For (un)Official Use Only: Reading the Continent (34/54 countries read)

Beginning in 2016, I decided to read a novel by an author from every country on the African continent (a parallel effort includes reading and writing about a poem from every country). I know there is plenty of great non-fiction (much of it listed on my comprehensive Africa reading list) too, but for now I will stick with the good stuff. For over 300 of my wider book reviews and recommendations—including 32 all-time great reads—check out Dad's Bookshelf.

I've also started including a link to my prior "Poet of the Week" selections for various African countries—something to keep you occupied until I read a book from that country.

Coincidentally, in searching for novels I came across an amazing effort by writer Ann Morgan, who read a novel from EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! Her complete list is here. It's invaluable with a country like the Comoros, where there is almost no published English fiction.

General (Multiple Countries)

West with the Night by Beryl Markham. My review is here, and more information about the incomparable writer is here.
The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński. This book is on my GOFO Africa Reading List. I put a couple of choice quotes from the book's foreword here.

*In the future, I will add a section on the influence of India in African literature as well.

MAGHREB

Algeria

What the Day Owes the Night by Yasmina Khadra. My review is here.
Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade by Assia Djebar. (FUTURE READ)
Poet of the Week from Algeria: Moufdi Zakaria – "Kassaman (We Pledge)"

Libya

The Confines of the Shadow by Alessandro Spina. My review is here.
Poet of the Week from Libya: Fatima Mahmoud – "What Was Not Conceivable"
Poet of the Week from Libya: Ashur Etwebi – "Politics and Writing a Poem"
Poet of the Week from Libya: Khaled Mattawa – "East of Carthage: An Idyll"

Mauritania

The Desert and the Drum by Mbarek Ould Beyrouk. My review is here.

Morocco

Leaving Tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun. My review is here.
Poet of the Week from Morocco: Mohammed Bennis – "Love is Eternity's River"
Poet of the Week from Morocco: Ali Squalli Houssaini – "Moroccan National Anthem"
Poet of the Week from Morocco: Hassan El Ouazzani – "Elegy for Love"

Tunisia

Lion Mountain by Mustapha Tlili. My review is here.
Talismano by Dr. Abdelwahab Meddeb. My review will be here.

LUSOPHONE (and Spanish)

Angola

Luuanda by José Luandino Vieira. (FUTURE READ)
Transparent City by Ondjaki. My review will be here.
Poet of the Week from Zaire (DRC)/Angola: Makuzayi Massaki – "Regressado, Yes I Am"

Cabo Verde

The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida. My review is here.

Equatorial Guinea (Spanish)

By Night the Mountain Burns by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel. My review is here.

Guinea-Bissau

The Ultimate Tragedy by Abdulai Sila. My review will be here.

Mozambique

Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto. My review is here.
Poet of the Week from Mozambique: Noémia de Sousa – "If You Want to Know Me"

São Tomé and Príncipe

Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares. My review will be here.

FRANCOPHONE

Benin

The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin. My review will be here.

Burkina Faso

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson. My review is here.
The Parachute Drop by Norbert Zongo. My review will be here.

Cameroon (British and German too)

Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono. My review is here.
Season of the Shadow by Léonora Miano. My review is here.
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. My review is here.
Poet of the Week from Cameroon: Mbella Sonne Dipoko – "A Poem of Villeneuve St. Georges"

Central African Republic

(Pending selection)

Chad

Told by Starlight in Chad by Joseph Brahim Seid. My review will be here.

Comoros

The Kafir of Karthala by Mohamed Toihiri. My review is here.

Congo, Republic of the

Memoirs of a Porcupine by Alain Mabanckou. My review is here.
Tomorrow I'll Be Twenty by Alain Mabanckou. (FUTURE READ)

Côte d'Ivoire

Allah Is Not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma. This novel could just as easily have been filed under Sierra Leone or Liberia, but I stuck it here since the author is Ivorian. And if we want to get all philosophical about things, most of these books could be filed under multiple countries since the borders are really an artificial colonial construct. My review is here.

Djibouti

Transit by Abdourahman Waberi. My review is here.
The Land Without Shadows by Abdourahman Waberi. (FUTURE READ)

Gabon

(Pending selection)

Guinea

My Heart Will Cross This Ocean: My Story, My Son, Amadou by Kadiatou Diallo.

Madagascar

Vakio Milamina by Soamiely Andriamananjara. My review is here.
Beyond the Rice Fields by Naivo—the first Malagasy novel ever translated into English. My review is here.
Poet of the Week from Madagascar: Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo – "9"

Mali

(Pending selection)

Niger

(Pending selection)

Senegal

So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ. My full review is here.
Poet of the Week from Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor – "Black Woman"
Poet of the Week from Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor – "Et nous baignerons mon amie"

Seychelles (British too)

(Pending selection)

Togo (British and German too)

An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie. My review is here.

BRITISH

Botswana

Poet of the Week from Botswana: Barolong Seboni – "Love That"

Egypt

The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz. Magnificent story about colonial Egypt and family. No review, as I read these long before I started on this quest.
Poet of the Week from Syria/Egypt: Khalil Mutran – "Boycott"

Eswatini

(Pending selection)

Gambia

(Pending selection)

Ghana

Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi. My review is here.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. My review is here.
Poet of the Week from Ghana: Atukwei Okai – "III (Everyone Dreams of Kissing You)"

Kenya

The Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley. One of my favorite books ever. Not technically fiction, but it sure reads like it. My review is here.
One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina. My review is here.
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller. I never wrote a review on this one.

Lesotho (and Dutch)

(Pending selection)

Malawi

The Jive Talker: Or, How to Get a British Passport by Samson Kambalu. My review is here.
Poet of the Week from Malawi: Frank Chipasula – "A Love Poem for My Country"

Mauritius (also French and Dutch)

(Pending selection)

Nigeria

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe (I've read all of his novels, but this one was my favorite). My review is here.
I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. My review is here.
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. My review is here.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. My review is here.
Every Day Is for the Thief by Teju Cole. My short review is here. My Kindle highlights are here.
Poet of the Week from Nigeria: Wole Soyinka – "In the Small Hours"

Sierra Leone (in the future, compare with Liberian literature)

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna. My review is here.

South Africa (Dutch too)

My Traitor's Heart by Rian Malan. Read this, but never wrote a review.
Bring Me My Machine Gun by Alec Russell. Read this, but never wrote a review.

South Sudan

There Is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan. (FUTURE READ)

Sudan

Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela. My review will be here.
What Is the What by Dave Eggers. I never wrote a review for this one.
Poet of the Week from Sudan: Muhammad al-Fayturi – "A Scream"

Tanzania

The Gunny Sack by M.G. Vassanji. My review is here.

Uganda

All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu. My review is here. THIS IS THE GREAT AFRICAN NOVEL. One of the best books I've ever read.
To Stop a Warlord by Shannon Sedgwick Davis (technically a memoir, but it reads like a novel). My review is here.

Zambia

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell. My review will be here.
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller. I read this years before I started writing reviews.
Poet of the Week from Zambia: Gwendoline Konie – "In the Fist of Your Hand"

Zimbabwe

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller. I read this years before I started writing reviews.
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo. My review is here.
They Are Coming by Christopher Mlalazi. My review is here.

BELGIAN

Burundi (German too)

Small Country by Gaël Faye. My review is here.

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

A Bend in the River (1979) by V.S. Naipaul. My review is here.
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters by Jason Stearns. Not fiction, but it reads like it—my review is here.
Poet of the Week from the Congo: Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard – "Impuissance"

Rwanda (German too)

"Everything Is Yours, Everything Is Not Yours" by Clementine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil. My review is here.

ITALIAN

Eritrea (British too)

Gratitude in Low Voices by Dawit Habte. My review is here.

Ethiopia (Italy tried, but failed)

In Praise of Savagery by Warwick Cairns. My review is here.
Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste. My review is here.
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste. My review is here.
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu. My review is here.
Mister Drainpipe. My review is here.

Somalia (British too)

The Orchard of Lost Souls by Nadifa Mohamed. My review will be here.
Warriors: Life and Death Among the Somalis by Gerald Hanley. My review is here.
The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken. My review is here.
Poet of the Week from Somalia: Abdirashid Omar – "The Decree"
Poet of the Week from Somalia: K'naan – "Somalia"

AMERICAN

Liberia

She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore. My review is here.

GERMAN

Namibia (but also South African)

(Pending selection)

Country Progress Checklist (A–Z)

Pages

FAO Quotables

Reading the Continent (34/54 countries read)