Harare Review of Books

I’m a greedy reader — I’ve read 141 books so far, a mix of fiction and non-fiction (including art books). Here’s a post highlighting my favourite reads, roughly in order of preference, with my top read first, and links to my reviews.

Fiction

1. Luster (240 pages)

Still my top read this year. It’s a book that has divided opinion, but I loved the protagonist very much for what an anti-hero she was.

2. The Left Hand of Darkness (304 pages)

A classic that deserves the label, this is neither fantasy nor science fiction, but more a story of a relationship, set in a very cold place. Really enjoyed this.

3. The Concubine (216 pages)

Not your feminist fave at all, this one, but still a kind of fun story set in pre-colonial Africa. It was worth my time.

4. Africa39 (384 pages)

Arguably the best (modern) African anthology to date, with some wonderful authors and stories.

5. Saints of Salvation (576 pages)

I don’t think anyone loves sci-fi like I do, so please feel free to skip to the next book.

6. The Salt Fields (128 pages)

Short. Excellent. A train ride, and more drama than you could imagine ensues. A memorable book, and amazing for what the author did in so few pages.

7. Multispecies Cities (338 pages)

The book that got me into Solarpunk.

8. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (130 pages)

A fun fantasy story, set in Cairo.

9. The New Voices of Science Fiction (414 pages)

You knew I’d have more sci-fi on this list, didn’t you? Some very good stories in this anthology.

10. Indigo (167 pages)

Molara Wood is such an intelligent writer, and I very much admired this book. A collection of short stories.

11. When Two Feathers Fell From the Sky (384 pages)

(Review to come when the book is released later this year.)

12. No Be From Hia (178 pages)

My current favourite Zambian book.

13. Finna (92 pages)

Very short book gently satirising Ikea and capitalism, while also managing to be a cute SF book. You may mildly hate it; lots of people have, on Goodreads.

Non-fiction and “other”

1. The Hunt for Mount Everest (224 pages)

The story of how Chomolungma came to the fore of Western mountaineering’s imagination. An excellent read.

2. Njinga Of Angola: Africa’s Warrior Queen (320 pages)

A true Kween, yaaas. A political genius, an occasional cannibal, and a black southern African woman just like me. Occasionally really stuck in details, this is nonetheless a really good book.

3. How to Fly in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons (128 pages)

Possibly the only poetry book I’ve truly enjoyed since high school English with Miss Dees. Not for me your Instapoets, with one word every few pages.

4. Stranger Planet (144 pages)

Very cute! Quite delightful. This is the second book (graphic novel?) from Nathan W. Pyle about possible aliens trying to make sense of human culture and activities. Click on the link to see the screens I posted on Twitter.

5. Gone (192 pages)

Naturally very Western-centric, but still very good book about extinct animals. Learnt a lot; but do not expect anything less than a sympathetic treatment of those horrible 19th C naturalists.

6. Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas (208 pages)

Some lovely artwork that tells the history of the Black Panther movement, by their official artist.