2017 Reading Challenge discussion

This folder is for books that either take place in Africa, or are written by an African author. It's up to you!

Please share your suggestions, or any resources you've used to help find your book for this category in this thread.

The obvious ones for me would have to be "Out of Africa" and "White Mischief"...both were made into films.

Anyone looking for inspiration could peruse this list:https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Is there a way to make the title of the thread what it is rather than having a list of threads that are all titled 'Description and Suggestions '? The way it is set up now, you have to open up each one to know what it's about.

This book is available for free on Kindle if anyone is interested. (Free today, not sure for how much longer)

It sounds good. I have downloaded, and plan to read.

http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Tsavo-So...

I have chosen to read "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave for my Africa selection. It is about a Nigerian refugee who escaped a traumatic fate and now is being released from a British immigration center. The Poisonwood Bible would be another good choice too.

I'm using the first book in the Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan, "The Red Pyramid." Most of it takes place in Egypt, and it has a lot about egyptian mythology!

Amanda wrote: "I have chosen to read "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave for my Africa selection. It is about a Nigerian refugee who escaped a traumatic fate and now is being released from a British immigration center. ..."
I'm also planning on reading this book for this category.

Melissa wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I have chosen to read "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave for my Africa selection. It is about a Nigerian refugee who escaped a traumatic fate and now is being released from a British immig..."

Great minds think alike Melissa!

Valerie wrote: "This book is available for free on Kindle if anyone is interested. (Free today, not sure for how much longer)

It sounds good. I have downloaded, and plan to read.

http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-T..."

Thanks for this! I think I'll give this one a try as well!

I can recommand Mara and Dann by Doris Lessing : this book can double-up for the "author who won the Nobel Prize" category, or for the sci-fi category too.

I plan to read We Are All the Same: A Story of a Boy's Courage and a Mother's Love

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden
by Jonas Jonasson. Starts in Africa progressed to Sweden. Maybe you can count it twice ?
I am in the middle of it. Same author as "The 100 Year Old Man Who Step Out of a Window and Disappeared."
This is a political and social satire at its best and a romp as well.

I chose, "Things Fall Apart," by Chinua Achebe, which takes place in an Ibo village in Nigeria.

Valerie wrote: "This book is available for free on Kindle if anyone is interested. (Free today, not sure for how much longer)

It sounds good. I have downloaded, and plan to read.

http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-T..."

Thanks so much for this suggestion and letting us know it's free. I just purchased it. Even if I don't get around to it for the challenge it will still be good to have for later reading.

I just came across The Thing Around Your Neck while searching for books about immigrant point of views. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian author and would definitely fit into the African authors category. You can use them for either. From what I can tell, it has great reviews. I will try to add this book into either category.

Also, her book We Should All Be Feminists is another book of hers I'd love to read.

Elisabeth wrote: "Is there a way to make the title of the thread what it is rather than having a list of threads that are all titled 'Description and Suggestions '? The way it is set up now, you have to open up each..."

Hi Elisabeth!

I did this on purpose because it is not supposed to be a thread for any one specific book. It's the thread that explains the category, and it's a place where people can add suggestions for books that fit the category.

Once people start posting the books they've finished for the category you'll start to see more specifics.

This one caught my eye: The Wilderness Family: At Home with Africa's Wildlife by Kobie Krüger

Anne wrote: "Elisabeth wrote: "Is there a way to make the title of the thread what it is rather than having a list of threads that are all titled 'Description and Suggestions '? The way it is set up now, you ha..."


I think something like Description and Suggestions (Africa) is what she means---so that when we get email notifications we know which category it's coming from!!

Teresa wrote: "Anne wrote: "Elisabeth wrote: "Is there a way to make the title of the thread what it is rather than having a list of threads that are all titled 'Description and Suggestions '? The way it is set u..."

Ahhhh. I see. I'm not one who uses email notifications for much of anything so I'd not notice that problem. It makes sense. I will try to edit the thread titles over the next few days, but it may take some time.

I will read an autobiography - A Fork in the Road by André Brink

I have shelved my South African reads here; there are lots of books by the white minority among it if you are interested in that kind of thing:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Enjoyable reads from Africa I'd recommend to anyone are
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin and Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller (it's autobiographic, so it would fit into that category aswell).

Of course there are also winners of the nobel prize of literature from Africa to check out:

J.M. Coetzee
Naguib Mahfouz
Wole Soyinka
Doris Lessing
Nadine Gordimer
Albert Camus
Nelson Mandela (ok, the last two didn't win for literature but still...)

I think I'm going to read The Famished Road by Ben Okri from Nigeria, which I'm planning to read for either the "Africa" or for the "Awards" category (won the booker).

Amanda wrote: "I have chosen to read "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave for my Africa selection. It is about a Nigerian refugee who escaped a traumatic fate and now is being released from a British immigration center. ..."I loved Little Bee! Good choice!

A friend of mine recommended that I try Wilbur Smith if I wanted something with a lot of action.

I am going to read The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. It is about 4 brothers and their family and is described as a "Cain and Abel" type story. Sounds really good. Again, this is another book I would most likely never have read if it were not for this challenge.

Thomas, I read lots of books by Wilbur Smith in my early 20s and they are a blast, immensely entertaining.

I'm in two minds for the Africa category. Either re-read Leo the African by Amin Maalouf, which I loved when I was much younger (and this would also fit with a private project of re-reading books that I loved when I was much younger to see if they stand the passing of time), or the The Constant Gardener by John Le Carre, as I quite liked the movie.

I just finished reading Scarlet Song by Mariama Bâ which is based in Senegal. An intense and interesting read which deals with themes of feminism in the late 60s, muslim faith, family dynamics and interracial marriage. It was also the last book by the author before she died. Worth finding in the library!

Mandy wrote: "The obvious ones for me would have to be "Out of Africa" and "White Mischief"...both were made into films.

Anyone looking for inspiration could peruse this list:https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/sho..."

Marvelous list.

J.R.R. Tolkienis born in South-Africa. Thus he counts?

I think it does since it's supposed to be a book that takes place in Africa or written by an African-born author.

Marita van der Vyver Deon Meyer are also good writers.

Will be reading The Poisonwood Bible....

I'm planning on reading "The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith. It's one of my father's favorite books, and it seems like it provides an accurate, detailed description of Botswana.

I've just read a few books by Michelle Horst and then I discovered she was born in South Africa and one of the books I read had a character that was born in Africa and moved to England. Can these be counted as my "Africa" books?

crashqueen73 wrote: "I've just read a few books by Michelle Horst and then I discovered she was born in South Africa and one of the books I read had a character that was born in Africa and moved to England. Can these b..."

Yes!

I apologize if I already posted this question somewhere but I can't find it anywhere. If part of a story takes place in Africa, can it be applied to this category or does the entire story need to take place here?

I'd count it. You decide how you make this challenge fit your reading.

Thomas wrote: "I'd count it. You decide how you make this challenge fit your reading."

Thank you, Thomas! :)