English books from Africa
Recommended English books (652)
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".
401.
The Barefoot Woman by Scholastique Mukasonga EN
RwandaDescription:
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE A moving, unforgettable tribute to a Tutsi woman who did everything to protect her children from the Rwandan genocide, by the daughter who refuses to let her family's story be forgotten. The story of the author's mother, a fierce, loving woman who for years protected her family from the violence encroaching upon them in pre-genocide Rwanda. Recording her memories of their life together in spare, wrenching prose, Mukasonga preserves her mother's voice in a haunting work of art.
402.
The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu EN
EthiopiaDescription:
Seventeen years after fleeing the Ethiopian revolution, Sepha Stephanos runs a grocery store in a poor African-American neighborhood in Washington, D.C., where he reflects on his past and the differences between his prospects and the life he imagined.
403.
The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah EN
GhanaDescription:
A beginners' guide to the fundamentals of the Dru meditation technique, a method for soothing the mind and relaxing the emotions. The programme includes six short guided meditations designed to instill a sense of profound stillness, quieten and calm a stressed mind and reconnect with the important aspects of life. Each nine-minute meditations is based on one of the elements: Earth, Water, Light, Air and Sky.
404.
The Bird Boy's Song by Steve Chimombo EN
MalawiDescription:
The Bird Boy's Song is a retelling of the common Malawian folk story. "The Orphan and the Slave". The story recounts a slave's usurpation of his master's place, which he enjoys for a short time, until he is unmasked. The author used modern storytelling techniques to dramatise this popular trickster tale.
405.
The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara, Susan McClelland EN
Country: Africa / 
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Description:
When Mariatu set out for a neighborhood village in Sierra Leone, she was kidnapped and tortured, and both of her hands cut off. She turned to begging to survive. This memoir is a testament to her courage and resilience.
406.
CameroonDescription:
From a bold voice in African fiction comes a satirical and unputdownable reimagining of an overlooked episode in Cameroon's colonial past. Cameroon, 1929. As colonial powers fight for influence in Africa, French military surgeon Eugène Jamot is dispatched to Cameroon to lead the fight against sleeping sickness there. But despite his humanitarian intentions, the worst comes to pass: seven hundred local villagers are left blind as a result of medical malpractice by a doctor under Jamot's watch. Damienne Bourdin, a young white woman, ventures to Cameroon to assist in the treatment effort. Reelin... continue
407.
The Book of Chameleons by José Eduardo Agualusa EN
AngolaDescription:
This unusual novel about the landscape of memory and its inconsistencies follows Felix Ventura as he trades in a curious commodity—he sells people different pasts. He can create entirely new pasts full of better memories and complete with new lineage or augment existing pasts as needed. Narrated by an exceptionally articulate and rather friendly lizard that lives on Felix’s living-room wall, this richly detailed story explores how people can remember things that never happened—and with extraordinary vividness—even as they forget things that did in fact occur.
408.
The Book of Happenstance by Ingrid Winterbach EN
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
A middle aged lexicographer, Helena, travels alone to Durban to assist in the creation of a dictionary of Afrikaans words that have fallen out of use. Shortly after her arrival, her flat is burgled and her precious lifetime's collection of shells is stolen. Meeting with indifference from the local police, she decides to investigate the crime on her own, with the help of her new friend Sof who works at the Museum of Natural History. While investigating the crime, Helena reflects on her life and her ex husband, daughter, childhood and her married boss who she is falling for.
409.
The book of Memory by Petina Gappah EN
ZimbabweDescription:
In The Book of Memory, an albino woman named Memory is languishing in a maximum security prison in Harare, Zimbabwe, where she has been tried and convicted of murder. As part of her appeal, her lawyer insists that she write down what happened; that is, the events that led to the killing of her adoptive father, Lloyd Hendricks. But who was Lloyd Hendricks? Why does Memory feel no remorse for his death? And did everything happen exactly as she remembers? Moving between the townships of the poor and the suburbs of the rich, and between past and present, the 2009 Guardian First Book Award–winning ... continue
410.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer EN
Description:
Now a Netflix film starring and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, this is a gripping memoir of survival and perseverance about the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village. When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba's tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season's crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family's life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle... continue