2016 Reading Wrap-Up: Africa2016

I have been working on a project to read a book from every country for several years now. For 2016, I turned my focus to Africa and made quite a bit of progress, although there are still some holes in that map. In the image, the orange represents countries I had read books from years previous to 2016, the green represents countries I read for the first time in 2016, and the orange with green stripes indicates countries where although I had previously read books from those countries, I read additional books this year. The full list of 37 titles from 2016 is below, and I'd be happy to send a link of my full list to anyone who requests it. Links with the year in parentheses will take you to my review in Goodreads while title links will take you to Amazon.

There are a few countries I still need ideas for - Benin, Gabon, and Niger. Any ideas?

My top reads from Africa for this year would be:

1. The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane
2. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
3. Cockroaches by Scholastique Mukasonga
4. Walking with Abel: Journeys with the Nomads of the African Savannah by Anna Badkhen
5. New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Set (tatu) edited by Kwame Dawes

I'm particularly proud of this year's list because it has more female authors than male, and more native authors than non-native. An increase in translated literature by small presses has really helped, and I can't wait to see what they bring us in 2017.

Algeria
The Stranger by Albert Camus (read 2011 and 2016)
The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud (read 2016)

Angola
A General Theory of Oblivion by Jose Eduardo Agualusa (read 2016)
The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa (October 2016)

Cabo Verde (Cape Verde)
Historia, Historia by Eleanor Stanford (read 2016)

Cameroon
Mystique: A Collection of Lake Myths by Beatrice Bime (read 2016)

Democratic Republic of the Congo & Republic of the Congo
Broken Glass by Alain Mabanckou (read December 2016)

Egypt
The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz (read 2016)

Ghana
Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey (read 2016)
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (read 2016)

Kenya
The Book of Secrets by M.G. Vassanji (read 2016)

Mali
Walking with Abel by Anna Badkhen (read 2016)
The Cruelest Journey by Kira Salak (read 2016)
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer (read 2016)

Mozambique
The First Wife by Pauline Chiziane (read 2016)

Nigeria
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (read 2016)
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi (read 2016)
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (read 2016)

Rwanda
Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga (read 2016)
Cockroaches by Scholastique Mukasonga (read 2016)

Senegal
Xala by Ousmane Sembene (read 2016)

Sierra Leone
Ancestor Stones by Aminatta Forna (read December 2016)

South Sudan
Beyond the River Wei by Binyavonga Wainanga (read 2016)
There is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan by various (read 2016)

Sudan
The January Children by January Elhillo (read December 2016)
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (read 2016)

Swaziland
When Hoopoes Go To Heaven by Gaile Parkin (read 2016)

Tanzania
Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar by Emily Ruete (read December 2016)

Uganda
Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji (read 2016)
All our Names by Dinaw Mengestu (read 2016)
The Gravity of Sunlight by Rosa Shand (read 2016)
Thirty Girls by Susan Minot (read 2016)

Zimbabwe
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller (read July 2016)

Multi
New-Generation African Poets (tatu) ed. By Kwame Dawes (read April 2016)
New-Generation African Poets (nne) ed. By Kwame Dawes (read December 2016)
Passages: Africa (PEN America) (read December 2016)
Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa edited by Nick Mulgrew (read November 2016)