What do you know about Africa?
“Take the map of Africa, place Europe and America together and there's still room left. Why be a sunflower and turn toward the sun? I myself am the sun!” - Ousmane Sembène
1-3 books (mostly fiction, some nonfiction) from or about each of the 54 countries in the African continent. Listed by country from Algeria to Zimbabwe. (Unfortunately, no books for Niger included). The first book listed is a book by a Kenyan writer that encompasses why this list exists.
created by vumaisbooked
last updated January, 2026
Comments
oh vuma, what a good list!! thank you so much for putting this together
I enjoyed every moment of making it !
Thank you! I’m enjoying adding books so much! Soon to be done :)
Okay! This is now all done!
Can I recommend "An African History of Africa" by Zeinab Badawi for this? Read it recently and it covers a lot of places in Africa over quite some time 😇 (Studying history, this book was a good place to start learning more about Africa 😇)
Hello :) thanks so much for the recommendation. This list mainly focuses on books from and about specific African countries with the exception of the first book listed “How to Write About Africa” - so since Badawi’s book is generalist history, I decided not to add it as that would be one too many and Badawi’s book is already very popular ☺️. I’ve also tried to populate it with fiction books and only included non fiction where no other books from or about that country exist.
I see 😄 wasn't sure if I should recommend at all, but figured it's always worth asking 😁
That’s okay! It’s definitely worth asking bc you never know - I’m glad you enjoyed her book though ☺️!
Thanks 🙏 will definitely be reading more about Africa 😄
