World Book Day Recommendations: “Five Books That Shaped Me” — Chimee Adioha
It was World Book Day on 23rd April and Nigerian writer, Chimee Adioha shared five books that have shaped him.
Chimee Adioha has written two children’s books and he is the founder of the online literary space called Black Boy Review. He lives and works in Lagos.
Read him:
- Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Read it for the first time in 2009 and it was the first book I tried to reread for many times in my life after 2009.
2. Everyday is for the Thief by Teju Cole
Everyday is for the thief: First thing I read from Teju Cole and I loved it because it was a Lagos story/ and I have just moved to Lagos in 2017 when I first read it. I have read things that I have experienced in real life from the book.
3. Eno’s Story by Ayodele Olofintuade
I believed that my own children’s stories could come out well after reading this pretty book with pretty illustrations.
Suggested Read: World Book Day 2021: 30 African Contemporary Writers Share Their Favorite Books
4. Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
Love stories didn’t always work for me, but this was a totally refreshing new read after a long time.
5. Chike and the River by Chinua Achebe
I grew up in my hometown with my siblings, and I remember we read a lot of this book. It’s a young adult book. It was one of my first meetings with what African literature seemed like.
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World Book Day Recommendations is a series of recommendations made by African contemporary writers for World Book Day and #365DaysOfBookOclock.
