7 petite African books you should include in your library

The heap of endless pages of a huge novel could be intimidating for some readers because of the fear to committing to about 500 pages of the book. Hence, the need for little purse-size books for commitment phobics.

Petite books are also handy and could be travelled distance with.

These are 7 charming little African books of fiction, poetry and essays that fall roughly within a hundred pages.

1. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

This story is about a girl named Binti who ditched her initial plan on her way to the prestigious Oomza University just to save humanity when tragedy strikes. The novella won the nebula awards. A sequel titled Binti Home comes out later this year.

2. The January children by Safia Elhillo

This book is a poetic exploration inspired by the writer's Sudanese heritage. Safia Elhillo won the Brunel University African Poetry Award a few years ago.

3. On Becoming by Toke Makinwa

Imagine a Kim Kardashian who fancies herself an Oprah Winfrey and truly hopes to one day become a Michelle Obama. That’s Toke. You should stop at everything to read any memoir written by such a fascinating personality.

4. An Image of Africa by Chinua Achebe

An image of Africa is a collection of two of Achebe’s most iconic essays in one tiny little book. “An Image of Africa”,  a beautifully angry essay in which Achebe calls out the entire western literary establishment for conspiring to misrepresent Africa in their stories. The second essay, “The Trouble with Nigeria,” is Achebe’s attempt to perform the rather ambitious task of identifying what is wrong with Nigeria.

5. The Loss Library and Other Unfinished Stories by Ivan Vladislavic

This collection describes what happens when an author has the bright idea to pen down ideas that are impossible to translate to writing or “case studies of failure” as Vladislavic calls them.

6. Madmen and Specialists by Wole Soyinka

This book tells the story of Si Bero, a young woman who takes it upon her self to save her family from her insane, cannibal brother.

7. Survivor’s Club by Lauren Beukes

The South African literature genius, Lauren Beukes, author of Shining Girls, a bestselling novel about a time-traveling serial killer joins Cape-town based illustrator Dale Halvorsen to create Survivor’s Club, a 9-part comic series inspired by ‘80s horror genre.