Mirian Njoh is a self-described “creative multi-hyphenate” and lifelong reader. She combines her love of photography, fashion, storytelling and modelling in her everyday life as a brand influencer and designer. Njoh has cultivated a following online of over 236,000 followers who look to her for inspiration. 

Now, Njoh shares her love of literature and three must-read books with Ali Hassan on The Next Chapter.

Mirian Njoh says: “Every Summer After follows [Persephone’s] journey into womanhood punctuated by different moments, different summers that she spends at her family cottage where she meets the love interest that follows her throughout the book. It goes between the present day along with a lot of flashbacks which really helped to fill out the story of growth, love, betrayal and a lot of tough topics.”

Every Summer After is a coming-of-age novel involving friendship, romance and forgiveness told over the course of six years and one weekend. Childhood summer friends Percy and Sam were inseparable — until a fateful moment forced them apart. Years later, a funeral draws them together once more to navigate love, loss and broken hearts. 

Fortune is a romance writer and journalist currently based in Toronto. She grew up in both Australia and in the small cottage town of Barry’s Bay, Ont., where her debut novel Every Summer After takes place. She is also the author of Meet Me at the Lake. 

No Disrespect by Sister Souljah

Mirian Njoh says: “What makes [Sister Souljah] an interesting figure is that she has such a strong perspective … She’s just such a good catalyst for dialogue and her work is the same way.”

No Disrespect is the 1996 memoir from renowned writer, activist and rapper Sister Souljah. Chronicling the impactful figures in her life from chapter to chapter, this book illuminates the experiences of being a Black woman in America. Through candid and insightful writing on racism, sexism and interpersonal relationships, Sister Souljah shares a part of her life as well as a guidebook for readers who identify with her. 

Sister Souljah is a Black American writer, political activist and teacher to underclass youth. She has studied at Cornell University, the University of Salamanca in Spain and American History and African Studies at Rutgers University. Her other books include The Coldest Winter Ever, A Deeper Love Inside, and Life After Death.

Mirian Njoh says: “I found myself relating a lot and some of the themes that [Ifemelu] felt in terms of feeling othered, feelings of struggling to feel belonging. Feeling torn between multiple worlds often – that’s something that you can tell that she grapples with and I could really relate to that.”

Following their emigration from Nigeria in the early 2000s, Americanah is a novel about two young people in love, Ifemelu and Obinze. When Ifemelu moves to America to excel in academia, she is confronted by the reality of what it means to be considered Black in the West. Meanwhile, Obinze is barred from moving to America after 9/11 and ends up in London as an undocumented person. As both characters navigate new realities, they struggle to find belonging and stay connected to home.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer living between Nigeria and the U.S. She is the author of many books including Half of a Yellow Sun which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction “Winner of Winners” award in 2021, the essay collections We Should All Be Feminists and Purple Hibiscus.