It’s a few days late, but I have finally picked my favourite books from the last year. They include the second book I read in 2021 and the last one I read, so it’s a good thing I did wait until the year was well and truly over!

In total I read 67 books last year. Only 8 were in translation and, despite good intentions, only 4 were by African authors, so I will try to improve on those stats this year. That said, 17 were non-fiction, including several that I loved, so working towards that has been positive for me.

But the real question is: which were my favourites? I tried really hard to whittle it down to a top five, but just couldn’t so here are my top six reads of 2021, in no particular order.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
A novel told by 12 narrators in turn. It starts and ends with Amma, a playwright who, after years of struggling to make ends meet while making gay, feminist art, is finally on the brink of success. Subsequent narrators include her daughter, mother and closest friends, as well as people who seem to be unconnected at first.

The Five: the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
This is an attempt to piece together of the lives of Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly. If those names aren’t familiar to you, that is precisely what historian Rubenhold is trying to fix. Why is so little known about the victims of the most famous murderer ever? It’s partly because they were working class, but also because the police approached the investigation with assumptions that limited the questions that were asked. Rubenhold does a fantastic job of enlightening the period and the individuals.

The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie
An epic tale of love, rock music, belonging, faith, mythology and friendship, this novel is packed with references to mythology, religions, history and language. It centres around a couple of world-famous rock stars who are also a couple. From Mumbai to East Anglia to New York to South America, their relationship is tumultuous and strange, much like everyone around them.

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power by Lola Olufemi
This is a treatise about what feminism should be in 2021: inclusive, informed, activist. Olufemi argues for the consideration of reproductive justice, transmisogyny, Islamophobia and prison abolition alongside racism and sexism. Unlike most books I’ve read about feminism, which concentrate on what feminism should be, where it comes from and why we still need it, Olufemi also includes some specific changes that society needs to make to achieve feminism’s aims. It’s a powerful book, a very persuasive call to arms.

The Power by Naomi Alderman
This sci-fi offers the premise that women suddenly develop the ability to shoot electricity from their fingertips. Around the world, this has huge effects on the social, political and criminal power balance. This is all explored through a handful of characters, all of whom are wonderfully complex and interesting.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Half-sisters in 18th century Gold Coast begin the two lineages tracked by Gyasi through this saga depicting how slavery and colonialism shaped the histories of Ghana and the USA. One sister was sold into slavery, the other married a slaver. It’s a brilliant way to tell a long, complex tale, devoting two chapters to each generation. Sometimes Gyasi gives us a whole life in a handful of pages, sometimes just a snapshot of a key moment. It’s educational but also highly readable.

I only wrote proper reviews of two of these books, which is a reflection of my having spent most of last year feeling like I had no free time. Hopefully I will do better on that front this year. Maybe even starting with a review of Homegoing as it is only a few days right now since I finished it.

Here’s to finding more great reads in 2022.