Great African Reads discussion

The Sept/Oct 2025 read will be from Central Africa (as defined by the UN geoscheme)
Nominate great reads from any of these countries:
Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe.

Try to keep nominations to one pr. person - and you're welcome to second someone else's nomination.

Our last choices from this region are not eligible in this round:
(the Nov/Dec 2024 group read)
The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso
African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou
Transparent City by Ondjaki
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue.
Your Madness, Not Mine: Stories of Cameroon by Makuchi
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild
The Book of Chameleons by José Eduardo Agualusa
La Bastarda: A Novel by Trifonia Melibea Obono
Awu's Story: A Novel by Justine Mintsa
Co-wives, Co-widows by Adrienne Yabouza
(but the threads are open if you want to read and discuss those titles)

Authors! Please note : We have decided to not allow self-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!

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Walk With Me: The Story of a Girl in Congo

Newly published memoir by a Congolese woman, about growing up with a physical disability in the DRC. Honest, authentic, and very interesting.

Joseph wrote: "Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad"
-> Joseph nominating Joseph has a beautiful ring to it :D
Thank you for the nomination

I shall try again my nomination from last time for this region because I own a copy that is waiting to be read still :)

Houseboy from Cameroon by Ferdinand Oyono

It is from 1956 and his books are originally written in French. This one is novella length. For me it was very affordable as a used book via a European Amazon- either UK or German Amazon- I don't remember which... I'm trying to entice with its accessibility, haha... ;)

Personally, I have yet to read an author from any of these countries and I have yet to read a story from Cameroon...

I second Heart of Darkness. it's been on my to read list for ages!

I would like to nominate La Saison des prunes (2013) (When the plums are ripe by Patrice Nganang (translated to English by Amy Reid 2019.) While I want to read the first in this historical series, this 2nd novel seems more accessible from the reviews I looked at.

The novel follows four men and tells the story of Cameroon's forced entry into World War II, and in the process complicates our own understanding of that globe-spanning conflict. After the fall of France in 1940, Cameroon found itself caught between Vichy and the Free French at a time when growing nationalism advised allegiance to neither regime, and was ultimately dragged into fighting throughout North Africa on behalf of the Allies.

I'll second When the Plums Are Ripe by Patrice Nganang

Thank you all for the nominations - I'll put up a vote shortly!

Here's the vote now:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...

I've read one book by a Camaroonian before: Behold the Dreamers by Mbue, Imbolo. Two by Angolans: The Return/O Retorno by Cardoso, Dulce Maria (Portugal, Angola) & Transparent City by Ondjaki. One from Dem Rep Congo: Tram 83 by Mujila, Fiston Mwanza. None from the other countries of this region. It's thanks to this group I have read those- few Americans, even those who read books, have read any.