Bookish Reflections: A Recap of My 2023 Reading Experience.
Happy New Year! My 2023 reading goal was 52 books, inspired by achieving my 2022 goal of 48 books. While I didn’t reach my target, I still take pride in completing 40 books. Why did I fall short? Well, I landed a new job with a couple of peak seasons and said ‘yes’ to more social engagements compared to 2022. I’m proud of both reasons!
To share my 2023 reading list, I have devised some categories. But before delving into that, let me outline how I diversified my reading. I aimed to explore more books authored by Africans and centred around Africa. Of the 40 books I read, 67% fell into this category. African countries represented in my reading include Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Ghana, South Africa, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Somalia. Non-African countries I read from for the first time included Philippines, Serbia, Ireland, Jamaica and Bulgaria. As for genres, 65% of my reads were fiction, while the remainder comprised non-fiction. Now, onto my random categories:
- Books that I imagine were painful to write due to their intensely personal content:
Rob Delaney’s A Heart That Works, which I reviewed here, delves into the raw emotions surrounding the devastating loss of his two-year-old son to cancer. Safiya Sinclair’s How to Say Babylon powerfully chronicles her challenging upbringing within a strict and volatile Rastafarian family setting while exploring her journey to discover her voice.
2. Books that were infuriating to read due to their poignant narratives:
Loot by Barnaby Phillips unearths the painful account of Britain’s plundering and refusal to repatriate Africa’s invaluable art. Tomorrow I Become A Woman by Aiwanose Odafen confronts abuse and other weighty themes, leaving one needing to unpack emotions. Patricia Evangelista’s Some People Need Killing unflinchingly exposes the harrowing reality of extrajudicial killings under the leadership of the former Philippines president, Rodrigo Duterte, painting a devastating picture of state-sanctioned violence.
3. Books I received as gifts which I would not have picked up otherwise but ended up thoroughly enjoying:
Bill Gates’ How to Prevent the Next Pandemic was unexpectedly intriguing. Richard Carlson’s Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff offered chewable wisdom reminders.
Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff and Bless The Daughter Raised By A Voice In Her Head (a collection of Warsan Shire’s poetry) made for delightful bedside table reads.
4. Books that found their way onto my reading list solely because I was captivated by the author’s previous works:
Ayobami Adebayo’s A Spell of Good Things, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Julian Barnes’ The Noise of Time, as well as Frederik Backman’s Beartown and its sequel Us Against You.
5. Gun to my head, which were my favourite books?:
Africa is Not A Country by Dipo Faloyin (my review), A Certain Amount of Madness: The Life, Politics, and Legacies of Thomas Sankara edited by Amber Murray, and The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah.
6. Author sweet spot:
Shout out to Petina Gappah, an author whose four books — The Book of Memory, Rotten Row, An Elegy for Easterly, and Out of Darkness, Shining Light — I had the pleasure of reading. I had the opportunity to meet her at NBO Litfest, and listening to her speak left me wondering how I had not read her work earlier. She was featured in a live episode recording of the ‘A Palace for The People’ podcast, which you can listen to here.
7. Books either written by fellow Kenyans or set in Kenya:
Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu, One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina (long time coming), Let Me Call You Back by Jackson Biko, For What Are Butterflies Without Their Wings by Troy Onyango, and Truth Is a Flightless Bird by Akbar Hussain.
8. Books I borrowed from my sister’s collection while I was broke:
The Sex Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa, Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro, Under The Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta, and The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare.
9. Short stories collection:
Apart from the earlier mentioned What are Butterflies without Their Wings, Rotten Row and An Elegy for Easterly… No Sweetness Here by Ama Ata Aidoo, sparking my interest to delve deeper into her works, and A Broken People’s Playlist by Chimeka Garricks.
10. Books that fall under my ‘Too tired to think of more categories’ list:
Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo (my review), is a book I loved but found divergent opinions within my Book Club. Vagabonds by Eloghosa Osunde and Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov had excellent premises, yet I struggled with them for various reasons. Walk Through Walls by Marina Abramovic left me perplexed almost throughout my reading. An Unusual Grief by Yewande Omotoso lived up to its title in its uncommon narrative. This Child Will Be Great by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf sparked compelling debates on Africa’s leadership. I picked Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich as my annual classic read. The Career Toolkit by Mark Allan Herschberg was my sole business/management book of the year. Why Do You Dance When You Walk? by Abdourahman A. Waberi introduced me to literature from Djibouti, while Prophet Song by Paul Lynch caught my attention as 2023’s Booker Prize winner.
Phew! That’s it folks.
I hope you get to read amazing books in 2024!
