Read Around Africa Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Africa.
Best books from Africa (893)
651.
No Past, No Present, No Future by Yulisa Amadu Maddy EN
Country: Africa / 
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Description:
At a missionary school in colonial West Africa, three students from very different backgrounds forge a friendship in an effort to forget the difficulties they face at home. But when one of the boys betrays the other, a series of disastrous events spiral into out of control.
After finally leaving school, their paths cross once again in Europe but prejudice and diverging loyalties put the brotherhood they once had into question. How can they ever dream of a future together when the ghosts of the past are determined to haunt their present?
652.
The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara, Susan McClelland EN
Country: Africa / Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Description:
When Mariatu set out for a neighborhood village in Sierra Leone, she was kidnapped and tortured, and both of her hands cut off. She turned to begging to survive. This memoir is a testament to her courage and resilience.
653.
From a crooked rib by Nuruddin Farah EN
SomaliaDescription:
Written with complete conviction from a woman's point of view, Nuruddin Farah's spare, shocking first novel savagely attacks the traditional values of his people yet is also a haunting celebration of the unbroken human spirit. Ebla, an orphan of eighteen, runs away from her nomadic encampment in rural Somalia when she discovers that her grandfather has promised her in marriage to an older man. But even after her escape to Mogadishu, she finds herself as powerless and dependent on men as she was out in the bush. As she is propelled through servitude, marriage, poverty, and violence, Ebla has to... continue
654.
The Orchard of Lost Souls by Nadifa Mohamed EN
Description:
From the author of The Fortune Men, longlisted for The Booker Prize 2021... 'From Somaliland's bitter past blooms a moving and mature novel of conflict and survival' Independent It is 1988 and Hargeisa waits. Whispers of revolution travel on the dry winds but still the dictatorship remains secure. Soon, and through the eyes of three women, we will see Somalia fall. Nine-year-old Deqohas left the vast refugee camp she was born in, lured to the city by the promise of her first pair of shoes. Kawsar, a solitary widow, is trapped in her little house with its garden clawed from the desert, confined... continue
655.
The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed EN
Description:
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2022 'Chilling and utterly compelling, The Fortune Men shines an essential light on a much-neglected period of our national life' Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland Mahmood Mattan is a fixture in Cardiff's Tiger Bay, 1952, which bustles with Somali and West Indian sailors, Maltese businessmen and Jewish families. He is a father, chancer, some-time petty thief. He is many things, in fact, but he is not a murderer. So when a shopkeeper is brutally killed and all e... continue
656.
Description:
Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her life story. An advocate for free speech and women's rights, Hirsi Ali lives under armed protection because of her outspoken criticism of the Islamic faith in which she was raised.
657.
Hiding in Plain Sight by Nuruddin Farah EN
Description:
When Bella, an internationally known fashion photographer, dazzling and aloof, is forced to return to Nairobi to care for her teenage niece and nephew, she feels an unfamiliar surge of protectiveness and responsibility. But when their mother unexpectedly resurfaces, reasserting her maternal rights and bringing with her a gale of chaos and confusion that mirrors the deepening political instability in the region, Bella must decide whether she can – or must – come to their rescue.
658.
Description:
Fashion model, UN ambassador and courageous spirit, Waris Dirie is a remarkable woman, born into a traditional family of tribal desert nomads in Somalia. She told her story - enduring, at five years old, the ancient and savage custom of female circumcision; running away at twelve on foot through the desert in order to escape an arranged marriage; being discovered by Terence Donovan as she worked as a cleaner in London; and becoming a top fashion model - in her book, the worldwide bestseller, Desert Flower. Although Waris Dirie fled her homeland, she never forgot the country and culture that mo... continue
659.
When Stars are Scattered by Omar Mohamed EN
Description:
Omar and his brother Hassan, two Somali boys, have spent a long time in the Dadaab refugee camp. Separated from their mother, they are looked after by a friendly stranger. Life in the camp isn't always easy. The hunger is constant . . . but there's football to look forward to, and now there's a chance Omar will get to go to school . . .With a heart-wrenching fairytale ending, this incredible true story is brought to life by Victoria's stunning illustrations. This book perfectly depicts life in a refugee camp for 8-12 year olds.
660.
A Woman of Firsts by Edna Adan Ismail EN
Description:
'The Muslim Mother Teresa' Huffington Post Imprisonment. Mutilation. Persecution. Edna Adan Ismail endured it all - for the women of Africa.