Oluwole Komolafe reveals what life is like for everyday people in Nigeria and shares observations on traditions throughout the world in this collection of essays. Each essay is a standalone piece of work and can be read as a separate story, but they’re all connected. The various characters you meet show that life in poor communities shares some similarities with more affluent places. In reading the essays, you’ll note how poverty can be inherited and transferred from one generation to another—just like inheriting riches. Poverty can also take various forms— encompassing a lack of knowledge, spiritual awareness, and money. The author also tackles challenging topics such as poverty rooted in societal structure, poverty rooted in environmental development, and what communities sometimes take for granted. He also explores how poverty can cause the masses to engage in dehumanizing professions to earn a living. Join the author as he shares a snapshot of life in Nigeria and the themes that unite us in Musings in Solitude. Oluwole Komolafe studied Industrial Engineering at the Technische Universitaet, Berlin. He is an ardent student of philosophy and classics and has published many other books on African wisdom and philosophical reflections on the life of man. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria, with his family.

"Bardas Benetbunk has lived in the two socio - political systems that polarized much of the world for the better part of the recently defunct century. In this collection of maxims, aphorisms, and just plain thoughts and unanswered questions - for nobody has all the answers - with a sprinkling of poetry (with rhyme and rhythm for a change), he has attempted to lend coherence - as only in writing do the inchoate broodings of the meditative soul achieve coherence - to the thoughts that visited his mind and the reflections they occasioned, over a great number of years. Readers will find much that strikes a responsive chord and much with which their spirit does not share a common ground; they will linger over some and remain unmoved by others; and become aware, perhaps, that thoughts should not just be thought, but thought about. "... to sit alone Musing - a deadly happiness!" Euripides - "Hyppolytus"

Thoughtful and eloquent, as timely (or timeless) now as when it was originally published in 1956, Thoughts in Solitude addresses the pleasure of a solitary life, as well as the necessity for quiet reflection in an age when so little is private. Thomas Merton writes: "When society is made up of men who know no interior solitude it can no longer be held together by love: and consequently it is held together by a violent and abusive authority. But when men are violently deprived of the solitude and freedom which are their due, the society in which they live becomes putrid, it festers with servility, resentment and hate." Thoughts in Solitude stands alongside The Seven Storey Mountain as one of Merton's most uring and popular works. Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, is perhaps the foremost spiritual thinker of the twentiethcentury. His diaries, social commentary, and spiritual writings continue to be widely read after his untimely death in 1968.

A New York Times Notable Book: To truly understand herself, Doris Grumbach embraces solitude With a busy career as a novelist, essayist, reviewer, and bookstore owner, Doris Grumbach has little opportunity to be alone. However, after seventy-five years on the planet, she finally has her chance: Her partner has departed for an extended book-buying trip, and Grumbach has been given fifty days to relax, think, and write about her experience. In this graceful memoir, Grumbach delicately balances the beauty of turning one’s back on everything with the hardship of complete aloneness. Even as she attends church and collects her mail, she moves like a shadow, speaking to no one. Left only to her books and music in the midst of a Maine winter, she must look within herself for solace. The result of this reflection is a powerful meditation on the meaning of aging, writing, and one’s own company—and reaffirmation of the power of friends and companionship.

The former Sex & Relationships Editor for Cosmopolitan and host of the wildly popular comedy show Tinder Live with Lane Moore presents her poignant, funny, and deeply moving first book. Lane Moore is a rare performer who is as impressive onstage—whether hosting her iconic show Tinder Live or being the enigmatic front woman of It Was Romance—as she is on the page, as both a former writer for The Onion and an award-winning sex and relationships editor for Cosmopolitan. But her story has had its obstacles, including being her own parent, living in her car as a teenager, and moving to New York City to pursue her dreams. Through it all, she looked to movies, TV, and music as the family and support systems she never had. From spending the holidays alone to having better “stranger luck” than with those closest to her to feeling like the last hopeless romantic on earth, Lane reveals her powerful and entertaining journey in all its candor, anxiety, and ultimate acceptance—with humor always her bolstering force and greatest gift. How to Be Alone is a must-read for anyone whose childhood still feels unresolved, who spends more time pretending to have friends online than feeling close to anyone in real life, who tries to have genuine, deep conversations in a roomful of people who would rather you not. Above all, it’s a book for anyone who desperately wants to feel less alone and a little more connected through reading her words.

This is an introspective collection of poetry that I hope will help others in dealing with deeply personal issues. It deals with family, relationships, and the different ways in which I see myself. This collection is dedicated to my son, Paul II (named after my father). He is my inspiration, for my writing and for my life. Please feel free to check out the preview.