Tops Books 2024

I had an amazing reading year in 2024. Most of the books I picked up were interesting, unique, and different. My numeric reading goal for the year 2024 was 60 books but I ended up reading 69 books across various genres. According to my StoryGraph, I DNFed 3 books, which is very good considering that I DNF books at the slightest inconvenience. 

I read 13 nonfiction books, mainly memoirs, essays, poetry, and 56 fiction books.

Apart from having a numeric goal, I also decided to read a translated fiction. For translated fiction, I read 3 translated fiction. I read Co Wives, Co Widows set in the Central African Republic (CAR) written by Adrienne Yabouza and translated from French to English by Racheal McGill. I read The Impatient set in Cameroon, written by Djaili Amadou Amal and translated from French to English by Emma Ramadan. My last translated fiction is the Before The Coffee Gets Cold Series by Toshikagu Kawaguchi set in Japan and translated from Japanese to English by Geoffrey Trousselot. 

According to StoryGraph, I read 10 romance books. If you know me well, you would know that my favourite genres are Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Young Adults (YA), Memoirs and Literary Fiction. I don’t usually read romance. A genre I loved in 2024 and plan on reading more of in 2025 is Romance. 

My most-read author in 2024 is Toshikagu Kawaguchi. I read all four books in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, which includes Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Tales from the Cafe, Before Your Memory Fades, and Before We Say Goodbye. 

Here is a list of my favourite books as well as all the books I read in 2024:

Favourite Books (In No Particular Order)

• Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah
• Maps of Our Specular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
• Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
• The Colour Purple by Alice Walker 
• And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu
• Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli
• Only For the Week by Natasha Bishop 
• How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
• How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair 
• Someone Birthed Them Broken by Ama Asantewa Diaka 
• We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo 
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
• Co Wives, Co Widows by Adrienne Yabouza
• If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
• God’s Children are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu
• Don’t Cry for Me by Daniel Black
• Hullo Bu-Bye Koko Come In by Koleka Putuma

Honourable Mentions:

• The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 
• Woman Without Shame by Sandra Cisneros
• Bits and Pieces by Whoopi Goldberg: My Mother, My Brother and Me
• Homeward by Angela Jackson-Brown
• Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
• My Parents’ Marriage by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
• Face Me I Face You by Shoola Oyindamola
• The Impatient by Djaili Amadou Amal
• Allow Me to Introduce Myself by  Onyi Nwabineli
• Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traore
• Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku
• The Parlour Wife by Foluso Agbaje
• This Motherless Land by Nikki May
• The Thing About Home by Rhonda McKnight

Favourite Audiobooks/Audio dramas

• New Nigeria County by Clare Brown (Audio Drama)
• Bits and Pieces by Whoopi Goldberg: My Mother, My Brother and Me (Memoir)
• They Have Drowned Our Land by Fui Can Tamakloe narrated by Tsiddi Can Tamakloe (Available on Spotify)

Here is a list of All Books I read in 2024

• The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Short Story Collection)
• Hullo Bu-Bye Koko Come In by Koleka Putuma (Poetry)
• Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
• Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Danticat (Young Adults)
• House Woman by Adorah Nworah
• You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao
• Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in her Head by Warsan Shire (Poetry)
• The Attic Child by Lola Jaye (Historical Fiction)
• Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah
• Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid (Historical Fiction)
• Heaven by Meiko Kawakami
• The Blessed Girl by Angela Makholwa
• The Colour Purple by Alice Walker 
• What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey
• And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu
• Didn’t See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Romance)
• Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renee Waston (Poetry)
• Woman Without Shame by Sandra Cisneros (Poetry)
• The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (Murder Mystery)
• Good Material by Dolly Alderton
• Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli
• Only For the Week by Natasha Bishop (Romance)
• How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang (Romance)
• How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair (Memoir)
• Someone Birthed Them Broken by Ama Asantewa Diaka (Short Story Collection)
• Bookish People by Susan Coll
• Bits and Pieces by Whoopi Goldberg: My Mother, My Brother and Me (Memoir)
• New Nigeria County by Clare Brown (Audio Drama)
• Ruby Fruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (DNF)
• You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
• Homeward by Angela Jackson-Brown (Historical Fiction)
• The Light on Halsey Street by Vanessa Miller (Christian Fiction)
• Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
• Girls With Bad Reputations by Xio Axelrod
• The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion by Kei Miller (Poetry)
• Fan Girl Down by Tessa Bailey (Romance) - DNF
• We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo 
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• Before the Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• Born in a Second Language by Akosua Zimba Afriyie-Hwedie
• The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Forgive Yourself for These Tiny Acts of Self-Destruction by Jared Singer
• Truly Madly Deeply by L.J Shen (Romance)
• Want by Anderson Gillian (DNF) 
• My Parents’ Marriage by Nana Ekua Brew Hammond
• Face Me I Face You by Shoola Oyindomola (Poetry)
• Diaries of a Dead African by Chuma Nwokolo, JR
• The Impatient by Djaili Amadou Amal
• Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku
• We Were Once Girls by Aiwanose Odafen
• Co Wives, Co Widows by Adrienne Yabouza
• If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
• Allow Me To Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli
• Children of Quicksands by Efua Traore (Young Adults)
• Only Big Bum Bum Matters Tomorrow by Damilare Kuku
• The 30th Candle by Angela Makholwa
• The Autobiography of My Mother by Jamaica Kincaid
• The Parlour Wife by Foluso Agbaje (Historical Fiction)
• Of This Our Country: Acclaimed Nigerian Writers on the Home, identity, and Culture that know by Ore Agbaje-Williams (Essays)
• This Motherless Land by Nikki May
• The Thing About Home by Rhonda Mcknight
• God’s Children are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu
• How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katty Brent (Murder Mystery)
• The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore (Romance)
• Small by Small by Ike Anya (Memoir)
• Don’t Cry for Me by Daniel Black