Reading List 2020 + Comments on Each Book
Context:
In 2020, I continued my focus on books written by women of colour. I greatly enjoyed almost every book I consumed, though I admit some were perhaps more of a whirlwind of fantastical concepts that sometimes went over my head. A great resource for me has been lists online, here is one such list: http://www.africansfs.com/resources/published
In 2021, I am not sure what reading direction to commit to, but one theme is grabbing my attention which is asian women’s voices. Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Malay etc. are all voices I feel I need more of in my head in order to deepen my understanding of this part of the world, and the lives connected to these places and cultures.
The Reading List wth comments:
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps
Written by Kai Ashante Wilson
A young adult fiction by an acclaimed author, this book puts the ‘magic’ in magical realism. Not all is as it seems, and sometimes you can’t keep track of it all.
The Kishi: An Esowan Story
Written by Antoine Bandele
A young adult fiction that blends small village folklore and very real violence, corruption and threats. Humans transform into other creatures in this story, they are called “Kishi”.
Infomocracy: A Novel
Written by Malka Older
A strongly intellectual, romantic, international story about a future with both global and hyper local democracy, all mediated through our digital devices. First in the trilogy, I’ll read the others asap!
Redemption in Indigo
Written by Karen Lord
Lord’s award winning debut novel, it’s a wild ride. The story holds a lot of meaning and is not only about human people, but also the relationship between spirits called Patience and Chance, and humanity needing to realise what it can and can’t control.
Sister Mine
Written by Nalo Hopkinson
Twin sisters born from a demigod and a human, one with no “mojo” and the other with plenty. Family dynamics, discovering your own inner strength, finding power where you thought there was none. Healing conflicts in their lineage.
Broken Places and Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected
Written by Nnedi Okorafor
Nnedi is one of my favourite authors, a young Nigerian scifi writer. This is an autobiographical book she wrote to explain her disabilities and how they lead her to become the writer she is today. It’s sassy and real.
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl
Written by Issa Rae
This is a hilarious, guffaw-inducing book. It’s sort of a collection of essays which are each vignettes on the facts of life as an ‘awkward black girl’. From food, to hair, to types of “cool” etc.
Kindred
Written by Octavia E. Butler
I didn’t know Octavia’s writing could be so good. I came to Octavia for the dystopian California renditions in the Earthseed books, but I became devoted through her transporting, visceral tellings of the condition of slavery for black women in the US south using modern characters who time-travel.
Brown Girl in the Ring
Written by Nalo Hopkinson
Dystopian future Toronto, somewhat magical characters facing real human problems. Drug markets and human organ harvesting, wise old women holding communities together, intergenerational legacies of leadership.
Fledgling
Written by Octavia E. Butler
If someone told me that there was a book out there that could beautifully combine themes of slavery, genetic modification, polyamory and racism into a page turner vampire novel I would not have believed them. This book is very good.
Kabu Kabu: Stories
Written by Nnedi Okorafor
This is a collection of short stories, some are a bit scary for me and I skipped one or two. Most of them are stunning. They always leave me wishing there was a novel for each instead of just short stories.
Childfinder & A Necessary Being: Two Novellas
Written by Octavia E. Butler
Each story is totally different, one explores a society where individuals control what colour they are, and the other explores telepathy and giftedness and the inversion of the white/black power dynamic.
Amnesty: A Novel
Written by Aravind Adiga
The story happens all in a day, it’s a high stakes make-you-sweat situation of an illegal immigrant in Australia being blackmailed and forced to choose between reporting a murder or not, since reporting the murder would lead to them being discovered and deported.
Who Fears Death
Written by Nnedi Okorafor
This story is an epic. It starts with violent rape scenes and genocide, it progresses to the daughter of rape realising her true gifts, and then discovering she is the key to healing this intergenerational war. It has a lot of correlations to the Bible story of Jesus.
Binti: The Night Masquerade & Binti: Home
Written by Nnedi Okorafor
Two books in this short series, both explore inter-species war, negotiation, magical powers of mathematics, and also the importance of traditional cultural practices and what we lose when we sever connections to our ancestral communities. There’s alien technology, universities in other galaxies, expectations to stay home and run the family business and be a good woman all combined.
Akata Witch & Akata Warrior
Written by Nnedi Okorafor
I loved these books so much. They’re about three young people in Nigeria with magical powers, one of them is a ‘chosen one’ of sorts — an albino teen girl — and there are amazing show-down battles with multiverse creatures. There are flying creatures, parallel universes etc.
The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali
Written by Sabina Khan
This is a modern tale of a Bangladeshi teen living in a muslim home in a western country, and the juxtaposition of the different cultures. Trigger warnings for emotional manipulation, personal freedoms being removed, passports stolen, forced arranged marriage. It is an educational read, not without humour.
The Salt Roads: A Novel
Written by Nalo Hopkinson
This is a wild journey of Afro-Caribbean spirit Goddess of love ‘Ezili’, with each chapter showing the life of someone where the spirit travels to inhabit their body. Midwives, Dancers, Prostitutes — women from different parts of history and the spirit of Ezili entering their bodies gives them the courage and clarity to become their best selves. I had to re-read the last chapter multiple times, the profoundness was so immense.
