Africa Reading

In May 1998 I completed a project of reading at least one book about each country in Africa. The reading list I kept became the basis for my book A Basket of Leaves, in which I write about the books listed below. Links will bring you to my reviews of certain titles.

1. Algeria The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles The Savage Night by Mohammed Dib Algerian White by Assia Djebar 2. Angola Mayombe by Pepetela Another Day of Life by Ryszard Kapuscinski 3. Benin The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin 4. Botswana When Rain Clouds Gather by Bessie Head Whites by Norman Rush 5. Burkina Faso Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Somé 6. Burundi The True Sources of the Nile by Sarah Stone 7. Cameroon Mission to Kala by Mongo Beti 8. Cape Verde The Fortunate Isles by Basil Davidson 9. Central African Republic Song from the Forest by Louis Sarno 10. Chad Komoon! by Heinrich Oberjohann 11. Comoros Last of the Pirates by Samantha Weinberg 12. Congo (Democratic Republic of the) The Catastrophist by Ronan Bennett A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul Between Tides by V.Y. Mudimbe 13. Congo (Republic of the) The Fire of Origins by Emmanuel Dongala The Seven Solitudes of Lorsa Lopez by Sony Labou Tansi No Mercy by Redmond O'Hanlon 14. Djibouti Somebody Else by Charles Nicholl 15. Egypt Out of Egypt by André Aciman Mountolive by Lawrence Durrell Adrift on the Nile by Naguib Mahfouz In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif 16. Equatorial Guinea Tropical Gangsters by Robert Klitgaard 17. Eritrea To Asmara by Thomas Keneally 18. Ethiopia The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuscinski Notes from the Hyena's Belly by Nega Mezlekia 19. Gabon Travels in West Africa by Mary Kingsley 20. The Gambia Our Grandmothers' Drums by Mark Hudson

21. Ghana All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou No Sweetness Here by Ama Ata Aidoo 22. Guinea The Dark Child by Camara Laye 23. Guinea-Bissau The Bush Rebels by Barbara Cornwall 24. Ivory Coast The Suns of Independence by Ahmadou Kourouma In the Shadow of the Sacred Grove by Carol Spindel 25. Kenya A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o A Primate's Memoir by Robert M. Sapolsky 26. Lesotho Singing Away the Hunger by Mpho Nthunya 27. Liberia Journey Without Maps by Graham Greene Mississippi in Africa by Alan Huffman 28. Libya The Bleeding of the Stone by Ibrahim Al-Koni 29. Madagascar The Eighth Continent by Peter Tyson 30. Malawi The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison by Jack Mapanje 31. Mali The Heart of the Ngoni by Harold Courlander with Ousmane Sako Segu by Maryse Condé 32. Mauritania The Fearful Void by Geoffrey Moorhouse 33. Mauritius Journey to Mauritius by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de St. Pierre The Book of Color by Julia Blackburn 34. Morocco The Sand Child by Tahar ben Jelloun The Road to Fez by Ruth Knafo Setton 35. Mozambique Voices Made Night by Mia Couto Dumba Nengue by Lina Magaia 36. Namibia The Harmless People by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas 37. Niger In Sorcery's Shadow by Paul Stoller and Cheryl Olkes 38. Nigeria Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe The Slave Girl by Buchi Emecheta The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola Aké, The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka Efuru by Flora Nwapa Jagua Nana by Cyprian Ekwensi Stars of the New Curfew by Ben Okri GraceLand by Chris Abani Waiting for an Angel by Helon Habila

39. Rwanda Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families by Philip Gourevitch 40. São Tomé and Principe The Heinemann Book of African Women's Poetry edited by Stella and Frank Chipasula 41. Senegal God's Bits of Wood by Sembène Ousmane Ambiguous Adventure by Cheikh Hamidou Kane So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ I Get on the Bus by Reginald McKnight 42. Seychelles Beyond the Reefs by William Travis 43. Sierra Leone The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar by Syl Cheney-Coker The Devil That Danced on the Water by Aminatta Forna 44. Somalia First Footsteps in East Africa by Richard Burton Secrets by Nuruddin Farah 45. South Africa Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela July's People by Nadine Gordimer Age of Iron by J.M. Coetzee Mother to Mother by Sindiwe Magona The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda 46. Sudan Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih African Calliope by Edward Hoagland 47. Swaziland Sangoma by James Hall 48. Tanzania Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah The Gunny Sack by M.G. Vassanji 49. Togo The Village of Waiting by George Packer 50. Tunisia The Scorpion by Albert Memmi 51. Uganda The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa 52. Western Sahara Smara, the Forbidden City by Michel Vieuchange 53. Zambia The Eye of the Elephant by Delia and Mark Owens A Cowrie of Hope by Binwell Sinyangwe 54. Zimbabwe African Laughter by Doris Lessing The Stone Virgins by Yvonne Vera