From Ex Nihilo. It is a bit tatty so I was given it for free.

Before returning to her homeland, Nigeria, Ifemelu visits a hair salon in Princeton to have her hair braided. The procedure takes six hours, and while she is sitting there, we learn about her childhood, her meeting with her soulmate Obinze, what she has been doing in America, her family and friends... Meanwhile Obinze has lived in the UK as an illegal immigrant, been sent home, followed another destiny.
I read this quickly, wanting to know what happened to them both, whether they found each other again: being together seemed so right. Their love story is the frame for the book which is largely a finely honed analysis of racial attitudes, which Ifemelu expounds in her blog.
The book raises a lot of issues that are all new to me as I have never lived in the US and am not aware of the attitudes towards African-Americans, American-Africans, Hispanics and all the other ethnicities (just as Ifemelu is not aware of being Black till she leaves Nigeria). The unfairness and prejudices are something I find hard to bear.
And I never imagined that women of African origin had such problems with their hair.
An intelligent, sensitive book that captivated me, wondering whether the outcome would be happy or tragic. I'll just say that it made me cry.

it is on someone's wishlist, so I will take it to Bordeaux, while apologizing for the creased and sometimes torn pages (not my fault!)

Thank you so much for the lovely surprise! I can't wait to see what's with the peacock :)

Now this was an unexpected journey! Americanah brought me face to face with a lot of things that rang true and hit home: from prejudice and bias to the feeling of inadequacy and the struggle to reinvent oneself in a foreign environment. The book tackles sensitive racial issues (along with social, political and generally "tribal" ones) in a no-nonsense fashion, calling them by their name with little anger or self-pity. I found Ifemelu graciously flawed, judgmental, selfish and vain at times, but there are no traces of accusation in her portrayal, nor attempts to justify her when at fault. The love story often shifts from being the story's backbone to its background, giving its protagonists the time and space to grow.

Thank you so much for sharing this book with me :) You were right, the peacock is such a good symbol for the story. And I didn't mind at all the creased pages - I almost thought of them as part of the story too. I can imagine somebody being so captivated with the book they couldn't part with it while taking their bath :)

Bookcrossing: n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
- from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Welcome to BookCrossing!

Thank you for picking up this book. Please make a journal entry on the BookCrossing site (www.bookcrossing.com) to let me know that this book has found a good home with you. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (it's free). If you join, please consider indicating that you were referred by lamelemon. I hope you enjoy the book. You can make another journal entry with your comments when you’ve finished reading. Whenever you’re ready to send it on its way, make a controlled release journal entry if you are giving or sending this book to a known person, or wild release notes if you are leaving it “in the wild” again for anyone to catch. Then watch its journey. You’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free.

I was very surprised when I found out you had taken this book with you to Mainz, just in case.... Well how can I resist a book like that? A wishlist book from the 1001-list. Not it really must travel home with me. Thank you once again, this time digitally :-)

This is a book that I wanted to last forever. An interesting read. It was a bit slow at times, for me the parts where her boyfriends in America were in the picture.
I liked the story, the highschool sweethearts that end up in different countries, trying to get away from a violent regime. The blog parts were just awesome to read. Sharp, funny, with irony and humor.

A very interesting thing, to be not 'black' in Africa and turn 'black when you arrive in another country like America. This made me look at things differently: when people arrive here (not specifically meaning African black people, but also people form India, Turkey, Morocco and so on), they must feel the same.
A society made by white people, when you try to fit in, you'll always stand out, no matter how good you speak the language. Your looks will probably betray you in the first place.
As a language-person myself I sometimes find myself thinking that this person (with a foreign sounding last name) speaks Dutch very well. Completely ignoring the fact that they might have been born here....

The piece where electricity outages were mentioned triggered a memory of me, being very relieved that the power was back on, so I could continue manually doing the laundry (while living abroad).

And the book as a whole, about trying to find a place in your new country was recognition.

The fact that it made me realize that I am also thinking thoughts that may classify as racist, was a shock. The fact that this book really got me thinking about it, is great, because it made me more aware. I'm not an activist, I won't say 'I understand' (because I obviously don't), but I am much more aware. And that is a start.

Depending on the weather (whether it rains or not on Friday), this book will find its way into the bookcase on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

In the green bookcase outside the side entrance of Paddy's.

Congratulations--you caught a book!
Welcome to BookCrossing.com, where we are trying to make the whole world a library!

If you have not already done so, please make a journal entry so we know this book has found a new home. You don't need to join BookCrossing and you can remain completely anonymous. However, we encourage you to join so that you can follow this book's future travels. It's fun and free, and your personal information will never be shared or sold.

Take your time reading the book, and after you finish, please make another journal entry to record your thoughts about it. This book is now yours, and you can keep it if you choose, though we would love for you to share it. If you pass it along, please make a release note to let others know where you left it.

Whatever you decide to do, please leave the label intact, so the book has a chance to keep in touch with us. Thanks and enjoy!

I took this book out of the bookcase at Paddy O'Ryan's yesterday. I've been thinking about reading these books more. I think I will enjoy this book. And I love books that have been clearly read before.

This was a thought provoking book. As a white woman it gave me pause to think about all the ways POC are treated. I've also read a lot of negative critics. And while they also may be right, I think making me, as a white woman, realize things is a good thing about this book. Because what do I know about all the intricacies of racism? Virtually nothing. I've got lots of things to learn.