I am an impulsive book collector. When bored, I open the Amazon app on my phone. In a new city, I ask for recommendations to the best bookshops. In a bad mood, I take a long drive to one of my favourite bookshops in Lagos and splurge. In a known city, no visit is complete without a stopover at my favourites in that city. Buying and collecting come first. Reading comes a distant second. I wish I could help it.
Given the above, Amazon takes a huge chunk out of my monthly bills. I get most of the ethical concerns about their business, but I will not even pretend that convenience is not a big draw. The Amazon app on my phone is one of the most-used apps.
Months back, I was preoccupied with the idea of attention-seeking in the age of social media. I was wondering how narcissism seems to have gone mainstream and how in a related manner, social media merchants seem to have our attention like never before and what they do with it. After days of searching, I ended up buying Selfie and The Attention Merchants. Feeling guilty that my basket was filled with only non-fiction titles, I decided to add Lagos Noir. It had just been released, and some of my favourite Nigerian writers like E.C Osondu, Chris Abani and Chika Unigwe were featured, so it was an easy buy for me. This order arrived late. It arrived way later than estimated. In the interim, Amazon sent me a second copy of the Selfie by courier while I bought a copy of the Lagos Noir from Jazzhole. As soon as the Amazon order arrived, I gave out the local copy of Lagos Noir and still have a copy of Selfie to give away.
For all its sins, Amazon customer care is top-notch, and they do bend over backwards exceedingly to keep their customers happy.
This order arrived late. It arrived way later than estimated. In the interim, Amazon sent me a second copy of the Selfie by the courier while I bought a copy of the Lagos Noir from Jazzhole.
As soon as the Amazon order arrived, I gave out the local copy of Lagos Noir and still have a copy of Selfie to give away.
For all its sins, Amazon customer care is top-notch, and it bends over exceedingly to keep her customers happy.
