Autobayng News Team
From the richness of Nigeria’s modern literary scene, to the thriving publishing ecosystem of Kenya and the booming creativity coming from black British and African American writers, we asked an African publishing house, a UK bookshop dedicated to black authors and Nairobi’s oldest bookshop for some recommendations on what to read in the coming year.
Upcoming releases in Africa
Rhoda Nuhu is the content and marketing manager of Cassava Republic Press in Abuja, Nigeria . She has chosen her favourite books due to come out in 2026, including those being released in paperback and two “wonderful” children’s books by Nigerian authors.
A Bouncy 123 by Sade Fadipe will be out in June Adanah and her friend Kolade go running around their village in this colourful picture book set in Nigeria, which captures all the fun of playing outdoors. Written by Sade Fadipe, a Nigerian primary schoolteacher and early reading expert who lives and teaches in the UK.
Hassan and Hassana Share Everything by Elnathan John will be out in November. The author’s first book for children, it centres on twins. On their eighth birthday, Hassan gets a bike and Hassana gets drums; Hassan’s friends tell him that girls cannot ride bikes, leaving him with an important decision. A beautiful story about kindness.
For adults, My Own Dear People by Dwight Thompson is out in paperback in May. Taut and lyrical, this novel set in Montego Bay, Jamaica, explores complicity, masculinity and a slow journey towards justice for Nyjah Messado, a man haunted by the day he watched a trainee teacher get dragged away and raped by his schoolmates at an elite boys’ private school. As Nyjah navigates a city shaped by street-gang politics and a lingering colonial order, he is forced to confront the man he has become in a world harsh to women and LGBTQ+ communities.
Also coming out in paperback in May is The Aquatics by Osvalde Lewat, translated by Maren Baudet-Lackner. Katmé lives a life of privilege: a dutiful politician’s wife to a husband who has ceased to notice her. The only outlier to her regimented life is her friendship with Samy, a struggling artist and a gay man – something that is punishable by law in fictional Zambuena. When Samy’s new exhibition critiques Zambuena’s inequities, Katmé’s two lives are set on a collision course as political rivals descend.
The Shipikisha Club by Mubanga Kalimamukwento will be out in paperback in July. Part family melodrama, part courtroom drama, The Shipikisha Club is a poignant look at patriarchy and motherhood. Sali, a mother of three, is on trial for the murder of her husband, Kasunga, who is found dead after a heated fight in their bedroom. In the gallery are her mother, Peggy, and her daughter, Ntashé, as the secrets of Sali’s fractured marriage are laid bare, from birth secrets to hidden violence and postpartum depression. Faced with a hungry public, and a society that values women who endure, Sali must decide if there is any value in revealing the truth of that night, a truth known only to her and Kasunga.
Pillaging the Dead, by Degol Hailu will be out in September in paperback. A debut novel from an Ethiopian author, the book is a political satire set in an unnamed African nation. Tarik is a university student, hustling a living on the side as a street hawker, selling banned books and political cartoons. When he is caught up in a raid and beaten by the regime, a world of activism is opened up to him, sending him on a dangerous political journey.
Best books by black authors in 2025
Carolynn Bain is the owner of Afrori Books in Brighton, a UK bookshop dedicated to black authors and which runs book clubs and events throughout the year. She recommends the following as her favourite books published in 2025:
The Scammer by Tiffany D Jackson (HarperCollins). Ripped from the headlines this book will have you on the edge until the last page. A suspenseful thriller for young adults.
Firstborn Girls: A memoir by Bernice L McFadden (Penguin) is a biography told in a fresh way. Bernice is an extraordinary writer of fiction and this is a beautiful book on women and generational impact.
We Were There by Lanre Bakare (Penguin Random House). An incredible look at black culture in Britain and its influence from outside London, by a talented writer and Guardian journalist. The book is due out in paperback later this year.
History’s Most Epic Fails by Athena Kugblenu (Hachette). Intended for children, but adults love it too, Kugblenu, a standup comedian, is fully engaging with these incredible stories that have been hidden from us.
Til Death by Busayo Matuluko (Simon & Schuster). A cosy crime and Nigerian family drama that takes you away from the tiny village and into the heart of the extravagant Nollywood film world.
A Song of Legends Lost by MH Ayinde (published by Orbit in the UK and Masobe Books in Nigeria). If you want to go on an epic fantasy adventure then this book does not disappoint – it is no surprise that this is a bestseller. Ayinde’s debut novel is the first of a promised trilogy.
Best of the decade so far
Ahmed Aidarus owns Prestige, Nairobi’s oldest bookshop, located in the heart of Kenya’s capital, while also running the Jahazi Press publishing house. The first two of his recommendations are the current bestsellers in his shop:
Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State by Mahmood Mamdani (Harvard). This is a first-hand account of Mamdani’s country’s struggle to find its feet after decolonisation and independence. An insightful political commentator and philosopher – and father to New York’s mayor elect – the Ugandan academic brings a learned eye to the complexity of east African politics.
For What Are Butterflies Without Their Wings by Troy Onyango (Masobe Books). This Kenyan writer’s collection of 12 short stories centred around love, heartbreak, grief and belonging is his debut book and has attracted critical acclaim.
Let Us Conspire and Other Stories by Billy Kahora (Jahazi Press). These stories emerged from workshops held over three weeks in 2022 by Jahazi in collaboration with Saseni, a creative-writing teaching platform. We also solicited stories from some of the most talented writers in Kenya today including Idza Luhunyo, Kiprop Kimutai and Dennis M’gaa. The stories cross every genre from African horror-fantasy using folklore, traditional realism, modernist angst and even auto-fiction and take in every contemporary Kenyan literary subject imaginable, from family to politics.
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Knopf) The most awaited publishing event of 2025 for Adichie fans, this story of four women, spanning the US and Nigeria, is a vibrant tale and is the first novel from her in more than a decade.
Nearly All the Men In Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku (Masobe). Another short-story collection from the Nigerian author and actor, this book has been a huge hit. Set in Lagos, it covers various women and their experiences with men and relationships and is both funny and empathetic.
