Ezekwesili, others laud Ezioma Kalu for reading 150 books in 2024

Writer and book influencer, Ezioma Kalu, has announced that she read 150 books in 2024, against the 122 books she read in 2023.

The book blogger, founder of Bookish Pixie, and Korean enthusiast recently made this known through her Facebook page while reflecting on her 2024 literary achievements.

Kalu’s reading history is as follows: 2021, 40 books; 2022, 100 books; 2023, 122 books, and 2024, 150 books.

The bibliophile stated that in 2024, she “smashed” her two-year reading records, taught herself the Korean language from beginner to intermediate levels, and was longlisted for the essay she wrote about her late father titled ‘This Is How I Think of You’ published in Isele Magazine, which made the magazine’s top ten essays of 2024.

In addition, the Prolific Fiction Writers Community recently honoured her with the Profwic Achievers Award 2024 in the Book Influencer of the Year category for her “outstanding contributions to promoting books and authors, fostering a love for reading, and making literature more accessible in 2024.”

Her writing and reading feat have attracted encomiums from many Nigerians, evident from the thousands of likes and comments from her Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages.

The former Minister of Education and convener of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, Oby Ezekwesili, was one of the people, who on X, lauded Kalu for her feat.

“What a purposeful being you are, dear Ezioma. You are a model to all of us book lovers and not book lovers alike. May you excel beyond your wildest imagination,” Ezekwesili posted.

Hundreds of other people commented on her commitment and dedication to reading and entertaining people with book reviews and stories, and for the #koreangirl and #koreanspeaking challenge she regularly does via short videos on Facebook.

According to her, her 150th book of 2024 was ‘Gray Mountain’ by John Grisham.
Kalu added that out of the 150 books she read in 2024, 20 stood out for her, which included, but not limited to, ‘Will’ by Will Smith, ‘When We Were Fireflies’ by Abubakar Adam, ‘Spare’ by Prince Harry, ‘The Widow Who Died With Flowers in Her Mouth’ by Obinna Udenwe, ‘Efuru’ by Flora Nwapa, among others.

On New Year’s Day, she announced that her first book for 2025 was ‘Runnin’ No More’ by G.T Dipe.
Reflecting on her earlier journey as a book reader, she said, “It is crazy how a random decision you make on a random day in January 2022 can become a lifestyle. I just wanted to build an audience on Facebook because I thought Twitter was so big for me to conquer.”

According to her, when she started, she had less than a hundred followers on Twitter, adding, “Now, I have 17,000 organic followers on Facebook and 10,700 on Twitter.”

Early last year, when she was interviewed by Saturday Tribune for reading 122 books, she said that reading, for her, is as essential as breathing and laughing.

In the interview, she said that writing reviews for books is “a piece of cake”, adding, “It does not even take me up to ten minutes to write an in-depth review of any book I read. So, it is very easy for me to do that whenever I finish a book.”