Great African Reads discussion

This is gonna be my first challenge here and my very first reading bingo ever :)
Baby steps: my goal is to cross at least three rows, and I simply want to go through as many nations as possible.

Here is my first draft, I selected books that already are on my “want to read” shelf.
But I definitely plan to dive into everyone’s bingo to find some inspiration as well ;)

Can't wait to share my thoughts with you. Happy reading to all!

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1| New-to-you country:
Mauritania. Beyrouk, Le Tambour des Larmes

2| Recent (2019-21):
Global. Alain Mabanckou, Huit leçons sur l'Afrique
pub. in 2020

3| African Island

4| Diaspora author:
Morocco. Laila Lalami (Mor./USA), Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits or Leïla Slimani (Mor./France) Sexe et Mensonges: La Vie Sexuelle au Maroc

5| Short stories

6| Spanish or Portuguese

7| Free Choice

8| Published 1980-90:
Algeria. Assia Djebar, Femmes d'Alger dans leur appartement

9| Theme: Family:
Tunisia. Fawzia Zouari, Le corps de ma mère

10| Poetry

11| Africa39 Author:
Global. Collective, Africa39

12| Debut novel:
Senegal. Mariama Bâ, Une si longue lettre

13| Non-diaspora author:
Egypt. Alaa Al Aswany, The Yacoubian Building

14| A Group Read: yes, hopefully!

15| Non-fiction:
Morocco. Salima Naji Architectures du bien commun

16| Prize winner:
Libya. Hisham Matar, The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land in Between
2017 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography

Time permitting, I would also like to read:
+ something by Nuruddin Farah, Somali
+ something by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian
+ something from Cabo Verde ideas here and here
+ something from Madagascar ideas here and here

Some inspiring titles so far! Good luck with your challenge and welcome to the group!

Good luck with the challenge! And I see you've got a few titles I hadn't come across, great to have another french reader here to pick up new french titles :)

Good luck with your first challenge! Some interesting books on the list.

With only a couple of weeks left in 2021, I think it is time for me to acknowledge that I completely failed the challenge. This year has been hectic, I sadly haven't been able to keep up with my reading goals in general, let alone the African ones.
I am disappointed - mainly because I was looking forward to take part in the group discussions.

If all goes well, I will be rejoining you in 2022, hopefully for the new bingo as well as the group reads. Fingers crossed!

Best of luck for those of you wrapping the GAR challenge(s). Sweet readings, warmest wishes for the holiday season and... see you next year! :)

so_fima wrote: "If all goes well, I will be rejoining you in 2022, hopefully for the new bingo as well as the group reads. Fingers crossed!"

Glad to read you'll be rejoining us next year! Good luck and take care.