refuses to remain the past. Meanwhile, Ebuka Prince Okarafor’s The Uncanny Mind follows Nduka as his own mind makes him question his sanity. |
From strange occurrences to unsettling encounters with the past, African Horror: An Anthology brings together stories that show just how many ways fear can find us. |
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Book Community Interview |
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Temidayo Ajibola loves the warmth at Bookaholic Club Community |
We love talking to book club members and getting to know them. In this issue, we have Temidayo Ajibola, a member of the Bookaholic Club community Ibadan chapter, a content creator, and a jewelry designer. In this conversation, he talks about the Book of the Month, the Bookaholic meeting experience, what she learns from reading, and more. |
What is the club reading this October, and what are your thoughts about the book? |
We had two meetups in Ibadan this month, so that meant two books. We read Love Does Not Win Elections by Ayisha Osori for a special meetup to launch our second outlet in Bodija, Ibadan. Also, Chinenye Emezie’s Born in a House of Glass for our regular monthly meetup. |
It’s a really good one; I’ll say that Love Does Not Win Election is very eye-opening about what goes on on the other end of the political posters and billboards we see. Also, I was excited for all the discussions that the book undoubtedly generated at the meetup. |
What is your favorite part of a monthly Bookaholic meeting, or a specific standout moment you still think about? |
My favorite part of our meetups is something intangible: the warmth. In the truest sense of the word, the Bookaholic club is a community. Seeing new and familiar faces every month, discussing and sharing opinions, perspectives, and personal experiences on what we’ve read together. It’s such a beautiful feeling that words can’t perfectly express. |
I’ve built some solid friendships and connections with other members that continue to blossom outside our regular meetups, and that’s really precious to me. |
We are focusing on African horror this week! Are you a fan of the genre, and which titles would you recommend to others? |
If you had asked me this before reading ’Pemi Aguda’s Ghostroots, I’d have said I’m not a fan of horror in general, but that book has changed my mind! It’s so good, and now I want to explore more books in the genre. |
When you’re choosing a book purely for yourself outside of club picks, what are you currently reading, and what’s keeping you hooked (or putting you off)? |
When I read outside of book club picks, I often select based on authors. If I’ve enjoyed a book from an author before, I’ll most likely keep exploring their works. Some of my faves are Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, ’Pemi Aguda, and Min Jin Lee. Another thing that determines what I read is what’s on my shelf. |
I’m making a conscious effort to buy and read more hardcopy books, so I try to go through the ones I have on my shelf. My current pick is A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe, and the wit has me hooked. It is sharply funny and quite reflective as well. I also really like books from that time period and African classics in general. |
What do you think of the Bookaholic reading list overall, and if you had complete control over next month's pick, what would you choose and why? |
Overall, I think the Bookaholic reading list is fantastic. Our nomination and vote system means every member has a fair chance of choosing our book for the month, and that leads to a pretty diverse and balanced reading list within the African fiction category. I’ve learnt about new books and authors and read across the continent rather than just Nigerian ones. |
If I had complete control over next month’s pick, I’d choose Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh; partly because I have the book already (don’t tell the other this, please), and it’s a queer story which I believe is as important as every other Nigerian experience. I haven’t read it myself, so it’d be fun to do so as a group and then discuss it. |
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Backlist Gem |
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This week’s gem is Echoes of Hard Times and Other Plays, a collection of plays written by Felicia Onyewadume in 1996 and published by Heinemann Educational Books. Her plays were also popularly performed by drama clubs in secondary schools. |
Context: Onyewadume is a playwright who taught English Language and Literature at Queen’s College, Lagos. Her writing focuses on women’s experiences, the effects of certain traditional practices, and patriarchal systems. She also wrote Clutches of Widowhood and Dance of the Maidens, which were published in the anthology. Onyewadume holds a doctorate in English from the University of Lagos. |
Origin: The title play, Echoes of Hard Times, follows a lower-class family in Lagos struggling to cope with the country’s economic recession. Jide Ojo, a clerk, and his wife, a food vendor, struggle to raise their four children. |
Things become even more difficult when Jide’s company falls into debt and faces staff cuts. He meets Chief Ladipo, a member of the upper class, who offers him a deal. But will Jide compromise his principles, or will he sacrifice his daughter’s future for money? |
Why Read: This play tethers the readers to the struggles of surviving the economic hardship in their surroundings. It’s a reminder of the daily life struggles of ordinary Nigerians in the late 1990s, many of which still resonate today. |
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New Release Round-Up |
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📌 2016 Nigeria Prize for Literature winner, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, releases his third novel, Damage |
This fictional story centers around Nasrin Amin, who holds a secret trauma close to her heart to protect her family. But the truth doesn’t stay buried for long, and when her children grow up, the truth comes to light. |
Her boys thirst for revenge while her daughter wants the truth. Will this trauma break or save the bond that Nasrin has so desperately kept alive? |
📌Nigerian Authors Shortlisted for the UK’s 2026 4thWrite Prize |
Nigerian authors Ope Adedeji and Svetlana Chigozie Onye have been shortlisted for the 2026 4thWrite Short Story Prize for their works, Omugwo and London 2060, respectively. |
Organized by 4th Estate and The Guardian, the annual prize celebrates minority ethnic writers in the UK and Ireland. The winner will receive £1,000 and publication on The Guardian’s website. |
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Quote of the Week |
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“If the past isn't weighing me down, I could have climbed higher. Who knows what I could have been, a free spirit and a better person, if the memories had set me free. For years, I haven't been able to close the door to the room that keeps pulling me into my past.” Excerpt from Tears Before Exaltation |
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| Fidelis O. Mkparu |
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Today’s quote was brought to you by one of our community members, Amonimo Ikeoluwa 💛 |
Drop your favourite quote, line, or passage from a recent read: reply to this email or click here. We'll feature it in the next issue! |
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This or That? |
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Which horror do you prefer reading? |
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Share your thoughts by replying to this email or click here, and we'll feature your answer in the next issue! |
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Did you enjoy this? Share with a friend! |
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Today’s issue was brought to you by Shalom Tewobola and Ikeoluwa Amonimo. |
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