Great African Reads discussion

We are closing out 2014 with a tour stop in tiny but beautiful Rwanda. Let's hear your recommendations and I will post a poll in two weeks so that we will know our official selection by November.

I can start us off--several years ago I read Murambi, The Book of Bones, an amazing novel about the Rwanda genocide but written by a Senegalese author.

I recommend The Past Ahead: A Novel by Rwandan author Gilbert Gatore. Very powerful story.

Shake Hans with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire

Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga

For her most recent work and first novel - "Notre-Dame du Nil," originally published in March 2012 with Gallimard in French - Mukasonga immerses us in a school for young girls, called "Notre-Dame du Nil." The girls are sent to this high school perched on the ridge of the Nile in order to become the feminine elite of the country and to escape the dangers of the outside world. The book is a prelude to the Rwandan genocide and unfolds behind the closed doors of the school, in the interminable rainy season. Friendships, desires, hatred, political fights, incitation to racial violence, persecutions... The school soon becomes a fascinating existential microcosm of the true 1970s Rwanda.

more from me:

Gorillas in the Mist by Diane Fossey
Land of a Thousand Hills, My Life in Rwanda by Rosamund Halsey Carr
Running the Rift by Naomi Bennaron

Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin

Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story ... and Why It Matters Today by Edouard Kayihura

Two more options....

I'm so glad to see suggestions coming in! :)

another suggestion is Miracle in Kigali by Illuine Nganemariya

I would like to nominate a non-fiction book Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda by Rosamond Halsey Carr

Please keep suggestions coming for a few more days while I work on getting Nigeria squared away! :)

Hi do we have a contender for Rwanda? Im.currently reading Africa by Reader, a huge piece of work and loving it but could do with some novel reading in parallel!

This seems like a good book: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
by Philip Gourevitch

Hi! I will check to see what we have collected here and make a poll today! I apologize...I was in the hospital and now I'm on bed rest. Me and baby are fine, it's "just" a complication but the silver lining is, I can get caught up on goodreads stuff! :D

Kiki, that is a book I have meant to read for quite some time now. :)

Glad to hear you and your baby are doing well. Take care of yourself.

Thank you Catherine! I am trying to make the best of it. :)

Marieke wrote: "Hi! I will check to see what we have collected here and make a poll today! I apologize...I was in the hospital and now I'm on bed rest. Me and baby are fine, it's "just" a complication but the silv..."

No apology necessary. Glad to hear you and baby are doing okay. Do take care of yourself!

wow, most of these are non-fiction! that's unusual, i think. i will make the fiction poll right now.

So here is the fiction poll!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Marieke congratulations! my apologies.

Kiki wrote: "This seems like a good book: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
by Philip Gourevitch"

I have a copy of this one and want to read it sometime.

Our fiction selection is officially Notre-Dame du Nil and it looks really good!
Don't forget I am happy to have threads for side-reads if you are not interested in this book OR if you want to read extra books for Rwanda. :D

From the random list generator, the five books for the non-fiction poll are

Miracle In Kigali
Gorillas in the Mist
Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story ... and Why It Matters Today
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families

and here you can vote:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

I 'll be reading the Past Ahead as I cannot find Our Lady of the Nile on e-format. If there is anyone else please shout as I'd love to discuss. Thanks Marieke for all the new threads.

I found Our Lady of the Nile on Amazon
http://smile.amazon.com/Our-Lady-Nile-Scholastique-Mukasonga-ebook/dp/B00J1HDAOQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1416338809&sr=1-1&keywords=our+lady+of+the+nile

Kiki wrote: "I found Our Lady of the Nile on Amazon
http://smile.amazon.com/Our-Lady-Nile...+..."

I did too, Kiki!

The non-fiction selection is officially We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families. But don't forget that if this doesn't work for you, side-reads are encouraged!

Marieke wrote: "Kiki wrote: "I found Our Lady of the Nile on Amazon
http://smile.amazon.com/Our-Lady-Nile......"

I will be picking up a copy this weekend from my library. :)