Hey everyone! Summer break is finally here and there are a couple of books I’d like to read before the end of the break. 7 books on my Summer TBR (to-be-read list) – too many books, or nah?
Please click on the titles below to read more about the books on Goodreads.
Sweet Medicine by Panashe Chigumadzi
Sweet Medicine is a book I had been trying so hard to get my hands on. I even double ordered it – by mistake, but I don’t regret it. One thing that drew me to this book was the chic book cover and the fact that Panashe Chigumadzi is only 25 and is doing amazing things for the continent! I finished Sweet Medicine about a week ago and it was an enjoyable read. Expect the review to go up at some point during the summer.
By The Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah
I saw a review of By The Sea on fellow book blogger (and one of my faves!) – Mary Okeke’s book blog some years back and added it to my TBR. This story is set in Zanzibar, Tanzania – a place I REALLY would love to visit one day! From a series of Goodreads reviews I’ve seen, I hear its best to read this slowly to fully get the impact of the story. I plan on doing exactly that!
The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson
The Star Side of Bird Hill may look familiar to some of you, as its been featured on quite a few of my posts – 2015 New Releases To Anticipate & the TBR Book Tag. Don’t you just love the book cover? Super sassy! Jackson actually wrote a piece about the book cover on the Literary Hub last year. I actually finished The Star Side of Bird Hill earlier this June. Expect a review soon!
So The Path Does Not Die by Pede Hollist
The first time I heard about Pede Hollist was back in 2013, when he was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing. So The Path Does Not Die was published back in 2014 and follows a young girl, Finaba (or Fina) from Sierra Leone. I haven’t read much from Sierra Leone, so I hope to learn a thing or two about the West African nation from this novel!
The Justice: A Political Thriller by Boakyewaa Glover
Boakyewaa Glover was kind enough to gift me with this book, along with her sci-fi novel – Tendai (which I read and really enjoyed back in May – expect a review soon!). I’ve been looking forward to reading The Justice since the beginning of the year. I’m excited to read this political thriller 🙂
The Wine of Astonishment by Earl Lovelace
I’m sure this book looks familiar to some of you. The Wine of Astonishment was featured in my 2015 Summer Book Haul. I hope I get a chance to finally read it this summer, as I hear its a Trinidadian classic!
Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John
I purchased Born on a Tuesday back in March, after attending a reading by Elnathan John here in Accra. Elnathan John was also shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing – in 2013 and 2015. I really like Elnathan John’s writing (his satire blog is quite hilarious. Check out his blog: Elnathan’s Dark Corner– here). I prefer this vibrant book cover by Cassava Press. The book covers for the American and British editions aren’t appealing to me at all. I like this Nigerian cover 🙂
We Are All Blue by Donald Molosi
In collaboration with the Writivism Book festival taking place in Kampala, Uganda – August 22-28, I shall be posting a review of We Are All Blue by Donald Molosi! This book was on my 2016 New Releases To Anticipate post. I’m especially excited that We Are All Blue is a collection of 2 plays that take place in Botswana. Indulging in a playwright from a country I’m not familiar with will be fun. Stay tuned for the review 🙂
Last year I was able to knockout 8 books during the summer break. I’m not sure I’ll be able to read all 7 of these books before the end of the summer – as I don’t plan on reading my break away. We’ll see! If these aren’t read by the end of the summer, hopefully they’ll be read by the end of the year – no pressure here (its not that serious).
Have you read any of these? What books are on your Summer TBR? Please share some of your summer reads! New recommendations are always welcome 🙂
African Book Addict! 