English books from Africa
Recommended English books (653)
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".
381.
Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo EN
NigeriaDescription:
Originally published: Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2017.
382.
Stolen Livers by Malika Oufkir, Michele Fitoussi EN
MoroccoDescription:
Malika Oufkir has been a prisoner for most of her life in 1972 her father was executed. Malika and her family were sent to a desert gaol. In 1996 she was able to leave Morocco to begin a new life in France.
383.
Straight from the Horse's Mouth : A Novel by Meryem Alaoui EN
Description:
Named a Best Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Public Library This hilarious, colorful portrait of a sex worker navigating life in modern Morocco introduces a promising new literary voice. Thirty-four-year-old prostitute Jmiaa reflects on the bustling world around her with a brutal honesty, but also a quick wit that cuts through the drudgery. Like many of the women in her working-class Casablanca neighborhood, Jmiaa struggles to earn enough money to support herself and her family—often including the deadbeat husband who walked out on her and their young daughter. While she doesn’t despair ab... continue
384.
Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold by Umar Turaki EN
Description:
An inexplicable sickness. A small town cut off from the world. An unexpected community of survivors forges a family out of the despair, struggling against things known and unknown for survival and hope. A mysterious plague known as the Grey grips the small village of Pilam, which the world has quarantined without pity. Laying waste to Pilam's residents, the sickness saps its victims of strength, drains the color from their eyes, and kills all promise. Only the young are immune. But beyond the barricades and walls of soldiers--the manifestation of a nation's terror--there are rumors of a cure. ... continue
385.
Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz, Najīb Maḥfūẓ EN
EgyptDescription:
Sugar Street, the climactic conclusion to Mafhouz's masterpiece trilogy, is the captivating portrait of a family struggling to change with the rise of modern Egypt. As Cairo shrugs off the final vestiges of colonialism, Ahmad Al Jawad has lost his power and surveys the world from a latticed balcony. Unable to control his family's destiny, he watches helplessly as his dynasty and the traditions he holds dear disintegrate before his eyes. But through Ahamd's three grandsons we see how modern Egypt takes shape. One grandson is a communist activist, another a Muslim fundamentalist, both working fo... continue
386.
Sundiata : An Epic of Old Mali by Djibril Tamsir Niane EN
GuineaDescription:
"The son of Sogolon, the hunchback princess, and Maghan, known as 'the handsome', Sundiata grew up to fulfil the prophesies of the soothsayers that he would unite the twelve kingdoms of Mali into one of the most powerful empires ever known in Africa, which at its peak stretched right across the savanna belt from the shores of the Atlantic to the dusty walls of Timbuktu." "Retold by generations of griots - the guardians of African culture - this oral tradition has been handed down from the thirteenth century and captures all the mystery and majesty of medieval African kingship. It is an epic ta... continue
387.
GambiaDescription:
Book of the Year 2016: 'Brilliant' Guardian 'Superb' Financial Times 'Virtuosic and breathtaking' Times Literary Supplement 'There is still no better chronicler of the modern British family than Zadie Smith' Telegraph An ambitious, exuberant new novel moving from north west London to West Africa, from the multi-award-winning author of White Teeth and On Beauty Two brown girls dream of being dancers - but only one, Tracey, has talent. The other has ideas: about rhythm and time, about black bodies and black music, what constitutes a tribe, or makes a person truly free. It's a close but complicat... continue
388.
Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes EN
GhanaDescription:
Originally published: London: Jonathan Cape, 2009.
389.
Talismano by Abdelwahab Meddeb EN
TunisiaDescription:
Talismano is a novelistic exploration of writing seen as a hallucinatory journey through half-remembered, half-imagined cities—in particular, the city of Tunis, both as it is now, and as it once was. Walking and writing, journey and journal, mirror one another to produce a calligraphic, magical work: a palimpsest of various languages and cultures, highlighting Abdelwahab Meddeb's beguiling mastery of both the Western and Islamic traditions. Meddeb's journey is first and foremost a sensual one, almost decadent, where the narrator luxuriates in the Tunis of his memories and intercuts these impre... continue
390.
Teaching My Mother how to Give Birth by Warsan Shire EN
SomaliaDescription:
"Arts Council England"--Page facing title page.