2022 ONTD Reading Challenge discussion

Use this topic to discuss whether you enjoyed your April picks from Zimbabwe, and whether you’d recommend it to your fellow readers! Did you find it easy/difficult to complete this task?

Please tag all spoilers in this post!

I read The Library of the Dead and it was entertaining enough. A bit slow to get going, but I enjoyed the characters and the world-building (sidenote, I saw so much criticism complaining about how there's too much worldbuilding, and how things are both too weird and not weird enough).

Honestly, I'm all for it. It took the more tedious aspects from the Dresden Files and improved them by turning them sideways into Dresden Files In Scotland With A Young WoC.

I'll not hold my breath waiting for the sequel, but I'll be pleasantly surprised to pick it up once I realise it's out some months after release.

I read Waiting for the Rain which was rather odd. Enjoyable but forgettable as it feels dated.

I read We Need New Names. Probably the best book I’ve read so far and I liked it well enough.

I also read We Need New Names. It was an okay enough book, objectively. Unfortunately, I didn't really feel a lot of things for this book.

I read Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller. I really liked it! It tells the story of a white British family who lived as tenant farmers in what was then Rhodesia during an extremely tumultuous post colonial/civil war. A wild tale of a childhood marked by politics and family tragedy. Great book cover too! I would definitely recommend. I learned a lot about the times of independence for Zimbabwe through the eyes of Bobo. Sometimes it’s a real trip the lives children are born into!

So, like several other people, i ended up reading We Need New Names. it was alright. books that aren't super plot-driven aren't usually my jam, so it may be more me than the book. i also had a hard time with the 2 instances of animal death as well as the wedding scene full of fatphobia.

I do feel like i got a really rich perspective on Zimbabwe from this book though. that half of the book was stronger for me, i think.

I read Nehanda by Yvonne Vera.

In the late nineteenth century white settlers and administrators arrive to occupy the African country of Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). Nehanda, a village girl, is recognized through omens and portents as a saviour. The resulting uprising by the Africans is brutally crushed but looks forward to the war of independence that succeeded a century later. Told in lucid, poetic prose, this is a gripping story about the first meeting of a people with their colonizer.

Absolutely beautiful writing, no question. 4/5

So i also ended up reading The Book of Memory which i think was objectively good but i hard a hard time focusing on it. there were some really great quips throughout (at one point the narrator says "the vegetables were so over-oiled America would have invaded" that made me snort out loud). I learned a lot about the social beliefs in Zimbabwe (like being LGBTQ is illegal) and some interesting things about their criminal justice system. it was a worthwhile read but you have to be prepared for some actual "literature" haha.

AND i got my hands on a copy of The Library of the Dead and i really really liked it and am looking forward to the sequel!

Took me longer than I thought but I finally finished I Am a Girl from Africa by Elizabeth Nyamayaro. A really engrossing and well-written memoir. Helped me learn a lot about Zimbabwe and the reality many faced there, but mostly it was a testament to the strength of this woman who did everything in her power to achieve her dream. I found her to be so lovely, warm, and inspiring, I legit want to be her friend lol