Enjoy Quizlit’s selection of 10 Great Nigerian Books to Read. Featuring the Best Books by Nigerian Authors in recent history.
10 Great Nigerian Books To Read
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Set in pre-colonial Nigeria, the novel follows Okonkwo, a respected Igbo leader, as he struggles with the cultural changes brought by British colonialism and his own personal tragedies. Written in 1958, Things Fall Apart is a narrative about a “strong man” whose life is driven by dread and fury. It is the first installment in Achebe’s famous African Trilogy
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Centered around the Biafran War (1967-70), Half of a Yellow Sun explores the lives of five characters whose fates intertwine amidst the conflict, revealing the human cost of war and the resilience of the human spirit. Adichie’s 2nd novel is a very powerful story about the Biafran war’s promise, optimism, and disenchantment.
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Ben Okri’s The Famished Road follows Azaro, a spirit child, existing according to the African tradition, between life and death. Born into the human world, he must experience its joys and tragedies. His spirit companions come to him often, hounding him to leave his mortal world and join them in their idyllic one. Azaro foresees a trying life ahead, but he is born smiling.
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
Chigozie Obioma’s sparkling debut novel is a tale of four brothers who defy their father’s wishes and go fishing in a forbidden river, unleashing a tragic chain of events that tests their bonds and exposes the fragility of family ties. The Fisherman is a stunning and dramatic tale about Africa as viewed through the lens of one family’s fate.
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
A darkly humorous novel about a Nigerian woman, Korede, who is constantly covering up her sister’s murderous tendencies while grappling with her own sense of loyalty and morality. This riveting, brutally hilarious novel is an explosive debut by Oyinkan Braithwaite, and heralds an exciting new literary voice.
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin
A polygamous household unravels when the patriarch, Baba Segi, discovers that his newest wife is infertile, revealing the secrets, desires, and power dynamics that govern the lives of his wives. Award-winning author Lola Shoneyin delivers an irresistible and entertaining story of marriage, family and heartache in modern-day Nigeria in her debut novel.
Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole
A young Nigerian man returns to Lagos after a long absence, exploring the city and its people as he confronts his own memories, identity, and the complex realities of life in modern Nigeria. Teju Cole’s insightful work delves into topics as diverse as the delights of everyday Lagosian life and the primitiveness of current types of corruption. Everyday is For The Thief is both a critique and a message of optimism to a Nigeria that is fast changing.
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
This tender, visceral novel follows Vivek Oji who is both dead and alive, male and female. The Death of Vivek Oji is a novel of family and friendship that challenges expectations – a dramatic story of loss and transcendence that will move every reader.
Aké: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka
Aké: The Years of Childhood gives us the memoir of Soyinka’s boyhood before and during World War II in a Yoruba village in western Nigeria called Aké. Without a doubt, Africa’s most diverse writer, and possibly her best… Ake is an African classic, and a standard of childhood memoirs in general, wherever and whenever it is published.
Lightseekers by Femi Kayode
Inventive and original, Kayode’s Nigeria-set thriller focuses on the why rather than the whodunit as it sets a criminal psychologist on a mission for the truth behind a multiple killing. When three young students are brutally murdered in a Nigerian university town, their killings – and their killers – are caught on social media. The world knows who murdered them; what no one knows is why.
Check out our reading list for the Best African Books to read and give our African Literature Quiz a try
