Happy Sunday, RG2E Peeps!
Welcome to The RG2E and/or Welcome Back!
We’ve got a wonderful For The Love of Reading treat for ya today with our Special Guest, Award-Winning Author Kiru Taye!
Take it away, Kiru…
Thank you so much, D.D for hosting me today on RG2E.
Hello, everyone! Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved reading books. As a child, as soon as I could sit up and hold a book, I was reading.
While reading and writing are sometimes taken for granted in the ‘West’, most African parents—literate or not—encourage their children to read and write as a means to a better future. My parents were middle-class Nigerians so I was very lucky.
My obsession with books was ignored if not actively encouraged. I read everywhere. I mean everywhere, including at the dinner table sometimes. 🙂
In boarding school, I would stay up to read novels after lights-out with my torchlight under my blanket when I had exams the next day. I guess my parents never bothered with my ‘obsession’ because I excelled in my school work anyway. Don’t ask me how I managed it. I can’t remember. 🙂
We didn’t have libraries to tap into, so apart from the books my parents bought for me as part of my school studies, my reading habit was fed through second-hand books and book-swapping with friends.
For an African child, that’s really the only way you can sustain reading if your parents can’t afford to buy you new books every time.
Some of my earliest memories of books were Famous Five and Secret Seven series by Enid Blyton, The Wind in the Willow by Kenneth Grahame. In secondary school, I was introduced to the African Writers Series and authors such as Cyprian Ekwensi, Elechi Amadi and Flora Nwapa.
However some of the most memorable books I read as a teenager were Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Cry My Beloved Country by Alan Paton and The Gods Are Not Alone by Ola Rotimi.
My love for romance novels also started in my teenage years. Guess what I was reading under the blanket the night before my exams. 🙂 So it’s a natural progression that I would write romance novels almost 20 years later. LOL.
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My latest book released 20 July, His Princess (Men of Valor #3) is a historical romance set in pre-colonised West Africa.
On Amazon , Smashwords and Breathless Press
Price: $3.49
Here’s the blurb:
With the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders and his honour at stake, can a Prince truly love a slave?
Ezinne is dismayed when her mistress presents her to Prince Emeka as a concubine to cater for his every need for a few weeks. She’s a slave whose previous encounters with men make her fear their brutality.
Yet the more she gets to know the powerful yet honourable prince, the easier he breaks down the walls around her heart. She soon comes to want him more than she wants anything else, even freedom.
But Emeka is the heir to the throne and Ezinne is a woman with secrets that threaten not just their budding relationship but a kingdom.
The first two books of the series, His Treasure (Men of Valor #1) and His Strength (Men of Valorn#2) are also available now. You can check out my blog to read Her Protector (Men of Valor #3.5) for free.
RG2E Peeps: Do you read novels by African authors? Where is the strangest place you’ve ever read a book?
Kiru Taye is the award-winning author of His Treasure.
She writes historical, contemporary and paranormal romances. Her stories are sensual and steamy, her characters passionate and sassy and her settings atmospheric and exotic.
When she’s not writing, she’s reading, hanging out with family/friends or travelling. Born in Nigeria, she currently lives in the UK with husband and two children.
You reach her via her Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Pinterest
Follow her blog for latest news, free reads & giveaways: http://kirutayewrites.blogspot.com
For a comprehensive list of her books, check out her website: http://www.kirutaye.com
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(D. D. here):
Thanks Bunches, Kiru, for a fascinating look at growing up and reading in Nigeria!!! Wow…what a story…
Who all would like an Ebook Gift Copy of His Princess? Let us know below, and you just might win one from The RG2E!
Also, you’ve got till midnight on July 31st to Enter to Win a Kindle Touch! We’re giving away not one, but two this month here at The RG2E! Enter in D. D. Scott-ville:
The Best of RG2E Ereading Wishes — D. D. Scott, RG2E Founder
The Reader's Guide to Epublishing 
Hi, Kiru! Great post. It definitely made me think about the blessings I take for granted. I’ve always had a plentiful supply of books, even in my childhood from my folks and from the libraries… really, an endless supply. I don’t think I fully appreciate it the way I should. Thanks again!
Hi Tamara, there are loads of things I take for granted until I hear or read someone else’s perspective. Thanks for stopping by.
Great post! This too made me think about the blessings that I take for granted. This year and the past year, I haven’t done much to help those that aren’t as fortunate as me, but I am hoping to get back to doing that soon. I have read novels by African authors before, I don’t remember their names since I read a variety of authors. A strangest place I have ever read a book, I believe would be in the bathroom. Growing up, I was like you Kiru, I read everywhere.
I would love a copy of His Princess for Amazon Kindle. Thanks.
Hi Becky, I too read in the bathroom. 🙂
Best wishes with your charity drive and best of luck.
Hey there, these days I do most of my reading in the bathroom. It’s the only time when I have a few minutes of peace, lol!!! I do try at night, before I go to sleep, but I never manage more than 5 minutes. I’m usually a wreck by then :). Great post.
Very nice post. I would like a copy from Smashwords. It looks really good.
Hi, Kiru! Wonderful post. I grew up with a library down the street and I am grateful for that. I’m a bed and bathroom reader, too. And growing up I used to hide in peaceful closets with a flashlight. (I had a big, noisy family 🙂 ) I would love to read His Princess on kindle.
Hi Kiru, I too love to read and always did since childhood.
I was fortunate enough to read Chinua Achebe’s work for my BA and would certainly love to explore African literature further.
Hi Kiru…your story took me down memory lane. My teenage days were filled with alot of reading n writing(they were neva published). Strangest place i have ever read was in the sun in Tejuosho. Tejuosho had this mobile 2nd hand bookstore ,where u cld rent books. I preferred to stand n read novels…it was awesome.i read everything i cld lay my hands on. Even now…still read when i ve exams! Congrats on ur nu book…i d love to read His Princess. Hope am lucky enuff. Takia and keep writing.
Hi Kiru! I’ve loved reading the excerpts on your blog and can’t wait to read His Princess. (I’d like one for kindle, please. D.D.). Congrats on the new release and much success!
As for reading, I started reading about the age 4 and never stopped. My mom is a reader and encouraged me. But both she and my dad would often tell me to put the books down and go outside for a while. So I’d sneak one out with me and end up reading up in this huge pecan tree we had. I loved that tree! 🙂 I’ve read just about everywhere at one time or another. And when there’s nothing to read, I read the back of cereal boxes, etc. LOL My mom took us to the library once a week and I’d load up on books. I know Nancy Drew was my fave as a child but I read tons of stuff and graduated to adult books in my early teens, although I’m not sure my mom really knew what I was reading by that time.
I can’t imagine how my life would have turned out without books. I’m so fortunate to have had access to them anytime I wanted.
Oh and I would love to read His Princess on my Kindle 🙂
I’ll admit that I’ve never read any African authors, but I love the premise of this story, Kiru. I definitely would love to read it on my Kindle! As for the strangest place I’ve ever read, it would have to be in the bathtub. You wouldn’t think sitting up to my neck in hot water, I’d need to be reading anything steamy, or risking my beloved paperback novels, but when you can’t put a book down, there is no place that’s off limits for reading.
Hi Kiru! I always find it fascinating to learn about people’s backgrounds and yours is unique to me. I was always thankful for the public library and the wide variety of books available. The premise of His Princess is fascinating and I’d love to read it on my Kindle.
My parents instilled in me the appreciation of all things.
Books really top my list. I had access to school and public libraries.
We even had a lending library at our church.
I can not imagine a life without books.
I am very humbled by the though that others did not have the same opportunities.
I read anywhere and everywhere! The strangest place – I grew up traveling the Rodeo circuit I was a barrel racer. I would read on horseback while on deck to compete.
This provided two things for me 1- A good book 2- kept my mind on the book and not over thinking the completion.
I would love to read your book on Kindle.
Congratulations on the book! Nice post. I read books by African authors. I would like a copy of His Princess for Kindle please. Thanks.
Nice interview. I would like a copy of His Princess for Nook please. Thank you.
Kiru, I loved reading about your background and your love of reading.
Looking back, I see just how fortunate I have really been. I have always had access to books. In school libraries, during summers from the “bookmobile” that visited our neighborhood every couple of weeks, etc.
I started collecting books years ago. I have a room in my house that is my “library”, with only a sofa and bookcases filled with books. I have an iPad, a Kindle and a Nook. I ALWAYS have reading material at hand.
Now with e-readers and authors who make their books either free or low-cost, there is no end to the volumes of reading material that I have access to.
I was intrigued by the subject of your book, “His Princess” and would love to have a Kindle copy of it.
Kiru, I’m a bit late (seems to be a daily occurance) but it’s great to get to know you better. I, too, read everywhere. To get out of work with my dad and siblings I’d say I had to go to the bathroom and then read and Dad would come get me a half hour later and yell to put the darn book away. Before seatbelts were law, we’d take 3hr drives down to see my grandparents and I’d always ‘call’ the back back seat of the stationwagon so that when it got dark I could read by the light of the cars driving behind us. It really sucked when there’d be long breaks between cars. (yeah, no flashlight for me. My parent’s would’ve never spent the money on batteries)
Very nice cover, by the way! Your whole series has some awesome covers. 🙂
Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and left a comment. I’ll be picking a winner shortly. 🙂