Africa
(click on map to enlarge)
Countries read are in bold blue
Potential books to be read are listed below each country. Books read are in red. An asterisk (*) indicates books I own but have not read yet.
1. Algeria (Algers)
- Children of the New World: A Novel of the Algerian War, by Assia Djebar
- Between Sea and Sahara: An Algerian Journal, by Eugene Fromentin
2. Angola (Luanda)
- Angola Beloved, by T. Ernest Wilson
3. Benin (Port-Novo)
- The Viceroy of Ouidah, by Bruce Chatwin
4. Botswana (Gaborone)
- The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
5. Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou)
6. Burundi (Bujumbura)
- This Voice in My Heart: A Genocide Survivor’s Story of Escape, Faith and Forgiveness, by Gilbert Tuhabonye and Gary Brozek
7. Cameroon (Yaounde)
8. Central African Republic (Bangui)
9. Chad (N’Djamena)
- The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur, by Daoud Hari (finished 15 February 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
10. Comoros (Moroni)
11. Congo (Brazzaville)
- The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver (finished 12, July 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
12. Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa)
- A Bend in the River, by V. S. Naipaul (finished 3 October 2009; rated 1/5; read my review)
- The Catastrophist, by Ronan Bennett
- Facing the Congo: A Modern-Day Journey Into the Heart of Darkness, by Jeffrey Tayler
13. Cote d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast (Yamoussoukro)
- As The Crow Flies, by Veronique Tadjo
- Whiteman, by Tony D’Souza
- The Suns of Independence, by Ahmadou Kourouma
14. Djibouti (Djibouti)
15. Egypt (Cairo)
- Nefertiti, by Michelle Moran (finished 30 November 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
- The Heretic Queen, by Michelle Moran (finished 05 December 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
- The Cairo Trilogy, by Naguib Mahfouz*
- Three Novels of Ancient Egypt, by Naguib Mahfouz*
- The Yacoubian Building, by Alaa Al Aswany
16. Equatorial Guinea (Malabo)
- Travels in West Africa, by Mary Kingsley
17. Eritrea (Asmara)
18. Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)
- The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, by Dinaw Megestu
- Sweetness in the Belly, by Camilla Gibb
19. Gabon (Liberville)
- African Silences, by Peter Matthiessen
20. Gambia (Banjul)
21. Ghana (Accra)
- The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, by Ayi Kwei Armah
22. Guinea (Conakry)
- L’Enfant Noir (aka: The Dark Child: The Autobiography of an African Boy), by Camara Laye
23. Guinea-Bissau (Bissau)
24. Kenya (Nairobi)
- The Camel Bookmobile, by Masha Hamilton
- Out of Africa and Shadows on Grass, by Isak Dinesen
25. Lesotho (Maseru)
- Singing Away Hunger: The Autobiography of an African Woman, by Mpho Matsepo Nthunya
- Stories By and About Women in Lesotho, by K. Limakatso Kendall
26. Liberia (Monrovia)
27. Libya (Tripoli)
- In The Country of Men, by Hisham Matar
28. Madagascar (Antananarivo)
29. Malawi (Lilongwe)
30. Mali (Bamako)
- Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold, by Michael Benanav
31. Mauritania (Nouakchott)
32. Mauritius (Port Louis)
33. Morocco (Rabat)
- Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail, by Malika Oufkir adn Michele Fitoussi (finished 16 May 2007; rated 4/5; read my review)
34. Mozambique (Maputo)
- Dumba-Nengue, by Lina Magaia
35. Namibia (Windhoek)
- Born of the Sun, by Joseph Diescho
36. Niger (Niamey)
37. Nigeria (Abuja)
- Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (finished 7 January 2007; rated 5/5; read my review)
- Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (finished 24 January 2007; rated 5/5; read my review)
38. Rwanda (Kigali)
- A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, by Gil Courtemanche*
39. Sao Tome and Principe (Sao Tome)
40. Senegal (Dakar)
- So Long A Letter, by Mariama Ba
- Scarlet Song, by Mariama Ba
- The Ambiguous Adventure, by Cheikh Hamidou Kane
41. Seychelles (Victoria)
42. Sierra Leone (Freetown)
- Someone Knows My Name, by Lawrence Hill (finished 12 August 2009; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
- A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah
43. Somalia (Mogadishu)
- Knots, by Nuruddin Farah
44. South Africa (Pretoria, Cape Town, Bleoemfontein)
- Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee (finished 14 December 2007; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
- Life and Times of Michael K, by J.M. Coetzee (finished 17 February 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
- The Scent of Oranges, by Joan Zawatzky (finished 30 May 2009; rated 3/5; read my review)
- Playing in the Light, by Zoe Wicomb
- Cry The Beloved Country, by Alan Paton
45. Sudan (Kartoum)
- The Translator, by Leila Aboulela (finished 23 March 2007; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
- Acts of Faith, by Phillip Caputo*
46. Swaziland (Mbabane)
47. Tanzania (Dodoma)
- Baby Khaki’s Wings, by Anar Ali
- Desertion, by Abdulrazak
48. Togo (Lome)
49. Tunisia (Tunis)
- Lion Mountain, by Mustapha Tlili
- Pillar of Salt, by Albert Memmi
50. Uganda (Kampala)
- Tropical Fish: Tales From Entebbe, by Doreen Baingana
51. Zambia (Lusaka)
52. Zimbabwe (Harare)
- The Grass is Singing, by Doris Lessing*
- Don’t Lets Go the Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller
- Nervous Conditions, by Tsitsi Dangarembga
- Rainbow’s End, by Lauren St. John
= Excellent
= Good/Very Good
= Okay read
= Not recommended
= Ugh! Don't waste your time.
For a great Somali novelist, you should check out Nuruddin Farah. He is currently living in exile in South Africa, I believe. I might steal your country list, it’s quite handy!
Thanks for the suggestion! I am currently researching ideas for all these countries and appreciate ANY suggestions!! Feel free to use my list
Wow, what an ambitious project! Don’t forget the small but impressive Caribbean region in the process of plotting your map.
Caribbean Writers
Imani, Thanks for that GREAT link! Can’t wait to peruse it
Wow, what an amazing project. Is this something you’re doing on your own, or as part of a challenge, or …?
I have sort of combined a couple of different challenges and made up my own. If you go to this link you can read my introduction post for this. I have created a post for each ‘region’ and listed books there. Here is the link for all those posts.
I’ve been making a list like yours for Africa. What a delightful find! I have the following suggestions for you:
Kenya—The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton.
Mali—Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold by Michael Benanav.
South Africa—Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. (I know you’ve already read a couple of South African books, this one is a favorite.)
Botswana—No. 1 Ladies’ Detectove Agency
Sherry, Forgive my delay in responding to you! I’ve been a bit slammed at work these days and finding it hard to keep up
Thank you for the recommendations for Africa reads – I’m planning to update my list here with all the wonderful suggestions I’ve been getting!
Wendy, this is a fantastic challenge! I’m impressed! There are some great French-African novels out there. I particularly like Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter, which I see you already have on the list. Assia Djebar has another good one, Women of Algiers in Their Apartment. Here are a few more that I know are available in English and on Amazon (the first two are among my favorites):
The Dark Child: The Autobiography of an African Boy, by Camara Laye (Guinea)
The Ambiguous Adventure, by Cheikh Hamidou Kane (Senegal)
The Suns of Independence, bu Ahmadou Kourouma (Ivory Coast)
The Sand Child, by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Morocco)
Thanks for these GREAT recommendations, Kelly!! I’m adding them to my list
Wendy, thanks for the link to this challenge. I’m going to dip in and out of your lists in my attempt to do more international reading. I’m particularly intrigued by the book from Algeria because I spent most of 1993-2002 living and working in that country. I would love to read some contemporary fiction from there if any has been translated. Those were some very ugly years for that country.
Sam: You’re welcome
I will look forward to seeing your lists and reviews!