Read Around Africa Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Africa.
Best books from Africa (896)
361.
Betrayal in the City by Francis Imbuga EN
KenyaDescription:
Betrayal in the City, first published in 1976 and 1977, was Kenya's national entry to the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos, Nigeria. The play is an incisive, thought-provoking examination of the problems of independence and freedom in post-colonial African states, where a sizeable number of people feel that their future is either blank or bleak. In the words of Mosese, one of the characters: "It was better while we waited. Now we have nothing to look forward to. We have killed our past and are busy killing our future."--Page 4 of cover
362.
The Challenge for Africa by Wangari Maathai EN
Description:
In this groundbreaking work, the Nobel Peace Prize-winner and founder of the Green Belt Movement offers a new perspective on the troubles facing Africa today. Too often these challenges are portrayed by the media in extreme terms connoting poverty, dependence, and desperation. Wangari Maathai, the author of Unbowed, sees things differently, and here she argues for a moral revolution among Africans themselves. Illuminating the complex and dynamic nature of the continent, Maathai offers “hardheaded hope” and “realistic options” for change and improvement. She deftly describes what Africans can a... continue
363.
Secret Lives and Other Stories by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o EN
Description:
'One of the greatest writers of our time' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Ngugi wa Thiong'o is renowned for his political novels and plays, yet he honed his craft as a short story writer. First published in 1975, Secret Lives and Other Stories brings together a range of Ngugi's political short stories. From tales of the meeting between magic and superstition, to stories about the modernising forces of colonialism, and the pervasive threat of nature, this collection celebrates the storytelling might of one of Africa's best-loved writers.
364.
Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o EN
Description:
Informed by traditional African storytelling, discover Ngugi wa Thiong'o's masterpiece. To honour the Ruler's birthday, the Free Republic of Aburiria set out to build a tower; a modern wonder of the world that will reach the gates of Heaven. But behind this pillar of unity a battle for control of the Aburirian people rages. Among the contenders: the eponymous Wizard, an avatar of folklore and wisdom; the corrupt Christian Ministry; and the nefarious Global Bank. 'Mythological but also cheerfully disenchanted; political and playful; cartoonish but also epical... the African novel may well have ... continue
365.
Things They Lost by Okwiri Oduor EN
Description:
Named a Most Anticipated Book by Vogue and Vulture “Alternately whimsical, sweet, and dark,” this astonishing debut novel about a lonely girl waiting for her mother “brim[s] with uncompromisingly African magical realism” (The New York Times). Ayosa is a wandering spirit—joyous, exuberant, filled to the brim with longing. Her only companions in her grandmother’s crumbling house are as lonely as Ayosa herself: the ghostly Fatumas, whose eyes are the size of bay windows, who teach her to dance and wail at the death news; the Jolly-Annas, cruel birds who cover their solitude with spiteful laughter... continue
366.
Birth of a Dream Weaver : A Writer's Awakening by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o EN
Description:
From one of the world's greatest writers, the story of how the author found his voice as a novelist at Makerere University in Uganda as a student In this acclaimed memoir, Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o recounts the four years he spent at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda--crucial years during which he found his voice as a journalist, short story writer, playwright, and novelist just as colonial empires were crumbling and new nations were being born--under the shadow of the rivalries, intrigues, and assassinations of the Cold War. Haunted by the memories of the carnage and mass incarcera... continue
367.
One Day I Will Write about This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina EN
Description:
A groundbreaking memoir by the acclaimed Kenyan Caine Prize winner.
368.
Something Torn and New : An African Renaissance by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o EN
Description:
Novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o has been a force in African literature for decades: Since the 1970s, when he gave up the English language to commit himself to writing in African languages, his foremost concern has been the critical importance of language toc
369.
Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris EN
Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A shining portrait of a presciently modern political genius maneuvering in a gilded age of wealth, optimism, excess and American global ascension.”—San Francisco Chronicle WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY • “[Theodore Rex] is one of the great histories of the American presidency, worthy of being on a shelf alongside Henry Adams’s volumes on Jefferson and Madison.”—Times Literary Supplement Theodore Rex is the story—never fully told before—of Theodore Roosevelt’s two world-changing terms as President of the United States. A hundred years befo... continue
370.
Dreams in a Time of War : A Childhood Memoir by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o EN
Description:
Recounts the story of the author's childhood, covering his early years in World War II-era Kenya as the fifth child of a third wife, his thirst for learning that singled him out, and the political struggles that shaped his life.