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In preparing for next year's Africa Reading Challenge , I have purchased some books that would help me achieve this. Note that these books were purchased based solely on availability. Consequently, I do not know what I am getting into. Every Man is a Race by Mia Couto ( Mozambique , Lusophone Africa): Have heard the name of the author from Kinna. Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes ( Ghana , Anglophone Africa): purchase of this book was inspired by Kinna of Kinna Reads . Strictly this doesn't qualify for the African Challenge as I have read more authors from Ghana. The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison by Jack Mapajne ( Malawi , Anglophone Africa): This is a poetry collection. Voices Made Night by Mia Couto ( Mozambique , Lusophone Africa) Distant View of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat ( Egypt , Francophone Africa) Dew in the Morning by Shimmer Chinodya ( Zimbabwe , Anglophone Africa): Again strictly this would not have qualified for the African Challenge....

For other years and categories, see Review This list includes books and single stories read in 2011. Previously, this list was organised according to reviews so that a book read in the previous year and reviewed in the current year will be found here. However, this system has been reviewed to reflect only 2011 reads and nothing more and further categorised into months. Note that Single Stories are indicated by SS in brackets. A Single Story is a short story that was not read as part of an anthology or was not part of an anthology at the time of read. These SS are shortlisted short-stories like those for the Caine Prize or are from magazines and other websites. JANUARY: Return of the Water Spirit  by   Pepetela Distant view of a Minaret  by   Alifa Rifaat The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison  by   Jack Mapanje The Shadow of Imana  by Veronique Tadjo Neighbours: The Story of a Murder  by   Lilia Momple Jude the Obscure ...

My reading in January was aimed at fulfilling the Africa Reading Challenge , which is aimed at reading books from other African countries other than Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. In all I read eight books (or nine, counting the last book I read in December 2010, which was reviewed in January 2011). The countries I have read from are: Mozambique (Mia Couto's Voices Made Night and Lilia Momple's Neighbours: The Story of a Murder ) Egypt (Alifa Rifaat's Distant View of a Minaret ) Angola (Pepetela's The Return of the Water Spirit ) Cote d'Ivoire (Veronique Tadjo's The Shadow of Imana ) Malawi (Jack Mapanje's The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison ) Zimbabwe (Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions ) South Africa/Botswana (Bessie Head's A Woman Alone - yet to be reviewed) Lesotho (Thomas Mofolo's Chaka , currently reading) Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (not on any challenge) Map of Africa This trend would continue. However, I ...

The  Readers' Top Ten  continues this week with Mary Okeke. One of the aims of this series is to introduce readers to the rich literature Africa has to offer. About Mary Okeke:  Mary is a reader and book blogger, at Mary Okeke Reviews  She reads wide but mostly review African books. She lives in Barcelona, Spain where she studied Anesthesiology, Pain-therapy and CPR during her post-graduate studies. On her blog, Mary says: I take so much pleasure in reading books! Specifically, those written by African Writers. It is based on this that Mary shares her Top Ten African Books with us below. Note:  I have linked some of the books to posts within ImageNations - where available. Note that my views and Mary's might not be the same and so must be read with that in mind. ____________________ The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta A novel beautifully written that insightfully deals with issues affecting us as African women. You give birth ...

Source Once again, the year has come to an end and bookish individuals will be taking stock of what transpired within the 365 days we had. But before we can conclude on whether this year has been successful, we must, as a matter of importance, relate our goals at the beginning of the year to what actually happened: Projections vs Actuals, as most Monitoring and Evaluation Officers do. However, I will first review my readings the month of December. December in review I read three books and suspended one in December. The objective for November was to play catch-up by reading enough books on my Top 100 Books Reading Challenge. It started well with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird : a novel about race relations in America's south told from the point of view of the nine-year old Jean Louise Finch, daughter of a lawyer appointed to defend a black man - Tom Robinson - in an alleged rape case, which people know to be fault but are not prepared to pronounce one of their own ...

I have known Casca on Facebook for sometime and I guess we became friends because after scanning his profile I saw we share a lot of things, a lot. He loves to read and to talk about them. Then we met at one of the monthly Writers Project of Ghana 's book discussions for the first time. About Casca Amanquah Hackman: Casca 'Comrade' Amanqua Hackman is a graduate of the Universtiy of Ghana, a former school teacher and past editor of the Golden World Magazine. His short stories and articles have been published in Daily Graphic and Mirror. Below is Casca's top ten African books.  Note that I have linked the titles and authors to posts within ImageNations, where available. My views and his might not be the same and so beware when reading and judging them. ________________ Yes, a good book is a good book, and it’s enjoyed anywhere; yet it's enjoyed better by persons who find the setting, characters and themes familiar. There are good books from Africa too. ...

June came and passed me by so suddenly that as I turned to look at its tail in the bend, I saw I had only three books behind me in addition to zero interviews. The fascinating thing about June and its departure is that it also marks the end of the first half of the journey towards December. That's, in someway, July is like January - promising a new beginning and providing a new canvass for the making of resolutions. Now back to the quick-feet June. The slough of books I left behind were:   Shadows  by Chenjerai Hove A Sense of Savannah: Tales of a Friendly Walk through Northern Ghana by Kofi Akpabli The Gods are not to Blame  by Ola Rotimi In addition to these reads, I also reviewed two books which were read in May: The Handmaid's Tale  by Margaret Atwood Every Man is a Race  by Mia Couto Though June was a lazy-drone, churning out a paltry sum of 311 pages - less than the lower boundary of a chunkster - it was the month in which this blog recorded its hig...

For other genres and categories, see Review There are many sub-genres of fiction. The list of books were amenable to the sub-genres provided below. Single stories are stories read online or downloaded and read in a pdf format. It could be part of a major collection such as The End of Skill  but was read as a stand alone. Novellas are complete stories (novels) that are 150 or less pages long. Children Stories (<12 years) Eno's Story by Ayodele Olofintuade Single Stories: Bombay's Republic by Rotimi Babatunde Butterfly Dreams by Beatrice Lamwaka Dayward by ZZ Packer Icebergs by Alistair Morgan In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata by Lauri Kubuitsile The End of Skill  by Mamle Kabu The Entire Northern Side was Covered with Fire by Rivka Galchen The Kid by Salvatore Scibona Here We Aren't, So Quickly by Jonathan Safran Foer Hitting Budapest by NoViolet Bulawayo How Kamau wa Mwangi Escaped into Exile by Mukoma wa Ngugi How Shall we Kill the Bishop...

This list excludes single stories. Single stories are uncollected short stories published in magazines, blogs, online newspapers, and other places. It is believed that such stories would be collected by author and later 'formally' published, hence their exclusion. -1900 to 1909- -- -1910 to 1919- -- -1920 to 1929- The Castle :  Franz  Kafka Death Comes for the Archbishop : Willa Cather A Farewell to Arms :  Ernest Hemingway The Great Gatsby : F. Scott Fitzgerald Mrs. Dalloway : Virginia Woolf The Trial : Franz Kafka -1930 to 1939- Absalom, Absalom! :  William  Faulkner Auto da Fe :   Elias  Canetti Brave New World:   Aldous Huxley Chaka:  Thomas Mofolo Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day : Winifred Watson Theatre :   Somerset  W.   Maugham -1940 to 1949- 1984 :  George Orwell The Catcher in the Rye :  J.D. Salinger Cry, the Beloved Country:  Alan Paton Mine Boy:   ...