Meet the fastest selling authors in Kenya this month

There is a debate raging out there that Kenyans don’t read after school. Those who retail this claim argue that Kenyans generally appear semi-literate on matters beyond their disciplines or work.

For example, these pessimists say that if you ask a Kenyan about when the Kapenguria Trial happened, they would have no clue unless they studied history at school.

Of course this argument is partly right. However, it is generally hardly supported by facts. There is much armchair analysis — a pastime of many Kenyans, especially that lot that loves to appear in front of TV cameras. There is little ‘empirical’ evidence, as the social scientists, who demand facts, statistics or concrete experiences.

I decided to do a round of some bookshops in Nairobi. I wanted to observe what Kenyans buy or read. I wanted to speak to the booksellers and hear what they say about book retail. I wanted to ask Kenyans why they bought some books and not others.

As a book reviewer I’d read in the Saturday Nation of August 24, 2013 that Kenyan book reviewers may be wasting their time as book buyers hardly take note of the reviews in the newspapers, magazines and on radio.

Well, I was quite surprised. As I walked into Bookstop, at Yaya Centre, Hurlingham, I bumped into a couple carrying copies of Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah. They appeared like mother and daughter. So, I walked into the bookshop and asked the bookshop manager about the books that were trending.

“Americanah, There was a Country by Chinua Achebe and Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Services by Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal,” he replied. It is easy to see why readers would buy Mossad.

Its legends and myths have produced an incredible addiction to any story that even remotely refers to it. But I wondered why Kenyans would want to read Americanah.

Or There was a Country. The reason is not difficult to see. Chimamanda is the heir-apparent, according to some critics, to Chinua Achebe’s throne in Nigerian literature. I’d say, more precisely, that she is the inheritor of Achebe’s Igbo literary stool. For sure, there are many more living Nigerian authors who Chimamanda is yet to catch up with, her tremendous production notwithstanding.

Also, the interest in Americanah is probably due to the book’s choice of style and theme. If you are a Netizen, then this book will seriously appeal to you given its clever play with the language, culture and world of blogging.

It is in this context that I understand why young Kenyans are walking around with copies of the book. As for Achebe maybe Kenyans are just paying respect to this doyen of African literature. Consider that even Things Fall Apart is enjoying re-readings, according to the attendant at The Stanley Bookshop.

Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid continues to have its fans. I guess that since there is a lot of pan-Africanist, anti-West and pro-global-East arguments in town, people are looking at the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of the failure of foreign economic aid to assist Africa develop.

According to the book dealer at The Stanley, besides Dead Aid, buyers were quite interested in Chimamanda’s Americanah and Purple Hibiscus as well. I guess the interest in Chimamanda’s earlier book is a question of reading one book and wanting to read ‘another’ by the same author.

Americanah was also mentioned as a readers’ choice at Prestige and Bookpoint bookshops. However, buyers were interested a lot in Mandela’s Nelson Mandela: Conversations with Myself as well as The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, a motivational book by Dr. Joseph Murphy. Murphy’s book is apparently in great demand, just like many other motivational books.

The demand for motivational books continues to baffle many ‘literary traditionalists’ who argue that these books are nothing but a quick reference for their readers on issues that every ‘normal’ person should be able to deal with.

However, the irony is: how many ‘normal’ people are out there? Beyond today’s stressful life there is just too much information available on one’s phone, TV, newspapers – print or online, the computer at work or from millions of self-appointed experts and philosophers. How are people supposed to deal with the barrage of expert opinion or ‘scientific solutions out there?’ It is for this reason that motivational books have become a generic formula to ‘succeed’ in life.

Planting a seed

How to plant a seed that will prosper and make one happy in life is a question every woman or man in Kenya will happily pay for. So, Cindy Trimm’s Commanding Your Morning is a wonderful reading in those hellish traffic snarl-ups Nairobians or urban Kenyans are condemned to every morning. The title of this book is just fabulous.

The message is a great antidote to the depressing reality of life in Nairobi. So, Trimm’s book is on a list of top-selling books that I found at Wakestar Christian Store.

The other books that readers kept asking whilst I stood at the counter with pen on my paper, ready to list, are I Declare and Everyday is a Friday: How to be Happier 7 Days a Week by Joel Osteen; Destined to Reign: The Secret to Effortless Success, Wholeness and Victorious Living by Joseph Prince and Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

How to be happy

There you are. Who wouldn’t want to know how to succeed ‘without effort?’ Which serious prospective lover or married couple seeking the elusive happiness in their home, who is capable of buying Five Love Languages, wouldn’t rush for it?

What price wouldn’t millions of people in the world pay just to be happy for six days; not the seven that Osteen promises? I wouldn’t underestimate the power of these books, especially when their language, style, tone, mood and message outperform religious sermons of today. I guess these books are popular because they offer readers methods of planting blessed seeds without the intercession of pastors.

You are likely asking: where are the Kenyan books? I found out at Bookpoint that In the House of the Interpreter by Ngugi wa Thiong’o was liked by a number of readers. Ngugi’s second instalment of his memoirs offers readers a view into Alliance School and the tumultuous colonial period of the 1950s.

The other two ‘Kenyan books’ are Dan Branch’s Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2011 and Wolfgang Fengler’s Realising the Kenyan Dream.

The two are really quick references to any foreigners landing on these shores, although Branch’s book would likely demand readers’ attention because its allusion to Kenya’s post-colonial history, the post-election crisis and the future of Kenya beyond 2011.

Great text

Surprisingly even ‘old’ bestsellers like The Monk who Sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma and The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham are still in great demand. I am certain that these are books whose popularity is founded in the power of word of mouth to spread the ‘greatness’ of a text.

The appearance of books on the shelves in Kenyan supermarkets is pretty much a recent practice. Managers of these stores didn’t think much about the possibility of a tired parent going home buying browsing a book whilst comparing prices of commodities.

Indeed few people bother about the bookshelves in Nakumatt and Uchumi supermarkets. But I discovered that these bookstores are quite busy on weekends.

Books First shelves in Nakumatt stores offer a variety of paperbacks for the buyer who strays into its path. Three books received a lot of attention in Books First.

The thriller/fantasy series Game of Thrones by George Martin seems to be liked by a lot of people who visit the Books First shelves. I guess that Kenyans who know of or have watched the American TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ would wish to find out how the books and the TV series match.

Beyond that fantasy Kenyans are also reading in big numbers E L James’ romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey. This erotic story is not just a local best seller. It has been read by millions of people all over the world, proving that people are still attracted to a good love story.

These few books are what I discovered Kenyans have been and are spending their money and time on in the past few weeks. These books are an indicator of the diverse tastes and reading habits of Kenyan readers.

However, there are thousands of books on the pavements of Nairobi streets as well as kiosks all over this country. Reading cultures are determined by the availability of spare money, time, literacy, age, gender, sex, spiritual beliefs, ideological convictions, boredom, research interest etc.

I hope to walk the streets of Nairobi and to share with you my findings on what the ‘street-book-buyer’ likes next month.

Dr Tom Odhiambo teaches literature at the University of Nairobi. [email protected]