Read Around Africa Challenge

Read at least one book by an author from each country in Africa.

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Recommended Challenge Books (291)
21.

Snares Without End by Olympe Bhêly-Quénum EN

Rating: 3     1 Vote
Country: Africa / Benin flag Benin
Description:
A novel, also a philosophical tale in which destiny entraps the innocent protagonist and holds him fast. Some readers have found an affinity in it with Camus' notion of the absurd, while others have preferred to dwell on its evocation of country life in northern Dahomey and the importance of music in the farmers' daily life. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Recommended: 10 Mar 2022

22.

As She Was Discovering Tigony by Olympe Bhely-Quenum EN

0 Ratings
Country: Africa / Benin flag Benin
Description:
Dorcas Keurléonan-Moricet is a brilliant white geophysicist posted on assignment in Africa. She falls in love with a young African man, Ségué n’Di, and enters into an extramarital affair with him. In her professional work, she discovers deposits of minerals of inestimable worth. Reading the current age of globalization and neoliberalism as one in which the riches of Africa are again being cynically exploited by multinational companies—including her own—Keurléonan-Moricet’s views and her life gradually change. As the popular resistance against the dictatorial regime in power grows, she comes to... continue
Genre
Recommended: 01 Nov 2022

23.
Far and Beyon'

Far and Beyon’ by Unity Dow EN

Rating: 3.5     2 Votes
Country: Africa / Botswana flag Botswana
Description:
For Mara, mother of four, sole provider for her family, life has never been easy. In a community that relies upon traditional magic to cure AIDS, and blames bad luck upon a bewitching curse, women carry a heavy burden as the world changes around them. But in modern Botswana, the tensions are growing as more and more young people adopt white ways and challenge the heavily divided structure of African society. For Mara, it is her children's dismissal of all the ancient magicks that have held families together for generations; for her son Stan it is the opportunities represented by his white teac... continue
Genre
Recommended: 02 Jan 2018

24.

When Rain Clouds Gather : & Maru by Bessie Head EN

Rating: 3.5     5 Votes
Country: Africa / Botswana flag Botswana
Description:
When Rainclouds Gather: Escaping South Africa and his troubled past, Makehaya crosses the border to Botswana, in the hope of leading a peaceful, purposeful life. In the village of Golema Mmidi he meets Gilbert, a charismatic Englishman who is trying to modernise farming methods to benefit the community. The two outsiders join forces, but their task is fraught with hazards: opposition from the corrupt chief, the pressures of tradition, and the unrelenting climate ever threaten to bring tragedy. Maru: Margaret, an orphan from a despised tribe, has lived her life under the loving protection of a ... continue
Genre
Recommended: 10 Nov 2022

25.
Call and Response

Call and Response by Gothataone Moeng EN

Rating: 4     2 Votes
Country: Africa / Botswana flag Botswana
Description:
A richly drawn collection of stories about the lives of women navigating love, loss, tradition and independence in contemporary Botswana
Recommended: 13 Nov 2022

26.

The Parachute Drop by Norbert Zongo EN

Rating: 2.5     2 Votes
Description:
Norbert Zongo was Burkina Faso's most respected journalist before his politically motivated murder in 1998. This novel is an eerily prophetic narra- tive, foretelling many of the events that preceeded his death. His novel portrays a fictional West African nation named Watinbow led by President Gouama, a man of demonic energy and greed. Toppled in a coup d'etat, he must now confront the people of Watinbow, whom he has betrayed. This rare insight into the psychology of a corrupt African leader will help readers understand the nightmare of contemporary Africa.
Genre
Recommended: 02 Jan 2018

27.

Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-87 by Thomas Sankara EN

0 Ratings
Description:
Under Sankara's leadership, the revolutionary government of Burkina Faso in West Africa mobilized peasants, workers, women, and youth to carry out literacy and immunization drives; to sink wells, plant trees, build dams, erect housing; to combat the oppression of women and transform exploitative relations on the land; to free themselves from the imperialist yoke and solidarize with others engaged in that fight internationally. Sankara speaks as an outstanding revolutionary leader of working people and youth the world over. Second edition includes a new introduction by editor Michel Prairie, fo... continue
Recommended: 19 Jan 2018

28.
Le mal de peau

Le mal de peau by Monique Ilboudo FR

0 Ratings
Genre
Recommended: 25 Jan 2023

29.

Small Country : A Novel by Gaël Faye EN

Rating: 4.3     12 Votes
Country: Africa / Burundi flag Burundi
Description:
Already an international sensation and prize-winning bestseller in France, an evocative coming-of-age story of a young boy, a lost childhood and a shattered homeland. SHORTLISTED FOR THE ALBERTINE PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE • LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION • LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expatriate neighborhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister Ana, is something close to paradise. These are carefree days of laug... continue
Recommended: 20 Feb 2022

30.

This Voice in My Heart : A Runner's Memoir of Genocide, Faith, and Forgiveness by Gilbert Tuhabonye, Gary Brozek EN

Rating: 4     4 Votes
Country: Africa / Burundi flag Burundi
Description:
Gilbert Tuhabonye is a survivor. More than ten years ago, he lay buried under a pile of burning bodies. The centuries–old battle between Hutu and Tutsi tribes had come to Gilbert's school. Fueled by hatred, the Hutus forced more than a hundred Tutsi children and teachers into a small room and used machetes to beat most of them to death. The unfortunate ones who survived the beating were doused with gasoline and set on fire. After hiding under burning bodies for over eight hours, Gilbert heard a voice inside saying, "You will be all right; you will survive." He knows it was God speaking to him.... continue
Recommended: 07 Sep 2022


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