20 Comments
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Teneele's avatar

I highly recommend Ayiti by Roxanne Gay- a collection of short stories centered on the Haitian diaspora.

Afro•Reads's avatar

Thanks Teneele, I haven’t read any of her work. I know she’s on Substack

D. S. Battistoli's avatar

Thank you for endorsing this book of hers! It's on my shelf, and I love her essays. This nudges it well up the to-read list!

don b's avatar

Thank you for this! As far as the Walter Rodney book being dense, have you ever tried immersive reading? This is reading the physical book while listening to the audiobook at the same time and following along. I find that this helps me when I’m having a hard time getting through a book, especially if I’m annotating.

Afro•Reads's avatar

I’m going to have to try it this way and I’ll let you know if it helps

C. Elyse's avatar

Please do

C. Elyse's avatar

That's an awesome annotations tip! Thanks for that!

don b's avatar

Anytime! Thanks so much for all you do!

Kelly Mayfield's avatar

Where The Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass is a great YA adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion (my personal favorite) that’s set in Tobago.

TriciaGlobalTravel's avatar

This is so timely! I am headed to Jamaica in a couple of weeks and was looking for some great reads set in or rooted in Jamaica. I had asked some of the readers of my second newsletter--The Literary Itinerary--for suggestions. I've already read Black Cake and am currently reading The Book of Night Women. I'm looking forward to adding some of these to my list.

C. Elyse's avatar

The Book of Night Women is an excellent read and should have made the list, but I loaned out my copy, so an alternate title by Marlon James made the cut. Let me know how you like it (or if you don't)!

The Black Woman Essayist's avatar

OH MY GOSH!!! I LOVE CARRIBEAN READS MONTH, AS A FIRST GENERATION BLACK- BRITSH THIS IS FOR ME!! I WILL BE JOINING IN WITH THESE READING ACROSS THE ISLANDS. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS.

Afro•Reads's avatar

I’m glad you like it. This posts was made with love on both of our parts. Thank you for always engaging and supporting dear

The Black Woman Essayist's avatar

It made me smile so much, I am actually in the process planning a trip over to the islands. For sure this month, you can count me in! As long as I get through Jazz-- the plan is this weekend to finish it up. Thank you for all you do, I enjoy this book club so much.

Afro•Reads's avatar

Which island are you going to? One day I’d like to go to Grenada myself. I just finished Jazz this week. A lot easier than the first time I read it.

The Black Woman Essayist's avatar

Jamaica! I have never been to Grenada, but it looks beautiful those crystal waters are lovely. You know, to my surprise Jazz is probably the easiest book of Toni's I have read to date. I didn't get the audio this time, I went with the paperback and it's been smooth reading.

Daniel Osei-Kissi's avatar

Apologies, something happened with my scrolling, I didn’t see Walcott and Rodney, two of the most powerful books written by Afro descendants. One turns the Homeric epic inside out and asks what happens to people erased from memory and in other Rodney’s central thesis is that underdevelopment is not a natural condition but a historical relationship. Africa was not left behind by Europe; it was actively incorporated into a global system that enriched Europe while impoverishing Africa.

Afro•Reads's avatar

I did include this

Daniel Osei-Kissi's avatar

Sorry didn’t see it, this is one of my all time favourite books.

I have written a piece about this and will post when I find it.