Readers' Top Ten - Casca Amanquah Hackman

I have known Casca on Facebook for sometime and I guess we became friends because after scanning his profile I saw we share a lot of things, a lot. He loves to read and to talk about them. Then we met at one of the monthly Writers Project of Ghana's book discussions for the first time.

About Casca Amanquah Hackman: Casca 'Comrade' Amanqua Hackman is a graduate of the Universtiy of Ghana, a former school teacher and past editor of the Golden World Magazine. His short stories and articles have been published in Daily Graphic and Mirror.

Below is Casca's top ten African books. Note that I have linked the titles and authors to posts within ImageNations, where available. My views and his might not be the same and so beware when reading and judging them.

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Yes, a good book is a good book, and it’s enjoyed anywhere; yet it's enjoyed better by persons who find the setting, characters and themes familiar. There are good books from Africa too. And so, as an African, reading African stories are most convenient to me, primarily because the environment, challenges and events are familiar, and so I find it easy to adopt the story as mine and also understand the messages naturally. 

There is a vast array of African books. I know that as I read more, the list is likely to change, but for now these are my top ten in no particular order. 

MATIGARI (Ngugi wa Thiong'o). I am fond of the main character of this book, Matigari ma Njiruungi. Personally, I share his conviction for justice and his abhorrence for oppression. It has a strong message for the capitalist system that has made indigenous people slaves in their own land. 

HEAD ABOVE WATER (Buchi Emecheta). Of course Buchi Emecheta has always written from her personal experiences and in this autobiography she delves deeper into her roots, to the extent of even going as far back as the period before she was born. From her native town of Ibuza, through her luck in getting admission at the Methodist High School, her marriage at sixteen and sojourn to England, she has chronicled her life in 33 beautiful chapters. I can only say her life has been a miracle.

DIPLOMATIC POUNDS AND OTHER STORIES (Ama Ata Aidoo). Released just last year, this book contains twelve thoughtful short stories.  Women are at the center as usual. It’s a blend of the success, challenges and expectations, whether reasonable or not, that stare at women both home and abroad.

NO LONGER AT EASE (Chinua Achebe). Obi Okonkwo, the grandson of the famous Okonkwo of Things Fall Apart, is not able to escape the trap that Africans who had returned from studying abroad in pre-independence Nigeria had set for themselves. The economic and social expectations that welcomed him back home to Nigeria from studying in England, corrupts him against his own stance on morality. Although, it lives under the shadow of Things Fall Apart, its prophetic occurrence is not invisible.

MY FIRST COUP D'ETAT (John Dramani Mahama). It’s great to have political leaders writing their stories. Objectively, it helps the follower to know who their leader is and better assess his actions and ideas. Eighteen compelling chapters under different titles make this fine book. Mahama takes us through a tough and unforgettable journey from Damongo through Accra, Tamale, Nigeria and Russia. It’s an autobiography with very serious historical, social and political information that has either been hidden or misquoted all this while.

NEIGHBOURS (Lilia Momple). Have I heard any good thing about apartheid? This sad account of innocent people caught up in a bloody conspiracy they have nothing to do with adds up to all the evil of apartheid. In a quest to destabilize Mozambique, where ANC exiles were operating from, the South African government launches vicious campaigns, and peaceful people like Narguiss are caught up in the conspiracy they have nothing to do with. It’s an emotional story with a straight lesson; the fact that you don’t want trouble doesn't mean trouble wouldn't come your way.

THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK (Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie). Twelve nice short stories set in both Nigeria and USA, in which the complexities of love, career and many others are exposed to unexpected minds. The messages are straight and binding.

SO LONG A LETTER (Mariama Ba). It’s the most moving and emotional book I have read. This book can be placed alongside Buchi Emecheta’s Head Above Water, because of its candidness and emotional evocations. The style is skillful and the language is like music to the mind.

THE MEMORY OF LOVE (Aminatta Forna). Even in times of war and quagmire, people always fall in love. The difficult decisions to make and the complications in such situations are strongly highlighted by Aminatta in this lengthy novel. The style is subtle yet the theme is terse.

GATHERING SEAWEED (Jack Mapanje). All what we need to know about African freedom fighters are in this book. Even knowing the personal account of people like Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, Ngugi wa Thiongo and many others is gratifying enough. In this collection, we have deeper insight into the challenges of fighting to free natives and lands from oppression and foreign rule.   

Readers' Top Ten - Amma Konadu

About Hannah Amma Konadu Anarfi: Amma Konadu is blogger - at Amma K's Outlet - and a final year student at the Department of English at the University of Ghana, focusing on advanced creative writing and African/African-American literature. She is the current president of the department and a founding member of the Creative Writers' Club (CWC). She prefers to describe herself as a developing writer and poet.

Below is Amma's Top Ten. Note that I have linked the titles and authors to posts within ImageNations, where available. My views and hers might not be the same and so beware when reading them.

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I’m almost ashamed to say, I have read more books from foreign writers than from African writers. But thankfully I have read enough to list my top ten. I must thank Writers’ Project of Ghana for introducing me to amazing reads. School has also helped. Alright so here goes...

Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

It is my number one, because my, oh my! I have read that book about 4 times now and you should see it now…with notes made on almost each page! I love, love, love the read, the characters (God knows I fell in love with Father Amadi) and the emotions it triggered in me. I was angry at a point, frustrated at a point, sad, I wanted to kill Eugene with my bare hands, I tell you! Simply beautiful!

Diaries of a Dead African – Chuma Nwokolo

Let me first start by laughing out loud! I rise and salute this man for his witty humour! It blew me away. The richness of the book in terms of language…it is a sad story he tells. But he does so in a much laid back way, you just take the story in cool. I loved the second diary best and that particular character too. He was fiery enough for my liking. It was sad that he died too. 

The Ghost of Sani Abacha – Chuma Nwokolo

It’s him again, yes. I loved this one too. Again for the humour and particularly because he raised very important issues that we see in the present. I still remember this part, to paraphrase..

If I had grown a beard and bleated through my campaign speech, I would still have won the election because I was in the ruling party.

You can’t help but laugh at the raw truth. Just candid and I love it!

As the Crow Flies – Veronique Tadjo

This I know a lot of my peers will not agree with me when I say it’s a good read, because I have shared the book with a few of my friends and they couldn't even finish it. They were not getting the story. But I remember what one of my professors told me in a criticism class. He said; "The story, can sometimes start right from its front cover". And this book is one of such. The art on the cover page is in itself a story, before you even begin to read. What I loved about the book was its style. How she told the story in an almost poetic way. I have favorite lines from this book that reads like a poem. Take this for instance;

I do not understand this story that crosses my life diagonally, poisoning my existence and leading me towards hell. I do not understand this musty story…

 And this too

A hand in a half-lit cinema, a hand whose intention I could not fathom. It grabbed mine. Urgent. The music. The film. Voices. The dark. A moist penis. The man running away. An irreparable sensation.

What is there not to love?

A man of the people – Chinua Achebe

Truly it is “a very funny satire”. Again, something we can easily relate to; the corruption in our governments and dirty politics. I loved the love story in there and especially how it ended.

Kongi’s Harvest – Wole Soyinka

The richness in proverbs, the humour in there -The elders just cracked me up! (By now you know I love me some humour). My best part of the book is the sexually suggestive dialogue between Daudo and Segi. Priceless!

The Palm-Wine Drinkard – Amos Tutuola

This I read just recently and it was a good read. This book became personal to me because when my mother saw me reading it she was so happy, I had the longest chat with her and for the first time she told me many other fantastic tales. So this book I will forever remember. I admire the author for his determination to put his stories out there.

Faceless, Not Without Flowers, and Beyond the Horizon – Amma Darko

These three books I read a while back and I enjoyed. I think she did a good job capturing the true nature of things, especially looking at street life which she captured in Faceless. She did not exaggerate. What she wrote about are things that happen day in day out. I’d choose her books over Peggy Oppong’s any day (I must be candid here).

There are other books I've read and enjoyed including those from African-American writers like Toni Morrison (I love that woman). I have drawn lots of inspiration from her book, Zora Neale Hurston’s  “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Du-Bois’ “Souls of Black Folk”…they are not African Writers but they do throw some light on the realities in the lives of Africans in the diaspora. 

Readers' Top Ten - Mary Okeke Reviews

The Readers' Top Ten continues this week with Mary Okeke. One of the aims of this series is to introduce readers to the rich literature Africa has to offer.

About Mary Okeke: Mary is a reader and book blogger, at Mary Okeke Reviews She reads wide but mostly review African books. She lives in Barcelona, Spain where she studied Anesthesiology, Pain-therapy and CPR during her post-graduate studies. On her blog, Mary says:

I take so much pleasure in reading books! Specifically, those written by African Writers.

It is based on this that Mary shares her Top Ten African Books with us below.

Note: I have linked some of the books to posts within ImageNations - where available. Note that my views and Mary's might not be the same and so must be read with that in mind.

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The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta

A novel beautifully written that insightfully deals with issues affecting us as African women. You give birth to children, but your children do not belong to you, they do not owe you for bringing them up, they are free human beings, when they grow up, they take decisions that best suit their living and not that of their parents. 

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

African classic, what can I say? More over he is a townsman. 

Zenzele: A Letter from my Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire

A novel I highly recommend to all people of African heritage. What is the meaning of being an African woman?

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Another classic, even though it was only written in 2006. No matter the polemic she has been indulged in lately, she is just a novelist of a highly original kind.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Story of survival, how an African woman made it to the top, despite all her sufferings.

I do not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

It perfectly expounded on the every day life of most people in my side of the country (Eastern part of Nigeria). Hilarious and realistic.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

Ishmael Beah became my inspirational person right after reading this memoir.

Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo

I devoured this novel in a couple of days. You know Nana, I am a lover of African novels that deals on issues concerning us (African women).

No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe

I am sorry I am in love with my townsman. Not just because he is my townsman but because he is just a genius of a novelist.

So Long A Letter by Mariama Bâ

Another classic. Love, life, relationship change from one generation to another. Starting point to African literature.

My top ten varies from year to year. I am yet to work on my 2013 top ten, which will take place next year. Novels like Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night by Sindiwe Magona, Born in the Big Rains by Fadumo Korn, Neighbours: the Story of a Murder by Lilia Momple, Diaries of a Dead African by Chuma Nwokolo might surely be included. However, for the time being above are my official top ten.

Readers' Top Ten - Kinna Reads

Last week I introduced a new series I wanted to run on ImageNations called Readers' Top Ten. I said one of its aims was to introduce readers to the rich literature Africa has to offer. The series begins today with Kinna Reads. 

About Kinna: Kinna is a book blogger at Kinna Reads among many other things. On her blog Kinna says

I grew up in literary, bookish household. I love books, reading, nurturing and developing my appreciation for the art form. I read mostly fiction, both contemporary and classic. I really enjoy world literature. I'm partial to women writers and their works, especially African women writers.

Below is Kinna's Top Ten. Note that I have linked the titles and authors to posts within ImageNations, where available. My views and Kinna's might not be the same and so beware when reading them.
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Where do I begin? So first, I consider this blog’s owner, Nana Fredua, a friend.  He is reader kin. And the best kind of reader kin; he reads and loves African literature.

But really, what kind of brother-reader asks a sister to compile her top ten African books?  Eh, Nana?  Don’t get me wrong; I love lists.  I have reading lists on my blog.  But I shy away from making lists of favorite books.  The closest I came to such was a post on the Best Five of Jose Saramago’s novels.  That was easy because I was confined to just Saramago’s novels. And even then I couldn't restrict myself to five books and managed to list seven.  The “what’s your favorite book, what’s your favorite author?’ line of questions temporarily render readers speechless.  And Nana knows this. This is not reader kinship. But I’m a good sister and Nana Fredua will be obliged.

The List

My rules (because Nana must not be obeyed):  one book per author but can suggest up to 2 books/author if I cannot decide.  The two books count as one entry. And I can exceed ten books if the pain of culling is unbearable.

I allowed myself to be aggressively guided by the following paragraph in Nana’s introduction of Readers’ Top Ten:

“The aim of this project is to introduce to readers of ImageNations the rich literature the continent has to offer.  It is meant to move beyond the 'one-novel African literature', which seems to have come to define literature in Africa. It is also to promote African literature to both Western audience and Africans who hardly read from the continent or are unsure of where to start.”

[In alphabetical order by author.  This is not a ranked list]

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe

I should have taken Achebe off this list if indeed I was “aggressively guided “by Nana’s paragraph above.  Because who doesn't know of Achebe nor cannot find out by just googling African Literature.  I don’t ride for that “one novel African Literature”, Things Fall Apart. I am solidly in #TeamArrowOfGod. Achebe’s lead characters are stubborn people and I prefer stubborn with wise in Ezeulu even if we lose the battle between change and continuity!

Anowa by Ama Ata Aidoo

I debated whether to include a book by this author. Would it be nepotism, Nana?  Drama is African literature’s finest tradition. Aidoo’s treatment of slavery, love, infertility and community is powerful.  A haunting tragedy.

So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba

Ramatoulaye gets under my skin. Every time I read this novel, I want to yell and tell her that 25 years is enough, that he left you, that keeping the door open all those years was just wrong… But Ramatoulaye very calmly, and with such eloquence, explains her side of the story. I’m never persuaded but I find myself thinking ‘I hear you, I hear you’.  She should have been a lawyer. I’m also a sucker for well-written epistolary novels.

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

I don’t know but sometimes I think there are right moments when a book and its reader meet.  I just can’t explain it.  I met Nervous Conditions towards the waning years of my family’s exile in Zimbabwe and I will forever be grateful for Dangarembga’s exploration of class, race and gender.

Close Sesame/Maps by Nuruddin Farah

Farah is one of a handful of African male writers who make an effort to write well-conceived women characters.   It’s hard to pick just one of his books.  He tends to group his novel in trilogies of theme.  Close Sesame, of the Variations on the Theme of An African Dictatorship trilogy, centers on Deeriye, a gentle and dignified patriarch. I’m not one for patriarchal figures but this old man is so beautifully and hauntingly rendered. He’s one of the most memorable characters in all of literature.  Maps, from the Blood in the Sun Trilogy, is about identity - personal, familial and national.  The central character is the orphan Askar, another unforgettable character.  In fact, Farah’s novels are driven by his characters.  He’s said he means to write his people and certainly the people of Somalia are well-represented and loved in Farah’s work.

A Question of Power by Bessie Head

Bessie Head leaves me speechless and tongue-tied.  I cannot say that I enjoyed A Question of Power because it is so darn painful. And one cannot liberate Bessie Head from the pain.  Still, A Question of Power is an essential book for me, as is all of Head’s novels.

Palace Walk/Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz

Here’s the thing: it doesn't really matter which of Mahfouz’s gems I put here, and there are plenty. Miramar, Harafish, Children of the Alley, The Beggar and numerous other books are all fantastic.  He opened my eyes and heart to Egyptian literature and then he gave me the world. Read him, please.

The Cry of Winnie Mandela by Njabulo Ndebele

This book floors me every time I read it.  Part fiction, non-fiction, theory, fantasy, experimental, it situates post-apartheid South African nationalist and identity issues within the realm of women’s lives.  Simply brilliant and for me, absolutely essential.

Distant View of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat

Would it help if I told you that Distant View of a Minaret is one of Achebe’s favorite books?  Because I wonder how it is that this masterpiece is often overlooked by readers South of the Sahara. A collection of short stories centred mainly on the lives of Egyptian women, it’s groundbreaking and utterly exquisite.

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

A man returns home to Sudan after a sojourn in England. The best book on post-coloniality ever.  If you’re inclined to yawn at the term post-colonial, then read this book for its gorgeous prose, its searing honesty and its lyricism.  It is considered one of the finest novels of Arabic literature.  We will, forever, keep coming back to this masterpiece.

God’s Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembene

I know it is not a competition between film lovers and readers.  But I want to remind y’all that Sembene Ousmane was also a writer of tremendous significance. So give those reels a break and crack open one of his novels. God’s Bits of Wood is a novel about the proletariat.

Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka

I think sometimes folks forget or don’t even know what gives Soyinka all that stature.  It’s not his defiance of African leaders, not his eloquently, perfectly pitched missives directed at those who betray African people. It is his plays, his art, his incredible imagination – his sheer genius. Inspired by actual events, Death of the King’s Horseman is vintage Soyinka and rejects simplistic explanations.  Since we privilege tragedy over comedy, this particular Soyinka play is a must read.  If only death was always this beautiful and glorious!

Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Ngugi himself may not know this and I’m going to tell him:  all his other novels were in preparation for Wizard of the Crow.  Yes, even Matigari.  Wizard is the best approximation of Africa’s oral tradition rendered in the written form.  Wildly entertaining, funny, epic etc. etc., Wizard is a world unto itself.

Butterfly Burning/The Stone Virgins by Yvonne Vera

It’s hard to talk about Vera because I always need to get over the shock of her early death and how much of her words died with her.  The thing with Vera is she never lets us off easy. But she cushions the brutality with poetic prose and a sensuality that is life-affirming.  Both books explore Zimbabwe’s difficult past.  She does wonders with imagery.

Okay, Nana.  It’s been brutal culling this list and leaving out books like Purple Hibiscus [Chimamanda Adichie], Search Sweet Country [Kojo Laing], Woman at Point Zero [Nawal El Saadawi], We Killed Mangy Dog [Luis Bernardo Honwana], The Memory of Love [Aminatta Forna], etc etc.  But I enjoyed the exercise and of course, I realize again that I need to read more African Literature.  I need a soothing cup of tea now.

Challenges and Wish Books for 2013

Source

70 Books Reading Challenge*

In 2012, I participated in several challenges and succeeded in completing them all. In fact, they were the reason I read the largest haul of books since I started blogging in 2009 and I began tracking my reading habits and statistics. It is therefore amazing that I have not as yet stated, at least not openly, challenges I'm participating in, in 2013. Whilst I'm yet to create my own challenges - at least apart from the one I'm 'covertly' participating in - I've also not joined any external challenge, yet.

The only challenge I have in mind, and which I've been working towards, is to sustain my reading intensity by challenging myself to 70 books, just like I did in 2012. This would mean that I embark on heavy book purchases this year as I'm gradually running-out of unread books. 

Minor Challengers, subject to book availability

Non-Fiction: There are however books I would love to read this year. To bridge the gap between reading for fun and recreation and reading to gain knowledge in specific areas of life, I would, the availability of books permitting, be reading relatively more non-fiction (anything greater than 11 - the number read in 2012). Key wish themes/subjects/areas I would want to gain more knowledge on are:

1. Development, Culture and the Human Mind;
2. Thought and Language;
3. Philosophical, Political and Economic writings about nation states and humanity;

The following titles were offered by friends on facebook and twitter after I made the request for books that fit the above themes. Note they are not exhaustive and further additions (and supplies) will be welcome:

1. Thought and Language - Levy Vygotsky
2. The Myth we Live by - Mary Midgley
3. How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays - Umberto Eco
4. Tradition, Culture and Development in Africa - Historical Lessons for Modern Development and Planning - Ambe J. Njoh
5. Poor Numbers: How we are Misled by African Development Statistics and what to do about it - Cornell Studies in Political Economy - Morten Jerven

Fiction (Russo-lit): The fact that Russian authors have dominated the literary world, with the fine writings, before is an indisputable fact. In one breath one can name Nabokov, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov, Pushkin, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn, Gogol and others. It is therefore a literary crime to not have read a Russian. Again, I look up to reading, but not limited to, these writers:

1. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
2. Brothers of Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
3. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
4. Notes from the Undergound - Fyodor Dostoevsky
5. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
6. The Dreamlife of Sukhanov - Olga Grushin
7. Other Russian writers I will get.

Fiction (African): Funny enough, on the continent of Africa, the most difficult books to get are African-authored books. Ever since, Heinemann ended their African Writers Series book circulation amongst African countries have declined (my observations, might not be the fact). This is so even in the face of the sudden increase in publishing houses. For instance, it is easier to get a Toni Morrison in Ghana than to get a South African writer. Actually, apart from Gordimer, South African writers are hard to come by. It is even difficult to lay one's hand on books published by publishers in next door Nigeria. However, if I get them, I look forward to reading:

1. Broken Glass  - Alain Mabanckou
2. African Psycho - Alain Mabanckou

Fiction (Other Writers): There are other writers I still would love to read including some Nobel Laureates. The following are books that make the remaining wishlist:

1. The Wooden Tongue - Bogdan Tiganov
2. Romanians: Contradictions and Realities - Bogdan Tiganov
3. Prague Cemetery - Umberto Eco
4. The Name of Rose - Umberto Eco
5. Focault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco
6. Love in the time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8. In Praise of Stepmother - Mario Vargas
9. Face of Another - Kobe Abe
10. Women in the Dunes - Kobe Abe
11. The Summer my Father Died - Yudit Kiss

Conclusion
Knowing the difficulty to get books, I will definitely settle with the major challenge and work towards the minor challenges as and when I get the books. At least, it is good enough to wish.
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* For practical reasons such as the sizes of books I have picked up to read this year, I have revised this figure to 60 books. (February, 2013)

Two More Challenges Added: Africa Reading Challenge and The 2012 Chunkster Challenge

I have already blogged on the challenges I would be participating in this year. Most of my challenges have been self developed and I hardly join in other challenges except the Ghanaian Literature Week and the Nigerian Independence Book Reading Challenge hosted by Kinna and Amy respectively. This year, I am taking a step away from my comfort zone and participating, formally, in external reading challenges whilst making sure that all books I read also meet other reading challenges such as the Top 100 Books Reading Challenge. 

AFRICA LITERATURE READING CHALLENGE

When I blogged about my challenges for this year, I mentioned the Africa Reading Challenge to be hosted by Kinna. After days of deliberation, Kinna has finally put up the rules for this challenge. The rules are simple. The reader is supposed to have fun and get to explore Africa. He/She at the end would have actually visited several African countries through books. The rules are:

REGION: The entire African continent, including its island-states, which are often overlooked. (Visit Kinna's blog for more).

READING GOAL: 5 books. There are no levels and participants are encouraged to read more than 5 books. Eligible books include those which are written by African writers, or take place in Africa, or are concerned with Africans and with the historical and contemporary African issues. Note that at least 3 books must be written by African writers.

GENRE

1. Fiction - novels, short stories, poetry, drama, children's books. Note: You can choose to read a number of individual and uncollected short stories. In this case, 12 such stories would constitute 1 book. Individual poems do not count.
2. Non-Fiction - memoirs, autobiographies, history and current events.

READING SUGGESTIONS

1. Cover at least two regions, pick from North Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa and Central Africa
2. Include translated fiction from Arabic, Francophone and Lusophone literature
3. You can mix classic and contemporary fiction
4. If you intend to read mostly non-fiction, then please include at least one book (out of the five) of fiction.

MY BOOKS: I have selected books that I think meet the above criteria. Though I do not as yet have a book from East Africa on my shelf, I would be visiting bookshops to meet this target. Though currently, I am only listing five books, ImageNations itself is an African Literature blog and therefore throughout the year I would be bringing you more African books. 

1. As the Crow Flies by Veronique Tadjo (Translation (French); West Africa (Cote d'Ivoire))
2. Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz (Translation (Arabic); North Africa (Egypt))
3. Writing Free edited by Irene Staunton (Southern Africa (Zimbabwe); Anthology)
4. Burger's Daughter by Nadine Gordimer (Southern Africa (South Africa))
5. Madmen and Specialists by Wole Soyinka (West Africa (Nigeria); Drama)

Read more about this reading challenge here. There is a link to sign up.

2012 CHUNKSTER READING CHALLENGE*

This reading challenge has several levels. I am opting for the Chubby Chunkster which is for "readers who want to dabble in large tomes, but really doesn't want to commit to much more than that. Four Chunksters is all you need to finish this challenge."

Note that a chunkster is a book of 450 pages or more. Again, I'm using this challenge to reduce the large books on my Top 100 Books Reading Challenge, though I might deviate based on the mood. Selected books I would be choosing from include:

1. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner (483 pages)
2. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (542 pages)
3. Famished Road by Ben Okri (500 pages)
4. Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz (498 pages)
5. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (463 pages)
6. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (523 pages)
7. Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (581 pages)
8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (489 pages)
9. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (562 pages)

The first six books are on my Top 100 Reading Challenge. Read more about this reading challenge here.
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Update (March 23, 2012): Those read are linked to the review

Commonwealth Writers Prize for Africa Region Winners Reading Challenge

Geosireads has set himself the challenge of reading all the Commonwealth Writers Winners for Africa Region. As one who promotes African Literature, I believe I should participate in this challenge. I am, however, not setting myself any time limit for this challenge. I would as and when I get the books.

The awards are in two categories: Best Book and Best First Book. From 1987 to 1988 there was no Best First Book, rather a runner up was chosen for the Best Book category. This changed from 1989, though in that year no selection was made under the Best First Book category.

Titles in italics are those read and reviewed, in which case they have been linked to their respective reviews.

Best Book
2010 –  The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone) 
2009 – The Lost Colours of the Chameleon by Mandla Langa (South Africa)
2008 – The Hangman’s Game by Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria)
2007 – The Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson (South Africa)
2006 – The Sun by Night by Benjamin Kwakye (Ghana)
2005 – Boy by Lindsey Collen (South Africa)
2004 – The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut (South Africa)
2003 – The Other Side of Silence by Andre Brink (South Africa)
2002 – The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
2001 – The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda (Soutth Africa)
2000 – Disgrace by J.M Coetzee (South Africa)
1999 – If You Can Walk, You Can Dance by Marion Molteno (South Africa)
1998 – Walking Still by Charles Mungoshi (Zimbabwe)
1997 – Under the Tongue by Yvonne Vera (Zimbabwe)
1996 – No Selection Made
1995 – The Master of Petersburg by J.M Coetzee (South Africa)
1994 – The Rape of Sita by Lindsey Collen (Mauritius)
1993 – Tides by Isidore Okpewho (Nigeria)
1992 - Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana)
1991 – The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar by Syl Cheney-Coker (Sierra Leone)
1990 – Harvest of Thorns by Shimmer Chinodya (Zimbabwe)
1989 – Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)
1988 – 1. Heroes by Festus Iyayi (Nigeria)
            2. The Setting Sun and the Rolling World, Charles Mungoshi, (Zimbabwe) (Runner-up)

1987 – 1. Incidents at the Shrine by Ben Okri (Nigeria); 

2. A Forest of Flowers by Ken Saro-Wiwa (Nigeria) (Runner-up)

Best First Book
2010 – Happiness is a Four-Letter Word by Cynthia Jele (South Africa)
2009 – Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan (Nigeria)

2008 – Imagine This by Sade Adeniran (Nigeria)

2007 – All We Have Left Unsaid by Maxine Case (South Africa)

2006 – Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe by Doreen Baingana (Uganda)

2005 – Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)

2004 – Gardening at Night by Diane Awerbuck (South Africa)

2003 – Waiting for an Angel by Helon Habila (Nigeria)

2002 – Ama by Manu Herbstein (South Africa)

2001 – Thirteen Cents by K Sello Duiker (South Africa)

2000 – The Legend of the Rockhills and Other Stories by Funso Aiyejina (Nigeria)

1999 – The Clothes of Nakedness by Benjamin Kwakye (Ghana)

1998 – Dance with a Poor Man’s Daughter by Pamela Jooste (South Africa)

1997 – At the Edge and Other Cato Manor Stories by Ronnie Govender (South Africa)

1996 – Winds of Change by Dene Coetzee (South Africa)

1995 – The River and the Source by Margaret A. Ogola (Kenya)

1994 – Cry a Whisper by Lucy Safo (Ghana)

1993 – The Price of Liberty by Paul Conton (Sierra Leone)

1992 - Grief Child by Lawrence Darmani (Ghana)

1991 – Our Wife and Other Stories by Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria)

1990 – The Gunny Sack by M.G Vassanji (Kenya)

1989 – No Selection Made

Review of and Additions to the Top 100 List

I made a Top 100 books to be read in five years, alongside other books I would come across. However, the list was not up to 100 books and some books have proved to be almost inaccessible. There are some books that are accessible but I have refrained from reading them. All these have necessitated the need to revise and add unto the list. Besides, individuals I have met have also suggested other books that require my attention.

First, V.S. Naipaul's 'In a Free State', which was under the Booker Winners, has been replaced by

1. Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre 

William Gaddis (this author was introduced to me by Kinna)

1. Carpenter's Gothic
2. A Frolic of His Own

Somerset Maughan (also introduced to me by Kinna)

1. Of Human Bondage
2. Theatre

Amis Martin: I have heard a lot about British authors, positively and negatively. Recently, I have read articles on the death of the novel and the bashing British and American authors have received from critics is enough for me to read some of them.

1. Money
2. London Fields
3. The Information

Ian McEwan (same as above). All of the following books were shortlisted for the booker.

1. Atonement
2. On Chesil Beach

Nawal El Sadaawi (saw a review of this from Kinna's blog). I have one of her books listed already

1. God Dies by the Nile

Salman Rushdie (same as Ian McEwan and Amis Martin)

1. Midnight's Children
2. Satanic Verses

Arundati Roy

1. The God of Small Things

Manthia Diawara (Suggested by a friend)

1. We Won't Budge

Ben Okri: I have his Famish on my list and since this book is a trilogy, I think it is only good and fitting that I include the other two books.

1. Songs of Enchantment
2. Infinite Riches

Kazuo Ishiguro:

1. Never Let Me Go

These additions and revisions make the list four more than 100. Thus, books that become difficult to access would have replacements. Besides, I am still open to suggestions and interventions. Let me know what you think is best for a Top 100. I am far away from reading half of this list, yet I am not giving up.
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Update: In a Free State is similar to A Bend in the River, which I didn't like. This has been replaced by Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre winner of the 2003 Man Booker Prize.
Update September 5, 2011: Removal of A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul for repetition.
Update December 14, 2011: Removal of Shame by Salman Rushdie to reduce the number of author's books on the list.
Update December 14, 2011: Replacing The Moon and Six Pence by Somerset Maugham with Theatre, which I have.
Update December 14, 2011: Removal of This Child will be Great by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for no reason.
Update December 14, 2011: Removal of Black Dog, Amsterdam, and The Comfort of Strangers, both by Ian McEwan (and both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize at one point in time), to reduce the number of books by the same author and introduce other authors.
Update December 14, 2011: Replacing Amis's The Razor Edge with The Information which together with the other two on the list is referred to as his London Trilogy.

An Almost 100 Books to be Read in 5 Years

After reading numerous blogs, I have decided to also challenge myself by assigning to myself 100 books to be read in 5 years, depending on availability and cost.

The first set of books comes from Africa's Top 100 books as researched by the Zimbabwe Library Foundation. If I should come across interesting translations from Francophone and Lusophone writers, I would read them alongside these. As it stands now, all these writers are from Anglophone countries (except Mahfouz Naguib, from Egypt). Since this list contains mostly the classic, new writers would be read alongside these.

Note: All books by the following authors would be read as and when they become available:

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

Books I have read would be italicised;
Books I have read and reviewed on this blog would be italicised, crossed and linked;

Books from Africa's Top 100 Books by the Zimbabwean Library Foundation:

1. Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
2. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
3. Anowa by Ama Atta Aidoo 
4. The Beautyful Ones are not yet born by Ayi Kwei Armah
5. A Dry White Season by Andre Brink 
6. The Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee 
7. Nervous Condition by Tsitsi Dangaremba
8. The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta
9. The Blood Knot by Athol Fugard 
10. Burgher's Daughter by Nadine Gordimer
11. A Question of Power by Bessie Head
12. Bones by Chenjerai Hove 
13. Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night by Sindiwe Magona 
14. The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz (I: Palace Walk; II: Palace of Desire; III: Sugar Street) 
15. House of Hunger by Dambudzo Marechera 
16. Indaba, My Children by Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa
17. Chaka by Thomas Mofolo
18. A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiongo'o
19. Labyrinths by Christopher Okigbo 
20. The Famished Road by Ben Okri
21. Song of Lawino by Okot P'Bitek 
22. Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadwai 
23. Season of Migration to the North by Salih El Tayyib
24. Third World Express by Mongane Serote 
25. Death and the King's Horsemen by Wole Soyinka
26. The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola
27. Butterfly Burning by Yvonne Vera 

Other books by African writers:

1. Summertime by J.M. Coetzee 
2. The Healers by Ayi Kwei Armah
3. Osiris Rising by Ayi Kwei Armah 
4. They Say you are One of Us by Uwem Akpan
5. Tsoti by Athol Fugard 
6. Toads for Supper by Chukwuemeka Ike 
7. Mine Boy by Peter Abrahams
8. Ake: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka 

The second set of books consist of acclaimed translations:

1. The Trial by Franz Kafka 
2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
3. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky 

The third category of books are selected Booker Winners

1. The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer
2. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee 
3. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
4. Possession by A.S. Byatt

The fourth set of books is by Nobel Laureates (some have been covered already). Books for this set were taken from different Top 100s such as Modern Library Top 100 Novels; Readers' List and Boards' List; Times Top 100 Novels etc.

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
2. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner 
3. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner 
4. Light in August by William Faulkner 
5. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
6. Beloved by Toni Morrison
7. Kim by Rudyard Kipling 
8. A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
9. A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
10. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing 
11. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
12. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
13. Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann 
14. the Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann 

The fifth set of books is other Classics by non-Nobel Laureates:

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
6. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
7. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood 
8. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood 
9. White Teeth by Zadie Smith

The sixth set of books is those that some readers say are difficult to read:

1. Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon 
2. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon 
3. Mason and Dixon by Thomas Pynchon 
4. Vineland by Thomas Pynchon 
5. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace 
6. Poker by Wittgenstein 
7. Mistress by Wittgenstein 
8. Tractatus Logico Philosophicus by Wittgenstein 
9. Philosophical Investigations by Wittgenstein 
10. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison 
11. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert 
12. The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald
13. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes 
14. Moby-Dick by Hermes Melville 
15. Ulysses by James Joyce 

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This List is not up to 100. The categories add up to 82. Please add the remaining 18. Also if there are some mistakes please let me know. Note: Additions and Revisions have been done here