Beasts of No Nation is a rather deceptive book in that it's very slim and compact (a mere 142 pages in the edition I read) and yet the depth of the material makes it a difficult read. The plot follows a young child soldier in an unnamed African country who not only has unspeakable things happen to him but does the unspeakable to others. It reminded ( Read more... )

Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes* is an exceptional work about an exceptional woman that manages to put the spotlight on a little known historical document (the titular Book of Negroes).

Spanning sixty or so years, from the mid 1700s to early 1800s, The Book of Negroes is about Aminata Diallis, a woman who as a child is kidnapped from her ( Read more... )

Marie NDiaye has an illustrious career in France, winning both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Femina and being one of only two women who have ever had their work performed at the Comédie française. It is no surprise then that Trois Femmes Puissantes (available in English as Three Strong Women) which one the Goncourt, is such a staggering sweeping ( Read more... )

6. Crystal Blanton (ed.), Shades of Faith: Minority Voices in Paganism. Pagans of colour write about their experiences. As with any such anthology, some pieces engaged me more than others; some were very moving ( Read more... )

#19: Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara

( Summer of the Big Bachi )

4. I read Chinua Achebe's Collected Poems. I felt as if I'm not the intended audience for the majority of these poems. I'm not "African"/Nigerian/Igbo. Only a handful of the poems, mostly early "Biafra" poems, seemed aimed at me and my level of understanding. Instead I felt the great privilege of being invited into someone else's conversation as a ( Read more... )

Born in Liberia and descended from the nation's founders, Helene Cooper lived there for 14 years as a member of the wealthy elite. She knew her homeland -- its unique history as a colony populated by former U.S. slaves, its sights, its tastes, its scents, its joys and its dangers. When Liberia's bloody coup d'etat finally came, Cooper had to leave ( Read more... )

A completely adorable children's science-fantasy set on an Africa-derived planet in which Earth is a legend and most of the technology is biological. I am a complete sucker for biotech, not to mention science-fantasy, and the extravagant invention and playfulness of the world gives the novel enormous charm.

All the best books about plants are ( Read more... )

What we have today is a selection of not very good reviews. Why? Because I'm moving into an apartment that's half the size of my current place. That means that some stuff has got to go. So I'd thought I'd do these reviews before I got rid of the books.

( Shadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe )

Kush: The Jewel of Nubia by Miriam Ma'at-Ka-Re Monges

Hello there, I'm going to attempt to read and review 50 books that are probably mostly going to be focused on Africa because I am minorly obsessed find the cultures, philosophical systems and religions interesting. I'm probably not going to finish 50 in a year because with any luck I'll have a ( Read more... )