Last year, we published a list of books we were excited to read and eventually enjoyed. The list featured Chigozie Obioma; Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond; ‘Pemi Aguda, whose debut collection, Ghostroots, went on to become a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction; and many others.
We are back with another list!
These 25 books, compiled by our editor-in-chief, Ukamaka Olisakwe, include exciting new titles by the Nobel Prize in Literature winner Abdulrazak Gurnah; the Nigeria Prize for Literature winner Chika Unigwe; the Women’s Prize for Fiction winner Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; the Pulitzer finalist Laila Lalami; as well as debuts such as the first title by Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo, who won the inaugural Isele Short Story Prize; and many others.
Meet them:
Dream Count
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publisher’s description: “In Dream Count, Adichie trains her fierce eye on these women in a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself. It confirms Adichie’s status as one of the most exciting and dynamic writers on the literary landscape.”
Theft
Author: Abdulrazak Gurnah
Publisher’s description: “In his first new novel since winning the 2021 Nobel Prize, a master storyteller captures a time of dizzying global change.“
Grace
Author: Chika Unigwe
Publisher’s description: “Grace is a story about agency and the ethics of motherhood as revealed through the lens of a successful young woman in Nigeria with a hidden past.”
Death of the Author
Author: Nnedi Okorafor
Publisher’s description: “A book-within-a-book that blends the line between writing and being written, Death of the Author is a masterpiece of metafiction that manages to combine the razor-sharp commentary of Yellowface with the heartfelt humanity of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.”
The Dream Hotel
Author: Laila Lalami
Publisher’s description: “Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier.”
The Edge of Water
Author: Olufunke Grace Bankole
Publisher’s description: “The Edge of Water is a luminous debut novel about a young woman brave enough to leave all she knows behind, and the way her fate transforms a family destined to stay together.”
Necessary Fiction
Author: Eloghosa Osunde
Publisher’s description: “In Necessary Fiction, Eloghosa Osunde poses these provocative questions and many more while exploring the paths and dreams, hopes and fears of more than two dozen characters who are staking out lives for themselves in contemporary Nigeria.”
Harmattan Season
Author: Tochi Onyebuchi
Publisher’s description: “From the visionary author of Riot Baby and Goliath, Harmattan Season is a gripping fantasy noir in the tradition of Chandler, Hammond, and Christie that will have you by the throat—both dryly funny and unforgettably evocative.”
The Cleaner
Author: Mary Watson
Publisher’s description: “The Cleaner exposes the dark underbelly of a protected society, revealing the dirty truths that lie beneath its polished facades of privilege.”
Phases: Poems
Author: Tramaine Suubi
Publisher’s description: “In this electrifying debut poetry collection—written with the ferocity of Rita Dove’s groundbreaking Thomas and Beulah—a critically acclaimed award-winning talent explores a wide range of emotions, from anxiety to ecstasy reflecting the moon’s phases, from Waning Gibbous to Full.”
The Tiny Things are Heavier
Author: Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo
Publisher’s description: “A daring and ambitious novel rendered in stirring, tender prose, The Tiny Things Are Heavier is a captivating portrait that explores the hardships of migration, the subtleties of Nigeria’s class system, and how far we’ll go to protect those we love.”
The Years of Blood: Poems
Author: Adedayo Agarau
Poetry Foundation’s description: “Agarau’s forthcoming debut collection, The Years of Blood, won a Poetic Justice Institute Editor’s Prize for BIPOC Writers and will be published by Fordham University Press in the fall of 2025.”
This Kind of Trouble
Author: Tochi Eze
Publisher’s description: “A startling and propulsive tale of forbidden love, This Kind of Trouble traces the intertwined legacies of one family’s history, exploring the complex relationship between tradition, modernity and the ways we seek healing in a changing world.”
A Season of Light
Author: Julie Iromuanya
Publisher’s description: “For fans of Behold the Dreamers, comes a compelling novel about a tightly bound Nigerian family living in Florida and the wounds that get passed down from generation to generation, from the author of the acclaimed Mr. and Mrs. Doctor.”
Jollof Day
Author: Bernard Mensah, Illustrated by Annalise Barber-Opp
Publisher’s description: “A picture book bursting with life and flavors about a son and his father cooking up a beloved dish that originated in West Africa—jollof recipe included!”
African Stories
Author: Ben Okri
Publisher’s description: “A Pocket Classics hardcover collection of a century of 36 terrific stories by major writers from across Africa, selected by the Booker Prize-winning Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri.”
Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Brokenhearted
Author: Ben Okri
Publisher’s description: “In this modern fable with the impish magic of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a masked ball makes two upper-class British couples see each other in a new light.”
Salutation Road
Author: Salma Ibrahim
Publisher’s description: “Salutation Road by Salma Ibrahim is a beautifully told literary debut about the everyday struggles of immigration, love and letting go of a past that never really existed. For fans of Nadifa Mohamed and Mohsin Hamid.”
Bitter Honey
Author: Lola Akinmade Åkerström
Publisher’s description: “Spanning four decades and three continents, Bitter Honey is a story of mothers, daughters, and the importance of carving your own path.”
Cleopatra
Author: Saara El-Arifi
Publisher’s description: “Cleopatra will retell the story of Egypt’s most famous queen. It opens at the moment she discovers that her father has died and she is Pharaoh.”
Hassan and Hassana Share Everything
Author: Elnathan John
Publisher’s description: “Hassan and Hassana are twins, and they’re practically identical. Even though one is a boy and the other a girl, ever since they were babies people have had trouble telling them apart. For their 8th birthday, Hassan gets a bike and Hassana gets drums. Hassan’s friends tell him that girls can’t ride bikes, leaving him with an important decision to make. Will he decide to share or will he let Hassana feel left out? “
Ghana to the World
Author: Eric Adjepong
Publisher’s description: “Full of stunning photography shot in Ghana and remembrances rooted in family, tradition, and love, Ghana to the World shows readers how the unsung story of a continent’s cuisine can shine a powerful light on one person’s exploration of who he is as a chef and a man.”
When We Only Have the Earth
Author: Abdourahman A. Waberi. Translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson
Publisher’s description: “In this ode to the earth and all its living creatures, French Djiboutian poet, novelist, and essayist Abdourahman A. Waberi sounds the alarm about our imperiled planet, where “the Sahel rises in you, in me / the Red Sea boils in you, in me / Nunvut is melting in you, in me.” This translation by Nancy Naomi Carlson preserves the rich musicality of the original French, as well as its frequent use of wordplay and often unusual word choice.”
African Urban Echoes: A Poetry Anthology
Editors: Olájídé Salawu, Razaq Malik
Publisher’s description: “African Urban Echoes is a gathering of poets, including notable Canadian poets such as Jumoke Verissimo, Uchechukwu Umezurike, James Yeku and the Griffin Poetry Prize winner, Tolu Oloruntoba, that seek to contribute to the echoes of resistance, hope, and anxieties all produced simultaneously by African urban centers in their polyvalences and unique characters.”
Buried in the Chest
Author: Lindani Buyanza
Publisher’s description: “Buried in the Chest is a poignant tale of self-discovery, love, and community set against the backdrop of post-apartheid South Africa.”
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