Brittle Paper put out their 100 Notable African Books of 2025 list. I’m always looking for more books to read from authors around the world so I decided to see what caught my eye. This is the kind of list I love because it has everything from poetry to nonfiction to genre fiction to middle grade.
What I’ve Already Read
Ghana
Of course I have to grab one of the cookbooks. My library has this one so I’ve already put it on reserve.
Zimbabwe
“When a psychiatrist in Zimbabwe realizes traditional healthcare cannot meet his country’s needs, he turns to the nation’s grandmothers. An inspiring nonfiction work about trained elders offering empathetic listening to over 400,000 people.”
This is on reserve at the library too.
Benin
“In a near-future London where technology affects everything from our bodies to our politics, journalist Pels Badmus wants to make a real difference. She’s desperate to solve a spate of disappearances of young Black kids-including her friend’s brother. But her boss doesn’t want to hear it. Instead, he assigns her to cover the “unreasonable” protests thousands of miles away in Benin, against culturally oblivious tourists travelling to partake in sacred Spirit Vine rituals. “
I’m not sure if I’d love this one but this is an example of a book that I’m on the fence about but that I’d give a try just because of my country challenge.
Ethiopia-ish
This is an example of a book that I never know how to categorize. It is written by and is about Ethiopian immigrants to Toronto. It looks like a cute romance though. I guess if Brittle Paper counts it was African, I can maybe count it? I would normally count it for Ontario but I we’ll see after I read it.
Nigeria
I want to read the aunties’ book because interfering busy bodies usually annoy me but this is about a successful Nigerian woman who isn’t married and she is 50. I do love an older protagonist!
This will give me a good start on my country map for 2026. Does anything catch your eye on their list?
