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".
451.
The Fury and Cries of Women by Angèle Rawiri EN
GabonDescription:
Gabon’s first female novelist, Angèle Rawiri probed deeper into the issues that writers a generation before her—Mariama Bâ and Aminata Sow Fall—had begun to address. Translated by Sara Hanaburgh, this third novel of the three Rawiri published is considered the richest of her fictional prose. It offers a gripping account of a modern woman, Emilienne, who questions traditional values and seeks emancipation from them. Emilienne’s active search for feminism on her own terms is tangled up with cultural expectations and taboos of motherhood, marriage, polygamy, divorce, and passion. She completes he... continue
452.
The German Mujahid by Boualem Sansal EN
AlgeriaDescription:
Based on a true story and inspired by the work of Primo Levi, The German Mujahid is a heartfelt reflection on guilt and the harsh imperatives of history. The Schiller brothers, Rachel and Malrich, couldn't be more dissimilar. They were born in a small village in Algeria to a German father and an Algerian mother, and raised by an elderly uncle in one of the toughest ghettos in France. But the similarities end there. Rachel is a model immigrant--hard working, upstanding, law-abiding. Malrich has drifted. Increasingly alienated and angry, a bleak future seems inevitable for him. But when Islamic ... continue
453.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna EN
Country: Africa / 
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Description:
Outcasts by blood. Warriors by choice. THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTELLER!The must-read new bold and immersive West African-inspired fantasy series, as featured on Cosmo, Bustle, Book Riot and Refinery 29. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice, perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom, where a woman's worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. But when Deka bleeds gold - the colour of impurity, of a demon - she faces a consequence worse than death.... continue
454.
The Girl on the Train : A Novel by Paula Hawkins EN
ZimbabweDescription:
The #1 New York Times Bestseller, USA Today Book of the Year, now a major motion picture starring Emily Blunt. The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives, from the author of Into the Water and A Slow Fire Burning. “Nothing is more addicting than The Girl on the Train.”—Vanity Fair “The Girl on the Train has more fun with unreliable narration than any chiller since Gone Girl. . . . [It] is liable to draw a large, bedazzled readership.”—The New York Times “Marries movie noir with novelistic trickery. . . hang on tight. You'll be surprised b... continue
455.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads : A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya, Elizabeth Weil EN
RwandaDescription:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The plot provided by the universe was filled with starvation, war and rape. I would not—could not—live in that tale.” Clemantine Wamariya was six years old when her mother and father began to speak in whispers, when neighbors began to disappear, and when she heard the loud, ugly sounds her brother said were thunder. In 1994, she and her fifteen-year-old sister, Claire, fled the Rwandan massacre and spent the next six years migrating through seven African countries, searching for safety—perpetually hungry, imprisoned and abused, enduring and escaping refugee camps, ... continue
456.
The Girl with the Louding Voice : A Novel by Abi Daré EN
NigeriaDescription:
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK! “Brave, fresh . . . unforgettable.”—The New York Times Book Review “A celebration of girls who dare to dream.”—Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers (Oprah’s Book Club pick) Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and recommended by The New York Times, Marie Claire, Vogue, Essence, PopSugar, Daily Mail, Electric Literature, Red, Stylist, Daily Kos, Library Journal, The Everygirl, and Read It Forward! The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to ge... continue
457.
Description:
"With accuracy, wit, and intelligence, this remarkable new translation of The Golden Ass breathes new life into Apuleius's classic work. Sarah Ruden, a lyric poet as well as a highly respected translator, skillfully duplicates the verbal high jinks of Apuleius's ever-popular novel. It tells the story of Lucius, a curious and silly young man, who is turned into a donkey when he meddles with witchcraft. Doomed to wander from region to region and mistreated by a series of deporable owners, Lucius at last is restored to human form with the help of the goddess Isis. In a translation that is the mos... continue
458.
The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut EN
Country: Africa / 
South Sudan
South Sudan
Description:
When Laurence Waters arrives at his post in a rural hospital in new South Africa, and convinces Dr. Ruth Ngema, head of the hospital, to set up clinics in the villages, the crime and corruption that follow put everyone involved in danger.
459.
The Graveyard Cannot Pray : One Man's Battle to Save His Daughter from Female Circumcision by Baba Galleh Jallow EN
GambiaDescription:
This book is an autobiographical account of one man's struggle to save his daughter from being taken to the bush; a struggle that defies a harmful traditional practice and defective constructions of normality. Perhaps the first to articulate the battle against Female Genital Mutilation from an African male perspective, The Grave Yard Cannot Pray throws into sharp relief three interconnected phenomena: the communal nature of conflict and conflict resolution among the Futa Fulani, the Fulani notion of son-hood, and the potential complications that arise when the sanctity of tradition is stood in... continue
460.
The Greater Freedom : Life As a Middle Eastern Woman Outside the Stereotypes by Alya Mooro EN
EgyptDescription:
The greater freedom is to be who you actually are; to be able to live your life in the way you deem best, free from any sort of restriction to do that, or fear of repercussions for doing so.
Egyptian-born and London-raised, Alya Mooro grew up between two cultures and felt a pull from both. Where could she turn for advice and inspiration when it seemed there was nobody else like her? Today, Mooro is determined to explore and explode the myth that she must identify either as ‘Western’ or as one of almost 400 million other ‘Arabs’ across the Middle East.
Through coun... continue