Friends of African Village Libraries (I post regularly here)- Photos from Gowrie Kunkua community library during the night session, Ghana
- Sumbrungu Community Library nighttime reading
- Résumé du livre Une grande mère criminelle
- Organisation d’une séance de discussion autour d’un livre à la bibliothèque de Dimikuy
- Librarians of Tuy monthly meeting January 2026, Burkina Faso
- Impressions sur la production de livres CMH au Burkina Faso
- Compte rendu de la première rencontre des gérants de la zone du Tuy
- Science fiction books for libraries in Burkina Faso and Ghana
- Animation d’une séance de lecture à la bibliothèque de Dimikuy
- Nyariga Community Library in Ghana, photos January 2026
Author Archives: mkevane
Recent reading
Elnathan John, Born on a Tuesday. I wrote this on Twitter, which seems enough: Finished Elnathan John’s novel Born on a Tuesday yesterday. Very powerful, great straightforward prose, keen insights. A tiny bit derivative of Allah n’est pas obligé but … Continue reading
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Gnomon by Nick Harkaway
Very long. For the first 300 pages I was really enjoying it. My kind of novel: some science fiction (AI surveilled society), some time travel (to ancient times), some style (I had just finished Chandler, and as first Harkaway channeled … Continue reading
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Remembering the hope of 2011 in Sudan and South Sudan
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“God’s Caravan” by Tiphanie Yanique in The New Yorker
“God’s Caravan” by Tiphanie Yanique November 4, 2019 The New Yorker. I really enjoyed the story (I listened to Yanique reading it on the podcast). It starts slow, and slowly builds, adding layers of complexity as you move along. With … Continue reading
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Blistering critique of MPP and President Roch Kaboré by opposition in #Burkina
Non content de réchauffer les projets de Blaise COMPAORE pour se les réattribuer, le Président KABORE se lance maintenant dans les inaugurations de morceaux de routes. Là où un Haut-commissaire ou un Gouverneur étaient suffisamment compétents pour inaugurer ces mini-infrastructures, … Continue reading
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The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio … context so important for appreciating the song
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Recent short stories in The New Yorker
“The Bunty Club” by Tessa Hadley from the October 28, 2019 issue of The New Yorker. Hadley has several stories with fugue states embedded in them, where the narrator and reader are no longer sure that the continuation of the … Continue reading
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A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, by C.A. Fletcher
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, by C.A. Fletcher. Enthralling dystopia set in a future England with very few humans left. More for the young adult audience. The ending a little too pat for my … Continue reading
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Farewell, My Lovely, by Raymond Chandler
Farewell, My Lovely, by Raymond Chandler. Definitely second-rate Chandler. The Big Sleep was much better. Amusing for the historical snippets, not amusing for the casual bigotry, and the writing is sloppier than The Big Sleep. Plot also more convoluted: let’s … Continue reading
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I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid
I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid. Billed as a “literary thriller” I thought this might be a good read after some more mundane books. But I was wrong. The novel was interesting for awhile, but then it started … Continue reading
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Affordable housing at about $200,000 a unit in San Jose?
I wish reporters would give better sense of the financing and ownership details of these affordable housing projects. For example, from SJ Spotlight, an excellent new online newspaper serving the South Bay: The two proposals on the agenda are located … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso, United States
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The dustup between Paul Paul Kéré and Rémi Dandjinou over the Burkinabè army’s preparedness
Totally relevant for those who call for former President Compaoré’s return to “help” deal with the insurgency. From the comments section: Cher Maître,Vous n’allez pas vous faire oublier un peu?Qu’est ce que le ministre a dit qui ne soit pas … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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Great reporting by Abdel Aziz Nabaloum about lack of public services in village of Koumna in Loroum #Burkina #lwili
Situé dans la commune de Ouindigui dans la province du Lorum, Koumna est un village enclavé. Cerné dans ses limites géographiques par les eaux, cette localité connaît un problème d’accès aux infrastructures sociales de base, à l’eau et à l’assainissement. … Continue reading
Posted in Economy
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What did Mulvaney actually say?
So the context of the rather raucous press conference was that Mulvaney wanted to say that the overall reason for aid holdup was corruption in Ukraine and Europeans not contributing. Rather lame of course because all that should have been … Continue reading
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Looking forward to reading some new Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
If you saw my comments in Mookse on the story by Joyce Carol Oates, then you can easily tell why I happened to google Bynum during a break. Chinese American writer Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is causing waves across the Atlantic … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso
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“Novels are machines for falsely generating belief”… essay on fiction, by Zadie Smith in The New York Review of Books
Great essay on writing (and reading) fiction by Zadie Smith. Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) I’m sure I’m not the first novelist to dig up that old Whitman chestnut … Continue reading
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The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler
My neighborhood book group read this and we had a fun discussion. This is a great novel. Sure some parts are no longer politically correct, but you have to read past that. Chandler’s writing is so literary: crafted, thoughtful, evocative. … Continue reading
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Fiasco, by Thomas Ricks
From 2006. Not the best-written book. Lots of vignettes, often little narrative flow. He drops characters that he should be coming back to: Cheney is never mentioned after page 100 for example. I don’t think any Iraqi leaders other than … Continue reading
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Adam and Allison Grant rewrite children’s books and much fiction: “Noble deed doers, you should first lecture the victims and help them help themselves more otherwise you are an enabler…”
OK I’m making fun a little, but their essay on The Giving Tree just rubs me the wrong way. Instead of marveling at the moral ambiguity of the book, the impulse is to “fix” it by explaining to you child … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso
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Great article in The New York Times about rural America and public services
I watched the fight unfold with a sense of sadness, anger and frustration. I started arguing. It didn’t work. The pay request was pulled from the Quorum Court’s agenda.I didn’t realize it at first, but the fight over the library … Continue reading
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Michael Kevane 