The Africa Reading Challenge and Middle East Challenge have introduced me to a whole new world - North Africa. Thanks to them I've read The Yacoubian Building, The Anatomy of Disappearance, and What the Day Owes The Night. Not much I know, but it's a start.I have also recently acquired The Secret Son by Laila Lalami and In the County of Men by Hisham Matar and just started reading Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz (but at nearly 500 pages, I am really pacing myself with that one). I am being introduced to a world that I have always been curious about, but never really knew and I am hooked. On a daily basis I am discovering new authors and books that I just have to read. There are a few blogs that have great lists on North African literature and I am not going to replicate them. Instead, I hope to complement them by showcasing some books I've been dying to read for a while - the ones that form part my ever-growing wish-list. If like me, you want to know more about North African literature then check out The Wononi Blog's North African Literature, Kinna's North African Reading List, Reading through Northern Africa, and Arabic Literature (in English).
Founded in 2011, bookshy represents two things: the young me who was so shy I escaped through books, and the older me whose shelf is always one book shy of being full.
bookshy is a space where I celebrate, promote and recognise contemporary African literature - although sometimes I go back in time to commemorate the greats. It is about the books I love, the books I have read and the books that I am dying to read.
