Help Support the Book Club with a Donation >> Click Here <<

Mocha Girls Read

We are a group of Black women who love to read, want to read more and meet like-minded women.

in Monthly Book Selections

July 2026 Sponsored Monthly Book Selection – One Leg on Earth by ‘Pemi Aguda 🇳🇬

We are thrilled to announce our July 2026 Sponsored Monthly Book Selection — One Leg on Earth by ‘Pemi Aguda.

A Sponsored Book means the publisher has partnered with Mocha Girls Read to feature this title as our official Monthly Book Selection.

As we explore Nigeria this month, we invite you to immerse yourself in a story that examines identity, belonging, ambition, and the unseen forces that shape our lives

About the Book

Something is haunting the pregnant women of Lagos. Across the city, they are walking into water . . . and drowning.

Something is haunting the pregnant women of Lagos. Across the city, they are walking into water . . . and drowning.

Twenty-three-year-old Yosoye arrives in Lagos ready to start her life. Working for a slick architectural firm, she finds a city of adventure and opportunity. Her new world is one of fancy gallery openings, glamorous friends, and all the shiny potential of the future, encapsulated in projects like Omi City, the ultra-luxury development her company is building, a symbol of the dawn of a brighter Lagos.

But Yosoye’s idyllic vision of Lagos soon begins to seem naive, and its darker, stranger layers trouble her. Something is not right about Omi City, and as construction speeds ahead, stories of strange deaths in the city’s open waters reach a fever pitch. And then, after a chance encounter, Yosoye discovers she is pregnant . . . a revelation which puts her on a collision course with an inexplicable force that is as seductive as it is deadly. A masterwork by a writer hailed as “an astonishing talent” (Lauren Groff), One Leg on Earth is an ambitious novel like no other: a coming-of-age story, an uncanny exploration of motherhood, and a chilling vision of the dark side of progress.

Meet the Author

‘Pemi Aguda is from Lagos, Nigeria. She is the author of One Leg on Earth and Ghostroots, a finalist for the 2024 National Book Awards in Fiction, the LA Times First Fiction Prize, the NYPL Young Lions Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award.

She has an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan, and her short stories have won O. Henry Prizes, a Nommo Award for Short Story, a Henfield Prize, and the Writivism Prize. Her work has been supported by an Octavia Butler Memorial Scholarship, and her novel-in-progress won the 2020 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award. She was a 2021 Fiction Fellow with the Miami Book Fair, a MacDowell fellow, and is the current Hortense Spillers Assistant Editor at Transition Magazine.

W. W. Norton, Virago, and Masobe published Ghostroots in 2024, and will publish her novel, One Leg on Earth, in May 2026.

She is represented by Renée Zuckerbrot of MMQ Lit.

Meet the Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Founded in 1923, W. W. Norton & Company is one of the largest and most respected independent publishing houses in the United States.

Known for publishing groundbreaking fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and scholarly works, Norton has long championed diverse voices and stories that challenge, inspire, and expand our understanding of the world.

Their commitment to literary excellence and global storytelling aligns perfectly with Mocha Girls Read’s Around the World theme, making them an ideal partner for this month’s selection.

We are grateful to W. W. Norton & Company for supporting readers, authors, and literary communities through the power of books.

Let’s Read Around the World

This year’s AROUND THE WORLD theme is all about connection — seeing ourselves and each other through global stories that remind us how literature transcends boundaries. We’re now heading back home to the USA, and we can’t wait to see where our next destination takes us. 🌍📚

Don’t Forget Your Reader’s Passport! ✈️📖

As part of our AROUND THE WORLD theme, every Mocha Girl can collect stamps in her Mocha Girls Read Reader’s Passport throughout 2026!
Each month, you’ll “visit” a new country through our Monthly Book Selection — earning a new digital or printable stamp when you attend a meeting or join an online discussion. By December, you’ll have a full passport of literary adventures from around the world!

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Mocha Girl Alysia

Founder / President at Mocha Girls Read
Founder of Mocha Girls Read book club. But basically, just another girl who loves to read and then read some more and wants to meet others like me. If you add a cup of green tea with lemon and honey I will be overjoyed.