A recap of the books Accra Book Club read and discussed during 2014
- Ender’s game, by Orson Scott Card. I know this was on the list, but I can’t remember the discussion. I did eventually watch the film on DSTV, and thought it was pretty well done. I used to have a physical copy of this book, but somewhere along the line, it disappeared. So I had to buy a e-copy!
- Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – a good discussion. I suspect that a different group would have a very different perspective. I actually read a Nigerian edition!
- Dear life, by Alice Munro – brrr, the Canadian climate does permeate these rather bleak stories
- Kindred, by Octavia Butler – I really like Octavia Butler’s work, and wonder why it took me so long to read them!
- The Burgess boys, by Elizabeth Strout – a disfunctional family, with locations in New York and Maine. Moving though.
- The invention of wings, by Sue Monk Kidd – based on historical figures, involved in the abolition of the slave trade
- The housekeeper and the professor, by Yoko Ogama – I didn’t attend this discussion, but I enjoyed the book which was very different from most of the work I read during this year
- The lowland, by Jhumpa Lahiri – moving account of two brothers and their families in India and the US. Another physical copy
- The shining girls, by Lauren Beukes – upon reflection, I found the discussion of this book helped me to understand this book better
- We need new names, by NoViolet Bulawayo – I have to admit that I didn’t enjoy this book that much; I also wasn’t that sure about having the two different settings of Zimbabwe and the US. Ironically I bought the e-book, and then discovered that EPP books had loads of physical copies, and for a very, very reasonable price!
- Euphoria, by Lily King – a love story told from different points of view. A good read.
And because I am aware that some people may be wondering what we are going to read and talk about in 2015, here is our current list of books:
- Flight behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver
- Memory of love, by Aminatta Forna
- How to get filthy rich in rising Asia, by Mohsin Hamid
- The woman upstairs, by Claire Messud
- Boy, Snow, Bird, by Helen Oyeyemi
- Foreign gods, by Okey Ndibe
- Don’t let me go, by Catherine Ryan Hyde
- The short and tragic life of Robert Peace, by Jeff Hobbs
- Ade, by Rebecca Walker
If anyone wants to know more about Accra Book Club, do comment or send an email to accrabookclub [at] gmail [dot] com.