🥤Don't give AI your imagination

📚 PAGE & PULP

👋 Good morningg. Have you missed us? This week, a Twitter user encouraged readers to use AI to summarise books, and it got us thinking: what's even the point of reading then?

So I ran a little experiment yesterday. There was this long, essential 36-minute video on communication. I read Grok's summary of it, then watched the whole thing, and the stuff that summary left out? A whole lot.

The easy way is rarely the good way. Take a tip from Christopher Nolan, who took the hard road to film The Odyssey and locked all the way in. That's the price of excellence.

In this issue:

PS: If you'd rather stick to The Juice Friday roundup only, no worries, just scroll to the bottom of this email and click "Update your email preferences." You'll see: "Want to receive emails from our Page & Pulp newsletter?" Toggle it off, and you’ll never see Page & Pulp again.

Last weekend, cinephiles took to the cinema to watch various visual formats of Christopher Nolan’s feature film adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey.

Whether you are late to the party or not, we have myth recommendations curated just for you. The lovers of myth who enjoyed the Odyssey and are willing to indulge in more will love these African mythological trilogy tales, read to the end to find our top recommendation.

The Kingdom of Souls - Rena Barron

Rena Barron dives deep into forbidden magic and the Orishas (gods) with the story of Arrah, a 16-year-old who had to prove her worth despite lacking the magical powers of her lineage.

She dedicates her life to gaining powers and becoming a saviour. You can order The Kingdom of Souls from Amazon.

Son of the Storm - Seyi Davies Okungbowa

Son of the Storm sets the tone of the Nameless Republic trilogy, a fantastic tale inspired by West African empires. The story takes place in a world on the brink of destruction. It unfolds with a brilliant scholar, Danso, who stumbles upon a warrior wielding magic from a mythical land. 

With this discovery, this tale is a West African pre-colonial historical mythology that wraps around politics. Buy Son of the Storm on Amazon & RovingHeights stores around you.

The Famished Road - Ben Okri

Released in 1991, The Famished Road is the first book in a series popularly referred to as The Abiku Trilogy. Azaro, a spirit child, decides to break the death cycle, instead choosing to stay and explore the throes of the world.

Yoruba mythology and the discussions around the abiku (the spirit child) concept were addressed in The Famished Road. Get yours from Amazon and Rovingheights.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James

With the story set in pre-colonial times in Africa, this book is also the first in The Dark Star trilogy. The story follows Tracker, a protagonist who was hired to search for a missing boy. 

Through this mission, Tracker fights alongside shape-shifting characters against mythical creatures. The book is available on Narrative Landscape Press and Ouida.

Love in Colour - Bolu Babalola

Our top recommendation for the week is Love in Colour, a collection of short stories that strongly spotlights myths from different corners of the world. Mythical beings and stories from Greece, Egypt, Ghana, Persia, China, and more will draw your attention and keep you on the edge of your seat. 

For the characters, the author consistently places female main characters in every story and plot. Our favorite chapter is the love story between the Yoruba gods Sango and Osun. Copies of Love in Colour are available on Amazon, Bookpeddlers, and The BookMarketNG.

Our Backlist Gem for the week is Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood. It is a story that touches heavily on the biological, social, emotional, and all-round burdens placed on women in patriarchal situations. 

It centers Nnu Ego, an Igbo woman living in the 20th century who had been raised to place her self-worth on ‘son’-bearing and domestication.

Given Buchi Emecheta’s well-known feminist stance, The Joys of Motherhood reveals the effects of these beliefs in traditional male-dominated societies. 

The book ends on an ironic note as Nnu Ego never experienced the gains of the sacrifices she made for her sons in her remaining days. If you haven’t read it, you are missing out.

📌 Fatima Bala, the author of popular love story Broken, returns with another attention-grabbing book, The Lies We Tell.

This book is a collection packed with stories about Hausa women’s lives: the culture, love, and conflict in Northern Nigeria. The Lies We Tell is now available for pre-order on Masobe Books, RovingHeights, and Spine & Label.

A Moment with Oreoluwa

We love to talk to readers and get to know more about them. In every issue, we introduce you to a book club member and learn about their favourite books to read, why they love reading, and so much more! Today, we have Oreoluwa.

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Oreoluwa. I'm a video editor and a Social Media Manager. I don’t have a lot of hobbies, as I consider myself a boring person, but I love reading so much.

What book did you pick up that made you love books? 

I honestly can't remember the exact books. However, my love for books started in my secondary school days. I think I was in JSS 2 at the time. My sister was a lover of romance books, and I took turns reading them whenever she had them lying around. It was those Harlequin, Mills and Boon novels. I read a lot of them, and that’s how I got inducted.

Which genre is your personal best to always pick up?

My all-time best has to be thrillers. They take the lead, although I also love mystery, crime, and any book that makes my heart race, almost feeling like it wants to jump out. I used to love romance, but probably because I read too many of them in secondary school, it’s always so hard to pick one now. I guess that’s the curse of overfeeding.

This week, we heard an opinion suggesting using AI to read and summarise books. What do you think about this take?

NO, hell no!!! To me, it takes the whole fun out and also defeats the essence of reading. The point behind picking up a book is to experience the twists, the turns, and the surprises. The plot, line-to-line reading, and the occasional pauses are what make it fun.

Having AI summarise a book instead of reading it feels like cheating yourself out of the best part. How exactly do you plan to get your mind blown that way? Fine, AI is taking jobs, but it shouldn't take our imaginations with it too.

Has reading ever revealed something to you? If yes, what?

I won’t say it revealed something in particular, but reading helps learning. I find my vocabulary and knowledge on vast topics and places increasing by the day. It is quite beautiful.

Drop your favourite quote, line, or passage from a recent read: reply to this email or click here. We'll feature it in the next issue!

For us, Shalom loves standalone books, she has some commitment issues. Ike agrees; she thinks the plots are original and done quickly.

Reply to this email or click here, and we'll feature your answer in the next issue!

Got this email from a friend?

Today’s issue was brought to you by Shalom Tewobola and Ikeoluwa Amonimo.

Never miss a book recommendation, toggle on to keep Page & Pulp in your inbox every other Wednesday. Not interested? toggle off below.

Update your email preferences right here 👇