Read Around Africa Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Africa.
Best books from Africa (620)
51.
Snares Without End by Olympe Bhêly-Quénum EN
BeninDescription:
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
52.
As She Was Discovering Tigony by Olympe Bhely-Quenum EN
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
53.
Eté utú (cuentos de tradición oral) : del por qué en África las cosas son lo que son by Agnès Agboton ES
Description:
Del continuo escarbar de las gallinas a la imposibilidad de que el sol y la luna convivan en el mismo cielo … Una selección de narraciones etiológicas africanas, por las que fluye un modo distinto de entender el mundo y la frágil espontaneidad de la tradición oral.
Oscilando entre el África que la vio nacer y la Europa donde vive desde hace muchos años, Agnes Agboton tiende en sus libros (Na Miton. La mujer en los cuentos y leyendas africanas, 2004; Más allá del mar de arena, 2005 o Canciones del poblado y del exilio, 2006), cuent... continue
54.
Missing in Action and Presumed Dead : Poems by Rashidah Ismaili EN
Description:
Poems that tell the pain of being enslaved and displaced
55.
Spirit Rising : My Life, My Music by Angelique Kidjo, Rachel Wenrick EN
Description:
“Spinning a dramatic soulful mix of text, photos, song lyrics, and even family recipes, Grammy-winning West African-born Angelique Kidjo ... takes us from her first vocal performance ... to her current life as a world-pop-chart-topping singer-songwriter, humanitarian activist, and UNICEF goodwill ambassador.” — Elle “This inspiring memoir is as much about the author’s love for family and homeland as it is about music ... readers will be enamored of this beautifully told tale of courage and determination, revealing an expansive life that proves ‘music has no color, no language, no boundaries.’ ... continue
56.
Why Goats Smell Bad by Raouf Mama EN
Description:
A collection of twenty folk stories from the Fon people of Benin, about orphans and twins with magical associations, spirits, animals, royalty, and farmers.
57.
Je chemine avec Angélique Kidjo by Angélique Kidjo FR
Description:
« Avant d’être femme, avant d’être noire, je suis un être humain. Née dans une famille de dix enfants, au Bénin, j’ai reçu une éducation atypique. Mes parents étaient féministes : filles comme garçons, nous allions tous à l’école et participions équitablement aux tâches ménagères. Ils ne nous dictaient jamais notre conduite mais nous incitaient à nous remettre en question. Nous avons appris à associer la tête et le cœur à nos réflexions. Cela me définit bien : je suis cette personne à qui on a enseigné la tolérance. Et la musique, bien sûr, est inscrite au cœur de ma personnalité. Mon père jou... continue
58.
Far and Beyon’ by Unity Dow EN
BotswanaDescription:
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
59.
Call and Response by Gothataone Moeng EN
Description:
'A terrific collection' Monica Ali, author of Brick Lane and Love Marriage A Most Anticipated Title for Oprah Daily, Essence, BuzzFeed, The Millions and Brittle Paper Full of heart and humour, Gothataone Moeng's first collection, set between the rural village of Serowe and the thrumming capital city of Gaborone, captures a chorus of voices from a country in flux. Meet a young woman who has worn the same mourning clothes for almost a year, and a teenage girl who shies away from the room where her once vibrant aunt lies dying. Elsewhere, watch as a younger sister hides her romantic exploits from... continue
60.
Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase EN
Description:
"A fierce, furious, and fearless debut that has its finger on the pulse--no, the gushing wound--of our world's most invasive cruelties." --Daniel Kraus, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Shape of Water "Masterful . . . Tsamaase has created a disturbing techno dystopia in a future Botswana that terrifies with its echoes of our own increasingly authoritarian cyber-policed world. This beautifully written work haunts and upends expectations with its resurrected ghosts and gods and ancestors of Motswana cosmology. What an accomplished debut!" --T. L. Huchu, Caine Prize finalist and author... continue