Hey everyone. The lovely Zezee of book blog Zee With Books tagged me to participate in the TBR (to-be-read) tag. Below are my responses to the questions, enjoy!
How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
- Goodreads has been quite helpful in keeping track of the books on my TBR. But some books on my bookshelf need to be read too. So just the sight of those books remind me of their existence.
Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?
- PRINT! I prefer physical books. I like to believe I’m building a collection (for the next generation to enjoy as well). Plus, just seeing my (physical) books on the bookshelf makes me proud for some reason! Buying books is an investment and I like to make references to the books from time to time. I have a few e-books, but they usually aren’t books I’m truly passionate about OR they are not available in physical copy yet.
How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?
- It depends on my mood and what is available to me at the time. Most of the books on my TBR on Goodreads haven’t even been purchased yet and some probably won’t ever be haha. I read whatever my heart/mood desires at the time and pick it off my bookshelf; it is random.
A book that has been on your TBR the longest?
- I had to choose 4! I finally got a (signed) copy of Fine Boys this summer, as I mentioned in my 2015 Summer Book Haul post. Daughters Who Walk This Path, Baking Cakes in Kigali and No Telephone to Heaven have also been on my TBR for a while! I haven’t purchased any of them yet, so I don’t know when I’ll read them.
A book you recently added to your TBR?
- Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde
A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?
- I chose 4 books. The book cover for Hiding in Plain Sight looks so beautiful in print if you ever see it, I promise! I love the art work for the Ivorian graphic novel series, Aya of Yop City and I hope to purchase the series in the future. The painting of Nnedi Okorafor’s cover for Kabu Kabu is truly a piece of art- look at those strokes! And of course, the sassy covergirl on Naomi Jackson’s The Star Side of Bird Hill cover is everything (and so me)!
A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?
- I randomly bought Mema by Daniel Mengara from my local bookstore last year. I thought it would be an interesting read, as the author is from Gabon- a country that’s more or less absent in the African Literature scene. But so far, I’ve found the first few pages of the book to be extremely dry. For all you know, this book will probably be quite amazing if I give it a chance, but I doubt I’ll ever read Mema
anytime soon. Sorry, not sorry!
An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for?
- Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (Mbue is a new Cameroonian author! The book will be released August 2016) and Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole.
A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?
A book on your TBR that everyone has read but you?
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
How many books are in your Goodreads TBR shelf?
- I have 97 books in my Goodreads TBR shelf. But on my bookshelf at home, I have about 50 books I haven’t read yet. But who is counting? No pressure here!
This was a cool stress-reliever post for me! Thanks Zezee for including me in on the fun.
I tag:
- Osondu of Incessant Scribble
- Zanna of I Am Because You Are
- Mary Okeke of Mary Okeke Reviews
- Rowena of Les Reveries de Rowena
- Leslie of Folklore and Literacy
- Shannon of Reading Has Purpose
- Kinna of Kinna Reads
- Sabeena of The POCO Book Reader
- Jacqueline of The Big Sea
- Filomena of Figuring Things Out
- Read In Colour
- Nancy of AFREADA
and whoever else reads this post. Join in on the fun, you might spot new book recommendations!
African Book Addict! 
Heyyy!! I didn’t even know I was tagged! I was just here visiting as usual trying to find new books to blog about. I’m going to buy “Baked Cakes in Kigali” and Kabu Kabu just because I saw this post :). I’d never heard of Baked Cakes in Kigali before today. Kabu Kabu I’ve always wanted to read. I’m dying to read “Fairytales for Lost Children”. I bought it already but it’s on my 2016 book review list so it’s just sitting here for now. We’ll see. I love your blog posts 🙂
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Hey Osondu! I plan on reading ‘Fairytales of Lost Children’ in 2016 too! I hope to get it for Christmas – a gift to myself :). I’ll keep an eye out for your review of ‘Baking Cakes in Kigali’, I haven’t decided if I want to read it sooner than later.. it would be nice to read a modern Rwandan story
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I’ve responded! Here’s a direct link to my TBR post. –> http://osonduawaraka.blogspot.com/2015/10/tbr-book-tag.html
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Yay! I’ll head over and read your responses! Thanks for participating 🙂
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Yeahie, I’m glad you did the tag! I need to read The Wretched of the Earth as well. Fandom’a Black Skin, White Masks really stuck out to read when I read it in college and for a few months after, I always tried to find a way to include a reference to it in every essay I wrote.
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Thanks again for tagging me Zezee. And yeah, Fanon seems to be required reading for all learned folk. I need to get on it. I just hope his work isn’t too philosophical for me 🙂
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I accept the tag. I’m dying to read some of the books on your TBR like the Osman and Rankine.
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Awesome. I look forward to your responses!
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Awww thanks for tagging me!
I am too lazy (or busy if you want to think kindly) to write a post but I am grateful for yours because… I added some more books to my TBR! Fairytales for Lost Children looks amazing…
How I decide which books to read next – the overarching factor that shapes my choice is that I read the books that have been on my real print book shelf longest first (I don’t really do digital books), and buy the books that have been on my GR TBR longest first but this gets disrupted by many things, for example this year I’m trying to read only books by women. I am involved with various GR book groups and read along when the choices appeal to me, also sometimes I buy a book either because it’s on promotion or out of print and I spot a second hand copy. Also, sometimes friends buy me books or invite me to buddy read, so I go with that!
The book that’s been on my GR TBR the longest is The African Origin of Civilisation. I will definitely read that early next year! The book that’s been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read the longest is Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud, which I bought in 2005. I guess I’m just not that tempted by it.
Apart from the books I added thanks to your post, my most recent addition is Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures by Gayatri Gopinath. I have to admit the cover influenced me (as is often the case) but seriously, how enticing is that title? I found it because I was searching for books by women from the Asian Women Writers’ Collective after reading this collection
There are 1820 books on my GR TBR, enough for 18 years of reading at the current rate. But the TBR addition rate is, I think, about 50 books per month so… basically I’m planning to live forever…
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Wooow. 1820 books :|. I trust you can get through a good chunk of them though hahaa! I look forward to your review of ‘The African Origin of Civilization’ and especially ‘Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures’! 🙂
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I accept the tag too, I am reading “Cutting for Stone now”
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I hope you are liking Cutting for Stone! I’m jealous. I look forward to your responses, Mary 🙂
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Hi Darkowaa – This post looks fun and thank you for tagging me although I am SOOOOOO far behind on my blog posts. I promise to get around to it, though! 🙂
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I always like to look through your to-read-list. This time I thought, heaven what have I been reading? But I am glad to see one book that I just discovered at the British Library on your list, Aya of Yop City, I thought it was cool to have African narrative in a nice graphic form so I bought this one a few days ago, haven’t read it yet but the first two pages signalled a good read ahead!
Keep on reading sister and thanks for inspiring others like me.
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Thank you! I hope to hear your thoughts on Aya of Yop City soon though. I’m eager to hear if its a must-read. Thanks for stopping by Folakemiodoaje 🙂
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Ha, pleasure.
I read it the same evening, took about an hr and a bit. It was an excellent read, I’ll buy others in the same series. The story line resonates to anyone who has ever lived/connected or interested in the continent. I loved that it was set in an African city and then connected to the villages with no exaggeration. I love when books targeted at Africans have nice covers and quality prints, small thing but matters, graphics on points too, adding clarity to the story. It is worth the read.
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Aaaah! Now I’m excited to get the series. I prefer African city stories too! The village stories can be over done and full of stereotypes. Thanks for the overview of the graphic novel, its been pushed up my to-purchase list now! 🙂
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Finally!(lol!) http://folkloreandliteracy.com/2015/11/tbr-book-tag/
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Reading now!
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It’s posted! And I’m going to try and keep up the momentum from here 🙂
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I’m excited to read your responses! 🙂
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I hope you’ll like the Aya series: the interwoven storylines are gripping and the author accomplishes her goal of adjusting a European stereotype view of daily life in the peaceful parts of Africa.
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Great to know! I hope to read it soon. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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