Top 5 Tuesday #10: K – L – M – N – O

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm.

This week’s topic:

K – L – M – N – O

(books with titles that start with the featured letters)

K is for…

Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

This was one of the best books I read last year and one of my favorites of last year as well. It’s a historical fiction novel with a strong sense of magical realism that’s set in Uganda and is about the cursed bloodline of the Kintu clan. The story focuses on how the curse has affected generations of Kintu Kidda’s descendants. It’s an amazing read. The story and the prose are great, and I HIGHLY recommend you give this one a try. The structure of the story and the names that are repeated every generation made Kintu remind me of One Hundred Years of Solitude, another wonderful story.

L is for…

Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor

This is one of my favorite books. Written in the mid-1980s, Linden Hills was a contemporary novel of its time about African Americans chasing the American dream and what it might cost to attain it. The story is set in a wealthy Black community that’s modeled after Dante’s Inferno. It’s this element, as well as the writing, that hooked me to the story. It’s been a while since I’ve read it and I have forgotten some details, but I’m sure if I should reread it, I’d still consider it a favorite.

M is for…

Mother of the Sea by Zetta Elliott

I read this one last year and really liked it. It’s a fantasy short story about a girl who’s abducted from her village and sold into slavery. Much of the story takes place aboard the slave ship as it sails the Middle Passage. The girl endures the brutal journey with the help of a mischievous child, who may be connected to a goddess. This was an interesting read. I enjoyed it, but I wish it was longer.

N is for…

No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin

A book of essays the majority of which appeared as posts on Le Guin’s blog between 2010 and 2012. It was a good read while I was reading it, but after completing it, I forgot everything. I think I read it too quickly.

O is for…

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

One of my favorite classics. The prose is beautiful and the story is captivating. But what is it about? It’s hard for me to say in just one sentence. It is magical realism and is about generations of the Buendia family. Beyond that, I don’t know what else to say to describe the plot. It is an interesting read and can be confusing for some, but it’s totally worth trying.

That’s it for me.

Let me know if you’ve read any of these.