Three great holiday reads

This review, and the other two below, is not exactly of a new book. They’re the kind of holiday reading that is profound without being heavy, excellent without being overly wordy and, truth be told, light enough to hold in your hand on the beach, a park or the garden.

The Last Black Unicorn

It’s been a year since comedienne and actress Tiffany Haddish released her autobiography The Last Black Unicorn.

Since then, her meteoric rise to fame shows that it wasn’t a fluke. Behind the scenes, Haddish has been working nonstop to become one of the best comedians in the game.

Going into the new year, The Last Black Unicorn is an inspiring read about human tenacity, and how the message that we need to lead with kindness is something that needs to be drilled into our heads.

Behind Haddish’s infectious life philosophies sits a life of real struggle. The book’s success is the way it blends comedy with dark personal stories of abuse, failure and the American foster-care system. Starting with her childhood and her mentally unstable mother, Leona, who is later diagnosed with schizophrenia, Haddish realised that she needed to approach life with humour.

That attitude carried her through school, where she was picked on for a wart on her forehead, and dubbed a dirty unicorn. She embraced it, and that indomitable spirit is what kept her going. But don’t think Haddish breezed through all of it.

She was seen as a troublemaker and eventually was told to start comedy classes at Los Angeles comedy club The Laugh Factory or see a psychiatrist.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The vignettes of her life that include marriage, adolescence, homelessness, and being kicked out of Scientology (a near-impossible feat since one has to sign a billion-year contract) reads like a whirlwind, making this an autobiography you can hardly put down.

But in between, there are real messages of hope, whether you are laughing because of the humour or the dark bits.

If you haven’t seen last year’s hit comedy Girl’s Trip, do that first and then read this marvellous book.

Pigeon English

Imagine coming from Ghana going to London, living in one of the slummiest parts of the city. Imagine seeing a schoolmate killed. Then imagine investigating that murder at 11 years between the gangs, drug dealers, and the poverty of London’s lessseen urban spaces.

It’s hard to imagine this life, but open this charming and sometimes humorous novel about being a young immigrant in London and you quickly start to root for the underdog. What makes it great is that it approaches adulthood and societal problems from the guise of someone still developing their worldview. The story of little detective Harrison Opoku is unmissable.

Essays in Love

Known for his philosophical writings, this 2015 Alain de Botton release is presented more as a novel, with a point-based narrative following the beginning of a relationship (that first thrilling meeting) and the subsequent ups and downs.

Okay, that doesn’t seem that unique, but then when the philosophical takeaways start creeping into your thoughts, this numbered paragraph book almost becomes one of spiritual writing.

While it’s written with interjection and some odd wording, the emotions are very real. It’s almost like boxing in the experience of loving, and falling out of love, without going through it.

– adriaanr@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.