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48 popular jamaican books
Travel the world without leaving your chair. The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world. All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around North America Challenge" were written by authors from Jamaica. Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.

1.

A Brief History of Seven Killings : WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015 by Marlon James EN

Rating: 4 (7 votes)
Description:
A SPECIAL EDITION OF THE 2015 BOOKER PRIZE WINNER, WITH A BRAND-NEW FOREWORD AND A Q&A WITH THE AUTHOR * With a new foreword by Bernardine Evaristo * * One of the New York Times' '100 Best Books of the 21st Century' * Jamaica, 1976. Seven gunmen storm Bob Marley's house, machine guns blazing. The reggae superstar survives, but the gunmen are never caught. In A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James reimagines the story behind this near-mythical event, chronicling the lives of a host of unforgettable characters from street kids, drug lords and journalists, to prostitutes and secret servi... continue

2.

A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie EN

0 Ratings
Description:
American-born artist Chris is forced to reconsider his conception of family during a visit to his mother’s Caribbean homeland. “Thoroughly satisfying . . . This bighearted narrative of love, loss, and family is handled with grace and beauty.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review “Alecia McKenzie’s tender new novel [is] an emotionally resonant ode to adopted families and community resilience.” —New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice After a personal tragedy upends his world, American-born artist Chris travels to his mother’s homeland in the Caribbean hoping to find some peace and tranquility... continue

3.

A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Description:
'Brimming with magic, passion and history' New York Times 'Captivating from the very first page' Jennifer Egan Shortlisted for the Fiction category in the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature Shortlisted for the Kitschies Red Tentacle Award Discovered amidst a tangle of sea grape trees, Moshe Fisher’s provenance is a thing of myth and mystery; his unusual appearance, with blueish, translucent skin and duo-toned hair, only serves to compound his mystique. Equally feared and ridiculed by peers as he grows up, he finds a surprising kindred soul in the striking and bold Arrienne Christie, but ... continue

4.

And Still I Rise by Doreen Lawrence, Margaret Busby EN

0 Ratings
Description:
Since the murder of her son Stephen in 1993, Doreen Lawrence has campaigned for justice for Stephen and for other victims of racially-motivated crimes. In this book, she describes the unimaginable events of 1993 and the years that followed as they happened to her.

5.

Augustown : A Novel by Kei Miller EN

Rating: 4 (5 votes)
Description:
PEN OPEN BOOK AWARD FINALIST ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Slate • Publishers Weekly • Kirkus Reviews • Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Ma Taffy may be blind but she sees everything. So when her great-nephew Kaia comes home from school in tears, what she senses sends a deep fear running through her. A teacher has cut off Kaia’s dreadlocks—a violation of the family’s Rastafari beliefs—and this single impulsive action will have ramifications that stretch throughout the entire community. Kaia’s story brings back memories from Ma Taffy’s youth, including the legend of the flying preacherman and hi... continue

6.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Description:
One of TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time Winner of the L.A. Times Ray Bradbury Prize Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award The New York Times Bestseller Named a Best Book of 2019 by The Wall Street Journal, TIME, NPR, GQ, Vogue, and The Washington Post "A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made." --Neil Gaiman "Gripping, action-packed....The literary equivalent of a Marvel Comics universe." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times The epic novel from the Man Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings In the stunning first novel in Marlon James's ... continue

7.

Breve Historia de Siete Asesinatos by Marlon James ES

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
De reggae-zanger Bob Marley lijkt een speelbal te zijn van politici en criminelen op Jamaica.

8.
Brown Girl in the Ring

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson EN

0 Ratings
Description:
In this "impressive debut" from award-winning speculative fiction author Nalo Hopkinson, a young woman must solve the tragic mystery surrounding her family and bargain with the gods to save her city and herself. (The Washington Post) The rich and privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways -- farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless of the streets. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, and... continue

9.

Citizen : An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Description:
"Claudia Rankine's bold new book recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. In essay, image, and poetry, Citizen is a powerful testament to the individual and collective effects of racism in our contemporary, often named 'post-race' society."-

10.

Don't Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine EN

0 Ratings
Description:
In this powerful sequence of TV images and essay, Claudia Rankine explores the personal and political unrest of our volatile new century I forget things too. It makes me sad. Or it makes me the saddest. The sadness is not really about George W. or our American optimism; the sadness lives in the recognition that a life can not matter. The award-winning poet Claudia Rankine, well known for her experimental multigenre writing, fuses the lyric, the essay, and the visual in this politically and morally fierce examination of solitude in the rapacious and media-driven assault on selfhood that is cont... continue


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