Hello you, it’s been a really hot minute up in this little corner of mine. You know when life comes at you so hard that you have no choice but to take a step back, reevaluate, regroup and then just decide to take a break, that’s how I found myself.
First, Happy New Year to you and welcome back to my blog. Within the time that I have been off here, I have started a podcast, a booktok and grown extremely well on bookstagram.
So much has been happened but I won’t bore you with all of the nitty-gritty details rather I’d like to share my best books of 2021 and my anticipated reads for 2022.
2021 was a good reading year for me, my Goodreads challenge was to read 10 books and I read 41 (or more for those I didn’t count). This year a lot of the black bookstagrammers are moving over to Storygraph which is better and more detailed although I think they should work a bit on the interface.
The Reading goal on StoryGraph is the same, 10 Books and I’m off to a good start (currently reading Noor by Nnedi Okoroafor).
2021 we had a lot of hyped books and just very few of them were worth the hype which brings me to my Best Books of 2021.
What made these books my best books of 2021? Everything! From the plot to the writing style to the emotions, the suspense, the grip and chokehold they had on me (I’m reading for more chokehold please).
THE FIRST WOMAN
Written by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, this was the one book that got me officially into the Makumbi Stan Association. It was the first book reading I did on my podcast and it was an exciting experience reading it. It made me feel whole, full, seen and loved (I don’t know how), unapologetically Ugandan and African. You can check out my review here!
THE GILDED ONES
Another beautiful masterpiece, with mixed feeling at the beginning, I nearly toppled over my seat at the twist.
This was fantasy at its finest. For my review, click here!
ACE OF SPADES
All I can say about this book is WOW! The evangelism for it never stops. Pure perfection, the characters were beautiful to read about especially my sweet baby boy Devon. I did a reflection of it here!
THE MOUNTAINS SING
Three words: READ THIS BOOK! I finished it at 1am and I was crying, wailing and sobbing all at the same time. It wrecked every piece of my heart and broke it into tiny pieces. I read a book somewhat similar to it and you can listen to my reflection/review here!
BUTTER HONEY PIG BREAD
Whew! This book deserves every good publicity it is getting and more because the writing is out of here. For a book with such a strange title, it was quite easy to connect the title. A book about motherhood, love, sexuality and more. I was done reading and couldn’t exactly process my thoughts, so I opted to make a drunk & candid review of it here!
These are my Best Books of 2021, I loved them a lot and can’t wait to read more from these authors.
ANTICIPATED RELEASES OF 2022
2022 is packed with anticipated releases especially by black authors and I love to see it. The books I’m most excited for are from authors whose previous works I’ve read before and books with hype…lots of it.
PEOPLE PERSON – CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS (28TH APRIL)
I didn’t have a great experience with her debut novel, Queenie, I DNF’ed but I’m excited for this one and hoping that I get sucked in real quick unlike Queenie (I don’t know when I’ll be able to get into it again).
YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH WITH YOUR BEAUTY (24TH MAY)
Anything that Akwaeke drops, I am consuming. I am still yet to read Dear Senthuran (I’ll definitely fix up soon) but having gone through their other books and loving every bit of it, I can wholeheartedly say that when this book drops and it’s within my budget, I’m getting it.
VAGABONDS (15TH MAY)
Received an ARC from Netgalley and I’ve been taking my time with reading it. I’m quite excited for this one because it’s been making its rounds.
THE MERCILESS ONES (30TH MAR)
After reading book 1, The Gilded Ones, I’m super stoked to get into this one and see just want Deka is up to now.
A SPELL OF GOOD THINGS (JUNE,2022)
Ayobami delivered a madness on her first book and I’m hoping this one bangs as well. There’s no cover for it yet and I’m looking forward to the reveal.
BITTER (15TH FEB)
This is the prequel to PET, I never talk about pet alot but if you haven’t read it then you need to fix up.
SURVIVE THE DOME (29TH MARCH)
This is giving the purge vibes and I want to read I so bad.
BLOOD SCION (2ND MARCH)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS (21ST JUNE)
Anything Leye Adenle puts out I am consuming. And I’ve heard this is the third book in the Easy Motion Tourist and if they have to get Amaka all the way from London then believe that this one will be chaotic. There’s no cover as well yet.
CONTENT WARNING: EVERYTHING (5TH APRIL)
What are you looking forward to reading in 2022?
Bookish Igbo Girl 