Books from South Africa
86 popular south african books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Africa Challenge" were written by authors from South Africa.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
61.
The Cry of Winnie Mandela : A Novel by Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
A group of women at a specific period in the history of Southern Africa find their family life under the pressures of capitalist modernity and apartheid. These ordinary, intimate stories are anchored to the more powerful public stories of the Penelope of ancient Greek mythology (who waited 18 years while her husband Odyseeus was away), and Winnie Mandela (who waited for 27 years). The life of Winnie Mandela remains one of the great unfolding dramas of our times; a tale of triumphs and tragedies that is only just beginning to be examined.
62.
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years : A Novel by Shubnum Khan EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
“A dark and heady dream of a book” (Alix E. Harrow) about a ruined mansion by the sea, the djinn that haunts it, and a curious girl who unearths the tragedy that happened there a hundred years previous Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits, seeking solely to disappear into the mansion’s dark corridors. Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, ho... continue
63.
The Expedition to the Baobab Tree by Wilma Stockenstrom EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
Wearily, I take the path to the river, there in the cool to fill my being with the sounds of my sister-being, to refresh myself in the modest scents of pigeonwood and mitzeerie, to let my gaze end in a tangle of monkey ropes and fern arches and the slowly descending leaves, and to find rest, all day long, all night long. A young slave girl accompanies her owner on an expedition into the African interior in search of a mythical city. In unfamiliar terrain, the party gets lost. One by one, our narrator's companions disappear, leaving her to take refuge in the hollow of a baobab tree. There, she ... continue
64.
The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
An epic depicting the Great War of the Ring, a struggle between good and evil in Middle-Earth, in which the tiny Hobbits play a key role.
65.
The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again by J. R. R. Tolkien EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
The stirring adventure that begins The Lord of the Rings, the greatest fantasy epic of all time When Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves embark upon a dangerous quest to reclaim the hoard of gold stolen from them by the evil dragon Smaug, Gandalf the wizard suggests an unlikely accomplice: Bilbo Baggins, an unassuming Hobbit dwelling in peaceful Hobbiton. Along the way, the company faces trolls, goblins, giant spiders, and worse. But as they journey from the wonders of Rivendell to the terrors of Mirkwood and beyond, Bilbo will find that there is more to him than anyone—himself included... continue
66.
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún by J. R. R. Tolkien EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
This previously unpublished work by Tolkien, written during the 1920s and '30s, makes available the author's extensive retelling in English narrative verse of the epic Norse tales of Sigurd the Volsung and The Fall of the Niflungs.
67.
The Life and Times of Michael K. by J. M. Coetzee EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
From author of Waiting for the Barbarians and Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee. J.M. Coetzee's latest novel, The Schooldays of Jesus, is now available from Viking. Late Essays: 2006-2016 will be available January 2018. In a South Africa turned by war, Michael K. sets out to take his ailing mother back to her rural home. On the way there she dies, leaving him alone in an anarchic world of brutal roving armies. Imprisoned, Michael is unable to bear confinement and escapes, determined to live with dignity. This life affirming novel goes to the center of human experience—the need for an interior, s... continue
68.
The Lying Days by Nadine Gordimer EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
Helen Shaw is the daughter of white middle-class parents in a gold-mining town in South Africa. As Helen comes of age, her awareness of the African life around her grows. Her involvement with young blacks leads her into complex relationships of emotion and action in a culture of dissension.
69.
The Madonna of Excelsior : A Novel by Zakes Mda EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
"A generous, patient, wry and intelligent voice...[that] suggests not just a writer who can seduce us through beautiful language and unfailing humor. We also encounter a writer who has the power to shock and frighten us, to astound and anger and unsettle us...In short, his is a voice for which one should feel not only affection but admiration." --Neil Gordon, New York Times Book Review Selection, Summer Reading, New York Times Book Review In 1971, nineteen citizens of Excelsior in South Africa's white-ruled Free State were charged with breaking apartheid's Immorality Act, which forbade sex bet... continue
70.
The Museum Murder : An Utterly Unputdownable Cozy Mystery by Katie Gayle EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
Dastardly deeds, daring deceptions and a dress to die for… Epiphany Bloom is back on the case!
Epiphany ‘Pip’ Bloom, would-be detective and London’s unluckiest woman, finds herself in a real costume drama when she unearths a theft at a fashion museum.
The missing dress is a proper piece of Hollywood history, worth a fortune. And as Pip investigates, she finds the museum staff all had reasons to want the garment gone. From fancy boutiques to sketchy back alleys, Pip discovers the fashion world is not all glitz and glamour as she hunts down her prize.
As if she ... continue