Great African Reads discussion

This is the first time I have taken part in this challenge and I am really looking forward to it. I have quite a few books sitting on my shelf waiting to be read so this is a good way to try and get through them. Thought I'd better get my list in before the New Year!

1. Tsotsi by Athol Fugard
2. An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah
3. The Zanzibar Chest: A Memoir of Love and War by Aidan Hartley
4. The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Quest by Aminatta Forna
5. Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste
6. The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma- number didn't get called but read anyway
7. My Traitor's Heart by Rian Malan
8. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin
9. Down Second Avenue by Es'kia Mphahlele
10. Minaret by Leila Aboulela
11. The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper
12. The Impostor by Damon Galgut
13. Unbowed: My Autobiography by Wangari Maathai
14. Do They Hear You When You Cry by Fauziya Kassindja
15. Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
16. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
17. I Do Not Come To You By Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
18. A Beautiful Place To Die by Malla Nunn
19. The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
20. We Need New Names by No Violet Bulawayo
21. Soweto Stories by Miriam Tlali
22. Country Of My Skull by Antjie Krog
23. Happiness, Like Water: Stories by Chinelo Okparanta
24. Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Boyhood by Nega Mezlekia

You have some excellent books on the list! Country of my Skull is heart wrenching. I have The House at Sugar Beach, Unbowed and Down Second Avenue in my challenge as well. The Zanzibar Chest and A Beautiful Place to Die are on a shelf, I'd love to hear your opinion.

Carolien wrote: "You have some excellent books on the list! Country of my Skull is heart wrenching. I have The House at Sugar Beach, Unbowed and Down Second Avenue in my challenge as well. The Zanzibar Chest and A ..."

I also think you have a great list and actually added some of the ones I hadn't heard of to my TBR pile just the other day (Swallow and Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun). There are a few on your list that I haven't included as they will form part of other challenges that I intend taking part in (e.g. The Mourning Bird for the Random African Travels Challenge) and I have some on order but didn't include them in case their number gets chosen before they arrive (e.g. The Girl with the Louding Voice and Kintu). Given the TBR takedown is a bit of potluck (as some titles won't get chosen this year) I have also avoided putting a couple of books that I really want to read in 2021 in this challenge so I can read them at my own leisure (e.g. Half of a Yellow Sun). My reading hopes for this year may be overly ambitious but I can only try!

Jo wrote: "Carolien wrote: "You have some excellent books on the list! Country of my Skull is heart wrenching. I have The House at Sugar Beach, Unbowed and Down Second Avenue in my challenge as well. The Zanz..."

I've didn't add Half of a Yellow Sun to my list, because I want to read it in 2021. I'm reading Kintu for the group read which is why it made it on the list at 21. We can only try and we'll end up with more books read than not read at the end of the year.

Recently finished my # 21: Soweto Stories by Miriam Tlali. My brief review here.

I only managed to read 5 books from my list in 2021 (and I cheated because one of the numbers wasn't even called...). I really enjoy this challenge but unfortunately didn't get a chance to read as many books from this list as I would have liked this year. Looking forward to choosing my list for 2022 and hopefully I can do a lot better!