5 AFRICAN BOOKS I NEED YOU TO READ

My reading list is very “motherland” this year. I have been intentional about reading largely African texts, and I am currently five for five. YAY ME! It has given me a greater appreciation of the sameness and difference of African communities. It feels new yet not entirely, and feels familiar, yet not entirely. I have been sitting blissfully in that paradox for most of this year. Going back into African literature has had me rethinking my list of favourite African texts so here we go…

I blogged about this book sometime last year because I always think it is such a gift when a writer can make their central character utterly unlikable. My sister, the serial killer, follows the story of sisters Korede and Ayoola. Ayoola has a little problem- she likes to kill the guys she dates. And Korede, ever the dutiful sister, has to consistently clean up after her. This book has everything:
💕It’s a short, easy read
💕It’s hella funny
💕Complex main character

This is one of the main texts that I refer to for my thesis and it really has changed the way I view African culture. Now, anyone who knows me knows I despise reading non-fiction but this is such a breath of fresh air. Something Torn and New explores communal memory, language and the various ways in which African culture was touched by colonialism. Also, if you want to casually throw in words like epistemology and linguicide, this is your go-to.
📚Written by one of Africa’s literary greats
📚History plus critical studies plus African studies
📚Could actually make you smarter

3. 7 Days-Deon Meyer

Out of the entire list, this was the biggest surprise. This is my first encounter with white South African literature and it did not disappoint. Set in Cape Town, 7 Days follows Detective Benny Griessel as he hunts down a serial shooter who threatens to shoot a member of the police every day for the next 7 days unless a cold murder case is reopened and solved.
👮‍♂️Familiar Cat and Mouse Chase
👮‍♂️Familiar Capetown landmarks; I thoroughly enjoyed that
👮‍♂️Adrenaline and a ticking time bomb

2. The Half Brothers- Davis Sebukima

It’s been over 15 years since I read this book, and it has stayed with me every day since. I don’t know why I have never reread it, but I am a little scared that I may perceive it differently now that I am older. The Half Brothers evolves from a family drama into a high-stakes political thriller, with three brothers at the epicentre of it.
🚹Plot twists
🚹East African Politics
🚹An almost just resolution

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146192894789

I am a Sue Nyathi junkie. I have read all her books, and someday I may rank them. My favourite thing about Sue is how chaotic she is. Her characters do the most, and I absolutely love it. I also love that Sue’s writing is always rooted in the socio-political zeitgeist of the place she is writing about. A Family Affair explores the crumbling of a religious family against the backdrop of ZImbabwe’s 2008 economic crisis. I want to spoil it so much, but I’ll shut up. Please read it so I can do a review here sometime.
⛪Absolute family chaos
⛪Religious Fervour
⛪UnPutDownAbility (as in its 500 pages and I was done in 2 days)

Should you need to read an African text, I 100% recommend any one of these. Or any one of the following; what I call my nepotism reading list. Check the following out also:

1. My #bff is an author
2. My friend Lindzy is an author
3. My brother in law is an author
4. Even me I am an author

So whether you share my taste in books or you appreciate my nepo list, there is something for everbody to read.