5 books to look out for this season

This is also an opportune moment to grab that spell bounding book you have always wanted to read and never actually got time, place and right space of mind to read. 2016, has been an amazing year in the literature world, and some great novels fiction and non-fiction were released.

Here is but just a few ‘’ novels, you might want to carry along to your holiday destination, or list down as recommended gifts you would like your family and friends to spoil you with this festive session.

The Underground Railroad By Colson Whitehead (Fiction)

Despite slavery having been abolished in 1865, modern day slavery is still alive and well in today’s world.

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans.

When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape and of course things don’t go as planned.

"Oh, have I found a great book!" Media Mogul, Oprah Winfrey exclaims on her channel about the book.

Among many issues “The Underground Railroad” raises also include the myriad ways in which black history has too often been stolen by white narrators.

You can easily order your copy on amazon with hard covers retailing at just $16.17

Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Non Fiction)

We do live in interesting times, where the line between right and wrong, male and female is steadily getting blurred by the day. The Bruce Jenner gender transformation which occurred mid-2015, is just but one example of how human genetics is ever becoming the focus of the modern age.

In his latest book, Mukherjee guides us through the past, present, and future of genome science, with a special focus on huge ethical questions that the latest and greatest genome technologies provoke. The book comes highly recommended by top literature icons and features on Bill Gates favorite novels of 2016 as well.

You can grab your copy from online stores such as amazon from $ 9.43 - $ 20.69

Blackass by A. Igoni Barrtt (African Fiction)

Furo Wariboko, a young Nigerian, awakes the morning before a job interview to find that he’s been transformed into a white man. In this condition he plunges into the bustle of Lagos to make his fortune. With his red hair, green eyes, and pale skin, it seems he’s been completely changed. Well, almost. There is the matter of his family, his accent, his name. Oh, and his black ass. In this age of skin lightening cosmetics, fake butts and boobs it is hard to pin point where the rain started beating us and we completely lost the plot.

Igoni Barrett’s Blackass is a fierce comic satire that touches on everything from race to social media while at the same time questioning the values society places on us simply by virtue of the way we look.

You can get this 256 page turner book in book stores near you from $16.00

King Lear by Shakespeare (Play)

I am not going to beat around the bush on this one, just two things if you want to find a way of explaining all the occurrences and happening which occurred in 2016 from Brexit, precarious migrations to Europe by Africans and Arabs on boats not fit to transport even goats, to USA electing Trump, all the chaos that has engulfed the world today, then read this timeless play, still relevant more than 400 years since it was authored by literature wizard Shakespeare.

This play comes highly recommended by cultural and literature critics and the good thing you can find free soft copies online.

Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary by Joe Jackson (Audio book)

If you are one of those people who enjoy a long cruise, just you and the endless road ahead of you. A great compelling audio book is the ultimate gift.

No other biography of Black Elk matches the depth, breadth and color of Joe Jackson’s wrenching account of the Sioux elder and his people.

The book is read superbly with matter-of-fact pacing and clarity by Traber Burns, who distinguishes between text, dialogue and quotation with subtle modulation. He executes the many Indian names and expressions gracefully, doing justice throughout to a very great book.