If you are wondering what books to read this February, this is your space; you should settle in.
It is a new month and just about another perfect window to officially start reading a book and commit to finishing it, especially if you belong to the generations that struggle with finishing a book most likely because you sleep off at 9:00 pm. Sometimes, way before!
Hopefully, this time you finish the book and you do so in good time too.
Or, if you are an avid reader looking for what book to hop on next, or you simply desire to read a book and would like some recommendations, then this is for you.
Interestingly, it is Black History Month and so in celebration, we have put together a collection of books from some of Africa’s prolific authors and we hope you love them. Here is our recommendation on books to read this February and Black History Month.
A BLOOD CONDITION – Kayombo Chingonyi (June, 2021)
Zambian author, Kayombo Chingonyi, explores a health condition experienced by Africans on the continent, in this collection of poetry. The writer openly dissects the issue of HIV and people living with HIV especially in Zambia. A strong advocate for PLWHA ( People Living with HIV/AIDS), this is one book that has caught our attention and will definitely make not just a good read but a better understanding of the condition. ( Penguin Books)
A Blood Condition tells a story of inheritance – the people, places, cultures and memories that form us. Kayo Chingonyi explores how distance and time, nations and a century’s history, can collapse within a body, our past continuous in our present.
Pemguin
DEAR SENTHURAN( A BLACK SPIRIT MEMOIR) – Akwaeke Emezi (June, 2021)
Akwaeke Emezi has been in the spotlight as an African writer who has demystified a lot of concepts in gender roles. Dear Senthuran is our ultimate read for the season. The Nigerian-Tamil writer delivers yet another masterpiece in this book.
In this book, they explore the right to one’s body and gender as the central themes. Building relationships on the romantic, spiritual and emotional level are greatly emphasized. A poignantly honest book.
SACRAMENT OF BODIES – Romeo Oriogun (March, 2020)
Sacrament of Bodies explores what it means to be queer, masculine, and Nigerian. In this remarkable work, Oriogun attempts to understand how a queer man might recover in a culture where everything is designed to prevent such repair. In the end, Oriogun’s poetry is about bereavement and how the body seeks survival through movement.
Romeo Oriogun is a Nigerian poet who lives and writes in the UK.
GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER – Bernadine Evaristo – (May, 2019)
Through the perspective of a dozen women, who come from diverse educational backgrounds ( or none), who are of different ages and statuses in society but are bound by their heritage of being black, Bernadine Evaristo explores the issue of racial discrimination and inequality in a predominantly white society.
The book is relatable to men because, in each character role, there is a connection with what black males also endure when they have to live in or experience the same.(Penguin Books) A 2019 Booker prize winner
THE SHADOW KING – Maaza Mengiste (September, 2019)
Largely based on the invasion of Ethiopia by Benito Mussolini, this is a fictional work about two women’s lives and struggles in the face of war. Africans on the continent are no strangers to civil conflicts, uprisings and insurgencies.
Thus, trauma and post-trauma that arises during such large scale conflicts and the effects of war are soberly reflected upon to give a clearer understanding of these matters. This book won the 2020 Booker prize.
