Tag: African American Literature

Literature News

2016 New Releases to Anticipate!

by Darkowaa20 Comments on 2016 New Releases to Anticipate!

2015ย was a great year for African and Black Literature. 2016 promises to be pretty amazing too! Some great books have already been released (late 2015) โ€“ like Sweet Medicine by Panashe Chigumadzi, The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela, Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta just to name a few.

Check out the blurbs of some African, Black (African-American) and Caribbean novels Iโ€™m exited for:

(this post contains some Amazon affiliate links)

Jowhor IleAnd After Many Days by Jowhor Ile

Release Date: February 16th 2016

An unforgettable debut novel about a boy who goes missing, a family that is torn apart, and a nation on the brink.

During the rainy season of 1995, in the bustling town of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, one family’s life is disrupted by the sudden disappearance of seventeen-year-old Paul Utu, beloved brother and son. As they grapple with the sudden loss of their darling boy…

…read more

 

In the meantime, enjoy one of Ile’s short stories here: “Somewhere Between The Borders: Supersonic Bus”

OyeymiWhat is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi

Release Date: March 8th 2016

From the award-winning author of Boy, Snow, Bird and Mr. Fox comes an enchanting collection of intertwined stories.
ย 
Playful, ambitious, and exquisitely imagined, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is cleverly built around the idea of keys, literal and metaphorical…

…read moreย 

 

 

We Are All BlueWe Are All Blue by Donald Molosi

Release Date: January 2016

We Are All Blueย (Botswana) is a collection of two plays โ€“ย Motswana: Africa, Dream Againย andย Blue, Black and Whiteย โ€“ by the actor and playwright Donald Molosi, including an introduction by Quett Masire, former president of Botswana…

…read more

 

 

 

DanticatA Walk Through Carnival by Edwidge Danticat

Release Date: January 26th 2016

Growing up in Haiti, Edwidge Danticat kept well clear of carnivalโ€”terrified by the stories of danger and debauchery that her uncle told her. Decades later, a grown woman and accomplished author, she returns home to find out what sheโ€™s been missing…

…read more

 

 

 

 

AffluenzaAffluenza by Niq Mhlongo

Release Date: March 20th 2016

Niq Mhlongo returns with a collection of short stories that cover the span of our democracy โ€“ the euphoria of 1994, the AIDS pandemic, xenophobia, the madness of Marikana and the Zuma presidency. The stories have been published to critical acclaim in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the USA but remain largely unknown in South Africa. Affluenza offers us a chance to savour Niq Mhlongoโ€™s take on the madness of the last twenty years…

…read more

 

Kiini SalaamWhen the World Wounds by Kiini Salaam

Release Date: August 9th 2016

Writing of the “other,” Kiini Ibura Salaam honed her perspective from growing up in an activist family eschewing TV, sugar, meat, convention, while centralizing self-worth, intellectual rigor, and the value, importance, and rights of black folk…

…read more

 

 

 

Here Comes the SunHere Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

Release Date: July 19th 2016

In this radiant, highly anticipated debut, a cast of unforgettable women battle for independence while a maelstrom of change threatens their Jamaican village.

Capturing the distinct rhythms of Jamaican life and dialect, Nicole Dennis- Benn pens a tender hymn to a world hidden among pristine beaches and the wide expanse of turquoise seas. At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school…

…read more

 

born-on-a-tuesdayBorn on a Tuesday by Elnathan John

Release Date: May 3rd 2016 (this has already been released by Cassava Republic Press, late 2015)

From two-time Caine Prize finalist Elnathan John, a dynamic young voice from Nigeria, Born on a Tuesday is a stirring, starkly rendered first novel about a young boy struggling to find his place in a society that is fracturing along religious and political lines.

In far northwestern Nigeria, Dantala lives among a gang of street boys who sleep under a kuka tree…

…read more

 

In the meantime, check out Elnathan’s satirical blog here: Elnathan’s Dark Corner

Charcoal JoeCharcoal Joe: An Easy Rawling Mystery by Walter Mosley

Release Date: June 14th 2016

Walter Mosley’s indelible detective Easy Rawlins is back, with a new detective agency and a new mystery to solve.

Picking up where Rose Gold left off in L.A. in the late 1960s, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins finds his life in transition. He’s ready toโ€”finallyโ€”propose to his girlfriend, Bonnie Shay, and start a life together…

… read more

 

imbolo mbueBehold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Release Date: August 23rd 2016

For fans of Americanah and The Lowland comes a debut novel about an immigrant couple striving to get ahead as the Great Recession hits home. With profound empathy, keen insight, and sly wit, Imbolo Mbue has written a compulsively readable story about marriage, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream.

Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son…

…read more

McMillanI Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan

Release Date: June 7th 2016

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting To Exhale is back with the inspiring story of a woman who shakes things up in her life to find greater meaning

In I Almost Forgot About You, Dr. Georgia Young’s wonderful life–great friends, family, and successful career–aren’t enough to keep her from feeling stuck and restless…

…read more

 

Kwei QuarteyGold of Our Fathers by Kwei Quartey

Release Date: April 26th 2016

Darko Dawson, Chief Inspector in the Ghana police service, returns in this atmospheric crime series often compared to Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels

Darko Dawson has just been promoted to Chief Inspector in the Ghana Police Serviceโ€”the promotion even comes with a (rather modest) salary bump…

…read more

 

 

Greenidge_WeLoveYouCharlieFreeman_HC_jkt_FINAL_PRNT.inddWe Love You Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Release Date: March 8th 2016

โ€œKaitlyn Greenidgeโ€™s debut novel slips a very skillful knife under the skin of American life.ย This is a story about family, about language, about history and its profound echoes.โ€ โ€”Colum McCann

Frustrated by the limitations of cross-race communication in her predominantly white town, Laurel, a young African American girl, teaches herself to sign–a skill she later imparts to her two daughters…

…read more

The Shameful StateThe Shameful State by Sony Labou Tansi

Release Date: January 3rd 2016

Set in a fictitious African nation, this novel by the distinguished writer Sony Labou Tansi takes aim at the corruption, degeneracy, violence, and repression of political life in Africa. At the heart of The Shameful State is the story of Colonel Martillimi Lopez, the nationโ€™s president, whose eccentricity and whims epitomize the “shameful situation in which humanity has elected to live.” Lopez stages a series of grotesque and barbaric events while his nation falls apart…

…read more

 

Yaa GyasiHomegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Release Date: June 7th 2016

A riveting, kaleidoscopic debut novel and the beginning of a major career: a novel about race, history, ancestry, love, and time that traces the descendants of two sisters torn apart in eighteenth-century Africa across three hundred years in Ghana and America.

Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into different tribal villages in eighteenth-century Ghana…

…read more

 

In the meantime, enjoy a short story (which I loved!) by Gyasi here: “Inscape”

ย Jazz Moon by Joe Okonkwoย 

Jazz Moon

Release Date: May 31st 2016

In a lyrical, captivating debut set against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance and glittering Jazz Age Paris, Joe Okonkwo creates an evocative story of emotional and artistic awakening.

On a sweltering summer night in 1925, beauties in beaded dresses mingle with hepcats in dapper suits on the streets of Harlem. The air is thick with reefer smoke, and jazz pours out of speakeasy doorways. Ben Charles and his devoted wife, Angeline…

…read more

 

ย Elizabeth NunezEven in Paradise by Elizabeth Nunez

Release Date: April 5th 2016

Peter Ducksworth, a Trinidadian widower of English ancestry, retires to Barbados, believing he will find an earthly paradise there. He decides to divide his land among his three daughters while he is alive, his intention not unlike that of King Lear’s who hoped, “That future strife / May be prevented now.” But Lear made the fatal mistake of confusing flattery with love, and so does Ducksworth…

…read more

 

 

MogosAmid the Chaos by Nathan H. Mogos

Release Date: January 9th 2016

Some people call Eritrea the โ€œNorth Korea of Africa.โ€ But to two friends Chenkelo and Misghe, it is home.

In the picturesque capital of Asmara, these two educated young men are forced to choose between poverty and hustle as they hide from a national service conscription that would send them to the front lines…

…read more

  • And finally, watch out for the much anticipated Maya Angelou DOCUMENTARYย which will be released at some point this year!

What new releases are you excited about for this year? Please do share!

Book Reviews, Goodreads Reading Challenge (2015)

2015 Recap & My Top 5!

by Darkowaa22 Comments on 2015 Recap & My Top 5!

Hey everyone!

I hope the holiday season has been relaxing thus far. 2015 is almost over! I ended up reading 26 books this year (and I turned 26 years old this year too, haha. It’s a coincidence, I promise). The break down of my 2015 reading experience is as follows:

Longest book read: A Deeper Love Inside: The Porsche Santiaga Story by Sister Souljah – 432 pages.

Shortest book read: We Should All be Feminists by Chimamanda N. Adichieย ย – 32ย pages.

Screen Shot 2015-12-28 at 9.07.18 PMAfrican literature: 10 books

Caribbeanย literature: 2 books

African-American/Black literature: 11 books

Other:ย 3 books (these are non-African diaspora books. I read books written by – Mitch Albom, Lena Dunham, Jhumpa Lahiri)

14 women writersย ; 6 men writersย 

I read multiple books (two each) by the following authors: Amma Darko, Maya Angelou, Ngลซgฤซ wa Thiong’o, Alice Walker, Chinua Achebe and Nayyirah Waheed.ย 

Top 5 favorite books of 2015

  1. The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
  2. You Can’t Keep a Good Women Down by Alice Walker
  3. The Trouble with Nigeria by Chinua Achebe
  4. salt. by Nayyirah Waheed
  5. Dreams In a Time of War by Ngลซgฤซ wa Thiong’o
Alice Walker
Chinua Achebe
salt
NgugiWaThiongo

These books took a toll on my emotions the most! If you’ve read my reviews for these 5 books, you know exactly why they are my top 5! And didn’t I say The Fishermen would win many awards? So far Obioma’s debut novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prizeย (this is a big deal!) alongside other nominations, and won the 2015 Emerging Voices Award. There are probably more awards it’s won that I’m missing out! I’m not surprised by the success of The Fishermen, itย is well deserved – #iToldYouSo!

Reviews for all the books read this year are in the Book Reviews section of the book blog.ย [Some missing reviews (4 of them) will be posted in 2016].

I also attended quite a number of book readings, thanks to Writers Project of Ghana and some invitations I received to attend readings. Below are pictures of my favorite reading events this year:

Eghosa Imasuen reading 'Fine Boys' at the Goethe Institute.
Eghosa Imasuen reading ‘Fine Boys’ at the Goethe Institute.
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Got it signed!
Got it signed!
Ayesha H. Attah's reading at cafe - Cappa Cappuccino
Ayesha H. Attah’s reading at cafe – Cappa Cappuccino
The audience at Ayesha H. Attah's reading
The audience at Ayesha H. Attah’s reading
Me and Ayesha H. Attah!
Me and Ayesha H. Attah!
Me asking a question at Ayesha H. Attah's reading. Photo Credit: J.K Photography
Me asking a question at Ayesha H. Attah’s reading. Photo Credit: J.K Photography
Photo Credit: J.K Photography
Photo Credit: J.K Photography
Finally, currently reading this now!
Finally, currently reading this now!
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Finally met Binyavanga Wainaina!
Finally met Binyavanga Wainaina!
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In my 2014 recap, I mentioned that my favorite book for 2014 was Binyavanga Wainaina’s memoir, One Day I Will Write About This Place. I was elatedย to finally meet him when he came to Accra! Unfortunately, Binyavanga recently suffered from a series of strokes and is receiving medical care in India. I pray he has a speedy recovery, so we can all enjoy his fun-loving spirit soon. Let’s keep him in our prayers!

Finally, this year I joined in a partnership withย AFREADAย !

“AFREADA is an online literary magazine, featuring original stories from emerging writers across the Continent.”

If you write short stories or you love photography, definitely submit your work to AFREADA! And if you are a lover of original, African short stories – visit the website! There are some lovely stories written by talented writers from all over the continent, as well as photo stories AND book reviews by me! Visit http://www.afreada.com, and thank me later.ย 

It has been a fulfilling year! What were your favorite books of 2015? And what were some of your fave bookish events? Please do share!

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 also enjoyed commenting on various blogs as well! I really appreciate the support and love shown here from you all. I’m excited for all I have to share in 2016. God bless ๐Ÿ™‚

Ayana Mathis, Book Reviews

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

by Darkowaa13 Comments on The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Date Read: August 5th 2015

Published: 2013

Publisher: Hutchinson

Pages: 241

ayana mathis

The Blurb

A debut of extraordinary distinction: Ayana Mathis tells the story of the children of the Great Migration through the trials of one unforgettable family.

In 1923, fifteen-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia and settles in Philadelphia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a man who will bring her nothing but disappointment and watches helplessly as her firstborn twins succumb to an illness a few pennies could have prevented. Hattie gives birth to nine more children whom she raises with grit and mettle and not an ounce of the tenderness they crave. She vows to prepare them for the calamitous difficulty they are sure to face in their later lives, to meet a world that will not love them, a world that will not be kind. Captured here in twelve luminous narrative threads, their lives tell the story of a motherโ€™s monumental courage and the journey of a nation.

Beautiful and devastating, Ayana Mathisโ€™s The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is wondrous from first to lastโ€”glorious, harrowing, unexpectedly uplifting, and blazing with life. An emotionally transfixing page-turner, a searing portrait of striving in the face of insurmountable adversity, an indelible encounter with the resilience of the human spirit and the driving force of the American dream, Mathisโ€™s first novel heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.

โ—Šโ—Šย 

Review โ€“ โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… (5 stars)

I randomly bought The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (the UK edition) in 2014 from my local bookstore. I didn’t even plan on reading the book this year, but it was smiling at me from my bookshelf, so I finally decided to pick it up!

Hattie, a โ€˜high yellowโ€™ girl from Georgia escapes Jim Crow to Philadelphia with her mother and sisters in hope of a better life in the North. Hattie and her forbidden boyfriend, August Shepherd (also a Georgia native) get married and she gives birth to twins โ€“ Philadelphia and Jubilee at the age of seventeen. Due to the harsh winter in Philadelphia and poor living conditions, Hattieโ€™s twins catch pneumonia and eventually die, only three months after their birth. The death of the twins, Augustโ€™s poor paying job and Hattieโ€™s helplessness up North taint her soul and morph her into a cold, resentful, miserable woman. Despite their strained relationship (as a result of infidelity from both parties), Hattie and August have nine children over the years. This book follows the Shepherds โ€“ Hattie, her children and grandchild from 1948 to the 1980โ€™s.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie was a wonderful page-turner! I honestly do not have any issues with this book because it was simply an excellent read. I read each chapter as a short story, since each chapter focused on one of Hattie’s nine children, intertwined with Hattie and her husband August’s history. Each chapter had its own twists and turns as readers got acquainted with Hattieโ€™s children and whatever issues they faced in their lives.

I loved that all of Hattie’s children had diverse lives and they all faced real joys and pain: Floyd dealt with conflicting homosexual desires; Six found solace in religion and preaching; Billups was molested as a child; Franklin was a soldier in Vietnam and battled with alcoholism; Alice was a controlling middle-class housewife who was perpetually on tranquilizing medication (given to her by her doctor husband); Ruthie may or may not be August’s daughter; Baby Ella was reluctantly sent to live with Hattie’s barren sister in Georgia as Hattie was struggling to make ends meet; Bell was self-destructive โ€“ mentally and physically and Cassie was schizophrenic. Cassieโ€™s daughter, Sala (Hattie’s granddaughter) is the last one of Hattieโ€™s brood and readers witness her desires to become a born-again Christian, at the tender age of 10. Hattieโ€™s demeanor definitely played an important role in the future of her children’s lives. Yes, Hattie may seem to be an unlovable, stern, sometimes cold woman – but I understood her character.

One thing I found intriguing was that Hattie and her children were described to be โ€˜the color of the inside of an almondโ€™, which suggests that they were a light-skinned, black family in Philadelphia. August was described as the color of cinnamon – which is obviously darker than the color of the inside of an almond. Clearly, Jim Crow did not discriminate – whether you were dark or light-skinned, all black people faced discrimination and endured hardships; readers ultimately witness this in the lives of all the characters.

Some readers of this novel feel that Mathisโ€™s development of the characters was brief and that there is little or no interaction between the children in the various chapters. This was not a problem for me. As I mentioned before, I read each chapter as a short story and was content with Mathisโ€™s depiction of all the characters โ€“ they all felt very real! Apparently, new writer – Angela Flournoyโ€™s 2015 debut novel, The Turner House (which is a recent finalist for the 2015 National Book Award – winner will be announced tomorrow!) is a similar, โ€˜betterโ€™ historic novel compared to The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. I havenโ€™t read Flournoyโ€™s novel yet, but I finished The Twelve Tribes of Hattie feeling satisfied. Be prepared for a long, powerful ride.

Note: The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is adult fiction. Ideally, readers should be 18 years and older to indulge.

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… (5 stars) โ€“ Amazing book, I loved it. Absolutely recommend!

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Purchase The Twelve Tribes of Hattie on Amazon

Book Covers, Bookish Stuff

TBR Book Tag!

by Darkowaa24 Comments on TBR Book Tag!

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? 

 

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?

Mema

  • 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?

 

A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?

Frantz Fanon

 

A book on your TBR that everyone has read but you?

 

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:

and whoever else reads this post. Join in on the fun, you might spot new book recommendations!

Book Hauls, Currently Reading, Goodreads Reading Challenge (2015)

Challenge Update (summer); Currently Reading

by Darkowaa14 Comments on Challenge Update (summer); Currently Reading

Hey everyone!

Summer is basically over (this year, the first day of Fall is Wednesday – September 23rd) and real life is back in full effect :(. In myย last challenge update I stated that I planned on reading at least 15 books this year. As the summer rolled along I realized that I would surpass this goal, so I challenged myself to read 20 books this year…. and I ended up surpassing that as well! During the summer I read 9 books; some were light reads, others were more on the heavy side. I enjoyed most of my summer reads to the point where my reading-tank is quite full… and I may be experiencing a reading slump!

Books I read during the summer:ย 

May 23rd 2015: The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae

June 4th 2015: The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma

June 10th 2015: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

June 28th 2015: We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

July 8th 2015: Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat

July 12th 2015:ย Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (re-read)

July 22nd 2015:ย Pig Tails ‘n Breadfruit by Austin Clarke

August 5th 2015: The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Aug 11th 2015: Matigari by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Reviews for the rest of the books will be posted as the months go by!

Interpreterofmaladiescover

I’m slowly reading my 22nd book of the year –ย Interpreter of Maladies by Indian-American author, Jhumpa Lahiri. I’m aย mood-reader so I’m currently in the mood to enjoy a non-African literature novel this month, and so far, I like Lahiri’s work! I’m quite behind on the Lahiri bandwagon, but oh well! I recently found her books (Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake) at a used bookshop in Accra called Ghana Book Trust. There were so many gems in that bookshop and I ended up buying 15 books! Majority of the books I purchasedย are from my favorite genres (African Lit, African-American/ Black Lit, Caribbean Lit) and are classics. They were cheap too – 3 Ghana cedis (GHC) per book! Check them out below:

 

 

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[Books not shown in the picture above that I also bought are: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, To Beย Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry and When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago]

Lots of good books added to my bookshelf :). Have you read any of them?

What books did you enjoy during the Summer? What are you currently reading? Please do share!

Book Reviews, Issa Rae

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae

by Darkowaa8 Comments on The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae

Date Read: May 25th 2015

Published: January 2015

Publisher: 37 INK / ATRIA books

Pages: 204

Issa Rae

The Blurb

Being an introvert in a world that glorifies cool isnโ€™t easy. But when Issa Rae, the creator of the Shorty Award โ€“ winning hit series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, is that introvert โ€“ whether sheโ€™s navigating love, the workplace, friendships, or โ€˜rappingโ€™ โ€“ It sure is entertaining. Now, in this debut collection written in her witty and self-deprecating voice, Rae covers everything from cyber-sexing in the early days of the Internet to deflecting unsolicited comments on weight gain, from navigating the perils of eating out alone and public displays of affection to learning to accept yourself โ€“ natural hair and all.

Reflective of the millennial experience yet wholly universal, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is a book no one โ€“ awkward or cool, black, white (or other) โ€“ will want to miss.

โ—Šโ—Š

Review – โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… (4 stars)

I love Jo-Issa (aka: Issa Rae) even more after reading this book! I wouldn’t call this book a memoir… its more like a collection of essays where Issa Rae talks about her life happenings. From the reviews Iโ€™ve seen on Goodreads, some readers seemed disappointed that this book wasnโ€™t as funny as they had expected, since Issa Rae is hilarious on Youtube. I started this book with no expectations at all; I am simply a fan who wanted to support Issa Rae’s brand, and I must say I was not disappointed! I learned a lot about Issa Rae from The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl: Issa Rae is fluent in French, she grew up in Maryland, Los Angeles and Senegal, she went to Stanford University, she has 4 siblings (they are the Diop 5!) and her father is a Senegalese doctor in Los Angeles.

My favorite chapter, entitled ‘Halfrican’, is where Issa Rae talks about her (half) Senegalese heritage and upbringing (in the United States and frequently in Dakar, Senegal). I commend Issa Rae for writing a chapter on her father โ€“ entitled โ€˜African Dadโ€™, where she discusses her family dynamics and the divorce of her parents. She really poured her heart out in some of these chapters, and I was impressed! Another thing I like about this book is how Issaโ€™s claim to fame โ€˜awkwardnessโ€™ lingers throughout every chapter, even as she candidly discusses her college experiences (where she produced and directed four theatrical productions), love life, experiences of being a black actress/writer and weight issues (once you read the book, you will understand what I mean by this).

It was great to finally read a narrative of a black woman, who is of a privileged background. The โ€˜started from the bottomโ€™, impoverished childhood narrative most people of color claim is not generic to all people of color. Some black folks actually grew up well-off, and that is perfectly okay! The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl was a great jump-start to my summer reading as it was enjoyable, light-hearted and of course some bits were hilarious – duh, it’s Issa Rae!

More on Issa Rae

With her own unique flare and infectious sense of humor, Issa Raeโ€™s content has garnered more than 20 million views and hundreds of thousands of YouTube subscribers (and counting). In addition to making Glamour magazineโ€™s โ€™35 Under 35โ€™ list as well as Forbesโ€™s โ€˜30 Under 30โ€™ list, and winning the Shorty Award for best Web Show for her hit series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, Issa Rae has worked on web content for Pharrell Williams, Tracey Edmonds, and numerous others. Issa has received national attention with major media outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, Elle, Seventeen, Rolling Stone, VIBE, Fast Company, MSNBC, Essence, Fader and more.

Issa Rae 2

If you are not familiar with Issa Rae, please watch her YouTube web-series: The Misadventures of AWKWARD Black Girl and have a good laugh. I eagerly look forward to Issa Rae’s future projects and her breakthrough to television!

 โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… (4 stars) โ€“ Great book. Highly recommend!

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Purchase The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl on Amazon

Book Covers, Book Hauls, Bookish Stuff

2015 Summer Book Haul!

by Darkowaa22 Comments on 2015 Summer Book Haul!
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Hey everyone! Since May of this year, I have received the bulk of my book orders from the mail and I’d love to share some of them with you. Please click on the title to go read more about the book on Goodreads.

Tendai HuchuThe Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician by Tendai Huchu 

I’ve read the first 15 pages of this and its decent thus far! I love a book on African (in this case, Zimbabwean) immigrant experiences abroad. But the font in the book is small, so reading this might take a while.

 

 

Saturday's Shadows Saturday’s Shadows by Ayesha Harruna Attah

I’m glad this book is thick! I can’t wait to enjoy this story which focuses on the Avoka family. Hopefully I’ll read Saturday’s Shadows before the year ends. Recommendation: check out Ayesha’s first novel- Harmattan Rain.

 

 Hiding in Plain Sight by Nuruddin Farah Farah

Hiding in Plain Sight is my first novel from Somalia. Nuruddin Farah has written several books and I hope to read more of his work in the future. The cover art is lovely if you see the physical copy. I love the iridescent details! This is on my 2016 *TBR list.

 

ย Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime: stories by J. California Cooperย 

J. California Cooper

I’ve heard and read nothing but great things about Ms Cooper. I hope I love her work as much as others do! Hopefully I can add her to my favorite African-American pioneer writers: Gwendolyn Brooks, Lorraine Hansberry, Maya Angelou, Richard Wright and Alice Walker.

 The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma The Fishermen

*sigh* This tale on love, brotherhood and madness has been the best book I’ve read this summer… and maybe all year (expect the book review soon)! Please pick this up if you get the chance. Obioma took fiction to another level with this book.

ย nalo hopkinsonThe Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson

I’m not a huge fan of science-fiction, but Nalo Hopkinson seems pretty amazing from what I’ve read/heard. And her stories feature Afro-Caribbean folk, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy this!

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Love is Power or Something Like That by A. Igoni Barrett igoni

I enjoy short stories and I look forward to reading this collection by half-Jamaican & half-Nigerian – A. Igoni Barrett. His latest novel, Blackass was released about two weeks ago!

 

Samuelsson_Yes-Chef_pbYes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson

This is a memoir that I’m excited to read! I love Chef Marcus Samuelsson from the Food Network on television and I’d love to read more about his life, especially sinceย he is of Ethiopian heritage. Can’t wait.

 

Krik? Krak! by Edgwige Danticat Edwidge Danticat

I recently finished reading this short stories collection and I must say, it was a perfect summer read! Edwidge Danticat, who is well-known in the Caribbean Literature sphere ‘reps’ hard for Haiti – and I love it.

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ย fine boysFine Boys by Eghosa Imasuenย 

How cool is the book cover art? I was sooo glad when I finally got my hands on this book! I had been searching for the physical copy since 2013 since it is only available on Kindle (I don’t prefer e-books). So when Imasuen came to Accra last month for a reading hosted by Writers Project Ghana, I  did not hesitate to attend the event, purchase the book and stand in line for it to be signed. #winning!

 My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid My Brother Jamaica Kincaid

Well-known Caribbean writer – Kincaid’s work is always a joy to read as she writes with palpable emotion. This is the third Kincaid novel I own – her books Annie John and Lucy are must reads! I love her writing style and learning more about Antigua from the characters in her novels. Oh, and her books are usually in large fonts, so that’s always wonderful.

 

MabanckouTomorrowTomorrow I’ll be Twenty by Alain Mabanckou

The cover art of this book made me buy it! Alain Mabanckou is a renowned Congolese writer and I’m curious to read on the twists and turns in this memoir-esque novel. His books are usually written in French; Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty or Demain J’Aurais Vingt Ans originally in French, was translated to English by Helen Stevenson. This novel has been compared to J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye which I loved when I was 13, so I should enjoy this too! This is high up on my 2016 TBR list.

 

 

The Wine of Astonishment by Earl Lovelace Earl Lovelace

Trinidadian author, Earl Lovelace is another big name in Caribbean literature. The Wine of Astonishment is a classic and I’m glad I finally own it. This is the first novel I own from the Caribbean Writers Series.

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Toni MorrisonGod Help the Child by Toni Morrison

This is ToMo’s latest baby. I’ve seen lots of mixed reviews of this book on Goodreads, so I don’t know when I’ll get to it. Maybe in 2016? (Sula is the only ToMo I’ve read thus far. Meh).

Pig Tails ‘n Breadfruit by Austin Clarke Austin Clarke

Have you ever read a culinary memoir? Well, in Austin Clarke’s book Pig Tails ‘n Breadfruit ‘each chapter is devoted to a detailed description of the ritual surrounding the preparation of a particular native dishโ€”Oxtails with Mushrooms, Smoked Ham Hocks with Lima Beans, or Breadfruit Cou-Cou with Braising Beef.’ This is a (culinary) memoir of Austin Clarke’s childhood in Barbados. Clarke is a preeminent writer of the Caribbean and I’m ready to indulge – literally!

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Have you read any of these? What are you reading this summer? Please let me know!

*TBR : ‘to be read’

Alice Walker, Book Reviews

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

by Darkowaa11 Comments on The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Date Read: June 10th 2015

Published: 1985

Publisher: Pocket Books/Washington Square Press

Pages: 295

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The Blurb

Life wasn’t easy for Celie. But she knew how to survive, needing little to get by.
Then her husband’s lover, a flamboyant blues singer, barreled into her world and gave Celie the courage to ask for more – to laugh, to play, and finally – to love.

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Review โ€“ โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… (4 stars)

The Color Purple is an excellent book and it has won several awards: the Pulitzer Prize (1983), The National Book Award for Fiction (1983), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee (1982); plus a (Steven Spielberg directed) movie adaptation starring Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey among others! But I think I would have been more blown away by this novel if I read it when I was younger. I’m sure the plot and some incidents from this book would have been quite traumatizing to me had I read this if I were 13 years old. Anyways, The Color Purple is my second Alice Walker novel of the year and I love love love her writing! Check out my review of her excellent short stories collection: You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down.

The Color Purple is about the survival of Celie in the world, during the 1930’s over about forty years. This novel is in epistolary form where Celie and her sister Nettie write letters to each other. In the beginning of the novel, Celie mostly writes letters to God and these letters seem more like diary entries where Celie expresses her sincere feelings of joy and pain. Celie is a loving, kind, docile soul who wouldn’t even hurt an ant. She is initially perceived to be ugly, dumb and worthy of being abused by her โ€˜fatherโ€™. At the age of twenty Celie is married off to Mr. ____ to help raise his three children.

After she moves in with Mr. ____, Celie meets Shug Avery โ€“ her husbandโ€™s lover, and they eventually form a strong bond. Shugโ€™s sassiness and confidence begins to rub off on Celie and she starts to evolve into a brave, outspoken woman, still full of love in her heart. I believe Celieโ€™s transformation allows her to reap huge blessings for the many years of verbal, physical, mental and emotional abuse she endured during her childhood and marriage.

In my eyes, Celie was a lesbian. The sisterhood and love story between Celie and Shug Avery was very interesting to read โ€“ I always enjoy stories that feature same-sex relationships. The same-sex relationship in this story keeps The Color Purple very relevant, even in present day 2015. This book has a lot of characters with a lot of subplots, and I absolutely loved three characters:

Nettie: Celie seems to be everyoneโ€™s heroine, but my favorite character is Nettie โ€“ Celieโ€™s younger sister. Nettie is an intelligent, respectful, good-spirited woman. The love Nettie and Celie share is the driving force that pervades this novel. I gained a lot of appreciation for Nettie as she wrote Celie letters on the happenings of her missionary adventures in Africa with the โ€˜Olinkaโ€™ tribe (this is a fictional tribe). In the letters she wrote Celie, it is evident that Nettie is more educated than Celie, as she writes in standard English instead of vernacular/broken English as seen in Celieโ€™s letters.

Shug Avery: Shug is a mystery to me. Sheโ€™s the type of woman who makes men fall in love with her lustful ways of singing and crooning crowds, but would also have relations with a woman. Is Shug bisexual? Shug isnโ€™t the typical woman of her time. I loved Shugโ€™s ability to live her life as she pleased without allowing the publicโ€™s negative perception of her lifestyle to taint her confidence and goals.

Sofia: Sofia is Harpoโ€™s wife (Harpo is Mr. ____โ€™s oldest son / Celieโ€™s step-son). I have never read about any character like her before. She is crazy! Sofia is big, aggressive, abusive, brave, loud, rude, strong, wild, carefree! Sheโ€™s the type of woman that fixes the roof on a house. Sheโ€™s the type of woman that makes her husband weep! (No, not tears of joy). I enjoyed reading about Sofiaโ€™s boisterous ways and I was satisfied with her character development by the end of the novel.

Alice Walkerโ€™s ability to develop these characters so thoroughly made me forget that they were fictitious beings! This classic carries a lot of (heavy) themes that Iโ€™d love to discuss! But if I say more, I will surely give away some spoilers and that wouldnโ€™t be right. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys Alice Walkerโ€™s work, anyone who loves reading about African-Americans (of the South), anyone who appreciates feminism/womanism concepts, anyone who can stomach some pain, and anyone who simply desires to cuddle up with an uplifting book!

Given that The Color Purple was published over 30 years ago and it is such a classic, I observed that it has several lovely book covers!

(Check out the new and improved Book Covers Showcase section of the blog that features collages of colorful book covers from my favorite literature genres – HERE).

 

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… (4 stars) โ€“ Great book. Highly recommend!

This is another oldie but goodie from my Mom’s bookshelf. The Color Purple can be purchased on Amazon.