Great African Reads discussion

Our Sept/Oct read of 2019 will be from Western Africa (as defined by the UN geoscheme)

While Nigeria is probably the literary superpower in this area, there are plenty of contries to choose from:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Senegal, Sierra Leone & Togo.

Try to keep nominations to one pr. person - and you're welcome to second someone else's nomintion.
- depending on the votes we will be reading two of the group choices in Sept/Oct 2019.

Our last choices from this region are not eligible in this round:
So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah
(but threads are open if you want to read and discuss those titles).

Authors! Please note: We have decided to not allow selv-nomination - but if you are an author and would like to promote your book, please feel free to do so in this folder. Thank you for your understanding!

I would like to nominate Mariama Barry The Little Peul from Guinea.

Hope's Wristwatch by Tony Marinho, poems and stories from a Nigerian columnist

Orgeluse wrote: "I would like to nominate Mariama Barry The Little Peul from Guinea."

Thank you both - I haven't heard of any of those titles, but they both look interesting!

I'll nominate The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna. It's no 6 in the Listopia “50 books by African women...” and won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize.
Forna was born in Scotland, raised partly in Sierra Leone & lives there parttime.
I see that this group chose another of her books, Ancestor Stones, seven years ago.

I noticed a typo error you might want to correct or eliminate here Anetq. While you said at the top of the note;
Anetq wrote: "Our Sept/Oct read of 2019 will be from Western Africa ...",
farther down it says " ...will be reading two of the group choices in Nov/Dec 2018" (instead of Sep/Oct 2019).

I suggest book from Nigeria Tiny Sunbirds far away by Christie Watson

I would like to nominate On Black Sisters Street by Nigerian author Chika Unigwe.

I would like to nominate Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes from Ghana.

Maybe most have read it already, but I have not and would love to do so with others:
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

George wrote: "I noticed a typo error you might want to correct or eliminate here Anetq. While you said at the top of the note;
Anetq wrote: "Our Sept/Oct read of 2019 will be from Western Africa ...",
farther do..."

Thanks for letting med know George :) The curse of the quick copy/paste!

And thank you all for the nominations, keep 'em coming and feel free to nominate for the next months as well if you havn't already :)

Jessica, I considered nominating Things fall apart also, and nearly did. I want to read it in the next 12 months.

George wrote: "Jessica, I considered nominating Things fall apart also, and nearly did. I want to read it in the next 12 months."

I second this! I read it in high school and would love to re-read it with older eyes.

Thank you all for the great nominations - the poll is now ready - I've left us a little longer to vote this time, as summer is upon the northern hemisphere and many are 'away from keyboard' these days, so voting is open until the 14th - tell a friend :)
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Hello everyone. I am new on this discussion group, and I am glad to be here. I am mad about a new Nigerian author, Chinyere Obinna Onwuchekwa. Her book has made it to the number one ranking on Amazon under Nigerian novels. Her book, Dictates of the Heart is an amazing and unforgettable read. I nominate Dictates of the Heart by Chinyere Obinna Onwuchekwa.

Fancyreader wrote: "Hello everyone. I am new on this discussion group, and I am glad to be here. I am mad about a new Nigerian author, Chinyere Obinna Onwuchekwa. Her book has made it to the number one ranking on Amaz..."

Thank you for your suggestion. Unfortunately nominations are closed by now. You can always nominate for new group reads for this region next year! I share the Goodreads-link to the book for people interested: Dictates of the Heart by Chinyere Obinna Onwuchekwa.