What Your Favourite Book Says About You: A Zambian Take on Reading Habits
When a Zambian asks you what book you love most, they are not just making small talk. They are asking you to reveal a piece of your soul. From the dog-eared copies of Chanda's Secrets passed around Lusaka classrooms to the well-worn Bibles on every family shelf, our reading choices tell a story that goes far beyond the pages.
An Australian study into reading habits has sparked fresh debate about why we love the books we do. But here in Zambia, we know this truth already. The book you treasure says more about your journey, your pride, and your people than any exam result ever could.
Favourite does not mean best
A favourite book and a book you consider the best are not the same thing. This is a lesson every Zambian reader learns early. The book that kept you awake under your mosquito net during a Copperbelt rainy season may not win literary awards. But it holds a place in your heart that no prize can touch.
Our favourite books carry memories. They remind us of a grandmother who told stories by firelight, a teacher who lent us a precious volume, or a friend who shared a novel that changed how we see the world. We do not just read these books. We form relationships with them that outlast the first reading.
Taste is a way of saying 'this is me'
When a young Zambian says they love crime fiction or romance or African epics, they are not just listing preferences. They are declaring who they are. Our taste in books gives us a vocabulary to present ourselves to the world.
A reader who loves Zambian history might devour everything about the struggle for independence. Another who prefers poetry might find comfort in verses that speak to our national soul. These choices tell others what kind of reader we are, and what kind of Zambian we aspire to be.
When you tell someone this is my favourite book, you are also telling them this is one of my worlds.
Favourite books help us recognise our people
Books create shared reference points. A fellow reader understands when you say a novel made you laugh and cry in the same chapter. A friend who loves the same author becomes family.
This has become more visible with the rise of social media reading communities. Zambian readers now share their shelves on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, posting about books that move them. Our taste, once private, is now displayed for the world to see.
These communities show something important: the reader. A shelf tour reveals taste. A comment defending a character signals group membership. And although these posts are about books, they are also small performances of who we are.
When loving a book becomes something you display
Some Zambians collect multiple editions of the same book. Others arrange their shelves by genre or keep objects tied to beloved characters. These displays show how a favourite book becomes something we want to live with, not just something we once read.
None of this is necessary to enjoy a book, of course. But it shows the depth of our connection. A book that matters becomes part of our home, our identity, our story.
Your favourite books tell your Zambian story
Think about the books that shaped you. One might point back to your childhood in a village or a bustling township. Another might mark the moment you discovered a genre you still love. Yet another connects you to a community you found through reading.
You might choose a book you return to not because it is perfect, but because it still feels like yours. Selecting favourites is a way of tracing your own history as a reader, and as a Zambian.
Our books are our heritage. They carry our voices, our struggles, our triumphs. When we share our favourite books, we share ourselves. And in a nation as proud and resilient as Zambia, that is a gift worth giving.
Mwansa Chisanga writes on culture, identity and the Zambian way of life.