Great African Reads discussion

Marieke wrote: "A friend asked me today to name my five most favorite books about Africa...so i thought i should ask all of you!
Anyone who wants can have their own thread and we can all discuss. :)"

Hmm. If the criterion is that they are *about* Africa, and not *by* African writers, then my number one choice is unquestionably The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. After that:

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
The Shackled Continent by Robert Guest.
Mukiwa by Peter Godwin
Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux.

It's curious (to me) that most of my favorite books about Africa are non-fiction, when, generally, I prefer fiction.

This is an interesting mix because you have a number of non-fiction as well as fiction books. Personally, I like well-written travel lit. and really liked Dark Star Safari. He's got an interesting new novel out, "The Lower River" which you might find interesting.

Thanks, Andrea! I added Theroux's new one to my TBR list recently, but it's good to have a recommendation from a real person. :)

Katy, if I ever get around to making my own list it will definitely have Cry, the Beloved Country. Great book. I prefer Alexandra Fuller's writing over Peter Goodwin's. Have you tried her bookDon't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight? I like all of her books, every darn one.

Chrissie wrote: "Katy, if I ever get around to making my own list it will definitely have Cry, the Beloved Country. Great book. I prefer Alexandra Fuller's writing over Peter Goodwin's. Have you tried her bookDon't..."

I didn't *dislike* Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, but I didn't like it as well as others seem to, and I didn't like it as well as her other books. The one thing that irritated me about it was that at times, she seemed to be writing in the voice of her 6 or 8 or 10 year old self. I'd rather have heard her adult impressions of those things that happened when she was younger.

And sometimes, Peter Godwin gets on my nerves, too. While reading When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, I thought, "Well, he's mighty full of himself, isn't he?" But for the most part I like his writing and think he's probably a pretty fair and accurate reporter of the crap that's going on in Zim for the last 12 years.

OK, if you dislike her occasional "childish" voice, have you read Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness or Scribbling The Cat? You might prefer them.

Chrissie wrote: "OK, if you dislike her occasional "childish" voice, have you read Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness or Scribbling The Cat? You might prefer them."

I really liked Scribbling the Cat, even though it could be pretty grim in places. I haven't yet read Cocktail Hour, but I intend to. Thanks for the thumbs up!

Cocktail Hour is very, very good. The only one I haven't read, which isn't about Africa BTW, is The Legend of Colton H. Bryant. I have to get it on Kindle. I am determined to read anything this author writes. This is very unusual for me.