It’s summertime! What is everyone reading this summer?
This year, I set my Goodreads challenge to read 24 books – because we’re in the year 2024, duh! Well, we are halfway through the year and I’m proud to say that I’m about 3 books behind schedule haha.
I’ve read 9 books out of 24:
I’m very behind on my reading challenge, but I know I’ll achieve the 24 books goal – even if slowly.
I have only truly enjoyed reading 5 out of the 9 books I’ve read thus far- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh, The Other Significant Others (audio) by Rhaina Cohen, The Three of Us by Ore Agbaje-Williams and Dyscalculia (audio) by Camonghne Felix. These were 4 star reads for me, except The Other Significant Others which isn’t by a Black author, but such a stellar (non-fiction) book! I read the book via audio and deeply appreciated the arguments Cohen presented, as I believe centering friendships over romantic partnerships should be talked about more. That’s the only 5 star book I’ve read so far.
I’m yet to read a book I’m head over heels about this year though. And because of how unenthusiastic I am about books I’ve read so far, I find myself unable to focus on one book at a time. So, I’m currently reading:
I’m reading to Power Moves by Sarah Jakes Roberts via audio and alternating between Hangman and Our Gen. Whenever I practice book polygamy, it means I can’t focus on just one book. One book isn’t arresting my attention enough to finish and move on to the next, systematically. So far, Hangman (which was long-listed for the Women’s Prize this year) is weird! Weird, in a good, original way. But it gets boring after reading 30 pages at a time. Our Gen is quite fun to read, but I’m struggling to get to the plot of the story. But I’ll continue to push through.
Books I have on my radar/TBR for the 2nd half of the year:
I’m really excited to read My Parents’ Marriage because I love fellow Ghanaian-American Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond’s work. Temple Folk looks like a collection I would enjoy. I wish the podcast – Identity Politics, by Ikhlas Saleem and Makkah Ali wasn’t a thing of the past. I’d love to hear them speak to Aaliyah Bilal on her book!
Obviously Chigozie Obioma’s new novel is on my radar – I’ve been a huge fan from the beginning. Jonathan Escoffery’s collection – If I Survive You is popular and I would like to see what the hype is all about. Uche Okonkwo’s debut collection, A Kind of Madness is also on my radar because I love short story collections. Hopefully I can read some of these before the year ends and have some reviews up as well.
In the meantime, I’ll continue to slowly achieve my reading goal this year. I just want it to be more fun. I want to read books and enjoy storylines that I haven’t experienced before. I want to be consumed by original, thought-provoking, compelling work.
What is everyone reading this summer? Please share some of the books you’ve absolutely loved reading so far in 2024.
en fulfilling! It would be nice to actually discuss in detail the things I liked and disliked about the books, but I can’t include spoilers in my reviews – its always so tempting!
African Book Addict! 