Fellow bookworms, last year appears to have been a wonderful year for African literature—we witnessed new books from literary luminaries like Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, prestigious Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives, Booker prize winner Damon Galgut’s The Promise, to Akwaeke Emezi’s critically acclaimed nonfiction Dear Senthuran, Mukoma wa Ngugi’s Unbury Our Dead with Song, Nadifa Mohamed’s The Fortune Men, which was shortlisted for the Booker prize. The list is inexhaustible. 2021 also brought a surge in debut, inspiring and captivating voices that left us marveling at the wealth of their genius writing—writers who we had enjoyed their short stories, and patiently waited for their first long form works, including TJ Benson’s The Madhouse, Uwem Akpan’s New York, My Village, Caleb Azumah Nelson’s Open Water, and Khadija Abdalla Bajaber’s The House of Rust. The good news is, this year promises to be even more exciting. Together we’ve compiled a list of fifteen books we cannot wait to read, spanning several universes, timelines, countries, exploring emotions from love, heartbreak, anger, and the diverse human condition. Some of the titles on this list have been published while the others are set to arrive in the later parts of the year. Brace yourselves! We’re about to have a ride.   You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty, Akwaeke Emezi Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again. It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio, and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career. She’s even started dating the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance by the dangerous thrill Feyi feels every time she locks eyes with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits. This new life she asked for just got a lot more complicated, and Feyi must begin her search for real answers. Who is she ready to become? Can she release her past and honor her grief while still embracing her future? And, of course, there’s the biggest question of all—how far is she willing to go for a second chance at love? ​ Akwaeke Emezi’s vivid and passionate writing takes us deep into a world of possibility and healing, and the constant bravery of choosing love against all odds. In other news, Amazon studios and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society has won an auction for the screen rights to the novel, with Emezi as executive producer. PREORDER   Wahala, Nikki May Trouble can take many forms, and in this case, trouble, or “wahala,” takes the form of a new, hideously wealthy friend Isobel who inserts herself into the lives of inseparable London trio Ronke, Simi and Boo. The fallout from the subsequent changes in each friend’s life is both endlessly entertaining and thoroughly thought-provoking. A character-driven thriller perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Wahala is taut with feeling and heartbreak. It is without a doubt an unputdownable, page-turning novel. PREORDER     Yinka, where is your Husband?, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? brilliantly subverts the traditional romantic comedy with an unconventional heroine who bravely asks the questions we all have about love. Wry, acerbic, moving, this is a love story that makes you smile but also makes you think–and explores what it means to find your way between two cultures, both of which are yours. PREORDER     Goliath, Tochi Onyebuchi In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty. Those with the means and the privilege have departed the great cities of the United States for the more comfortable confines of space colonies. Those left behind salvage what they can from the collapsing infrastructure. As they eke out an existence, their neighborhoods are being cannibalized. Brick by brick, their houses are sent to the colonies, what was once a home now a quaint reminder for the colonists of the world that they wrecked. A primal biblical epic flung into the future, Goliath weaves together disparate narratives—a space-dweller looking at New Haven, Connecticut as a chance to reconnect with his spiraling lover; a group of laborers attempting to renew the promises of Earth’s crumbling cities; a journalist attempting to capture the violence of the streets; a marshal trying to solve a kidnapping—into a richly urgent mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history. PREORDER     Akata Woman, Nnedi Okoroafor From the moment Sunny Nwazue discovered she had mystical energy flowing in her blood, she sought to understand and control her powers. Throughout her adventures in Akata Witch and Akata Warrior, she had to navigate the balance between nearly everything in her life—America and Nigeria, the “normal” world and the one infused with juju, human and spirit, good daughter and powerful Leopard Person. Now, those hard lessons and abilities are put to the test in a quest so dangerous and fantastical, it would be madness to go…but may destroy the world if she does not. With the help of her friends, Sunny embarks on a mission to find a precious object hidden deep in an otherworldly realm. Defeating the guardians of the prize will take more from Sunny than she has to give, and triumph will mean she will be forever changed. PREORDER   Vagabonds, Eloghosa Osunde Eloghosa Osunde’s brave, fiercely inventive novel traces a wild array of characters for whom life itself is a form of resistance: a driver for a debauched politician with the power to