Great African Reads discussion

This year I received five very promising countries:

Zimbabwe - finished 19/12/2020
The Gold Diggers by Sue Nyathi

Burundi - finished 2/11/2020
100 Days by Juliane Okot Bitek


Seychelles - finished 22/07/2020:
Grk: Operation Tortoise by Joshua Doder

Kenya - finished 02/05/2020:
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire

I returned CAR as I had this country already last year and received 5 more countries to replace it😊:

Tunisia - finished 02/05/2020:
Waiting in the Future for the Past to Come by Sabiha Khemir

Ethiopia - finished 22/11/2020:
Your Body Is War by Mahtem Shiferraw


Namibia - finished 31/10/2020:
Licht und Schatten in Namibia: Alltag in einem Traumland by Anna Mandus

South Africa - finished 06/01/2020:
Nineveh by Henrietta Rose-Innes

Sudan - finished 26/09/2020
The January Children by Sudanese-American poet Safia Elhillo

For South Africa I am already currently reading Nineveh by Henrietta Rose-Innes and will have finished the novel soon!

I am now into my fourth novel from South Africa. After having finished Henrietta Rose-Innes's novels Green Lion and Rock Alphabet I am finally reading Zukiswa Wanner's novel London Cape Town Joburg.

I will hopefully "review" at least the first three novels the coming weekend...

I have just finished Waiting in the Future for the Past to Come by Tunesian writer Sabiha Khemir. It was a four-star read for me.
This is a story about a mother-daughter relationship. Daughter Amina is searching for her own meaning in life. She is torn between the path that is pre-drawn by family history (told in parts by her mother and in parts experienced by Amina herself) and what she herself feels could be more suitable for her (i.e. leave the country and her family).
There is a strong focus on the world of girls and women in Tunesia in the 1950s/1960s. One aspect is the impact of the restriction of young girls to the house and the isolation that goes along with it which made the restrictions we have at the moment due to Covid-19 look ridiculous...

I have the author's second novel The Blue Manuscript on my TBR. Though the rating here on goodreads is not that high I will definitely give it a try as the plot sounds promising!

I have just finished Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth, a poetry collection by Kenyan-born poet Warsan Shire
Although it is only 34 pages, it was an intense read and has inspired me to add more poetry to my reading!

I have just finished Grk: Operation Tortoise by Joshua Doder. I take this to be my read for the Seychelles as it is supposedly set on three of the islands. It is also listed by Diane in her Around the World in 80 Books list, so it does not entirely feel like cheating...

Instead of reading the short story collection Elsewhere, Home by Leila Aboulela for Sudan, I have just finished The January Children by Sudanese-American poet Safia Elhillo and cannot praise this collection enough!!! A must-read not only for lovers of poetry!!!

After a long and unsatisfying search for literature from Burundi I finally found a novel that sounds quite promising: Baho! by Roland Rugero born in 1986. According to the book's cover, it is the first novel from Burundi to be translated into English and the author is still living in Burundi.

I finished Licht und Schatten in Namibia: Alltag in einem Traumland by Anna Mandus. I am not sure what to think of it as it focusses primarily on the life of the white middle-class of German descents in Namibia today... I expected something slightly different, but this is me of course...

I finished Juliane Okot Bitek's 100 Days as a re-read. These poems by the Ugandan poetess reflect on the 100 days of the massacre in Burundi in 1993.

I have to admit I finally dnf-ed Your Body Is War by Ethiopian poet Mahtem Shiferraw. I had difficulty connecting with the poetry but still have the copy so I will probably give it a second try some time in the future. I already was not so fond of her Fuchsia but cannot give any reasons precisely other than lack of connecting. It is more difficult with poetry to tell what the trouble is that makes one like or dislike the texts...

I'm in awe of any person tackling poetry, so I think you were extremely brave to even consider a poet for one of your books, never mind the three others that you already read!

I am normally not too much into poetry, but this year is somehow different😊. I can only recommend the collections I have finished so far and I have some more on my TBR for next year...

I have just finished the last book for this challenge: The Gold Diggers by Sue Nyathi from Zimbabwe. I "read" it on audio which always has the effect that the "reading" is not that intense for me, but as the book is rather heart-wrenching I believe this was a good decision! Thanks again to Carolien for the recommendation!

Congratulations on finishing this challenge. I still think about Gold Diggers months later as it is such an emotionally challenging read. I picked up Sue Nyathi's latest book a few weeks ago and hope to read it in 2021.

Carolien wrote: "Congratulations on finishing this challenge. I still think about Gold Diggers months later as it is such an emotionally challenging read. I picked up Sue Nyathi's latest book a few weeks ago and ho..."

I agree - it is definitely a book that stays with the reader! And thanks for pointing out that she has her latest work published! By the way, is Henrietta Rose-Innes Stone Plants already out?

I haven't seen any copies of Stone Plants and our main online bookstore doesn't have it available for purchase yet, so I think the answer is no.

Thanks a lot for letting me know!