Great African Reads discussion

It's time again (I'm trying to be organised for a change! ;) ) to post your suggestions for our next Tour d'Afrique stopover. In May and June, we'll be stopping over in Mali. Here are some ideas to get us going...

"Heart of the Ngoni" by Harold Courlander
"Segu" by Maryse Condé
"In Griot Time" by Banning Eyre
"Sundiata an Epic of Old Mali" by D.T Niane
"Bound to Violence" by Yambo Ouologuem
"Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred Miles To Timbuktu" by Kira Salak
"The Unveiling of Timbuctoo" by Galbraith Welch

Post your ideas (by the end of February would be great)!

Kris Holloway: Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali

The Epic of Askia Mohammed by Nouhou Malio
Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine A. Dettwyler

I highly recommend Dancing Skeletons and Segu. If the group chose Segu, the epic multigenerational novel about Mali's colonial history, I'd welcome the chance to pursue The Children of Segu.

Thanks for your suggestions so far, they all look pretty interesting! :)

Millicent, is 'The children of Segu' kind of a sequel to 'Segu'?

Yes, exactly!

I would also recommend Amadou Hampate Ba. His Amkoullel child book is difficult to get in English but my Mali 'brother' also recommends L'etrange destin de Wangrin, in English The Fortunes of Wangrin

Though it's quite academic, Women Farmers In Africa: Rural Development In Mali And The Sahel is a wonderful, short book about gendered divisions of labor in Mali and the gendered impacts that French colonizers had on men's and women's agriculture in Mali, with longterm consequences on food security.

Any other ideas for the Mali stopover? I'll set up a poll shortly.

i think we have a good selection here...

The poll for selecting our Mali book is now up! Open for the next two weeks.

Muphyn wrote: "The poll for selecting our Mali book is now up! Open for the next two weeks."

yay! i'm so excited. i'm just sad that now that we have finally gotten to Mali, there's a war on. :(

Marieke wrote: "yay! i'm so excited. i'm just sad that now that we have finally gotten to Mali, there's a war on. :("

Yes, that is horrid. :( :(

Voting closes in three days (Sun, 24 March)!

not to be missed: Ahmadou Hamapte Ba's Amkoullel, a Fula child. Describes the childhood of the writer and takes you around mali's history. It's the first part of two (second being Yes, my commander). One of the best African books that I've ever read....

David wrote: "not to be missed: Ahmadou Hamapte Ba's Amkoullel, a Fula child. Describes the childhood of the writer and takes you around mali's history. It's the first part of two (second being Yes, my commander..."


Totally agree, David. It didn't make it to the poll, but it is one of those classics that anybody interested in Mali should add to their reading list.

Thanks, David.

I tried to link to the book here but seems that it's not yet in the Goodreads database (at least I couldn't find it). I might add the book at a later stage.

Muphyn wrote: "Thanks, David.

I tried to link to the book here but seems that it's not yet in the Goodreads database (at least I couldn't find it). I might add the book at a later stage."


Muphyn, I think the book goes under two different titles in English... the French is Amkoullel, l'enfant Peul

i think that is correct, it is in my personal list, and I read it in dutch in november 2011. maybe it is difficult to get it in english?

Friederike wrote: "Muphyn, I think the book goes under two different titles in English... the French is Amkoullel, l'enfant Peul..."

Uh, right! :) I was in a hurry and only searched for the book title and the author's first name (silly, really :) ). Thanks, Friederike!

And the winner for our Mali stopover is Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali!

Happy reading!

Muphyn wrote: "And the winner for our Mali stopover is Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali!

Happy reading!"

I have just ordered it :)

Sally906 wrote: "Muphyn wrote: "And the winner for our Mali stopover is Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali!

Happy reading!"

I have just ordered it :)"

Great!!

I still haven't even looked around my local libraries to see if they've got a copy... must get onto that asap.

Muphyn wrote: "And the winner for our Mali stopover is Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali!

Happy reading!"

YAY! I ordered that for my library, and it is in now!

Katy wrote: "Muphyn wrote: "And the winner for our Mali stopover is Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali!

Happy reading!"

YAY! I ordered that for my library, and it is in now!"

Cool!! Happy reading! :)

I'm pretty excited about this, too. i haven't checked library holdings just yet, but it shouldn't be hard for me to get.

Just started this one last night - really like it so far. :)

I can't get hold of a copy AGAIN! :( I really need to plan more ahead here... :/

I had a copy but it was recalled by the library before I got to read it!

Tinea wrote: "I had a copy but it was recalled by the library before I got to read it!"

Oh no! :( Hopefully you can borrow it again, good thing that we've got two months for this book. :)

I just managed to find a cheap copy - YAY! :) - but it's coming from the UK so will probably take a few weeks until it gets here.

Got it--Monique and the Mango Rains. Glad to rejoin the tour. I lost track of the caravan in Madagascar.

I just finished reading Monique and the Mango Rains and it was so good. Can't wait to discuss it. I would have never have picked up a book like this and I didn't think it would be interesting, but I learned a lot about the country of Mali.

Glad to hear you're joining us Sharon and Addy for the Mali stopover, I'll set up a discussion thread in a moment!

I'm still waiting for my copy, got an email yesterday saying that it'll arrive betwee May 22-29 (when I'm away on holidays... so probably won't get a chance to read it before early June :( ).

After reading Monique and the Mango Rains, I wonder what you all think about Peace Corps memoirs. Have you ever seen the Peace Corps book site? http://peacecorpsworldwide.org/experi... ? Monique and the Mango Rains is on the list as is another old favorite of mine, Nine Hills of Nambonkaha about a Peace Corps volunteer experience in Cote D'Ivoire.

I always prefer words, stories and thoughts of real Africans, but I must admit that I am a sucker for Peace Corps stories. On the negative side, the authors always throw in the scorpion, viper, crocodile, army ant tales that scare the pants off potential visitors. Hmmmm. I've also innuendo from some African people accusing Peace Corps workers of sharing information about local leaders, aka spying.

Just wondering what you guys thing of the genre in general.

I probably shouldn't respond since I am *totally* biased. Because I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa (Zimbabwe)! And so I love (mostly) the Peace Corps memoir genre. There are often bits and pieces that resonate with me. Even from authors who didn't serve in Africa.

PCVs are always getting accused of being spies, either for the local government or for the US government. I suppose it's possible, but I've met a lot of returned volunteers, and I've never met any who I thought, "Hm. I wonder if that guy (or gal) was a spy?" :)

Sharon wrote: "After reading Monique and the Mango Rains, I wonder what you all think about Peace Corps memoirs. Have you ever seen the Peace Corps book site? http://peacecorpsworldwide.org/experi... ? M..."

Thank you for this link, Sharon! Just added several to my TBR list.:-)

I know we've discussed it a lot here, but would it be possible to add a thread on the Tour D'Afrique section? Thanks!

Tinea wrote: "I know we've discussed it a lot here, but would it be possible to add a thread on the Tour D'Afrique section? Thanks!"

Yes! apologies!

Everyone, please continue discussing over here