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".
611.
Waiting for the Rain by Charles Mungoshi EN
ZimbabweDescription:
The award-winning writer Charles Mungoshi is recognised in Africa, and internationally, as one of the continent's most powerful writers today. This early novel deals with the pain and dislocation of the clash of the old and new ways - the educated young man determined to go overseas, and the elders of the family believing his duty is to stay and head the family.
612.
Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote by Ahmadou Kourouma EN
Country: Africa / 
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast
Description:
"Ahmadou Kourouma's remarkable novel is narrated by Bingo, a West African sora - storyteller and king's fool. Over the course of five nights he tells the life story of Koyaga, President and Dictator of the Gulf Coast. Orphaned at the age of seven, Koyaga grows up to be a terrible hunter; he fights mystical beasts, and is a shape-shifter, capable of changing himself into beasts and birds. He fights in the French colonial armies, in Vietnam and Algeria, but on his return he mounts a coup and becomes ruler and distator of the Gulf Coast. For thrity years he runs a corrupt but 'clean' state, survi... continue
613.
Watch Us Dance by Leila Slimani EN
MoroccoDescription:
Morocco, 1968. The air is electric. Anything feels possible, and Mathilde is determined to celebrate it. Doesn't she have the right to enjoy life, after dedicating her best years to the war and then to this farm?
Looking out at her elegant garden, Mathilde reflects on all she has achieved. Now in a newly independent country intoxicated by its own sense of freedom, she yearns for a radiant future.
But her babies are now grown up, and Mathilde is about to learn that life can take wild and unexpected turns.
614.
Ways of Dying : A Novel by Zakes Mda EN
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
A professional mourner, Toloki is reunited with Noria, a woman from his village, at the funeral of a young boy, and joins forces with her to heal the pain of the past and build new lives for themselves in post-apartheid South Africa. Original.
Kenya616.
We Killed Mangy-Dog : & Other Stories by Luís Bernardo Honwana EN
Country: Africa / 
Mozambique
Mozambique
Description:
A collection of stories set in Mozambique.
617.
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo EN
Description:
A remarkable literary debut--shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize! The unflinching and powerful story of a young girl's journey out of Zimbabwe and to America. Darling is only ten years old, and yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo's belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen, before the school closed, before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad. But Darling has a chance to escape: she has an aunt in America. She travels to this ... continue
618.
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie EN
NigeriaDescription:
Offers an updated definition of feminism for the twenty-first century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness.
619.
Weeding the Flowerbeds by Sarah Mkhonza EN
EswatiniDescription:
Weeding the Flowerbeds is a memoir of boarding school at Manzini Nazarene High School in Swaziland, a country in Southern Africa. In this book Sarah explores life in the boarding school at Manzini Nazarene High School, a school that produced many graduates. She explores life in an educational institution where growing up is takes place under strict hostel rules in the seventies. As young Swazi girls Bulelo, Sisile and Makhosi grow up learning about life and Christianity. They learn to love school and also to appreciate writing and literature. All the time they feel as if they are being pushed ... continue
620.
Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o EN
Description:
The Nobel Prize–nominated Kenyan writer’s powerful first novel Two brothers, Njoroge and Kamau, stand on a garbage heap and look into their futures: Njoroge is to attend school, while Kamau will train to be a carpenter. But this is Kenya, and the times are against them: In the forests, the Mau Mau is waging war against the white government, and the two brothers and their family need to decide where their loyalties lie. For the practical Kamau, the choice is simple, but for Njoroge the scholar, the dream of progress through learning is a hard one to give up. The first East African novel publish... continue