Great African Reads discussion

I am not sure I can stick to the rules, as constrictive rules tends to make me want to do the opposite... And there is also the availability question as a lot of my African reading arrive through libraries, some of them on inter-Scandinavian loans from the a very well stocked Africa library up in the north of Sweden... But maybe I can put together a list of things I have on paper and Kindle - as they tend to get pushed to the back of the queue in favor of library loans with a looming deadline.

The TBR Takedown list:

1 Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2 The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers by Fouad Laroui
3 The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
4 Africa 39 ed. by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey (June)
5 The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Read Feb)
6 The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto (May)
7 No Sweetness Here and Other Stories by Ama Ata Aidoo
8 Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
9 Arrows of Rain by Okey Ndibe
10 The Radiance of the King by Camara Laye
11 The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
12 The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin
13 We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
14 Discovering Home by Binyavanga Wainaina
15 Happiness, Like Water by Chinelo Okparanta
16 Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta (Read Apr)
17 Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey (Read Mar)
18 Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
19 On Black Sisters Street by Chika Unigwe
20 Xala by Ousmane Sembène (read Jan. 20)
21 The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
22 The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz
23 The Madonna of Excelsior by Zakes Mda
24 David's Story by Zoë Wicomb

New Daughters of Africa by Margaret Busby

Wow, okay that was a few more than I expected. I guess it wouldn't be a problem to not be able to read them all, while I wait and see if their number is up.

January: #20 Xala by Ousmane Sembène
Februar: #5 The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
March: #17 Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey
April: # 16 Under the Udala TreesUnder the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
___________
May: #6 The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto
June: #4 Africa 39 ed. by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey
July: #8 Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
August: #18 Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
September #15 Happiness, Like Water by Chinelo Okparanta
October #10 The Radiance of the King by Camara Laye
November #21 The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
December #13 We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Great list! I enjoyed Americanah, Baba Segi's Wives, The Queue, Wife of the Gods, The Memory of Love, and The Fishermen.

I read Xala early in January - and it had been lying around for a REALLY long time, renewed endlessly at the library... So I am already looking forward to February's challenge :)

Your comments inspired me to look for a copy! Thanks for having it on your shelf and sharing ;)

Just finished February's read: Adichie's The Thing Around Your Neck - and it was great!
More here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next up March: Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey.
Crime fiction it seems...
I suspect this ended up on my Kindle partly because his last name starts with a Q - great for my annual A-Z-challenges :)

March read done! Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey.

And wasn't very impressed, truth be told: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next up: Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

Last chance saloon - but I made it just before the deadline:
review here

May's read will be The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto - I never got around to reading Mozambique's great author, so this should be interesting!

June's read is #4
Africa 39 ed. by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey (June)

Number 8 for July will be Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - I really will be completing my Adichie reading with this challenge!!

Oh and I am behind with this challenge...

And August will be #18 Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo

Final conclusion:

Everything went sideways when lockdown set in and The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto killed my lust to read...
From then I just never picked it up, as I kept thinking I should finish that first.
But hey, there is always 2021, where I shan't be putting Couto on my list :)

Anetq wrote: "From then I just never picked it up, as I kept thinking I should finish that first."

I recognise this ... sometimes having the feeling that I absolutely need to finish (and like) a particular book.

Anetq wrote: "Final conclusion:

Everything went sideways when lockdown set in and The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto killed my lust to read...
From then I just never picked it up, as I kept thin..."

No Sweetness Here and Other Stories nearly did that to me in 2020. Hope you have a better year for reading coming up.

Anetq wrote: "Final conclusion:

Everything went sideways when lockdown set in and The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto killed my lust to read...
From then I just never picked it up, as I kept thin..."

This happened to me in 2019 when I started off with all the heart-wrenching novels from Rwanda - they got me into a massive reading slump so I have been careful to put only titles on my TBR that sound promissing :))
The older I get the more willing I become to dnf books as "quality" time is precious. And I have the feeling that only halfways into a book puts me in a position to judge it nevertheless :))

Thanks all :)