23 African Beach Reads for a Relaxing Summer Vacation

by Kuhelika Ghosh

June 17, 2024

Hi Brittle Paperians! We have an exciting list of African beach reads for your summer vacations. Whether you’re relaxing by a tropical beach, swimming in a neighborhood pool, or vacationing in the mountains, pick up any of these books for a quick and fun read!

We have a good mix here. All the books on the list are either published in 2024 or forthcoming in a few weeks. Some of our 2024 favorites are Jane Igharo’s newest romance With Love, Miss Americanah, Tlotlo Tsamaase’s sci-fi story Womb City, Akwaeke Emezi’s latest novel Little Rot, and Damilare Kuku’s humorous debut Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow.

If you love short stories, check out Uche Okonkwo’s A Kind of Madness, Wole Talabi’s sci-fi collection Convergence Problems, Ama Asantewa Diaka’s someone birthed them broken, and African Ghost Short Stories, the first ever African horror anthology.

For YA lovers, we have Djamila Morani’s murder thriller The Djinn’s Apple and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s gripping mystery Where Sleeping Girls Lie.

We hope you find something you like in this carefully curated list. Enjoy the summer and happy reading!

Womb City

Womb City

416 pages

Womb City imagines a dark and deadly future Botswana, rich with culture and true folklore, which begs the question: how far must one go to destroy the structures of inequality upon which a society was founded? How far must a mother go to save the life of her child? (Erewhon Books/2024)

Where Sleeping Girls Lie

Where Sleeping Girls Lie

416 pages

In Where Sleeping Girls Lie ― a YA contemporary mystery by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, the New York Times-bestselling author of Ace of Spades ― a girl new to boarding school discovers dark secrets and coverups after her roommate disappears. (Feiwel and Friends/2024)

With Love, Miss Americanah

With Love, Miss Americanah

320 pages

With Love, Miss Americanah―the Young Adult contemporary romance debut from Jane Igharo―sees a teenager move from Nigeria to America and navigate her senior year with the help of classic teen movies and a new crush, all while working through grief and the rigid expectations of her mother. (Feiwel and Friends/2024)

Four Eids and a Funeral

Four Eids and a Funeral

336 pages

Ex-best friends, Tiwa and Said, must work together to save their Islamic Center from demolition, in this romantic story of rekindling and rebuilding by award-winning authors Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé & Adiba Jaigirdar! (Feiwel and Friends/2024)

The Djinn’s Apple

The Djinn’s Apple

160 pages

A ruthless murder. A magical herb. A mysterious manuscript. When Nardeen’s home is stormed by angry men frantically in search of something―or someone―she is the only one who manages to escape. And after the rest of her family is left behind and murdered, Nardeen sets out on an unyielding mission to bring her family’s killers to justice, regardless of the cost…(Neem Tree Press/2024)

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

320 pages

Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits...Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the door at its end, locked for decades. (Viking/2024)

Lost Ark Dreaming

Lost Ark Dreaming

192 pages

Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region’s survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers’ most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level. (Tordotcom/2024)

A Kind of Madness

A Kind of Madness

208 pages

The 10 stories in this collection are concerned with literal madness but also those private feelings that, when left unspoken, can feel like a type of madness: desire, desperation, hunger, fear, sadness, shame, longing. This unravels the tensions between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and more...inviting us to consider the question: why is it that the people and places we hold closest are so often the ones that drive us to madness? (Tin House Books/2024)

Convergence Problems

Convergence Problems

320 pages

The sixteen stories of Convergence Problems investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search for meaning, for knowledge, for justice; constantly converging on our future selves. (DAW/2024)

Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow

Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow

272 pages

Damilare Kuku brings her signature humor, boldness, and compassion to each member of this loveable but exasperating family, whose lives reveal the ways in which a woman’s physical appearance can dictate her life and relationships and show just how sharp the double-edged sword of beauty can be. (HarperVia/2024)

Crooked Seeds

Crooked Seeds

240 pages

Deidre van Deventer receives a call from the South African police. Her family home, recently reclaimed by the government, has become the scene of a criminal investigation. The remains of several bodies have just been unearthed from her land, after decades underground. Detectives pepper Deidre with questions: Was your brother a member of a pro-apartheid group in the 1990s? Is it true that he was building bombs as part of a terrorist plot? (Hogarth/2024)

The Truth of the Aleke (The Forever Desert Book 2)

The Truth of the Aleke (The Forever Desert Book 2)

112 pages

500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth stands as the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert. A bastion of freedom and peace, the city has successfully weathered near-constant attacks from the Cult of Tutu, who have besieged it for three centuries, attempting to destroy its warriors and subjugate its people. (Tor.com/2024)

Faebound

Faebound

400 pages

Yeeran was born on the battlefield, has lived on the battlefield, and one day, she knows, she’ll die on the battlefield. As a warrior in the elven army, Yeeran has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future. When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven Lands, both sisters are forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. (Del Rey/2024)

The Weavers of Alamaxa

The Weavers of Alamaxa

352 pages

The Daughters of Izdihar—a group of women fighting for the vote and against the patriarchal rule of Parliament—have finally made strides in having their voices heard...only to find them drowned out by the cannons of the fundamentalist Ziranis. (Harper Voyager/2024)

Like Water Like Sea

Like Water Like Sea

272 pages

Like Water Like Sea is an immersive novel of self-discovery, resilience, and the unifying power of love. It follows the life of Nia, a queer, bi/pansexual naturopath in London, as her life unfolds across three pivotal moments, spanning from her 28th year to a life-altering realisation at the age of 50. At the heart of this gripping narrative lies Nia’s profound encounter with grief. (Cassava Republic/2024)

These Letters End in Tears

These Letters End in Tears

240 pages

Bessem notices Fatima for the first time on the soccer field—muscular and focused, she’s the only woman playing and seems completely at ease. When Fatima chases a rogue ball in her direction, Bessem freezes, mesmerized by the athlete’s charm and beauty. One playful wink from Fatima, and Bessem knows her life will never be the same. (Catapult/2024)

The Lion’s Den

The Lion’s Den

272 pages

When young queer dancer Wilbess “Bessy” Mulenga is arrested by corrupt police, rookie lawyer Grace Zulu takes up his cause in her first pro bono case. Presented with a freshly beaten client, Grace protests to the police and gets barred from accessing Bessy, who then disappears without a trace. As she fights for justice for Bessy, Grace must navigate a dangerous world of corrupt politicians, traditional beliefs, and deep-seated homophobia. (Graydon/2024)

In the Shadow of the Fall

In the Shadow of the Fall

160 pages

Ashâke is an acolyte in the temple of Ifa, yearning for the day she is made a priest and sent out into the world to serve the orisha. But of all the acolytes, she is the only one the orisha refuse to speak to. Desperate, Ashâke attempts to summon and trap an orisha―any orisha. Instead, she experiences a vision so terrible it draws the attention of a powerful enemy sect and thrusts Ashâke into the center of a centuries-old war that will shatter the very foundations of her world.(Tor.com/2024)

Little Rot

Little Rot

288 pages

Aima and Kalu are a longtime couple who have just split. When Kalu, reeling from the breakup, visits an exclusive sex party hosted by his best friend, Ahmed, he makes a decision that will plunge them all into chaos, brutally and suddenly upending their lives. Ola and Souraya, two Nigerian sex workers visiting from Kuala Lumpur, collide into the scene just as everything goes to hell. (Riverhead Books/2024)

Someone Birthed Them Broken

Someone Birthed Them Broken

192 pages

In this startling collection of short fiction, Ama Asantewa Diaka creates a vibrant portrait of young Ghanaians’ today, captured in the experiences of characters whose lives bump against one other in friendship, passion, hope, and heartache. This emotionally rich work unveils profound truths about her country, its inhabitants, and the universality of human experience. (Amistad/2024)

The City is Mine

The City is Mine

Mangi and his fiancé, Aza, have been living together in the Joburg suburb of Linden for the past eight years. One day while cleaning their bedroom, Mangi discovers a deep secret that his fiancé had been hiding for a long time. The house they had been renting for eight years actually belongs to Aza. The uncovering of Aza's lie is the catalyst to the unravelling of their already tumultuous relationship. (Kwela/2024)

The Comrade’s Wife

The Comrade’s Wife

229 pages

An instant classic, the lies and betrayals of love and party politics are told in gorgeous prose with an ear for our time’s intimate and public language. The Comrade’s Wife follows a turbulent marriage between a rising politician and an academic, told through her life and lens. (Jacana/2024)

African Ghost Short Stories

African Ghost Short Stories

432 pages

With a foreword by award-winning Nigerian-British writer Nuzo Onoh, this collection explores the deep-seated supernatural element in African storytelling – whether reaching back to the spirits, ancestors and ogres of folklore or the vibrantly modern ghosts of today's African horror. (Flame Tree/2024)

Kuhelika Ghosh | administrator

COMMENTS ( 1 ) -

S June 21, 2024 03:07

Great list! Found lots of new summer reads I’m excited to get to.

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