I'm making a list of books to read to make me more well-read. My definition of this is booms across all genres, including books from all over the world. So I'm not just looking for a list with great American novels (especially as I'm not American!) but a wide variety.
For different genres, fiction and non-fiction, what would you say are must read books or authors? What about a must read author from a particular country? Plus more modern books you think are important and will stand the test of time.
A sample of some of the books on my list so far:
Fiction –
Toni Morrison (haven't decided which yet)
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Never Let Me Go
Pachinko
Non-Fiction –
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Something by David Graeber
Interested to hear your thoughts!
by harrietrosie
1 Comment
I have a list of African must-read books, that always starts with Chinua Achebe:
Chinua Achebe (Nigeria): Things Fall Apart (it’s unclear why he never got the Nobel Prize for this; he clearly deserved it.)
Buchi Emecheta (Nigeria): Second Class Citizen (lots of melodrama, lots of ups and downs, but clearly a different look at a different society. I’m told her book Motherhood is also very good, but I haven’t got to it yet.
Mongo Beti (Cameroon): Cruel City, and The Poor Christ of Bomba. The first has wonderful personalities and an engaging story; the second is called satire, and probably deserves the term, but there’s nothing funny about it. The first is just a lot of fun; the second is a classic.
Paulina Chiziane (Mozambique): The First Wife (a HILARIOUS look at a very different society from ours!)
David Diop (Senegal/France): At Night All Blood is Black (pretty unforgettable and horrible, but worth it anyway)
Kaouther Adimi (Algeria): Our Riches (kind of a love letter to Algeria, a place I would love to live)
NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwe): Glory, and We Need New Names (about how it really was, under Mugabe. I’m not sure whether it’s more or less horrible than Diop, but it’s in that neighborhood. I’m sure she’ll have a Nobel Prize soon.)
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda): Let’s Tell This Story Properly (an interconnected set of stories, first about Ugandans who have gone to the UK, then about Ugandans who have returned from the UK. I thought it was just wonderful, all the way around.
Sindiwe Magona (South Africa): Living, Loving, and Lying Awake at Night (a series of stories about people who go to South Africa to work, what they leave behind, what they take with them, just the whole environment. Unforgettable.)