Recommended Reads on Africa!

Author:

Regina Quartey-Papafio, Communications Associate

Date:

August 5, 2024

Super-volunteer Morgan Patrick is a passionate and enthusiastic innovator who’s always on the lookout for ways we can keep things fresh and future-proof at PFS! She applies these traits too in her role as Innovation and Core Growth R&D Manager at General Mills, where she oversees a portfolio of sweet and salty snacks. Since 2012, she’s volunteered on numerous projects, including leading on-site training and consulting for milling and baking professionals in Ethiopia, and helping PFS staff pioneer new volunteer models in West Africa.

Joining PFS sparked in her, a passion for learning about different African cultures and histories, which led her to specifically seek out books from and about the continent. Morgan has graciously shared her “fantastically curated reading list with all PFS volunteers! Take a look at her recommendations and be inspired to take on some African reads this summer

Title	Author	Genre	Focus Countries
Africa is not a Country	Dipo Faloyin	Non-fiction	General perspective
Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles	Richard Dowden	Non-fiction	General perspective
Born in Blackness	Howard W. French	Non-fiction	General perspective
African Development: Making Sense of the Issues and Actors	Todd Moss	Non-fiction	General perspective
White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa	Susan Williams	Non-fiction	General perspective
A Moonless, Starless Sky	Alexis Okeowo	Fiction	Uganda, Mauritania, Somalia, Nigeria
Behold the Dreamers	Imbolo Mbue	Fiction	Cameroon
King Leopold’s Ghost	Adam Hochschild	Non-fiction	Congo
In Search of King Solomon’s Mines	Tahir Shah	Non-fiction	Ethiopia
Cutting for Stone	Abraham Verghese	Fiction
Held at a Distance	Rebecca Haile	Non-fiction
Beneath the Lion’s Gaze	Maaza Mengiste	Fiction
Homegoing	Yaa Gyasi	Fiction	Ghana
Ghana Must Go	Taiye Selasi	Fiction
King Peggy	Peggielene Bartels	Non-fiction
Another America	James Ciment	Non-fiction	Liberia
Things Fall Apart	Chinua Achebe	Fiction	Nigeria
Americanah	Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie	Fiction
Half of a Yellow Sun	Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie	Fiction
The Road to the Country	Chigozie Obioma	Fiction

And something for the KIDS!!

Kugali – a visual story telling brand using comics, graphic novels, augmented reality (AR) and animation to tell stories about about African mysticism

Gizo Gizo by Emily Williamson

Dan Auta: An African Tale by Jose Ortega y Gasset