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".
411.
The Boy who Met Jesus : Segatashya of Kibeho by Immaculée Ilibagiza EN
RwandaDescription:
It's the greatest story never told: that of a boy who met Jesus and dared to ask him all the questions that have consumed mankind since the dawn of time. No matter what one's faith or religious beliefs are, Segatashya's words will bring comfort and joy.
412.
The Cairo Trilogy : Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street by Najīb Maḥfūẓ EN
EgyptDescription:
A series of historical fiction based on the life of a family living in Cairo during the British Colonial period and afterward.
413.
The Careless Seamstress by Tjawangwa Dema EN
BotswanaDescription:
This dazzling debut announces a not-so-new voice: that of the spoken-word poet Tjawangwa Dema. Winner of the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, Dema’s collection, The Careless Seamstress, evokes the national and the subjective while reemphasizing that what is personal is always political. The girls and women in these poems are not mere objects; they speak, labor, and gaze back, with difficulty and consequence. The tropes are familiar, but in their animation they question and move in unexpected ways. The female body—as a daughter, wife, worker, cultural mutineer—moves continually acr... continue
414.
The Chagos Betrayal : An Island People's Fight to Return Home by Florian Grosset EN
MauritiusDescription:
During the cold war, the US government sought to establish an overseas military presence in the Indian Ocean. This graphic novel is a shocking account of British complicity in the forced exodus of the Chagos Islanders from their homeland to make that plan possible.
415.
The Challenge for Africa by Wangari Maathai EN
KenyaDescription:
In this groundbreaking work, the Nobel Peace Prize-winner and founder of the Green Belt Movement offers a new perspective on the troubles facing Africa today. Too often these challenges are portrayed by the media in extreme terms connoting poverty, dependence, and desperation. Wangari Maathai, the author of Unbowed, sees things differently, and here she argues for a moral revolution among Africans themselves. Illuminating the complex and dynamic nature of the continent, Maathai offers “hardheaded hope” and “realistic options” for change and improvement. She deftly describes what Africans can a... continue
416.
The Coffeehouse by Naguib Mahfouz EN
Description:
Mahfouz's last novel, an evocative depiction of life in Egypt in the twentieth century as told through the lives of a group of friends, is now available in paperback for the first time On a school playground in the stylish Cairo suburb of Abbasiya, five young boys become friends for life, making a nearby café, Qushtumur, their favorite gathering spot forever. One is the narrator, who, looking back in his old age on their seven decades together, makes the other four the heroes of his tale, a Proustian, and classically Mahfouzian, quest in search of lost time and the memory of a much-changed pla... continue
417.
The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales by Bessie Head EN
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
Botswana village tales about subjects such as the breakdown of family life and the position of women in this society.
418.
The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi EN
TunisiaDescription:
Albert Memmi's classic work stands as one of the most powerful and psychologically penetrating studies of colonial oppression ever written. Dissecting the minds of both the oppressor and the oppressed, Memmi reveals truths about the colonial situation and struggle that are as relevant today as they were five decades ago.Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer's new critical Introduction draws Memmi into the 21st century by reflecting on his achievements and highlighting his omissions. In doing so she opens new avenues of enquiry for scholars and students, and exposes new directions for activists seekin... continue
419.
The Committee by Sonallah Ibrahim EN
Description:
This wry take on Kafka’s novel The Trial revolves around its narrator’s attempts to petition successfully the elusive ruling body of his country, known simply as “the Committee.” Consequences for his actions range from the absurd to the hideous. Ibrahim offers an unbroken first-person narrative rendered in brief, crisp prose framed by a conspicuous absence of vivid imagery. Furthermore, the petitioner is a man without identity. The ideal antihero, he remains, as does his country, unnamed throughout the intricate plot with a locale suggestive of 1970s Cairo. The Committee pierces the inflammato... continue
420.
The Consequences of Love by Sulaiman Addonia EN
EritreaDescription:
It is summer in Jeddah but Naser's life seems bleak. An immigrant in an unfriendly land, his friends have fled town for cooler climes and left him to his dead-end job and the scrutiny of the religious police, who keep watch through the shaded windows of their government jeeps. He spends his time writing to his mother in Africa and yearning to meet a woman - but in a country that separates men and women with walls and veils he feels increasingly trapped. Then, one of the black-clad women drops a piece of paper at his feet, instructing him to follow her pink shoes and suddenly his black-and-whit... continue