2011 Reads

For other years and categories, see Review

This list includes books and single stories read in 2011. Previously, this list was organised according to reviews so that a book read in the previous year and reviewed in the current year will be found here. However, this system has been reviewed to reflect only 2011 reads and nothing more and further categorised into months. Note that Single Stories are indicated by SS in brackets. A Single Story is a short story that was not read as part of an anthology or was not part of an anthology at the time of read. These SS are shortlisted short-stories like those for the Caine Prize or are from magazines and other websites.

JANUARY:

1. Return of the Water Spirit by Pepetela
2. Distant view of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat
3. The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison by Jack Mapanje
4. The Shadow of Imana by Veronique Tadjo
5. Neighbours: The Story of a Murder by Lilia Momple
6. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
7. Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
8. A Woman Alone by Bessie Head
9. Chaka by Thomas Mofolo

FEBRUARY:

1. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. Tropical Fish, Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana
4. The Clothes of Nakedness by Benjamin Kwakye

MARCH:

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
2. A Question of Power by Bessie Head
3. Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono
4. Beloved by Toni Morrison

APRIL:

1. Mine Boy by Peter Abrahams
2. The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas
3. Accra! Accra! More Poems About Modern Afrika by Papa Kobina Ulzen
4. The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa
5. Fela, This Bitch of a Life by Carlos Moore

MAY:

1. The Secret Destiny of America by Manly P. Hall
2. Searching by Nawal El Saadawi
3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
4. Every Man is a Race by Mia Couto

JUNE:

1. Shadows by Chenjerai Hove
2. A Sense of Savannah: Tales of a Friendly Walk through Northern Ghana by Kofi Akpabli
3. The Gods are not to Blame by Ola Rotimi

JULY:

1. Dew in the Morning by Shimmer Chinodya
2. 1984 by George Orwell
3. Underground People by Lewis Nkosi
4. Mema by Daniel Mengara

AUGUST:

1. Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe
2. Eno's Story by Ayodele Olofintuade
3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
4. The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
5. Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism by Kwame Nkrumah
6. Opening Spaces: An Anthology Contemporary African Women's Writing by Yvonne Vera (Editor)
7. Look Where You Have Gone to Sit by Martin Egblewogbe and Laban Carrick Hill (Editors)
8. Icebergs by Alistair Morgan (SS)
9. Waiting by E.C. Osondu (SS)
10. You Wreck Her by Parselelo Kantai (SS)
11. How Kamau wa Mwangi Escaped into Exile by Mukoma wa Ngugi (SS)

SEPTEMBER:

1. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
2. A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
3. Soulmates by Alex Smith (SS)
4. How Shall we Kill the Bishop by Lily Mabura (SS)
5. The Life of Worm by Ken Barris (SS)
6. Excursions in My Mind by Nana Awere Damoah
7. Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka
8. Stickfighting Days by Olufemi Terry (SS)
9. Muzungu by Namwali Serpell (SS)

OCTOBER:

1. The Book of Not by Tsitsi Dangarembga
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. Weep Not, Child by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
4. The Trouble with Nigeria by Chinua Achebe
5. In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata by Lauri Kubuitsile
6. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
7. Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes

NOVEMBER:

1. The Other Crucifix by Benjamin Kwakye
2. Tickling the Ghanaian: Encounters with Contemporary Culture by Kofi Akpabli
3. The Imported Ghanaian by Alba Kunadu Sumprim
4. Butterfly Dreams by Beatrice Lamwaka

DECEMBER:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
3. So Long a Letter by Mariama  Bâ