The County Library discussion

Did you know that Africa is bigger than China, India, the contiguous U.S. and most of Europe—combined? Africa contains 54 different countries. This month, your challenge is to read a book by an African author. Also let me know what country they are from.

If you like historical fiction, you might enjoy Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi from Ghana, if you’re in the mood for a coming of age story, try The Eternal Audience of One by Rwandan born Namibian author Rémy Ngamije. For fiction with a bit of mystery try The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi from Nigeria. If you like nonfiction, you could try Kenyan author Nanjala Nyabola’s Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move.

I know we have readers who enjoy teen and kids books. You might enjoy the fantasy novel The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna from Sierra Leone, or Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke from Nigeria.

So many options, so little time. Good luck!

Goodreads is unreliable in notifications about new posts in groups. So I checked specifically in the groups. Glad I did!

I will be reading My Totem Came Calling by Zimbabwe author Blessing Musariri. It is relatively short, 163 pages and the library has 3 copies, in case anyone else wants to read it.

From the library's description:
"Chanda is a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl in Harare, Zimbabwe, who suffers from unexplained memory lapses, which become even more worrisome when she starts seeing her totem animal, a zebra, in all sorts of places. But nobody else can see it. Afraid of being institutionalized in a hospital, she follows the advice of an old aunt and sets off for her ancestral village, a backward, primitive settlement without the amenities she is used to in the city. But there she meets the rest of her family, including her grandmother, and learns the hard way who she really is--not a superficial, rich city girl with foreign habits but someone who is somebody, whose name carries a history of her African people."-- Provided by publisher.

I will reread Sulwe with my son. It's also a current Beehive Nominee. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking story, with a lovely symbolic myth included that explains black is just as essential as white.
The illustrations are beautiful as well. I'm debating whether I should add a copy to my baby shower gifts for the two interracial babies coming to my family.

I am also planning to read The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna.

I love that a few of you have picked books already. That's great!

I read The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna.

Not bad. Pretty typical fantasy, by American standards. I would have liked it to have a little more of a uniquely African flavor.

2/2 for 2022

Does the author still need to live in Africa or can they be living somewhere else. I was going to read a No 1 Ladies Detective Agency book. He was born and raised in Zimbabwe but now lives in Scotland.

Linda wrote: "Does the author still need to live in Africa or can they be living somewhere else. I was going to read a No 1 Ladies Detective Agency book. He was born and raised in Zimbabwe but now lives in Scotl..."

Sure.

Elizabeth wrote: "Linda wrote: "Does the author still need to live in Africa or can they be living somewhere else. I was going to read a No 1 Ladies Detective Agency book. He was born and raised in Zimbabwe but now ..."

Sure - needs to still be living in Africa
or
Sure - be born in Africa but OK to be living somewhere else.
?
It wasn't a simple yes/no question.

Debbie wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Linda wrote: "Does the author still need to live in Africa or can they be living somewhere else. I was going to read a No 1 Ladies Detective Agency book. He was born and raised in..."

Debbie Thanks for asking because now I don't have to LOL

Linda wrote: "Debbie wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Linda wrote: "Does the author still need to live in Africa or can they be living somewhere else. I was going to read a No 1 Ladies Detective Agency book. He was bor..."

When I saw her answer, I made the noise Tim Allen always made on Home Improvement when he was confused. That sort of puzzled dog whine. Now Elizabeth can make the famous Homer Simpson sound of "doah!"

I am trying to to decide between Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Rania Mamoun and Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀. Have any of you read either one?

Deborah wrote: "I am trying to to decide between Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Rania Mamoun and Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀. Have any of you read either one?"

I haven't, but I've heard good things about Adebayo. Having good choices is such a mixed blessing!

Thirteen Months is shorter, if that helps. :)

I ended up flipping a coin to decide which book to read. I finished Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Rania Mamoun last night. The author is from Sudan.

I finished reading The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna today. Thanks for the recommendation Elizabeth!

I have "Sulwe" checked out via Libby for this challenge but haven't gotten to it yet.

I read Zoo City. The author is from South Africa. It was really good.

I read My Totem Came Calling by Zimbabwe author Blessing Musariri and Canadian author Thorsten Nesch. It was fun to write my review .

I read Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o over the weekend. She is Kenyan.

It is slightly more than halfway through February. If you are still looking for a book to read, my colleague, De, created this awesome list of books we have in the system by African Authors.

Chinua Achebe from Nigeria
Arrow of God
Chike and the River
Things Fall Apart
How the Leopard Got His Claws
The African Trilogy (This one is Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God)
There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ from Nigeria
Stay with Me

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie from Nigeria
Purple Hibiscus
Half of a Yellow Sun
Americanah
Notes on Grief

Bisi Adjapon who describes herself as a Ghanaian-Nigerian-Virginian Author
Teller of Secrets

Lola Akinmade Åkerström from Nigeria, based in Sweden
In Every Mirror She's Black

Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel from Equatorial Guinea
By Night the Mountain Burns
The Gurugu Pledge

Ishmael Beah from Sierra Leon
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Little Family
Radiance of Tomorrow

Louis Chude-Sokei from Nigeria
Floating in a Most Peculiar Way: A Memoir

J.M. Coetzee from South Africa
The Childhood of Jesus
The Schooldays of Jesus
The Death of Jesus
Diary of a Bad Year
Disgrace
Summertime

Petina Gappah from Zimbabwe
Out of Darkness, Shining Light
The Book of Memory

Abdulrazak Gurnah born in Tanzania, but currently lives in United Kingdom and holds British Citizenship. He won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.”
Gravel Heart
The Last Gift

Yaa Gyasi a Ghanian-American author
Homegoing
Transcendent Kingdom

Abdelilah Hamdouchi from Morocco
Whitefly

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Somali-born Dutch-American
Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now
Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women's Rights
Infidel
Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations

Jowhor Ile from Nigeria
And After Many Days

Emmanuel Jal South Sudanese-Canadian
War Child: A Child Soldier's Story

William Kamkwamba from Malawi
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Sheila Kohler from South Africa
Once We Were Sisters: A Memoir1320849]
Open Secrets
Becoming Jane Eyre

Yewande Komolafe from Nigeria
Waffles + Mochi: Get Cooking!

Kojo Laing from Ghana
Search Sweet Country

Mandla Langa from South Africa
Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years

Alain Mabanckou from the Republic of the Congo
Black Moses
Broken Glass
The Tears of the Black Man

So when I took my students to the library today, the librarian read to them. I don't know if this would count or not since I didn't actually read it but listened to it. I really liked it.
I am also currently reading a No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book.

I read The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner. That was a tough read, but I'm really glad I did it.

Linda wrote: "So when I took my students to the library today, the librarian read to them. I don't know if this would count or not since I didn't actually read it but listened to it. I..."

What is the difference between this and listening to an audio book? Of course it would count unless the librarian was reading only select pages and not the entire book. And with an audio book, you don't get to see the pictures!

Debbie wrote: "Linda wrote: "So when I took my students to the library today, the librarian read to them. I don't know if this would count or not since I didn't actually read it but lis..."

She did show the pictures so I got to enjoy the whole book. It was really good.

I tried to read The Shadow King. I got halfway through, but it was so graphic in describing the horrible violence and other atrocities that take place as war rages, I could not finish. It was a bad pick on my part.

Linda wrote: "So when I took my students to the library today, the librarian read to them. I don't know if this would count or not since I didn't actually read it but listened to it. I..."

Ooh, yes, that counts! You got to experience the book. That's what matters.

Utah Hornbakers wrote: "I tried to read The Shadow King. I got halfway through, but it was so graphic in describing the horrible violence and other atrocities that take place as war rages, I could not fini..."

Yeah, I have to really pay attention to content in books. I do not care to read about violence, in general. So, I definitely feel that.

For a palette cleanser, I would recommend the picture book Baby Goes to Market. Very adorable, and lots of bright colors and smiling faces.

Baby Goes to Market is brilliant! The perfect antidote to the violent book.

I picked Gingerbread by Nigerian born Helen Oyeyemi. I'm 1/3 of the way in and mostly confused lol

Finished Gingerbread. Still confused.

I finished .
This book was OK. I have enjoyed others that I have read in the series better

DANG! I didn't realize he was an African author! I've been wanting to read books from this series for a long time, but other books end up in front of him. DANG!

I don't know if it counts, but I read Binti: The Complete Trilogy. The author's parents are Nigerian immigrants, and a lot of it takes place in Africa.

Isn't it a wonderful series?!! But she was born in Cincinatti. So ... Elizabeth's call.

Yes, really interesting.

I read My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, a Nigerian author. It was very well written and I will look for more works by this author.

I am reading Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (South Africa).

Mary wrote: "I am reading Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (South Africa)."

That's a funny book!

Mary wrote: "I am reading Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (South Africa)."

That's been on my list to read for a while. I should get to it. :)

Utah Hornbakers wrote: "I tried to read The Shadow King. I got halfway through, but it was so graphic in describing the horrible violence and other atrocities that take place as war rages, I could not fini..."
I was able to complete the challenge by reading Purple Hibiscus. It also contains some difficult subject matter, but I finished and can tick this challenge. The author is from Nigeria and that is also the setting of the story.

What will be our March challenge? February slips by so quickly!

Trivia: Most years the day and number of February and March match. Today is Saturday February 26. March 26 is also a Saturday. The only time this is not true is for leap years. Why? Because February is exactly 4 weeks long. 28 days. Except during leap years when it is 4 weeks and one day. And that one day throws all of it off by 1 day.

I finished. I read Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani who is from Nigeria and Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi also from Nigeria

Debbie wrote: "What will be our March challenge? February slips by so quickly!

Trivia: Most years the day and number of February and March match. Today is Saturday February 26. March 26 is also a Saturday. The ..."

Math for the win!

Greg wrote: "Mary wrote: "I am reading Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (South Africa)."

That's a funny book!"

Yes it is! Informative as well.

I finished Born a Crime by the South African Trevor Noah just in time! I loved it. It was by turns funny, touching, and informative.

I listened to the audiobook, which I would highly recommend. I felt like the author was sitting down and telling me the story of his life rather than just reading a book aloud. The narration was superb. (I think it is only available on Audible, however.)

It does have a fair amount of strong language for those readers who might avoid that.

Just a couple more hours to let me know what you have read! March challenge will be posted tomorrow.

Brittany is our prize-drawing winner for February’s reading challenge for reading The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna.

Congratulations!

Brittany, please send me a message, so I can send you the instructions on how to collect your prize.

Hooray Brittany!