Hey everyone!
I hope the holiday season has been relaxing for you all. 2017 is almost over and it’s time for a recap of the year! I ended up reading 28 books this year. The break down of my 2017 reading experience is as follows:
Average books read per month: 2 books 
Anthologies read: 3 books
Audiobooks ‘read’: 3 books
African literature: 10 books
Caribbean literature: 4 books
African-American literature: 13 books
Others: 1 book (this is a non-African/non-Diaspora book. Written by Cheryl Strayed).
20 women writers ; 5 men writers
Top 5 favorite books of 2017
- Questions for Ada by Ijeoma Umebinyuo
- Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo
- Born On A Tuesday by Elnathan John
- Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono
- Now We Will Be Happy by Amina Gautier
These were the most insightful, affirming and enjoyable books for me this year! School/life has been quite hectic this year, so I’m behind on book reviews. Expect the remaining book reviews in 2018, but in the meantime, I HIGHLY recommend these 5 books!
Reviews for books read this year are in the Book Reviews section of the book blog.
What were your top 5 favorite books of 2017?
Favorite bookish events / images of the year:
African Book Addict! FEATURES:
It’s been both overwhelming and exciting being recognized for all the hard work that goes into creating content for this book blog. Book blogging here at African Book Addict! is purely a hobby (as I’m currently a 4th year Dental Student – its a 6 year program), so receiving recognition and praise is always affirming and such a blessing.
Below is a list of the features and recognitions African Book Addict! has gained this year:
- Blogger Spotlight: African Book Addict! via The Africa Center
-
10 Amazing Women Revolutionizing The Way We Read And Consume Books On Instagram via Buzzfeed
-
African Book Addict!, a site run by Ghanaian-American blogger Darkowaa, celebrates literature from Africa and the African diaspora through book reviews and book chats with fellow readers and writers via WordPress DISCOVER
- Selected as one of the Best Book Review Blogs of 2017 via Reedsy.com
- BOOK’D: DARKOWAA OF AFRICAN BOOK ADDICT! via Afoma Umesi‘s Lifestyle blog
- To The African Book Addict!, With Love! via Folklore & Literacy
Also, special thanks to the authors who’ve contacted me to show their appreciation for reviews of their books that have been posted on this platform and/or AFREADA.
Image via novelscript Instagram stories
2017 Reading Intentions round up:
At the beginning of the year, I set 3 reading intentions. But I don’t think I’ve successfully achieved them all…
- My first reading intention was to READ MY OWN DAMN BOOKS. Only 9 of the books I read this year had been on my bookshelf for a while. The rest of the books I’ve enjoyed were acquired THIS year! Is it possible for a moody book lover to restrict him/herself to just the books sitting on one’s bookshelf? It’s tough y’all!
- The second reading intention was to PURCHASE LESS books this year. Well… I ended up purchasing about 30 books (discounted/ used books – chill out!) over the summer and many, many more for friends & family as gifts. I might have jinxed myself by setting this goal/intention for myself! *shrug*
- Lastly, I set out to buddy-read some novels with other book bloggers/ book lovers. I successfully read Behold The Dreamers with Ifeyinwa Arinze and we had a great conversation on the book as well! I had planned to read books with other bloggers – Osondu (of Incessant Scribble), Didi (of Brown Girl Reading) and Afoma (of Afoma Umesi). Osondu and I weren’t excited about the book we set out to read, so our buddy-read was unsuccessful; Didi and I were to read a debut that a writer had sent us – but we couldn’t get passed the first 50 pages, so we quit; Afoma and I also tried to read an ARC together this month, but the book is super slow… maybe we’ll continue to read it together in the new year. Buddy-reading has been challenging! I think I’ll talk more about this in the new year.
Were you able to achieve some of your 2017 Reading Intentions?
[Don’t beat yourself up if you weren’t able to – its definitely not that serious and you can still achieve them in 2018!]
Total books read in 2017
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 always appreciate the support and love shown here, from you all. This year, I’ve enjoyed discovering new book blogs, book lovers & Bookstagram accounts (Book Instagram) and I hope to connect with more in the future! Here’s to more great years of reading ahead, for all of us. 🙂
African Book Addict! 
What a year you’ve had! It’s been a pleasure to connect with you this year and yes, let’s keep reading our book haha! You put in so much work and I’m glad people have been recognizing that. I hope you have an even better year next year 🙂
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Thanks so much, Afoma, for the kind words!! I’m glad we connected too :). Thanks again for adding me to the BOOK’D series. I look forward to your 2017 recap as well! xx
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I enjoy reading your reviews! I look forward to reading more from you!
Hmm. My top 5 books this year (in no particular order) are
1. Sometimes I lie – Alice Feeney
2. Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
3. Dark Matter- Blake Crouch
4. Stay with me – Ayobami Adebayo
5. The fishermen- Chigozie Obioma
I was able to read a whole lot because I had a lot of free time. Definitely exceeded my reading goals.
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Thank you! I’m loving your top 5 faves. I’m yet to read Stay With Me. I’m glad it was part of your top 5, because I know some readers who didn’t enjoy it :/. I may read it in 2018! Yaa Gyasi and Obioma’s books are gold! We have similar reading tastes I see :). Exceeding reading goals always feel good. Thanks for passing by, Titi & Tosin (not sure which one of y’all passed by haha)
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Haha!
I had the same feeling about us having similar tastes going through your blog.
This is Tosin btw! 😀
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A fulfilling year, I dare say my dear. 🙂 Merry Christmas and the best of the Season to you and yours. 🙂
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Many happy returns, Celestine! I hope 2017 was a good reading year for you as well xx
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You’re doing amazing!!!!!
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Hakeem! Thank you, thank you, always xx. Expect an email soon!
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Sure thing 😊
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Well done on reaching that Goodreads goal. I’m afraid I will miss mine this year. Not to worry, I read some good books anyway. I just had a book purchasing mad moment in December, 2 of my purchases were by African authors having had a recommendation from the bookshop owner in South Africa on my holiday.
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Hey BookerTalk! Thank you! Which 2 books by African authors did you purchase this month? I’m always eager for new recommendations! I’m glad you read great books this year and aren’t bummed out about reaching the GR goal. Next year is always there! Thank you for stopping by 🙂
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I bought The Whale Caller by Zakes Mda and The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena by Elsa Joubert. Have you heard of them or read them by any chance?
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Ohh I see. I haven’t read any Zakes Mda yet, but I love the book cover art on all his books! Never heard of Elsa Joubert. I look forward to your reviews 🙂
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Its likely to be a while before I get around to them unfortunately
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This is such a wonderful post idea. I still need to read one book for my GR challenge, then I’m done!
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Good luck in completing your GR challenge! It will feel so good when you’re finally done. How many books did you pledge to read? Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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Thank you! This is my second year taking part in the challenge but compared to last year (where I read 70 books) I only managed to pledge 20, as I had final exams for a large part of the year. My reading definitely suffers when faced with lots of stress! Congrats on reaching your goal 🙂
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Same here! School and life happenings definitely slow down my reading. Especially exams, similar to this year for you. Its all good though – its not a race! Congrats on reaching your goal too! Thanks for passing by 🙂
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Some great books you read and always awesome content. So happy for your accomplishments this year, congrats! Hope new year is good to you too! 🙂
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Thanks for always stopping by, Anais! Its been an interesting reading year. I hope the new year is good to you too! xx
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Congrats on a great reading year and all of the recognition for your blog!
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Thanks so much! I hope you had a great reading year too, Akilah 🙂
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What a fantastic reading year you have had! My faves were:
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
An Untamed State – Roxane Gay
Emily Knight I Am…Awakened – A. Bello
Why I Am No Longer Talking To White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge
Here’s to another good year to come. Happy 2018!!
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Thanks! I love your faves. Gyasi was on my top 5 last year. I neeeed to read T.H.U.G soon. Nice to see Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book in the top 5. I think I’d get the audiobook of that… Thanks for stopping by and sharing your top 5!
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Happy New Year!
I appreciate the opportunity to chat Caribbean literature with you this year and as part of the African diaspora I enjoy discovering African and diasporic literature here on the blog. Here are my top ten reads of the year (I see that we both read Kincaid btw): https://jhohadli.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/top-ten-favourite-reads-of-the-year
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Yess! Thanks again for the chat. I hope we have more in the future. Checking out your top reads of the year now!
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Gah! I’m so honored to be a part of such an AMAZING list! Thanks again for reading The Unhappy Wife.
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My pleasure!! Still need to review it, just not sure how yet….
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Well, I’ll be looking forward to it.
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I’ve enjoyed reading your blog since I discovered it! I wish I had more time to read all the books you recommend, but I like reading about them, and I’ve just added two more to my list – “Now We Will Be Happy” and “Born on a Tuesday”. (I don’t know why, but I have a thing about books with “happy” in the title.)
Happy reading in 2018!
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