Great African Reads discussion

Hello everyone!

I can't believe this year is just about over. We'd like to hear your feedback about this year and solicit ideas for things you'd like to see here next year.

I'm happy to go first.

I think we were a little ambitious in the number of projects we tried to run and have not been wholly successful, so i'm in favor of scaling things back just a bit.

As for projects next year, we will definitely continue the Tour.

I would also like to do another Big Read and i would suggest A History of the African People
Here is a description: The fifth edition of Robert July's critically acclaimed work continues the tradition of excellence established in previous editions, providing a comprehensive history that both illuminates and clarifies events past and present. A History of the African People, 5/E surveys Africa's history from its earliest beginnings to the present day, exploring themes that cut across time and place to furnish their own unity and consistency: the migrations of peoples, the power of religion, the enduring impact of Africa's climate, and Africa's relationship with the wider world--that is, the invasion of foreign peoples, ideas, and institutions that has been a pervasive influence in shaping African political, economic, and social life. This volume addresses the role of Africa's women in Africa's history, includes additional sections on slavery and the slave trade, and discusses the persistent difficulties of African societies to gain the economic and social advantages hoped for from independence. July examines Africa's peoples and its cultures with a authority that has made this book the standard in the field and an indispensable guide to understanding the complexity of the African struggle for nationhood.

Another idea that has come up in the discussion threads and which I like and support, is to feature Nigeria for the entire year. There is simply SO MUCH literature that comes out of Nigeria...so my question there is, how you think such a project should be organized? should we do something chronological? should we alternate fiction and non-fiction? should we explore regions and/or specific moments in history?

Let's hear your thoughts!

I think featuring Nigeria is a great idea - I'm a huge fan - but could prove to be difficult for some, especially those who are new to Africa and aspire to have a broader taster fiction-wise. Alternatively we could feature a region, ie. East Africa, South Africa, North, South or Central. Discussions from a socio-economic and political points of view are increasingly regional, with migrations into and out of regionally bordering countries becoming the norm. Fiction is bound to be influenced by this. However, I'm up for a whole year of Nigeria. So much to discover. I'd love to see more discussions with authors like we had for Mama Namibia. I know it's hard to get authors to engage but there are some on Goodreads (see Tim Butcher for example on the Congo) that are very active on here. Lastly, I missed the big read and I'm definitely not going to miss out next year!

LOL - Yes, we did get a little ambitious. They were all such wonderful ideas and I know that I bit off more than I could chew and certainly got behind.

I so love the tour as I am learning so much. One of my fav reads for the year is Mama Namibia. I book I would not have if not for the tour.

I would be open to a big read. I would to see a table of contents on the book before I committed to reading/participating, if possible.

As for featuring Nigeria for a whole year and how to organize it does open up questions. :)
I would if there are sample curriculum to help decide the best way :) But however we do I would probably like to start with an overview to help anchor me such as A History of Nigeria by Toyin Falola.

Laura, I definitely see your point about featuring a region rather than a country. I think we may do something more like that after the Tour is over. Unfortunately I cannot get to the book we use as a guide for the Tour countries each year. I will have to ask my husband to get it for me when he gets home. I think we are actually nearing the end of the Tour.

As for author participation, we do have a number of members here who are authors and I do try to include them whenever one of their books have been chosen. I agree it's always a great way to really dig into the books. We have at least one Nigerian author among us, and I will definitely check with her about her schedule because I have her book and am excited to read it: Daughters Who Walk This Path

Beverly wrote: "LOL - Yes, we did get a little ambitious. They were all such wonderful ideas and I know that I bit off more than I could chew and certainly got behind."

Ha! Thanks for understanding! It was ambitious even for an uneventful year for me, but my life got seriously upended with lots of surprises this year which totally disrupted my reading. Lol.

Anyway, unfortunately I have a copy of the July book in my office, but i can't access it right now. Also, I don't think it's the newest edition. I will probably get my own copy though, and then can share the ToC and other information to help us decide.

Starting the year of Nigeria with an overview is a really good idea. We could perhaps pair the Falola book with Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria, which is a lovely memoir and travelogue that touches on many parts of Nigeria and reflects quite a bit on Nigeria's history. But it would be a less demanding read and more personal.

Marieke wrote: "Beverly wrote: "LOL - Yes, we did get a little ambitious. They were all such wonderful ideas and I know that I bit off more than I could chew and certainly got behind."

Ha! Thanks for understandin..."

I loved Looking for Transwonderland!!!

I did too! If we get into the Niger Delta stuff, which we must, we will be reading some her father's writings, which would make this book great to look back on.

Over the weekend I will try drawing up some ideas about how to approach a Nigeria project :)

As a member who has been fully immersed in Africa every day for over 44 years, I have a hard time keeping up with the great work you are doing. By the time, I get off work, deal with family issues and move my own book-writing along there is little time left over to read all the wonderful books you suggest.

I agree that the wealth of high quality literature coming out of Nigeria merits special attention. Statistically, every fifth African is a Nigerian, so maybe that should guide how many Nigerian books are selected. My best to all.

I have to admit that I am rarely reading whatever is being currently discussed, but I still enjoy looking at comments, and I do end up reading quite a few of the books that have featured in this group. That probably won't change next year - unfortunately! Re having more to read/discuss on Nigeria: I would certainly second this. I suspect that another country which might also pose a similar challenge is South Africa.

Yes, indeed, Nina! I think if we have success featuring a country for a year, other future features could include South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya. Those are the countries that spring to mind at the moment for me.

Just popping in to admit defeat in my role as moderator for the African Authors project-- I plunged into a job in the humanitarian response in CAR, and was left without the energy (electrical and intellectual!) to keep up or to read much besides braincandy fantasy novels with dragons. Best continuation and dedication to you all! I'll join you and catch up to the tour when I'm back somewhere quieter in a few months or years!

I'm a newcomer to the group but I've learned so much and am hoping to keep touring with you all. I love the idea of a special focus on Nigeria--and YES!--the Niger delta. I was totally fascinated with it when I got to that part in our Big Read.

Speaking of which, Marieke, I'm so glad that you and Carolien got me to read Africa: A Biography of the Continent. Even though I've technically finished it, don't want to let it go back to the library.

Possible 'big reads'

Has everyone except me read The Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912?

Other books that are coming up on my Google searches:

Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles Some good review of Altered States: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Africa-Altere...

Also The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence although it sounds seriously depressing.

Hana, those are great suggestions. I have not read any of them. When we were first discussing the Big Read, I was thinking it made sense for the July book to come next followed by Meredith's but maybe it makes more sense to have a poll. It would be great to have more participants but I'm glad the few of us who did this/are doing it this year participated regularly and created such great conversations (and we aren't done yet!)

I'm still with you on this year's Big Read!

Hana, I'm very glad! I'm still behind but catching up :)

Next year's Tour stops are São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and South Africa.

Clearly, 2015 is brought to us by the letter S!

Here's to a Splendid year! :)

Ha! We should include that in our group description for 2015. :)

I'll be setting up polls for next year soon. I won't be able to do much that first week of January and so I'll try to have everything set up and ready by the very end of December so people can dive right in. I'll be back later this morning with more info on that when I'm on a real computer and not using the app.

Tinea wrote: "Just popping in to admit defeat in my role as moderator for the African Authors project-- I plunged into a job in the humanitarian response in CAR, and was left without the energy (electrical and i..."

Tinea, i'm just glad you are safe and have access to fantasy novels! very important to have such balance... :)

Okay....so far the projects we have for next year are to continue the Tour (all the countries start with S!), have another Big Read, and feature Nigeria. I am imagining Nigeria being a mixture of non-fiction but hopefully mostly contemporary/modern fiction and highly readable memoirs by Nigerians.

Tinea, did you want to leave your project open for next year? I will DM you.

I don't have a good idea for contemporary literature; that was one of our failures this year. Does anyone have good ideas for how to do that without it being too demanding?

The first poll I will set up for preparation is for choosing the Big Read.
And shortly I'll open a thread to take suggestions for Sao Tome and Principe (i am imagining this one might be difficult to find books for).

In the meantime, don't forget about our concurrent Tour stops: Nigeria and Rwanda!

Hana wrote: "Possible 'big reads'

Has everyone except me read The Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912?

Other books that are coming up on my Goo..."

I have read The Fate of Africa and for me it was very informative and well-done. It helped me to understand the bigger picture of events in Africa. When reading other books that were more specific to a region/country having this as a "reference" book worked well for me. It also helped point in other directions that I wanted to explore more deeply.

Marieke wrote: "Next year's Tour stops are São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and South Africa.

Clearly, 2015 is brought to us by the letter S!"

Great - looking forward to visiting the S countries!

Marieke wrote: "Okay....so far the projects we have for next year are to continue the Tour (all the countries start with S!), have another Big Read, and feature Nigeria. I am imagining Nigeria being a mixture of n..."

I am usually pretty good at reading contemporary literature by African writers - mostly because I am "new release junkie" and also like reading debut works. This year I fell behind because of other projects.

I hope to read Africa39: New Writing from Africa south of the Sahara by the end of year (keeping fingers crossed) to see which new writers have upcoming novels I want to watch out for.

As I live in the US - an increasing number of the new writers that I get to read their books have read are not necessarily entirely centered in Africa.

I recently read The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami. I have enjoyed the author's other books and while this current book is briefly set in Morocco, it primarily takes place in 1500s North America.

And there is Irene Sabatininew book that is not yet available in the US.

So I also think at times because of members in all parts of the world - some contemporary books are not easily accessible to all.

I believe Marieke mentioned "Emma's War" by Deborah Scroggins. This 2004 book occupies a special place on my book shelf here in Ouagadougou. I've cherished my copy of this non-fiction book about Emma McCune since I bought it at a book store in Yaya Center in Nairobi in 2005 while I was working on an assistance strategy for southern Sudan. A very thought provoking book and still timely as the former husband of Emma, who died in late 1993 at the age of 29 when her car crashed into Matatu mini-bus in Nairobi, continues to lead his Nuer people in the conflict in South Sudan.

Mark indeed. im reading this book now and Im finding it gripping!

Marieke wrote: "Beverly wrote: "LOL - Yes, we did get a little ambitious. They were all such wonderful ideas and I know that I bit off more than I could chew and certainly got behind."

Ha! Thanks for understandin..."

Just purchased Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa.

I have mostly been a lurker this year - I read a lot of Nigerian books - both settings and Nigerian authors - I would certainly be in favour of a year long visit with the country. I am learning about lots of other countries too - so happy the tour is continuing. Again I can't get every book - and sometimes I get after the discussion is over but I am still here :)

Sally906, please always feel free to revive a discussion of you end up reading a book "late"
We are pretty casual around here and keep threads open for that reason. :)

I am a bit confused. I was under the impression that suggestions should be limited to works by African authors, but I noticed some suggestions for non-fiction which are by scholars outside of Africa.
So, risking a reprimand, I would like to say that
although not new, just about anything by Basil Davidson, the British historian, is well worth reading.
I also liked The Forest People, by Colin Turnbull

N., we read books by non-African writers, except when we are focused on contemporary literature, in which case we only take suggestions for books written by African authors (who may live outside the continent).
I do try to remind everyone of such rules and restrictions when I open suggestion threads for group projects. I'm sorry it seems confusing!

okay, guys! i'm finally finding some brain space to start getting things pulled together for 2015. First up: posting a poll for our Big Read selection. I'll be back with a link and will start sending out the invites as soon as it is created.

Here is the poll for the Big Read: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Links to the poll books:

A History of the African People
The Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912
Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles
The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence

Liralen wrote: "Links to the poll books:

A History of the African People
The Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912
[book:Africa: Altered..."

Thanks, Liralen!

For our Nigeria project, we will start with A History of Nigeria and Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria but i am still thinking about how to organize the year. I'll open a folder and threads for this project so we can start seriously considering how to approach it.

and here is the link to a general discussion thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Those Nigeria reads book look excellent, Marieke. Count me in.

Hana wrote: "Those Nigeria reads book look excellent, Marieke. Count me in."

yay! i'm getting excited for 2015!

Last project that needs some planning (that i can think of) is contemporary literature. In another thread we made a rather informal and impromptu decision to use two sets of lists to guide our contemporary reads in 2015. Would you all like to do this as a "challenge" and everyone just reads freely? or should we poll for official selections, perhaps alternating between men and women writers?

Check out these lists:
50 Books By African Men Everyone Should Read, Part 1.

50 Books By African Men Everyone Should Read, Part 2.

50 Books By African Women Everyone Should Read", Part 1.

50 Books By African Women Everyone Should Read", Part 2.

Marieke wrote: "Liralen wrote: "Links to the poll books:

A History of the African People
The Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912
[book..."

Thanks for the links!
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

Definitely looking forward to reading Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria. It's been on my TBR shelf for a while, I am ashamed to say.

I voted for Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles since it has a bit of a finance-economics spin and that's my area of expertise, but I'm on for any of the choices. I'm particularly looking forward to Transwonderland, too, Nina!

I read Looking for Transwonderland and thoroughly enjoyed it. It has been 47 years since I lived in Nigeria and was amazed at the changes the author described in the cities I knew. I highly recommend the book.

Marieke wrote: "Last project that needs some planning (that i can think of) is contemporary literature. In another thread we made a rather informal and impromptu decision to use two sets of lists to guide our cont..."

Those lists sound so interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Am on Transwonderland! Awesome writer, really enjoying it

Yes she is a fine writer.

I'm so glad!

I'll finish getting new 2015 threads set up today and send out a message with links to everything. I'll be somewhat absent for a few days but I hope everyone will have a great slide into the new year and lots of reading fun! :)

Does anyone know how to make the old challenges from last year go away from our home page? I thought the end date would automatically disappear them, but nope. And now i can't find a way to edit them. They also say "great work! you're on track" which is total hogwash in my case lol.