Reading a Book by a Nigerian Author Changed My Life — Here Are 6 Others That Might Change Yours

Last but certainly not least is Helen Oyeyemi, a British author of Nigerian descent. Her work is, in a word, peculiar — largely because she takes the ordinary and renders it strange, making it impossible to look at things the same way again. New readers should pick up Boy, Snow, Bird, a novel about the relationship between a child and her stepmother that addresses colorism, "passing," and viewing oneself. It's a powerful, critically acclaimed work that I recommend you read when you have time to lose yourself in an imaginative and oddly whimsical world.