Read Around Africa Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Africa.
Best books from Africa (1154)
211.
The Tears of the Black Man by Alain Mabanckou EN
CongoDescription:
In The Tears of the Black Man, award-winning author Alain Mabanckou explores what it means to be black in the world today. Mabanckou confronts the long and entangled history of Africa, France, and the United States as it has been shaped by slavery, colonialism, and their legacy today. Without ignoring the injustices and prejudice still facing blacks, he distances himself from resentment and victimhood, arguing that focusing too intensely on the crimes of the past is limiting. Instead, it is time to ask: Now what? Embracing the challenges faced by ethnic minority communities today, The Tears of... continue
212.
The Lights of Pointe-Noire by Alain Mabanckou EN
Description:
A moving meditation on home, home-coming and belonging from Francophone Africa's most important writer.
213.
The Negro Grandsons of Vercingetorix by Alain Mabanchou EN
Description:
The award-winning author of Black Moses is at his satiric best in this novel the catalogs the pain and suffering caused by the ravages of civil war. Set in the imaginary African Republic of Vietongo, The Negro Grandsons of Vercingetorix begins when conflict breaks out between rival leaders and the regional ethnic groups they represent. Events recorded in a series of notebooks under the watchful eye of Hortense Lloki show how civil war culminates in a series of outlandish actions perpetrated by the warring parties’ private militias—the Anacondas and the Romans from the North who have seized pow... continue
214.
In the Shadow of Freedom by Tchicaya Missamou EN
Description:
FROM POVERTY TO WEALTH, FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA, AND FROM CHILD SOLDIER TO U.S. MARINE Born into the Congolese wilderness, Tchicaya Missamou became a child soldier at age 11. As a horrific civil war loomed across his country, Tchicaya began using his militia connections to ferry jewels, cash, computers, and white diplomats out of the country. By 17, he was rich. By 18, he was a hunted man, his house destroyed, his family brutalized in front of him by his own militia. By 19, he’d left behind everything he’d ever known, escaping to Europe and, eventually, to America. Incredibly, that was only the... continue
215.
Full Circle by Frederick Yamusangie EN
Country: Africa / 
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Description:
'"C'est l'arrivee," someone said. These were the first words the boy heard when the lorry on which he and the others had been travelling at last turned into the parking lodge at Bulungu, their final destination after a two-day journey from Kinshasa. The boy was impatient to find out more about this place, which might soon become his permanent home. With his little brain he had imagined that people everywhere lived like the people at his birthplace.' The idea of clashes or differences between cultures didn't make sense to the young boy who is sent by his international parents to a country villa... continue
216.
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila EN
Country: Africa / Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Description:
Two friends, one a budding writer home from Europe, the other an ambitious racketeer, meet in the only nightclub, the Tram 83, in a war-torn city-state in secession, surrounded by profit-seekers of all languages and nationalities. Tram 83 plunges the reader into the modern African gold rush as cynical as it is comic and colorfully exotic, using jazz rhythms to weave a tale of human relationships in a world that has become a global village. Fiston Mwanza Mujila (b. 1981, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo) is a poet, dramatist, and scholar. Tram 83 is his award-winning and raved-about deb... continue
217.
Pleidooi voor leven by Denis Mukwege NL
Country: Africa / Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Description:
Leven en werk van de Congolese gynaecoloog Denis Mukwege, Nobelprijswinnaar voor de Vrede 2018, die vrouwen behandelt die het slachtoffer zijn geweldadige verkrachtingen en genitale verminking.
218.
How Dare The Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana EN
Country: Africa / Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Description:
Junior Library Guild Selection * New York Public Library's Best Books for Teens * Goodreads Choice Awards Nonfiction Finalist * Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books for Teens: Nonfiction * 2018 Texas Topaz Nonfiction List * YALSA's 2018 Quick Picks List * Bank Street's 2018 Best Books of the Year “This gut-wrenching, poetic memoir reminds us that no life story can be reduced to the word ‘refugee.’" —New York Times Book Review “A critical piece of literature, contributing to the larger refugee narrative in a way that is complex and nuanced.” —School Library Journal (starred review) T... continue
219.
El antipueblo by Sony Labou Tansi ES
Country: Africa / Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Description:
En Brazzaville (R. D. Congo), el ciudadano Dadou es íntegro y respetado, hasta que una mujer se apodera de su deseo; protegerá su virtud a través del alcohol y la caída en desgracia.
Esto podría parecerse a una clásica tragedia (como Desgracia, de Coetzee, o tantas más). Pero es contado en clave africana, con un formato entre la leyenda popular y el antiguo cuento infantil.
La historia, que por momentos tiene caracteres del absurdo, se desarrolla en medio del abuso de poder y la violencia. Y una inquietud que aparece en forma reiterada: dada l... continue
220.
