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2016, 2017, Blog post, Blogs, books, Football, Magazines, New year, Reccomendations, Review, Websites
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer them,” Zora Neale Hurston said. But if she had seen 2016 before writing Their Eyes Were Watching God, she would have said it differently. 2016 was an endless myriad of both. It asked questions, provided answers and turned those answers into questions again.
Depending on who you ask, 2016 is the worst year ever since the invention of worst year. It took the award without any serious contender.
2016 was the year of brilliant shockers, from Leicester City FC wining the English Premier League against all odds, to Portugal defending their way to a Euro 2016 Win. From CNN and the western media bagging the Award of Infinite Clueless Wisdom in the pre and post US Elections to Nigeria’s Sport and Information minister competing for the Da-Lungest Award of Lia. From Britain Brexiting and then bothering Mrs. Google about Brexit barely 24 hours after to Donald Trump trumping all pre-election forecast into the White house. From President Yahya Jammeh acceptance of defeat in the Gambia elections and then changing his mind a week later to the changed Change Nigeria’s APC promised. From the Naira competing in diving at the Econolympics to Dollars going on a hike. From Aleppo to Black Lives Matter, to Clown Lives Matter, to the many people 2016 killed. The List is infinite as 2016 worked really hard to outdo itself.
However, despite its army of demons, 2016 came with some angels too.
I started a thread on twitter, Things That made 2016 Lit, where I shared things that made my 2016 lit. They range from the mundane to the exceptional and since this was a year of reading and writing purposefully for me, here are some of my discoveries.
PS : The lists are neither in ascending or descending order. Also, their links are embedded on the text, just click to go there just as CNNgo there.
Blog Post: 10 posts I published this year
When The world Breaks Your Heart
How Long should Patience Last?
ON RACE- The Smell OF Blackness is the most challenging piece I wrote this year. Writing about RACE is a slippery slope as one can easily be misinterpreted. However, I had to show bare flesh because I expected contributors to ON RACE to do same.
Honorable Mentions
Laura: Music, Love and Friendship
Websites/Blogs/Magazines: 16 Discoveries and their taglines
Relevant Magazine Faith, Culture and Intentional Living
Literary Hub The Best of the Literary Internet
New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry
LivelyTwist Because Life happens to all of us and sometimes we get a second Chance
Brittle Paper An African Literary Experience
Zikoko enjoy and Share
Brainpicking.org An Inventory of the meaningful Life
Medium a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you
Aliventures.com Master the art, craft and business of writing
Brightside.me Inspiration, creativity and wonder
Thoughtcatalogue A website dedicated to your stories and ideas
Patheos.com Hosting the conversation on Faith
Granta.com The Magazine of new Writing
Aeon.com Ideas and Culture
Hazzlit.net a home for writers and artists to tell the best stories about the things that matter most to them.
ThisOathofLove Apologetics, opinion, personal rambling and stories to be found here
Books: 10 Discoveries
Blindness by Saramago Jose
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus – A Brief History of Tommorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
Disgraced by J.M. Coetzee
On Writing by Stephen King
The Defining Decade- Why Twenties matter and how to make the most of them now by Meg Jay, PHD.
1984 by George Orwell
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
One wish I have going into 2017 is to find out-of-the-norm contemporary websites/blogs/magazines allergic to click baits and gossips. It would taste good if they are focused on Africa and even better Nigeria. More tasty if it’s targeted at 20-30 somethings and special preference for a Nigerian Christian Magazine that doesn’t fit into the mould of Nigerian Christian Magazines. Recommendations from readers will receive a red carpet welcome and paparazzi attention, so please use the comment box.
What are the Things that made 2016 Lit for you?
What are the websites, blogs, online magazines and books you discovered this year that made 2016 memorable?
Don’t sellFISH, share them. They might just make someone’s 2017 lit.
Here is to 2017, may we attack it purposefully, crunch goals, take baby steps and huge leaps of faith when necessary.
Happy New Year and thanks for reading all year round, without you, this blog won’t be.