🥤August is for falling in love, allegedly

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👋 Happy new month! It seems the rains have eased off and the floods have returned to the Earth. Half the year is gone, which means half is still there, and so are those goals you tucked into your sleeve back in January. I’m rooting for you :)

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August has always been that month that comes with a sense of calm and quiet, ushering in the closing sister months of the year. The rain has softened its downpour, yet its presence still hangs in the air.

The cool breeze reminds us of the empty beds and the yearnings in the depth of our hearts. It's August, and if your bed remains cold, the romance book next to your pillow will be there to keep companionship alive. 

For the first week in August, we are reading short and full-length romance books that hold steady passion and cause sparks in our bellies.

A Broken People’s Playlist  - Chimeka Garricks

Can a playlist heal your broken heart? Chimeka Garricks’ A Broken People’s Playlist features 12 emotional stories backed by music. The most touching story for us is Hurt, a story of two estranged brothers, Priye and Dami. When Dami falls terminally ill, Priye organises a living funeral to celebrate his brother’s life while he is still alive to see it. This is just one of many other deeply moving stories in the book.

If you are a lover of music, the book has a curated 12-track playlist with soothing songs ranging from Maroon 5’s Lost Stars to Bez’s You Suppose Know. You can get A Broken People’s Playlist on Amazon, Ouida, and bookstores around you.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty - Akwaeze Emezi

A romance story list is nothing without a love triangle. In You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, Akwaeze Emezi weaves a story around Feyi Adekola, who lost her husband in a car crash.

After five years of dealing with her trauma, she stumbles upon a chance to give love another try. However, she finds herself in a love triangle, but not the typical one society is used to. Who will she choose? Find out in Emezi’s You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. You can buy your copy from Rovingheights.

Malomo High Reunion Series - Adesuwa O'man Nwokedi

The Malomo High Reunion Series is a six-book romance collection about old secondary schoolmates meeting again and stumbling upon love. The first book in the collection explores themes of hidden love and second chances as the main characters Tomiloju and Ikenna meet again at a school reunion twenty years later. 

Other books in the series break down several love themes, all intersecting with one or some people from Malomo High. Romantics swear by this collection. Get your series at Amazon, Bookpeddler, or BBIP Bookstore.

A Nollywood Christmas - Tomilola Coco Adeyemo 

What is one of the best seasons to showcase love if not Christmas? Anu, a movie editor, meets Nollywood’s sweetheart, Tai, who is trying to resurrect his failing career. They meet at a movie set in Ibadan, and what started as a no-strings-attached fling later blossoms into a full relationship. After an almost unredeemable fallout, they give each other a second chance. 

If you love sensual, fireworks scenes, this book is for you. Similar to A Broken People’s Playlist, A Nollywood Christmas also comes with a bonus playlist. The book is available at Masobe Books. 

African Love Stories: An Anthology - 21 female authors

What are the chances that 21 authors would work on a single book? Definitely rare. This book is our top recommendation this week.

We personally recommend it because 21 African women from eight African countries, including Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, Sefi Atta, Leila Aboulela, Monica Arac de Nyeko, and more, work together with editor Ama Ata Aidoo to tell stories of forbidden love and love in its diversity and complexity. 

An example is Sudanese author Leila Aboulela’s Something Old, Something New, a story about a Sudanese woman who falls in love with a Scottish muslim convert. The difference in their culture and religion couldn’t stop their love, yet it isn’t an easy ride due to the tensions surrounding their union. You can order yours on Amazon!

Happy to announce that our backlist gem for the week is John Pepper Clark’s Abiku. Written in the 1960s, the 26-line, single-stanza poem entirely written in free verse has refused to leave the classrooms and reading lists.

Some context: Late John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo was a Nigerian poet, playwright, and an English Professor at the University of Lagos whose works were published under the pseudonym J.P. Clark. He was known for his poetry and dramatic works up until he died in 2020.  

Origin: The word Abiku is a Yoruba belief that means “born to die,” which translates to “reincarnated child” in English. At its heart, the Abiku poem explores grief, hope, and exhaustion of parents who have repeatedly undergone the loss of a child. Abiku, the “spirit child,” is often believed to die and return to the same family. Through the voice of an observer, the poem becomes a plea for the child to stay and choose life, even for just this once.

Why you should read: Abiku is popular, but the reputation shouldn’t put you off. It is a minute read (and two if you’re taking your time). Our favorite line is the opening line, which reads, “Coming and going these several seasons,” because the line alone captures the meaning of Abiku.

📌 The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2026 has released its annual longlist of 11 poetry collections.

The Longlist of 11 are Adult Love by Tanure Ojaide, Bakandamiya by Saddiq Dzukogi, Black Passport by Paul Akpomuje, 2000 Blacks by Ajibola Tolase, Ceremony for The Nameless by Theresa Lola, Corpus: Animistic Verses by Ayo Oyeku, Floral's Love Colony by Tares Oburumu, The Origin of Wounds by Malik Gbolahan, The Years of Blood by Adebayo Agarau, Unbind Me Now by James Ugwu Eze, and Why Does God Need a Gun by Ogaga Ifowodo. 

📌 Eugen Bacon has not one, two, but three books in her lineup for 2026.

Two short story collections, Danged Black Thing and The Road to Woop Woop and Other Stories, are set for release in the third week of August, while Crimson in Quietus is the first book of a fantasy mystery sci-fi (September 1st), and Serengotti is a mystery psychological drama to be released in November.

It’s been quite a run for the African-Australian writer as she released Muntu earlier in the year and teased the drop of The Rawness of You for 2027. Danged Black Thing, The Road to Woop Woop, and Other Stories, and Serengotti are Masobe Books publications.

Benedict thinks Nigerians love aspire to maguire

We love to talk to readers and get to know more about them. In every issue, we introduce you to a book club member and learn about their favorite books to read, why they love reading, and so much more! Today, we have 23-year-old Benedict Wilfred, Noisystreetss’ book club manager for almost a year.

What are you reading right now, and are you enjoying it, or just finishing it out of stubbornness?

I'm currently reading Leave My Bones in Saskatoon by Michael Afenfia, and I’m actually enjoying it. So far, it's a pretty sad story that follows a man who's dealing with the loss of his family to bandits.

I think that's a really important story to tell. Also, the main character is an Idoma man, and I'm an Idoma man too (on my mother's side), and I don't think I've read a book about an Idoma man since I was 10 years old.

What's the club reading at the moment, and has anyone hated it yet? 

The book club is currently reading The Lies We Tell by Fatima Bala. Today's the 4th of August, so we just got the books, and no one's started giving reviews. But I'm very excited to hear all their thoughts soon. They almost sent me packing during last month's meeting for Cursed Daughters because I gave grace to a character that they didn't like, lol. 

The character's name was Ebun. She made a deal with her cousin Monife to both terminate their pregnancies at the same time, but she chickened out and lied to Monife about it, leaving Monife all alone in that decision. Pretty sad.

What's the most chaotic thing that's happened in a session?

Hmm, a lot of chaotic things happen in every meeting. As you know, we're a very ‘Noisy’ bunch, lol. There was one time when a member of the book club was really going off about how stressed she was that the author had made a mistake in the translation of an Arabic term, how it was used incorrectly, and how unsatisfying the reveal of the villain was.

The funniest part is that she came late to the meeting, so the entire time she was ranting about everything she didn’t like about the book, she had no idea the author was sitting right beside her. We all kept quiet as she went on, and she ended her rant with, “If I see the author, I’ll give him a piece of my mind.” It was so hilarious, we all burst out laughing, and she was completely confused.

However, we recently split the room into two every meeting and have a full-on debate with a panel of judges, and one team must come out a winner. I love that, and it's all so fun. I've never been a judge, thank God, because the debaters can get really passionate. I love them so much.

What's the hardest part of running a book club that nobody warns you about?

It isn't really hard. I love the people, I love losing my voice every penultimate and last Saturday of each month, and I love hearing everyone's honest thoughts. I love drinking wine with everyone. It's more than I could've ever dreamed of.

I think maybe just consistently trying to think of how to grow the book club, get more people, spread the gospel, that might be the most technical part. And also getting everyone to gather for a group photo, lol.

You've got your own favorites, but what do Nigerians actually read? And what's the book everyone claims to have read and hasn't?

Funny thing is, I don't think there's a concrete method of analysing what we actually read as a collective. We can make the best educated guesses, but we don't have a solid measuring system like the New York Times or Amazon's bestsellers.

If I'm to go on what people buy from bookstores, I'll say a lot of non-fiction. Nigerians love to aspire to maguire, and then I would say literary fiction is a close second; your Stay with Me, your Dream Count, your Cursed Daughters. Fiction Lovers gravitate towards Lit Fic for sure. I truly believe nobody is actually reading Femi Otedola’s Making It Big.

What would make you walk away from book club?

I can't truly walk away from Book Club. It's become a part of myself that's undetachable. I might leave the country or move cities, but I'll always be connected to the people in that community.

I'll always talk in the private community; I'll still get the book of the month. So, even if I can't be part of the physical community, they're kinda stuck with me for life.

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