South African Candles Inspire a Themed Display

One of my finds of the Chicago fall gift show were these South African tribal-inspired candles. They come in tapers, pillars and balls and in a variety of hues. We've got some Christmas and winter/Hanukkah themed candles ready to come out later, but for fall, these espresso-colored ones were just perfect to organize a display. Oh, they don't have a scent, but you can display them with a Smencil, if that's what you like.

I found some African-inspired dishes (made in India of course), monkey votives, and matching monkey bookends. I had lots and lots of book ideas, but alas, the table they wound up on is pretty small, at least for now.

But we've still got some interesting books that tie in. We're discussinng Half of a Yellow Sun at our in-store lit group on November 2nd, and the rejacketed Chinua Achebe books from Vintage are also a welcome addition. We've got the The Africa Book from Lonely Planet and pretty much the only pan-African cookbook I could find from a major publisher, The Africa Cookbook. Also, Oprah's current book club pick is Say You're One of Them, another Nigerian author. And I didn't even have room for Little Bee!

Since we're on the subject, why isn't Uwem Akpan's, Say You're One of Them working as Oprah's book club selection? We know the book is very good (I haven't read it sadly) , but there's very little word of mouth on the whole thing. Maybe it's just us, but I've noticed it is not topping the paperback bestseller lists. Maybe all of Oprah's fans are now using Kindles, being that she's such a big fan. Hachette doesn't like taking large returns, but unless his interview is amazing, I think they've got a chunk of books going back.

The fire extinguisher is not for sale.