Thread by @suyidavies

My #BestBooks of 2019: a thread.

I read 29 books this year (look, I'm a slow reader & I'm comfortable with odd numbers, deal with it 😌).

A few things I ensured to do this year to switch up my reading and keep it diverse and inclusive:

- multi-genre & across subgenres, so I didn't only read SFF
- multi-format, so I read in print, e-book & audio
- authors across identity spectra, particularly ensuring to have 50%+ non-male, non-white works.

Now, on to the books. *wriggles fingers*

1. THE POET X by @AcevedoWrites. Highly recommend. YA coming-of-age novel-in-verse, but you don't have to read YA to see the genius in this book's simplicity packed with complexity. I would die for this book if I could. I still may, who knows?

Format: Audiobook (@Scribd)

2. MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER by @OyinBraithwaite. There's little more I can say about this book that hasn't been said. It did something relatively new with fiction from Nigeria/Africa that's been tough to achieve for a long time. @adeperoOduye's narration was 👌🏾.

Format: Audio

3. THE BLACK GOD'S DRUMS by @pdjeliclark.

Steampunk fantasy in an alternate New Orleans, featuring the Yoruba orisha, Oya, and a motley cast to make the mouth water. Won the Nebula for Best Novella. Obviously.

Format: Kindle

4. SALVAGE THE BONES by @jesmimi.

I learned everything I knew about Katrina through cable TV in Nigeria. Little nuance. This was a lyrical behind-the-scenes tale of the complex humans who lived through it. Unsurprised it was a National Book Award winner.

Format: Print

Correction: was nominated, but didn't win. (I think I wished so hard it did that I just forgot it didn't, lol).

5. THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE by @aliettedb.

Lemme put it this way: Think Sherlock Holmes and Watson, but Sherlock is an Asian scholar & Watson is a sentient spaceship. That's not the only beautiful thing about this novella--it's beautifully written too.

Format: Kindle.