Tag: Summer reading

Audiobooks, Book Covers, Goodreads Reading Challenge (2024), reading

Mid-year reading update & currently reading

by Darkowaa6 Comments on Mid-year reading update & currently reading

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.

Book Covers, Book Hauls, Bookish Stuff

#SummerReads 2016 – TBR

by Darkowaa30 Comments on #SummerReads 2016 – TBR

 

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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 medicineSweet 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 seaBy 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 HillThe 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!

 

 

 

 

pede hollistSo 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 justiceThe 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 🙂

 

 

 

 

Earl LovelaceThe 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-tuesdayBorn 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 BlueWe 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).

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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 🙂