English books from Africa
Recommended English books (446)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you speak English here are some English books from Africa for the next part of the "Read Around The World Challenge".
211.
North to Paradise : A Memoir by Ousman Umar EN
GhanaDescription:
The inspiring true story of one man's treacherous boyhood journey from a rural village in Ghana to the streets of Barcelona--and the path that led him home. Ousman Umar is a shaman's son born in a small village in Ghana. Though his mother died giving birth, he spent a contented childhood working the fields, setting traps in the jungle, and living off the land. Still, as strange and wondrous flying machines crisscrossed the skies overhead, Ousman dreamed of a different life. And so, when he was only twelve years old, he left his village and began what would be a five-year journey to Europe. Eve... continue
212.
Notes from the Hyena's Belly : An Ethiopian Boyhood by Nega Mezlekia EN
EthiopiaDescription:
The author recalls his childhood in Ethiopia interspersed with information about the customs and everyday life in his hometown of Jijiga.
213.
Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard by Mawi Asgedom EN
Description:
Read the story that has inspired millions The desert, I remember. The shrieking hyenas, I remember....I remember playing soccer with rocks, and a strange man telling me and my brother Tewolde that we had to go on a trip and Tewolde refusing to go. The man took out a piece of gum and Tewolde happily traded it for his homeland.... So begins the remarkable true story of a young boy's journey from civil war in east Africa to a refugee camp in Sudan, to a childhood on welfare in an affluent American suburb, and eventually to a full-tuition scholarship at Harvard University. Following his father's a... continue
214.
Of Water and the Spirit—Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Patrice Somé EN
Country: Africa / 
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Description:
Maliodoma Patrice Some was born in a Dagara Village, however he was soon to be abducted to a Jesuit school, where he remained for the next fifteen years, being harshly indoctrinated into european ways of thought and worship. The story tells of his return to his people, his hard initiation back into those people, which lead to his desire to convey their knowledge to the world. Of Water and the Spirit is the result of that desire; it is a sharing of living African traditions, offered in compassion for those struggling with our contemporary crisis of the spirit.
215.
One Day I Will Write about This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina EN
KenyaDescription:
A groundbreaking memoir by the acclaimed Kenyan Caine Prize winner.
216.
Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga EN
RwandaDescription:
Introducing Scholastique Mukasonga to the UK: a major international author and her brilliant and award-winning first novel.
217.
Our Riches by Kaouther Adimi EN
AlgeriaDescription:
The powerful English debut of a rising young French star, Our Riches is a marvelous, surprising, hybrid novel about a beloved Algerian bookshop A Library Journal Best Book of the Year Finalist for the PEN Translation Prize Winner of the French American Foundation Prize
218.
Out of Darkness, Shining Light : A Novel by Petina Gappah EN
ZimbabweDescription:
“Engrossing, beautiful, and deeply imaginative, Out of Darkness, Shining Light is a novel that lends voice to those who appeared only as footnotes in history, yet whose final, brave act of loyalty and respect changed the course of it. An incredible and important book by a masterful writer.” —Yaa Gyasi, author of Homegoing “This is how we carried out of Africa the poor broken body of Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, David Livingstone, so that he could be borne across the sea and buried in his own land.” So begins Petina Gappah's powerful novel of exploration and adventure in nineteenth-century Africa—... continue
219.
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz EN
EgyptDescription:
Palace Walk is the first novel in Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent Cairo Trilogy, an epic family saga of colonial Egypt that is considered his masterwork. The novels of the Cairo Trilogy trace three generations of the family of tyrannical patriarch al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules his household with a strict hand while living a secret life of self-indulgence. Palace Walk introduces us to his gentle, oppressed wife, Amina, his cloistered daughters, Aisha and Khadija, and his three sons—the tragic and idealistic Fahmy, the dissolute hedonist Yasin, and the soul-searching in... continue
220.
Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah EN
TanzaniaDescription:
By the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature A BBC RADIO 4 Book at Bedtime SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE _______________________ 'A poetic and vividly conjured book about Africa and the brooding power of the unknown' Independent on Sunday 'Gurnah evokes his world in poetic prose which is pure and lucid - a small paradise in itself ... The pleasures, sadnesses and losses in all the shining facets of this book are lingering and exquisite' Guardian 'An obliterated world is enthrallingly retrieved' Sunday Times _______________________ Born in East Africa, Yusuf has few qualms about the j... continue