Biblophiles Corner
Past Editions
Bibliophiles Corner, June 2025 edition, partnered with Pages and Pals Book Club and Didi Museum to discuss the book Easy Motion Tourist by Leye Adènle a crime novel set in Lagos, Nigeria.
The event included a quiz game and virtual interaction with author Leye Adènle. The novel “Easy Motion Tourist” features Guy Collins, a British hack, who stumbles by chance into the murky underworld of the city. A woman's mutilated body is discarded by the side of a club near one of the main hotels in Victoria Island. Collins, a bystander, is picked up by the police as a potential suspect. After experiencing the unpleasant realities of a Nigerian police cell, he is rescued by Amaka, a Pam Grier-esque Blaxploitation heroine with a saintly streak. As Collins discovers more of the darker aspects of what makes Lagos tick - including the clandestine trade in organs - he also falls slowly for Amaka. Little do they realise how the body parts business is wrapped up in the power and politics of the city. The novel features a motley cast of supporting characters, including a memorable duo of low-level Lagos gangsters, Knockout and Go-Slow. Easy Motion Tourist pulsates with the rhythms of Lagos, reeks of its open drains, and entertains from beginning to end. A modern thriller featuring a strong female protagonist, prepared to take on the Nigerian criminal world on her own.
Stay tuned for our next event.
Here are special moments from our Silent Reading Party Event. This Bibliophile’s Corner event was a commemoration of World Book Day, celebrating the joy of reading . Done in collaboration with Something Bookish Community, we gathered for reading, games and chats about the various books we read.
The highlight of the event was author reading and chat with Adesuwa O’man Nwokedi, author of Ginika’s Bridesmaids and Adanna. She read excerpts of her new novel No Perfect Love and talked about her experience and inspiration behind the book. This event introduced new audiences to the library services and emulated the joy of reading in participants.
Keep an eye out for more exciting events and reviews from Bibliophile’s Corner .
Bibliophiles’ Corner winded up its 2025 program in November hosting @TheNoisyBookClub at @DidiMuseum
The collaborative event took place amidst the “Layers of Existence” art exhibition by Chinze Ojobo at the museum and featured a lively engagement with the book Swallow 1: Efunsetan Aniwura and the author, @AyodeleOlofintuade whose presence enriched the event. She was there to read from the book and share insight to the experience of writing it.
Activities at the book club engagement also included short quiz questions to test the members knowledge about the fictional characters involved and how widely they had read the book.
Below is the short synopsis of the book Swallow 1: Efunsetan Aniwura.
It is the early 1830’s, the countries of the global north are mired in internecine wars and poverty. The British Empire has set themselves up as the world power through the trans-Atlantic slave trade and has started its long-term goal of sequestering and colonizing the West Coast of Africa ahead of Germany and France. In their designs for Oduduwa nations, independent city-states in the south-west, they had factored in greed and the use of force, but what they hadn’t bargained for was resistance from the powerful women living in these areas. These women with intertwined lives will learn of love and betrayal in the fight for survival. Efunsetan Aniwura fights to keep her family’s power. Efunporonye craves a place for herself in a world that is unforgiving to timid women. In trying to make their mark in a society dominated by men and their wars, these women will revolt against the incursions of The British Empire.
Swallow is a vivid reimagining of ancient Yoruba history that tells a sweeping tale of tradition and culture, family, legacy and love.
Stay tuned next year 2026 for the evolution of Bibliophiles’ Corner, we hope to expand its scope in supporting young African writers, poets, and publishers.
