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Starbie B.'s avatar

I loved What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky and Family Lore! Speaking of anthologies that stick to your ribs, have you read Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda yet?

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Chioma's avatar

Family Lore was so delicious! A story about a family will always hit the spot for me. And, no! I haven’t had the chance to read Ghostroots but you’re not the first person to recommend this to me in my comments so now I KNOW I have to tune in omg

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Starbie B.'s avatar

Same! If a book starts with a map or a family tree, I’m automatically locked in lol! I’m excited for you to get into Ghostroots!

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Martha's avatar

Oh I love !!! So intrigued by Nefando!!! I’ve got the paperback of Martyr coming in Jan and I am excited! So much anticipation for this novel I can’t believe it and I’ve got no idea what to except tbh! Every review I’ve low-key skimmed to make sure I’m going in blind! Congrats on reading more than last year - a huge accomplishment !!! xx

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Chioma's avatar

I feel like the premise doesn’t even prepare you for the form that Akbar uses to tackle the topic at hand. It’s definitely one of those books that I’ve grown to appreciate not only because of the stellar prose but because of the overall structure. It really reinforced why I always gravitate towards literary fiction when I want to read something I’ve truly never read before. Thank you so much for the congratulations — believe it or not, I feel like following you and seeing your passion for translated fiction has influenced me to broaden my own horizons where reading is concerned. I thank you for that! 🫂🫂🫂

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Zaina's avatar

I adore top ten reads because this is how I make my tbr for the upcoming year 🙇🏽‍♀️

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Chioma's avatar

Same 😭 you should see my recent watches on YouTube… just hours upon hours of top ten lists from 2024

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Hannah's avatar

added Nefando to my list immediately!! I think you'd love Ojeda's Jawbone, it's such a strange and kind of grotesque and wonderfully written book

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Chioma's avatar

Jawbone is a book I must get to by the end of the month! Ojeda’s writing is just so visceral… I really couldn’t put Nefando down so I hope you enjoy(?) it as much as I did. Or, at the very least, appreciate it!

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Hannah's avatar

visceral is such a good word for it!! I’m sure I’ll enjoy Nefando I’ll for sure let you know!

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Fatima Mohammed's avatar

Martyr! has been added to my tbr! I read What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky a couple years ago and enjoyed it. I’m so intrigued by African speculative fiction, specifically short story collections. I’d recommend Drinking from Graveyard Wells by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu and Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda. I absolutely loved them. And congrats on reading more than last year despite your reading slump!

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Chioma's avatar

Thank you, Fatima! I’ll be adding those recommendations to my TBR immediately. And I’m totally on the same page when it comes to African speculative fiction. I especially love it when authors play around with African mythos and spirituality because we see that so rarely in common media.

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Fatima Mohammed's avatar

Omg same! Then you should check out Efua Traoré. She writes children’s books set in Western Nigeria that explore Yoruba mythology/history. I loved Children of the Quicksand and Sister Spirit (they’re both middle grade but really good).

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chloë's avatar

I absolutely need to get a copy of Martyr my god i feel like it's not one I can read as an ebooo

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Chioma's avatar

It’s really your kind of book! I feel like you’d have so much fun with it. You better message me when you tap in 🫡

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chloë's avatar

I WILL I think I'll buy a copy for when I fly to Korea and reading it then, I feel like I'll need to scribble in the book!!!!

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fawzul himaya hareed's avatar

and you best believe i’m adding every one of them to my tbr ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾

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Chioma's avatar

I’m expecting a top ten list from you too, friend 👀👀👀. I need to steal some titles from you!

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