- Around the Year #9: from one of the top 5 money-making genres
- Book Riot #6: by an author of color and set in or about space
For the record, the five popular genres I could have chosen from were:
- romance/erotica
- crime/mystery
- religious/inspirational
- sci-fi/fantasy
- horror
Most of these choices are not my bag, though if there’s ever a future year where I have to take on both these “big 5” genres and the 1 Mil+ Goodreads thing again, I may finally just put a clothespin on my nose and read 50 Shades. But for this year, sci-fi was definitely the best choice for me. I don’t follow the genre nearly as well as I did back in high school, but I have more of an interest in sci-fi than in the other 4 types of book.
As, in fact, evidenced by the way I’ve collected a wee small collection of sci-fi books along the way through my addiction to Kindle daily deals. I purchased Binti because it was listed as a big award winner in sci-fi—like Hugo and Nebula awards, which are legitimately a Big Deal. I was also looking to widen my understanding of contemporary sci-fi by grabbing a title written by an African-American woman.* And I am very glad to have been introduced to Okorafor’s body of work.
Still, I have so many mixed feelings about this book.
Self-Love: It's Just Another Lifestyle Change 