Book Launch

Hey and welcome to 'diaryofanoverthinker' .Today, I had the absolute honour of attending the book launch of a local author and journalist, Qaanitah Hunter. I’ve been counting down the days for the past two weeks, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when the moment finally arrived. I’m still buzzing with excitement and can’t wait to share the experience with you so sit back, relax, and enjoy!

The book

So let me start by telling you a bit about the book (even though I haven’t read it yet, but expect a full blog post about it very soon!). The book is called Why Am I Like This, and honestly, even if I hadn’t gone to the launch or read the blurb, I’d still pick it up because it’s literally a question my friends and I ask ourselves almost every day.

The story centres on Farah Garda, who believes she’s incapable of change and finds herself trapped in cycles of self-loathing and destructive patterns. She moves from Cape Town to care for her sick mother, and along the way she confronts grief, begins to grow, and even picks up green smoothies (yes, really!). Love doesn’t “save” her she realises that she has to save herself.

I’m so excited to read this book because it honestly sounds amazing. Sure, the main character is a bit older than the protagonists I usually read about, but either way, it sounds like such a powerful and relatable story.

The Launch

The launch was so much fun! Firstly, it was a breakfast and honestly, food makes everything better. Not to mention, the discussion she had with her friend (who’s also a journalist) was genuinely so enjoyable.

At first, when I realised I was probably the only teenager there, I got a bit nervous. I kept thinking, What if it’s boring and I regret coming? But that was not a problem at all.(Also low-key canon event of an only child is being the only kid at a function and being scared but then you end up enjoying it)

I’ve actually known of Qaanitah for a while because my mum follows her on Instagram, and when I attended the Yaqeen Institute talk in Joburg earlier this year, she was the MC. So, I already knew she was funny, confident, and just super cool. But today, I got to see a whole new side of her and I honestly left feeling so inspired.

At school, teachers always ask, “Who’s your role model?” and then they immediately say, “You can’t say Nabi (S.A.W.),” because even though he’s the ultimate role model, they want us to name others too. And every single time, I never know what to say. I usually end up mentioning my mum, dad, aunt — you know, the safe, obvious answers. But today, I think I finally found my default answer.

Right at the start of her talk, she said something that instantly caught my attention and earned my respect. She mentioned how she’s never really felt like she belongs anywhere and that hit hard. It’s something I’ve thought about so often. That feeling of being too weird for “normal” people but too normal for “weird” people… yeah, that and its like that with everything.

Honestly, I can’t even put into words how inspired and how.... understood ? I felt after that talk. It was one of those moments where you walk in as one person and walk out as someone completely different. It’s hard to explain, but it just hit something deep inside me.

I left feeling so grateful that I got to experience it to sit there, listen, and be inspired in ways I didn’t even expect. I mean, it was mostly adults in the room, and to be fair, I get why people my age wouldn’t usually go to something like this. But I’m so, so glad I did. Because honestly, experiences like this can shape you. I left there not just inspired, but with a new role model, and I feel incredibly honoured to have had that kind of moment so young.

So yeah, that was my experience! I’m so excited to read this book, and I’ll definitely be writing a blog soon to share all my thoughts on it. I hope you enjoyed today’s post, and I’m wishing you all the best for exams, guys you’ve got this

Until next timee

byeee<333