Read Around Africa Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Africa.
Best books from Africa (620)
581.
Snakepit : A Novel by Moses Isegawa EN
UgandaDescription:
Praised on both sides of the Atlantic as well as in the author’s native Uganda, Moses Isegawa’s first novel Abyssinian Chronicles was a “big, transcendently ambitious book” (Boston Globe) that “blasts open the tidy borders of the conventional novel and redraws the literary map to reveal a whole new world” (Elle). In Snakepit, Isegawa returns to the surreal, brutalizing landscapes of his homeland during the time of dictator Idi Amin, when interlocking webs of emotional cruelty kept tyrants gratified and servants cooperative, a land where no one–not husbands or wives, parents or lovers–is ever s... continue
582.
Mirror to the Church : Resurrecting Faith After Genocide in Rwanda by Emmanuel Katongole, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove EN
Description:
In 1994, the most Christianized country in Africa became the site of its worst genocide. The tragedy was in Rwanda, but what happened was a mirror reflecting the deep brokenness of the church in the West. Yet by looking at what happened and why, we can find hope for the global body of Christ.
583.
Dead Aid – Why Aid is Not Working by Dambisa Moyo EN
ZambiaDescription:
A national bestseller, Dead Aid unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of dollars in aid sent from wealthy countries to developing African nations has helped to reduce poverty and increase growth. In fact, poverty levels continue to escalate and growth rates have steadily declined—and millions continue to suffer. Debunking the current model of international aid promoted by both Hollywood celebrities and policy makers, Dambisa Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing development of the world's poorest countries. Much debated in the United States and th... continue
584.
A Cowrie of Hope by Binwell Sinyangwe EN
Description:
This reimagining of the Robin Hood legend tells the story of the young boy behind the bandit hero's rise to fame. Will Shackley is the son of a lord, and though just thirteen, he's led a charmed, protected life and is the heir to Shackley House, while his father is away on the Third Crusade with King Richard the Lionheart. But with King Richard's absence, the winds of treason are blowing across England, and soon Shackley House becomes caught up in a dangerous power struggle that drives Will out of the only home he's ever known. Alone, he flees into the dangerous Sherwood Forest, where he joins... continue
585.
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell EN
Description:
Electrifying, playful, ambitious, brilliant - a Zambian debut novel that follows three generations of three families, telling the story of a nation, and the grand sweep of time 'In turns charming, heartbreaking, and breathtaking, The Old Drift is a staggeringly ambitious, genre-busting multigenerational saga with moxie for days... I wanted it to go on forever. A worthy heir to Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude." Carmen Maria Machado On the banks of the Zambezi River, a few miles from the majestic Victoria Falls, there was once a colonial settlement called The Old Drift. He... continue
586.
Bitterness (An African Novel from Zambia) : by Malama Katulwende EN
Description:
Based on real events and written by a young Zambian poet and intellectual, this is one of the most realistic and passionate contemporary novels about the life of young people in today's Africa, .
587.
Kumukanda by Kayombo Chingonyi EN
Description:
*Winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize 2018* *Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award 2018* 'A brilliant debut - a tender, nostalgic and, at times, darkly hilarious exploration of black boyhood, masculinity and grief. A gorgeous and necessary collection from one of my favourite writers' Warsan Shire Translating as 'initiation', kumukanda is the name given to the rites a young boy from the Luvale tribe must pass through before he is considered a man. The poems of Kayo Chingonyi's remarkable debut explore this passage: between two worlds, ancestral and contemporary; between the living and the dead; betw... continue
588.
La deriva by Namwali Serpell ES
Description:
"En el prefacio de una antología de la literatura rusa Vladimir Nabokov declaró que no había encontrado una sola página de Dostoievski digna de ser incluida,...Dostoievski no debe ser juzgado por cada página sino por la suma de páginas que componen el libro." Jorge L. Borges: Prólogo a Los Demonios, de F. Dostoievski. (A su vez, Nabokov decía sobre la literatura de Borges "Esperaba encontrarme con una catedral, y me encontré con un zaguán").
De la misma manera, en La deriva tal vez no se encuentre alguna... continue
589.
A Blood Condition by Kayo Chingonyi EN
Description:
A Blood Condition tells a story of inheritance - the people, places, cultures and memories that form us. Kayo Chingonyi explores how distance and time, nations and a century's history, can collapse within a body; our past continuous in our present. From London, Leeds, and The North East to the banks of the Zambezi river, these poems consider change and permanence, grief and joy, the painful ongoing process of letting go, with remarkable music and clarity.
590.
Patchwork by Ellen Banda-Aaku EN
Description:
Everyone calls me Pumpkin. Firstly, because I was a fat, chubby-cheeked baby. And, secondly, because when Ma was pregnant with me, no matter how much pumpkin she ate, she just couldn't get enough ...'. Lusaka. 1978. Pumpkin is nine years old. Her fashionable mother is the queen of Tudu Court, but underneath the veneer of respectability that her father's money provides lies a secret that threatens their whole world - the tall, elegant Totela Ponga is a drunk. And when Pumpkin's father - the wealthy businessman JS - discovers her mother's alcoholism it sets in motion a chain of events that come ... continue