'The half-life of love is forever'- This Is How You Lose Her Review

As much as I love makeup and fashion, books will always come first in my heart. I feel like I haven't read any decent, meaty books in a while so I took a day off this week to do just that.

This Is How You Lose Her by the Dominican-American author Junot Diaz was an excellent choice to thrust me back into the literary world. I'd been meaning to read some Diaz for a few years now and my brother even gave me a copy of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao to read this Summer. Lethargy and general laziness prevented me from actually reading it but I remembered Diaz when I was looking for a book to read this week.

TIHYLH is a collection of short stories which all (bar one) have the protagonist Yunior in common. On the surface, this is a book about cheating but Diaz's writing goes so much deeper than that. This is also a book about masculinity, patriarchy, grief, relationships, and yes, as cliched as it is, "the immigrant experience".

Yunior is really quite an unlikeable character but by the end of the book you can't help but fall a little bit in love with him. Diaz's writing made me feel as if I'd truly lived with these characters. Diaz's writing is startlingly authentic and his use of slang, both English and Spanish, does not come across as forced in any way. His writing is littered with expletives and obscenities but you really feel as though they add to the texture of his stories.  Diaz has a poet's ear and his writing is utterly sublime. He manages to sum up the exact moment when you know a relationship is on the downward slope perfectly:

'And that's when I know it's over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it's the end.'

I know I'm drooling now but the final story 'The Cheater's Guide To Love' was an exhilarating read. It's a story about cheating, heartbreak, and its consequences and it stays with you long after you turn the final page. In fact, I was so loathe to leave Yunior and his family behind that I'm currently in the middle of reading Drown, Diaz's first short story collection published in 1996 which also has Yunior as its protagonist. I've been told that I should have have read Diaz's books in chronological order as they all have Yunior as the narrator but I didn't feel as though I was missing out on anything major when I read TIHYLH.

I could go on about this book forever but this has already gone on longer than I intended it to. I'll leave you with a short passage from which we get the title of the book. Yunior has just been caught cheating (for the nth time) from his girlfriend reading his journal:

"Instead of lowering your head and copping to it like a man, you pick up the journal as one might hold a baby's beshatted diaper, as one might pinch a recently benutted condom. You glance at the offending passages. Then you look at her and smile a smile your dissembling face will remember until the day you die. Baby, you say, baby, this is part of my novel.
This is how you lose her."
Junot Diaz

Love and great books,

Nana Adomah

What's in my bag?

I saw this post on the lovely Shirley's blog and I decided to join in. So without further ado, here's what's in my bag...

I've abused this bag with the amount of crap I carry around it in. I managed to break one of the straps when I was in Ghana last year but I got it fixed and you can barely tell. I hunted all over London for this bag when it came out. I saw it in a Ted Baker where a friend used to work and I fell in love but the price was way out of my budget at the time. A few months later, I got a cheque from the tax-man since I'd over-paid on my taxes and I just knew I had to get my bag. However, when I went to get it, the black ones had sold out and they only had the tan ones left. I tried so many Ted Baker stores and heard the same story everywhere. I was randomly in John Lewis about 2 weeks later when I saw my bag at a Ted Baker concession and it'd gone on sale! Joy was not the word and almost three years later we're still going strong :)

Yes I even carry shoes around in my bag. There's a zipped compartment on the bottom of the bag and it's great for carrying sandals. I usually keep a pair in there just in case my feet begin to hurt when I'm gallivanting around in heels .

My old-school Kindle (courtesy of my Dad) comes everywhere with me and I'm currently reading A Song of Fire and Ice by George RR Martin. I'm not usually into fantasy but I'm loving this so far. They've just started a television adaptation of this book called 'Game of Thrones' and it started last week on HBO/ Sky Atlantic. It's incredible so definitely give it a try if you're interested.

My 'Little Brown Cosmetic' bag from Bloomingdale's carries wait for it... my cosmetics! It has eyeliner, concealer, lipstick, lipgloss, vaseline, and perfume.

My Loewe sunglasses come with me whenever the sun's out. We also have a long-term love-affair.

A comb- don't want to be caught out by those sudden breezes.

My wooden fan- comes especially useful when stuck on a sticky, sweaty, tube carriage.

An umbrella- all Brits should know never to take the weather for granted. It's not unusual to experience all four seasons in one day! I like to be prepared.

Body spray and hand lotion- keeps odour and ashyness at bay

Phone and iPod- keeps me sane when on public transport. I'm a twitter addict and music blocks out all manner of insanities.

Hand sanitiser- London's filthy

My diary/ organiser- don't use it nearly as much as I should.

My Oyster card in its 'Cool Britannia' case. Can't really go anywhere in London without an Oyster card.

My Ted Baker wallet which was a gift from the aforementioned friend who used to work there. Contains my bankcards, storecards, etc. etc.

My university identification/ library card

My keys with my leather keyring from Cape Coast castle in Ghana, my Sainsbury's Nectar card, my Tesco Clubcard and mini-flashlight all attached.

I usually have random tissues and old receipts lying around as well.

Wowsers, I really do carry around a lot of crap. Might need an orthopedic help for my poor shoulder soon! What's in your bag? Let me know.

Love, life and de-cluttering
Domzy
 x

"Why don't you be the writer and decide the words I say?"

I've died and gone to heaven with these notebooks. I've been looking for a new journal  for ages and I initially had my heart set on a leather-bound one, but I fell in love with these at first sight in a random little boutique in South London. The lovely pinky-purple one hilariously says "I could've been a novel" and it's by Waldo Pancake. I've checked out the rest of their stuff and it's all in the same dry humour vein.

The second notebook is literary orgasmic; it's by Penguin and it's covered in the spines of old-school Penguin classics. Everybody who knows me knows that I adore books and these totally capture my essence. I've been meaning to do more writing and now I absolutely have no excuse. I'm a weirdo and I've decided to only write in my Penguin one with my fountain pen (don't ask). I'll feel more refined as I write complete and utter nonsense....

Asking me to pick my favourite novel is like asking a mother to pick her favourite child; I just can't do it! My reading habits change with my moods but some of my favourite/ most memorable novels are:

Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
The Handmaiden's Tale- Margaret Atwood
I Capture the Castle- Dodie Smith
Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe
Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card
The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
Purple Hibiscus- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie


I could go on and on but let me stop here before things get out of hand. I adore classic literature and postcolonial literature (talk about being on opposite ends of the literary scale) but I will devour some Chick Lit whenever the mood strikes me! Life's too short to to be restrictive so I like to read whatever happens to interest me at the time. Sometimes it's heavy, sometimes it's fluff but as long as I'm reading I'm happy.

Hello to my new followers. What do you like to read (or write)? Don't be shy, I don't bite!


Love, life and Mr. Darcy

Domzy x