December 2016 – African Book Addict!

Hey everyone!

I hope the holiday season has been relaxing for you all. 2016 is almost over and it’s time for a recap of the year! I ended up reading 24 books this year. The break down of my 2016 reading experience is as follows:

Average books read per month: 2 books

e-books read: 11 books (wow! I didn’t realize this, even though I really dislike e-books)

African literature: 17 books

Caribbean literature: 2 books

African-American literature: 3 books

Other: 2 books (these are non-African/non-diaspora books. I read books written by – Rupi Kaur and Tim LaHaye).

19 women writers ; 5 men writers

Top 5 favorite books of 2016

Fairytales for Lost Children by Diriye Osman
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
So The Path Does Not Die by Pede Hollist
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

These books took a toll on my emotions the most! If you’ve read my reviews for these books, you know exactly why they’re my top 5 of the year. Definitely look into reading these 5 books if you haven’t already!

Reviews for books read this year are in the Book Reviews section of the book blog. [Missing reviews (6 of them) will be posted in 2017].

What were your top 5 favorite books of 2016?

Favorite bookish events / images of the year:

Book Giveaway #1. Winner was announced back in February 🙂

Purchased this Achebe classic for my little cousins over the summer. ‘Chike and the River’ is suitable for ages 7-11!

Ankara Press books are now in paperback and available at Vidya Bookstore in Osu, Accra!

An array of books displayed after a reading, hosted by Writers Project Ghana at the Goethe Institute.

Collage I created for my review of the Caine Prize stories this year.

Bought this gem from the 14th Ghana International Book Fair!

Some 2016 summer reads.

Book + African City tote bag giveaway #2. Winner was announced late November; Third book (Sweet Medicine by Panashe Chigumadzi) winner was announced the same day.

Chuma Nwokolo and member of CACE at the Storymoja Festival in Accra.

‘Americanah’ by Chimamnda Adichie making an appearance on Neflix comedy-drama, ‘Orange Is The New Black’ season 4 (very upsetting season!)

Ghanaian authors – Ayesha H. Attah and Ayi Kwei Armah in conversation at ‘Brazil House’ James Town, Accra.

Awesome (but expensive) array of books on display at Brown Sugar boutique in Osu, Accra.

Ghanaian authors – Ayesha H. Attah and Ayi Kwei Armah in conversation at ‘Brazil House’ James Town, Accra.

Finally got my hands on ‘How to Spell Naija in 100 Short Stories vol. 2’ by Chuma Nwokolo after his reading at the Storymoja Festival 🙂

Ghanaian kid lit on display at the 14th Ghana International Book Fair.

Author – Celestine, of book blog -‘Reading Pleasure’ (https://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/) signing my copy of her African Haiku collection, at her book launch!

Favorite book of the year! Please read it if you haven’t yet!

Brunch over Books’s maiden event at Cafe Kwae in Accra [with my bissap (hibiscus tea) cocktail and the book I exchanged].

Also:

African Book Addict! was featured on Mary Okeke Reviews and Brown Books & Green Tea for the blogger spotlight project and #DiverseBookBloggers feature, respectively.
In May, I joined the ladies of Not Your African Cliché podcast to discuss Somali-Brit writer – Warsan Shire, Beyonce’s album Lemonade, and the need for us (Africans) to support our art/artists more.

2016 Reading Goals round up:

At the beginning of the year, I set 4 reading goals and I believe I’ve achieved most of them!

I planned to read a wider array of African novels: I ended up reading wonderful books from 10 African countries: Botswana, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Sudan, Ghana, Somalia, Nigeria, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe. (All reviews are in the book reviews section of the book blog)

I also set out to read more poetry: I wasn’t a big fan of poetry prior this goal, but I ended up reading 5 poetry collections and seriously enjoyed them! I hope to continue reading and feeling the words of many more great contemporary poets in the years ahead.

I wanted to broaden my horizon and read 1 African romance novel and/or 1 African thriller: Thanks to Ankara Press, I was sent 2 African romance novels in exchange for honest reviews. With regards to an African thriller, I read Tendai by Boakyewaa Glover which is actually of the science-fiction genre, but felt like a thriller to me! (watch out for the review in 2017). So maybe I kinda sorta missed the mark on the African thriller goal?

My final goal was to give back by hosting 2 or 3 giveaways this year: I achieved this by officially hosting 2 international giveaways and gave away 3 books in total (plus a cute African City tote bag to hold books!).

It’s truly rewarding to see that I have reached my goals, especially with my hectic (dental) school schedule. I always had these goals at the back of my mind and slowly tried to achieve them on a daily monthly basis. I’m proud of these achievements!

Were you able to achieve some of your 2016 Reading Goals?

[Don’t beat yourself up if you weren’t able to – its definitely not that serious and you can still achieve them in 2017!]

Total books read in 2016

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (was featured in Part 3 of the series: https://africanbookaddict.com/2017/03/31/gh-at-60-our-writers-their-books-part-3-final/)

Read blurb/Purchase The January Children (African Poetry Book)

I’m truly grateful to everyone who frequents this book blog and for the great discussions (agreements, disagreements and recommendations) we have in the comments section. I really appreciate the support and love shown here from you all. This year, I’ve enjoyed discovering lots of new book blogs + book lovers and hope to connect with more in the future! Here’s to more great years of reading ahead, for all of us. 🙂

Hey everyone!

Christmas is right around the corner! I honestly have no business buying any new books, anytime soon. But a simple wish list won’t hurt would it? Below are books I’d love Santa to drop into my imaginary Christmas stockings (not in order of preference; click titles to read the blurbs on Goodreads):

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy has been on my TBR for a while. It actually got bumped up my list after Flournoy was shortlisted for the National Book Prize last year + some of my friends highly recommend this novel. I hear there are similarities between The Turner House and Ayana Mathis’s The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, which I LOVED (and reviewed).

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu is a book I’m very keen to read. I haven’t read anything by Mengestu but I’ve seen many reviews of his books – especially his 2014 novel, All Our Names on several book blogs. I’m eager to read about the immigrant experience in the U.S through an Ethiopian lens in this book!

Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Memoir of a Writer’s Awakening by Ngūgī wa Thiong’o was released late October of this year. I found out about this book from highlights of the 2016 Aké Arts and Books Festival and was surprised this book existed, as I didn’t even know Ngūgī wa Thiong’o was actively writing a new memoir! I deeply enjoy anything Thiong’o writes, so this would be a great addition to my already growing Ngūgī wa Thiong’o collection.

Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson has been on my TBR for a looong time. I love, love, love The Roots (hip hop group) and for those who don’t know, Questlove is the drummer and one of the leaders of the group (the other leader is rapper – Black Thought). My life was semi-complete when The Roots came to Middlebury back in 2009 and I admired Questlove’s finesse with the drums! He came out with another book this year – Something to Food About: Exploring Creativity with Innovative Chefs. But I hope to read Mo’ Meta Blues first!

Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds by Yemisi Aribisala was published back in November (2016) by Cassava Republic. I have been waiting for a book like this for a while! If you’ve read my review of Pig Tails ‘n Breadfruit: A Culinary Memoir by Barbadian writer Austin Clarke (RIP), I spoke on my desire to read more books that highlight African food. Longthroat Memoirs showcases Nigerian cuisine while discussing various feminist issues. I need this book.

My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal has the best book cover! From what I hear, My Name is Leon is a story about 9 year old Leon – who is biracial and his new baby brother Jake – who is white. Once their mother is deemed unfit to care for them, they are taken into the foster care system. When Leon’s baby brother is adopted before he is, readers see Leon face various prejudices, while trying to save his broken family. I’m ready to have all the feels reading this book.

You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have To Explain by Phoebe Robinson looks like it’d be a great book to get anyone out of a reading slump. Every once in a while I like to let loose and read something humorous and light. The author, Phoebe Robinson – is a comedian and hosts a podcast with Jessica Williams called 2 Dope Queens. I’ve given their fun podcast a couple of listens and even downloaded a sample of this book on Kindle. All I can say is, I know I’ll be entertained by this book!

	Lisa Hill on 21 books added to my TBR
	Darkowaa on 21 books added to my TBR
	Lisa Hill on 21 books added to my TBR
	Boogie on The Trouble with Nigeria by Ch…
	Glory Gibson on So The Path Does Not Die by Pe…
	Darkowaa on So The Path Does Not Die by Pe…
	Blessing Solomon Akp… on So The Path Does Not Die by Pe…
	Maxwell Amenya on Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
	Nigeria: How Resourc… on The Trouble with Nigeria by Ch…

Month: December 2016