Long time, no blog! (more on that at the end of the blog post)
I never thought I’d ever make a blog post on books written by my own friends. Since 2014, I’ve been blogging about books written by Black authors I either have para-social relationships with online, or who are acquaintances. This year, three of my Ghanaian friends published their debuts, and I couldn’t be more proud of them!
#ReadGhanaian๐ฌ๐ญ
The Kelewele Connection by Kwatemaa Tweneboah
Synopsis
What starts out as a quick trip to the kelewele joint on campus, leads two kelewele lovers to discover a connection like no other.
Afriyie just wanted to get some kelewele to munch while she enjoyed a movie in her room but is disappointed when she doesnโt get the exact kind she loves. Her disappointment turns into a pleasant impromptu โdateโ with the guy who offers to share the last bit of kelewele he bought.
Nana Yaw never shares his kelewele. Never. So when he catches himself offering to do just that with the cute girl heโs been spying for the past few weeks, he knows this is a connection he cannot ignore.
They donโt have much time till Afriyie has to go back to resume her studies in Edinburgh but the connection they share is too strong to ignore. Will their brief time together be all they have or will their instant spark turn into something long-lasting?
One of my favorite and smartest bookish friends – Abena Kwatemaa Karikari, (or better known as @BookwormInGH on her Bookstagram and Booktube channel) wrote a book with one of her good friends – Nana Adwoa Tweneboah Amponsah-Mensah. Their joint pen name is Kwatemaa Tweneboah. These two friends love reading and writing romance and also co-host a bookish romance podcast called 2 Hearts In A Pod.
Even though Abena and Nana Adwoa separately have their work published in a number of anthologies, The Kelewele Connection is their debut self-published novel under their joint pen name. Not only will readers of romance love this book, but I have a feeling food lovers (especially plantain/kelewele lovers) will enjoying reading this novel as well!
Kwatemaa Tweneboah (Nana Adwoa on the left & Abena Kwatemaa on the right) on a panel at Pa Gya! discussing their debut, in October
The book cover is very endearing – the natural hair, the skin tones of the characters and even the bowl of spiced plantain. I’m sure Kwatemaa Tweneboah have more books up their sleeve, waiting to be published. In fact, they have a Christmas novelette in the works called A Kelewele Christmas! Stay tuned!
A story about God, a spear and an angel’s thirst for unruly power.
Not forgetting, the return of Earth’s greatest saviour.
Head to the first page and I’ll meet you inside.
I normally do not review or highlight religious novels – mostly because I know people of ALL religions read this book blog. No discrimination here. But I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight God’s Spear by my good friend, Jeffrey Bones. I had the privilege of reading the book back in April of this year, when it was in its final editing stages.
Jeffrey Bones at his book launch in September
Without giving away any spoilers, God’s Spear is a 60 page graphic novel that follows an angel’s quest for power via a spear. I enjoyed the dialogue between the characters, as well as the gradual rise of suspense towards the end. The writing is pretty descriptive, which allows readers to use their imagination to visualize the text and interpret the storyline through their own understanding.
God’s Spear is suitable for readers of all ages; readers who appreciate animation would especially love the illustrations in the book! As with any graphic novel, the illustrations pleasantly augment the reading experience, as we actually get a glimpse into Jeffrey Bones’ (and the illustrator’s) vision for the characters we experience.
Purchase God’s Spear by contacting Jeffrey Bones for a copy
No One Dies Yet by Kobby Ben Ben
Synopsis
A genre-breaking novel from a powerful new African voice.
2019. The Year of the Return. It has been exactly 400 years since the first slave ships left Ghana for America. Ghana has now opened its doors to Black diasporans, encouraging them to return and get to know the land of their ancestors.
Elton, Vincent, and Scott arrive from America to visit preserved sites from the transatlantic slave route, and to explore the country’s underground queer scene. Their activities are narrated by their two combative guides: Kobby, their guide to Accraโs privileged circles; and Nana, the voice of tradition and religious principle.
The pair’s tense relationship sets the tone for what becomes a shocking and unsettling tale of murder that is at times funny, at times erotic, yet always outspoken and iconoclast.
Last but not least, No One Dies Yet was published in August via Europa Editions. This book has been featured in so many of my ‘New Books to Anticipate‘ posts, so we are all elated that it’s finally out in the world! It will be published in the US in February of 2024.
No One Does Yet is a big book (over 380 pages) that’s basically the embodiment of Kobby’s complex, inspiring mind. Trust and believe that as soon as I finish this book, the review will be up. From my discussions with Kobby on the inspiration behind the book, one of the ideas behind the novel is slightly akin to an article another friend of mine wrote during Ghana’s Year of Return celebrations, in 2020.
Me and Kobby with an ARC of his book, back in January
African Book Addict will be 10 years old in 2024! Time flies. I plan on setting up a series of posts and (maybe) events to celebrate the 10 years. Stay tuned (and keep your fingers crossed because [traditional] blogging is quite challenging nowadays).
Below is my annual collage of new books to anticipate this year. Iโve compiled 102 new African, African-American, Black-Brit and Caribbean books that look very promising. Please note โ this list/collage is just a snippetof books by Black authors 2023 has to offer!
An enthralling and original first novel about exile, diaspora, and the impossibility of Black refuge in America and beyond.
In the morning, I received a phone call and was told to board a flight. The arrangements had been made on my behalf. I packed no clothes, because my clothes had been packed for me. A cararrived to pick me up.
A man returns home to sub-Saharan Africa after twenty-six years in America. When he arrives, he finds that he doesnโt recognize the country or anyone in it. Thankfully, someone recognizes him, a man who calls him brotherโsetting him on a quest to find his real brother, who is dying.
In Hangman, Maya Binyam tells the story of that search, and of the phantoms, guides, tricksters, bureaucrats, debtors, taxi drivers, relatives, riddles, and strangers that will lead to the truth.
It is an uncommonly assured debut: an existential journey; a tragic farce; a slapstick tragedy; and a strange, and strangely honest, story of one manโs stubborn quest to find refugeโin this world and in the world that lies beyond it.
This incendiary debut of linked stories narrates the everyday lives of Soweto residents, from the early years of apartheid to its dissolution and beyond.
Imbued with the thrilling texture of township language and life, and uncompromising in its depiction of Black South Africa, Innards tells the intimate stories of everyday folks processing the savagery of apartheid with grit, wit, and their own distinctive, bewildering humor.
Magogodi oa Mphela Makheneโwho was born in apartheid-era South Africaโplunges readers into an electrifying first collection filled with indelible characters. Meet a fake PhD and exโfreedom fighter who remains unbothered by his own duplicity, a girl who goes mute after stumbling on a burning body, and twin siblings nursing a scorching feud. Like many Americans today, Innardsโ characters mirror the difficulty of navigating the shadows of a living past alongside the uncertain opportunities of the promised land.
A work of intelligence and visionโflush with forgiveness, rage, ugliness, and wild beautyโInnards heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.
WOMB CITY imagines a dark and deadly future Botswana, rich with culture and true folklore, which begs the question: how far must one go to destroy the structures of inequality upon which a society was founded? How far must a mother go to save the life of her child?
Nelah seems to have it all: wealth, fame, a husband, and a child on the way. But in a body her husband controls via microchip and the tailspin of a loveless marriage, her hopes and dreams come to a devastating halt. A drug-fueled night of celebration ends in a hit-and-run. To dodge a sentencing in a society that favors men, Nelah and her side-piece, Janith Koshal, finish the victim off and bury the body.
But the secret claws its way into Nelah’s life from the grave. As her victim’s vengeful ghost begins exacting a bloody revenge on everyone Nelah holds dear, she?ll have to unravel her society’s terrible secrets to stop those in power, and become a monster unlike any other to quench the ghost’s violent thirst
Below is my annual collage of new books to anticipate this year. This year I’m not doing the most by highlighting 99 books like I did last year. Iโve compiled just 69 new African, African-American, Black-Brit and Caribbean books that look very promising.
Please note โ this list/collage is just aย snippetย of books by Black authors 2022 has to offer!
What new releases are you excited about? Please do share!
In an effort to reduce the growing backlog of book reviews I owe this platform, below are mini reviews of two excellent books I read a couple of years ago.
Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono
Date Read:ย September 22nd 2017
Published:ย 1991
Publisher:ย Heinemann
Pages:ย 122
The Blurb
This book is written in the form of a diary kept by Toundi, an innocent Cameroonian houseboy who is fascinated and awed by the white world, the world of his masters.
Reviewย โย โ โ โ โ โ (5 stars)
*sigh* Oyono’s Houseboy isย such a painful, humorous, tragic tale.
Toundi – the main character (the houseboy), is naรฏve of the realities of his world in the French colony of Cameroon. While he’s is a good natured boy with a pure heart, the French exploitation of native Cameroonians cause the demise of Toundi (this isn’t a spoiler, trust me!).
This book really highlighted how fearful French colonialists were of native Cameroonians and Black Africans, in general. They were so fearful, insecure, ignorant and mentally fragile that they constantly exerted their supposed superiority over natives with hateful, brutal abuse. Toundi’s innocence gave this novel so much humor. The ways he misunderstood the lifestyle of white people was hilarious and sad at the same time. The ways the natives spoke about the French gave me some good laughs as well.
No, it can’t be true, I told myself, I couldn’t have seen properly. A great chief like the Commandant uncircumcised… I was relieved by this discovery. It killed something inside me… I knew I should never be frightened of this Commandant again.(pg. 28)
This was actually the 1st African novel I’ve ever read (I was initially in love with African-American fiction before I ever started reading books by African writers… well, besides Anansi stories). My Mom encouraged (or forced?) me to read Houseboy back when I was about thirteen years old. Back then, I didn’t enjoy this book at all and found it difficult to understand the myriad of proverbial phrases this story is blessed with. Today, I finally appreciate this novel as a superb, underrated classic within the African Writer’s Series.
โ โ โ โ โ (5 stars) โ Amazing book, I loved it. Absolutely recommend!
Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana
Date Read:ย September 16th 2016
Published:ย 2008
Publisher:ย Cassava Republic Press
Pages:ย 158
The Blurb
In her fiction debut, Doreen Baingana follows a Ugandan girl as she navigates the uncertain terrain of adolescence. Set mostly in pastoral Entebbe with stops in the cities Kampala and Los Angeles,ย Tropical Fishย depicts the reality of life for Christine Mugisha and her family after Idi Amin’s dictatorship.
Three of the eight chapters are told from the point of view of Christine’s two older sisters, Patti, a born-again Christian who finds herself starving at her boarding school, and Rosa, a free spirit who tries to “magically” seduce one of her teachers. But the star ofย Tropical Fishย is Christine, whom we accompany from her first wobbly steps in high heels, to her encounters with the first-world conveniences and alienation of America, to her return home to Uganda.
As the Mugishas cope with Uganda’s collapsing infrastructure, they also contend with the universal themes of family cohesion, sex and relationships, disease, betrayal, and spirituality. Anyone dipping into Baingana’s incandescent, widely acclaimed novel will enjoy their immersion in the world of this talented newcomer.
Reviewย โโ โ โ โ (4 stars)
After reading Doreen Bainganaโs short story entitled โTropical Fishโ in African Love Stories: An Anthology at the beginning of 2016, I knew I had to find her book.
I loved how nuanced this collection of interlocking stories were. Readers get a good feel of life in Entebbe, Uganda during Idi Aminโs ruling. I enjoyed the three sisters: Patti, Rosa and Christineย Mugisha. I had wanted more insight into Pattiโs life; she had a gentle, holier-than-thou demeanor that I wished was explored more. Rosaโs chapters were quite hilarious and poetic. I admired Bainganaโs uncommon perspective on HIV/AIDS and sex through Rosaโs promiscuous lifestyle. Christineโs life (the youngest sister) is more closely followed in this book โ from her days as a little girl playing in her parentsโ bedroom to when she is twenty-nine years old and a recent โreturneeโ from the States.
Baingana’s attention to the littlest things/feelings/observations we overlook in our daily lives made me love this collection. The writing was not overly descriptive; the commentary was witty, clever and overall, the exploration of life in Entebbe and the US was just heartfelt. I’m very fond of Baingana’s writing and it’s no wonder she was the winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book in the Africa region and has garnered other literary awards for her writing. I hope she writes a new novel very soon.
Instead of using the word โgoalsโ, Iโll use the wordย โintentionsโ.ย Goals are focused on a specific achievement, while intentions are lived on a daily basis โ which is how I intend my reading experience to be every year. My past reading intentions have beenย tough to adhere to, so this year I hope to set some reasonable ones.
Iโll continue to read what my mood calls for. I donโt have a set number of African, Caribbean or African-American books to read nor do I have a specific number of books written by women or men Iโd like to read either. I like to track books read each year viaย Goodreads, so entering theย Goodreads Reading Challengeย helps me do that. Every year I like to declare a goal of at least 18 books as a set point, just to help me gauge my reading experience for the year. Iโll probably read a fewer number of books this year as DENTAL SCHOOL life is very real at the moment. Iโll just be going with the flow โ no need to make reading stressful. Reading isnโt a race or competition โ at least not for me.
Below are some intentions Iโll beย considering during the year:
[Some books I plan to (re)read during the first quarter of the year]
Toย READ MORE GHANAIAN LITERATURE.ย 2 years ago during Ghanaโs 60th Independence Anniversary, I showcased overย 75 Ghanaian writers and their books. It was a daunting, yet fulfilling mini project that Iโm very proud of! As I was researching the writers and books for the project, I realized I had read just a handful of the books highlighted.
As a Ghanaian, its important for me to read and celebrate the work of writers from my homeland. I recently decided (on Twitter) to start the #ReadGhanaian Book Challenge.ย Ever since I announced the book challenge with the guidelines (below), many other readers seem to be participating as well! I hope to read at least 5 books by Ghanaian writers this year. Please join me in this challenge, if you can! Ghanaian literature is so underrated.
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Toย RE-READ BOOKS I LOVED IN THE PAST. Some readers donโt believe in re-reading books. We live in an age where the hype of new releases makes us forget the phenomenal books of earlier years. I personally donโt think books are meant to be read and forgotten. Books should be read, meditated on and read AGAIN whenever the need arises. So this year, I want to try and re-read at least 3 books I loved in the past (that havenโt been reviewed on this platform). I’m currently re-readingย Americanah.ย The first time I read Adichie’s masterpiece was back in 2013, in October – a whole year before the concept ofย African Book Addict!ย was even conceived. So far, this re-read is triggering, but still a glorious experience!
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Toย CATCH UP ON MY BOOK REVIEWS.ย Iโve incorporated interestingย book chatsย and discussions onto this platform. I plan on continuing the book chats, but I must stay true to the essence of this book blog โ which was initially (and still is) a book reviewing / book recommendations space. I have a growing backlog of book reviews from previous years that I plan on posting throughout this year.
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To FIND TIME TO INTERACT/COMMENT ON MORE BLOGS POSTS from some of my favorite blogs. 2018 was sooo hectic for me, thanks to school. I didn’t even find the time to post a re-cap of my reading year! I follow so many brilliant blogs – Leslie’s Folklore&Literacy, Anais’s Zezee With Books, Zahrah’s Bookshy, Celestine’s Reading Pleasure, Osondu’s Incessant Scribble,ย Michelle’s Me, Intimately Worded, Didi’s Brown Girl Reading,Kinna Reads, Madamebibliophile, Joanne C. Hillhouse’s JHOHADLI, just to name a few! I’d really like to make a conscious effort to comment more on posts by these amazing writers/bloggers.
I think Bookstagram has been quite distracting for me. While I’ll always value excellent (book) blogs over Bookstagram (this is just my preference – don’t come for me!), it’s a bit easier interacting with other readers and posts on that platform especially since it’s photo-based with less text. Regardless, community is very important to me and I’d like to get back to interacting with other bloggers and writers on their various blogs/websites. I miss the camaraderie and recommendations (of books, TV shows, movies, podcasts) I used to receive from these interactions.
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To LISTEN TO AT LEAST 3 AUDIOBOOKS. Back in August, I reviewed4excellent audiobooks.ย As an avid consumer of numerous podcasts, audiobooks โ especially essay collections and non-fiction (read by the author), act as extended podcast episodes for me. I’d love to indulge in Michelle Obama’s memoir via audiobook this year, as well as two other gems. I’m open to any great recommendations!
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To continue toย READ FOR AT LEAST 40 MINUTES A DAY. Iโm a 5th year dental student (I’m in a 6-year program) so my nose always has to be in a textbook, in group-study discussions or in the lab/clinic completing requirements and attending to patients. But if Iโm able to continue to dedicate 40 minutes a day to just reading leisurely, I think that would keep me sane.
I have other intentions – like, collaborating with other creatives, donating to more literary causes, planning events etc. But these intentions are a bit more personal and will be shared if/when the time is right!
Hereโs to a successful year of reading (with few reading slumps), for all of us!
Itโs almost the end of the 1stย month of 2019, have you figured out your reading intentions/goals yet? Please do share some!
What books are you excited to read this year? Below are 80 new African, African-American and Caribbean books that look very promising. This is just a snippet of the books 2019 has to offer!
Please click on the images to read the blurbs and/or to purchase the books.
Fiercely told, this is a timely coming-of-age story, told in verse about the journey to self-acceptance. Perfect for fans of Sarah Crossan, Poet X and Orangeboy.
A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen – then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers – to show ourselves to the world in bold colour.
The story of an estranged mother and daughter separated by a thousand miles, the mother’s shadowy past as an itinerant blues singer, and her daughter’s mental illness and recruitment into a radical political group.
Check out my book review of Mathis’s debut novel – The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. I’m really looking forward to this new novel!!
Nudibranchย is Irenosen Okojie’s second collection of short stories, a follow up toย Speak Gigantularย which was shortlisted for the 2016 Jhalak Prize and 2017 Edge Hill Short Story Prize.
The collection focuses on offbeat characters caught up in extraordinary situations – a mysterious woman of the sea in search of love arrives on an island inhabited by eunuchs; dimensional-hopping monks navigating a season of silence face a bloody reckoning in the ruins of an abbey; an aspiring journalist returning from a failed excursion in Sydney becomes what she eats and a darker, Orwellian future is imagined where oddly detached children arrive in cycles and prove to be dangerous in unfamiliar surroundings.
The Fraudย is inspired by the real events on North West London (Smith’s childhood home that she has chronicled in most of her novels, most notablyย NW) from the 1830s to the 1870s.
An extraordinary debut novel, Freshwater explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born โwith one foot on the other side.โ Unsettling, heart-wrenching, dark, and powerful, Freshwater is a sharp evocation of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that illuminates how we all construct our identities.
Ada begins her life in the south of Nigeria as a troubled baby and a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents, Saul and Saachi, successfully prayed her into existence, but as she grows into a volatile and splintered child, it becomes clear that something went terribly awry. When Ada comes of age and moves to America for college, the group of selves within her grows in power and agency. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these altersโnow protective, now hedonisticโmove into control, Adaโs life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.
Narrated by the selves within Ada, and based in the authorโs realities,ย Freshwaterย explores the metaphysics of identity and mental health, plunging the reader into the mystery of being and self.ย Freshwaterย dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.
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Review โโ โ โ โ (4 stars)
Freshwater by Igbo and Tamil writer – Akwaeke Emezi, has to be the most anticipated debut of 2018. I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) early December and devoured the book the weekend I received it. Even though Freshwater is highly anticipated worldwide, I’m curious and quite nervous to see how Nigerians and other African readers will take this novel.
If I had known this book was as evil, dark and sinful as it was, I probably wouldnโt have bothered to read it. But now that I’ve marinated the story in my mind for a while, I can confidently declare that Freshwater is SO MUCH MORE than it’s insane level of lust and blasphemy. Freshwater is a dark, layered tale based in and out of the spiritual realm, which focuses on how past traumas deeply affect oneโs well-being and mental health.
Ada (she/they) – the main character, has many selves. The selves within Ada are different gods or spirits who are birthed during different phases and traumas of her/their life. These gods are almost like her/their alter egos and they sustain her/their human body through protective and destructive means. Multiple Personality Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, suicide, panic attacks, rape (this was VERY difficult to read), lust, violence, sex (A LOT OF IT; it was unbelievable), self-injury, love, religion, strained family relations, sisterhood, immigration, homosexuality and gender fluidity are all explored in this complex debut.
In the beginning, reading Freshwater was frustrating. The story didn’t seem to make sense to me because I didnโt know who was talking! There are many voices in this book and I wasn’t sure whether Ada, Asughara, Saint Vincent, brothersisters or Ala was speaking (these are all the names of the gods we encounter in the story). Thereโs a certain rhythm to this debut which will only make sense if the reader has an open mind and patience. Some parts of this book still donโt make sense to me and I feel some characters/gods didnโt need to be introduced at all. But all in all, my weekend was well spent indulging in this extraordinary tale, even though it felt sinful at times. I was very fond of Emezi’s writing style which is accessible, calculated and not overly embellished.
For me, the most fascinating thing about Freshwater is the juxtaposition between God of Christianity versus the gods of the dark world. Adaโs relationship with the two associations speak volumes on our (Africans/Black folks) relationship with religion and how it guides and/or controls our lives, whether it feels real or not… it’s hard to explain! I absolutely loved that Emezi explores the difficulties of loving and accepting oneself in this novel, through Ada’s character. As humans, we all have other selves within us – in the form of our blended temperaments, alter egos and moods; these are all explored in a scary, extreme way.
Freshwater is definitely not for everyone (for example: hardcore Christians who canโt appreciate the art of the imagination that God blessed writers with), especially with how difficult it was to read. The book is laden with triggering incidents and the storyline has a non-linear trajectory, which may be confusing to some readers. It takes work to understand this type of novel, whose genre isnโt even clearcut- I’d say Freshwater is a mix of sci-fi, mythicism, thriller and memoir, as parts of Emezi’s real lifeare part of the story. I donโt think thereโs a book out there like this. Akwaeke Emezi is a beast – no pun intended.
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Special thanks to Grove Press for the ARC.
[Side note: My rough thoughts on this book were initially posted on my Goodreads, where Akwaeke Emezi spotted it and gave me a shout out on Twitter + Instagram + in their newsletter. It was a pleasant surprise! ๐ ]
Instead of using the word โgoalsโ, Iโll use the word โintentionsโ. Goals are focused on a specific achievement, while intentions are lived on a daily basis โ which is how I intend my reading experience to be this year. My 2017 reading intentions were tough to adhere to, so this year I hope to set some reasonable intentions. I discussed my struggles with my 2017 reading intentions in the 2017 RECAP post.
Iโll continue to read what my mood calls for. I donโt have a set number of African, Caribbean or African-American books to read nor do I have a specific number of books written by women or men Iโd like to read either. I like to track books read each year via Goodreads, so entering the Goodreads Reading Challenge helps me do that. Every year I like to declare a goal of at least 18 books as a set point, just to help me gauge my reading experience for the year. I’ll probably read a fewer number of books this year as (dental) SCHOOL life is very real at the moment. Iโll just be going with the flow โ no need to make reading stressful. Reading isnโt a race or competition โ at least not for me.
Below are some intentions Iโll be considering during the year:
[Some of the books I enjoyed LAST YEAR (2017)]
To READ FOR AT LEAST 40 MINUTES A DAY. Life is quite hectic at the moment. I’m a 4th year dental student and will be in 5th year soon (its a 6 year program) so my nose always has to be in a textbook, in group-study discussions or on the ward/in the clinic completing requirements and attending to patients. But if I’m able to dedicate 40 minutes a day to just reading leisurely, I think that would keep me sane.
โขโข
ToCATCH UP ON MY BOOK REVIEWS. I’ve incorporated interesting book chats and discussions onto this platform. I plan on continuing the book chats, but I must stay true to the essence of this book blog – which was initially (and still is) a book reviewing / book recommendations space. I have a growing backlog of book reviews from the previous years that I plan on posting throughout this year.
โขโข
To READ MORE GHANAIAN LITERATURE. Last March, during Ghana’s 60th Independence Anniversary, I showcased 75 Ghanaian writers and their books. It was a daunting, yet fulfilling mini project that I’m very proud of! As I was researching the writers and books for the project, I realized I had read just a handful of the books highlighted. As a Ghanaian, its important for me to read and celebrate the works of writers from my homeland. I hope to read at least 5 books by Ghanaian writers this year. Please join me in this challenge, if you can! Ghanaian literature is so underrated.
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To RE-READ BOOKS I LOVED IN THE PAST. Some readers don’t believe in re-reading books. We live in an age where the hype of new releases makes us forget the phenomenal books of earlier years. I personally don’t think books are meant to be read and forgotten. Books should be read, meditated on and read AGAIN whenever the need arises. So this year, I want to re-read at least 3 books I loved in the past (that haven’t been reviewed on this platform).
Hereโs to a successful year of reading (with few reading slumps), for all of us!
Itโs almost the end of the 1st month of 2018, have you figured out your reading intentions/goals yet? Please do share some!
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