The best books I read in 2022
The title says it all really!
August Wrap Up: Akwaeke Emezi, Crash, more Sandman and Nope
Welcome to my chaotic August wrap-up, do excuse my dog, bad audio towards the end and the fact that it's already halfway through September!
I read quite a few books, became obsessed with 2 Nordic Noir shows from Sweden and watched quite a few movies (including Jordan Peele’s latest Nope) in August.
The Best Books I read in 2021
While I didn't read as many books as I had hoped to in 2021 in fact I changed my goal from 75 to 50 to 45 to 40 to 30 and still failed lol! But everyone always says its quality over quantity and I must admit that I did read a few really great books, so without further ado here are the 8 books that I loved in 2021.
March Books
The Dark Forest (黑暗森林) by Liu Cixin
I sped through The Three-Body Problem, the first book in Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t quite know why nearly a whole year has passed before I picked up the second book tbh. I really liked this one too and read it rather quickly, not as fast as the first one but we’ll get into that in a minute. Actually, let’s get into that now, this book had a massive flaw, the whole dream woman subplot.
I found Luo Ji’s whole romance storyline incredibly cringe-worthy, the idea of him dreaming of a woman and then her existing, in reality, is just stupid and a bit too Pygmalion for my liking, and it doesn’t add anything to the plot. If anything it just shows up Liu as not being able to write a decent female character. Although, someone on the r/threebodyproblem subreddit makes a compelling argument as to why this happens in the novel, and yeah I’m inclined to agree with them, however, that doesn’t excuse how badly written she is, like does she even have a personality? If anything she is just a glorified plot device and there to make a tongue in cheek comment on ‘the dream woman’ cliche.
But let’s forget about the bad because this book has some phenomenal moments, especially when it gets into philosophy and ethics. The whole Zhang Beihai storyline took an amazing turn and really demonstrated how far people are willing to go to survive! And the theory/metaphor of the universe being a dark forest is so disturbingly brilliant.
I also have to replicate these quotes from the book because I got chills reading them 😂
'If I destroy you, what business is it of yours.'
'Darkness was the mother of life and of civilisation.'
'Don't say where we are! Once we know where we are, then the world becomes as narrow as a map. When we don't know, the world feels unlimited.'
Can’t wait to finish the trilogy and read the mammoth tome that is Death’s End, and I will be reading this soon as I am in such a Sci-fi reading mood at the moment!
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi - Sága Book Club Review
This book is not like any other book I have read. I was mesmerised, and still am by how Emezi weaves her prose, it’s poetic and energetic, brimming with life. The story is fascinating and devastating in equal measures and I think I will have to re-read it another few times to fully grasp its complexity, or perhaps I never will as I am a white cisgender female. I also loved how Emezi explored African folklore and gender identity throughout the novel and I think this is the kind of book that needs to be taught in schools, it’s imaginative and informative so there are naturally lots of things to learn from its pages and so much room for analysis.
Ultimately, Freshwater is a book that will stay with you, but beware that some elements such as rape, suicide and self-harm may be a bit too much for some people as these themes are triggering, so if you haven’t read it yet or if you’re thinking of recommending it to someone bear that in mind. I think I have so much to say but I just can’t find the words to say it. I love when that happens with a book because that’s when you know that you’ve just read something remarkable, I also think that after mulling it over for a week or two I’ll be more coherent in my thoughts.
But right now, I’m going to hand it over to BBC Africa's Princess Irede Abumere and guest reviewer media specialist Yvette Uloma Dimiri.
Book Club: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
This month we are travelling to Nigeria via Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. Emezi is an Igbo and Tamil writer who goes by the pronouns they/them/theirs.
Freshwater is a somewhat autobiographical coming-of-age story and explores the idea of a fragmented self through the story of Ada, a young Nigerian woman who is inhabited by several Ogbanje.
“An ogbanje is an Igbo spirit that’s born into a human body, a kind of malevolent trickster, whose goal is to torment the human mother by dying unexpectedly only to return in the next child and do it all over again.” - Akwaeke Emezi [1]
I was drawn to this story because I remember coming across an Ogbanje in Chinua Achebe’s acclaimed Things Fall Apart and being rather fascinated with the supernatural entity. Here I feel like Emezi is going to use the Ogbanje as a device to explore cultural and individual identity and gender dysphoria, which are such compelling and important subject matters. Especially, as we are still living in a time where transphobia rife.
It’s undeniable that literature is a powerful tool in the road to normalisation and through reading, I have become a more understanding and accepting person, and for that reason that I why I have selected Freshwater as our March book.
Where to purchase your copy of Freshwater
Audio: Audible
Secondhand: Abebooks
New: Bookshop.org
Just check back here at the end of each month to discuss the book and find out what we’ll be reading the following month.
The Journey So Far…
[1] Emezi, A., (n.d.) Transition My surgeries were a bridge across realities, a spirit customizing its vessel to reflect its nature.. [online] The Cut. Available at https://www.thecut.com/2018/01/writer-and-artist-akwaeke-emezi-gender-transition-and-ogbanje.html [Accessed 6 March 2021].