5 Nigerian books that went viral this month

11:27 - 27 January 2016

Add Pulse as a preferred source on Google

10 powerful books we would recommend to President Buhari and other African leaders

Meet the Nigerian authors who went viral this month.

Helen Oyeyemi writings on magic, hearts and love is making headlines as one of the books to watch out for this year.

Igoni Barrett insightful commentary on race, identity, and modern-day Nigeria went viral and sold out in bookshops in Lagos.

Uzodinma Iweala's 'Beast of No Nation' is in the midst of an argument about the all white Oscar nominations.

Chinelo Okparanta's taboo coverage of the issue of Gay and homosexual relationship in modern day Nigeria is turning heads.

And Okechukwu Ofili creation of a badass super heroine for young black girls is praised for celebrating the African woman and her natural hair.

1. What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi

Described by Buzz feed as highly imaginative and enchanting, Oyeyemi’s writing in What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours will take readers on a journey to a world that is at once strange and intoxicating.

2. Blackass by Igoni Barrett

Set in the bustling metropolis of Lagos, A. Igoni Barrett’s provocative novel Blackass is a searing satire about a Nigerian man who woke up on the morning of his job interview to discover he has turned into a white man. Described as a brilliant, contemporary reworking of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Blackass is an insightful commentary on race, identity, in modern-day Nigeria.

3. Under the Udala trees by Chinelo Okparanta

Inspired by Nigeria’s folktales and its war, this book tells the story of Ijeoma, a young girl growing up in the ’60s and ’70s in the aftermath of Nigeria’s civil war. At odds with her mother, her community, and her religion, Ijeoma falls in love with a girl who, if their love wasn’t already taboo enough, is from a different ethnic community.

This book tries to cover the issue of lesbian and homosexual relationship in modern day Nigeria.

4. Beast of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala

We learnt that 'war is bad' from this harrowing, utterly original debut novel by Uzodinma Iweala about the life of a child soldier in a war-torn African country.

Now adapted into a movie starring Idris Elba, this book tells the story of Agu an embodiment of emotional turbulence and deteriorating morality as he finds himself torn between trusting his own morals and killing for survival under the influence of guerrilla fighters.

5. Afro: The girl with the magical hair by Okechukwu Ofili

This book tells the story of a special girl who chooses to wear her hair natural, in a land where an evil Queen makes everyone wear their hair in straight weaves.

This great book not only celebrates the African woman and her natural hair, but it has succeeded in creating a badass super heroine in literature for young black girls.