Books about the Gambia and the African continent – A book log

Welcome to my book log!

Here I will post books by Gambian and other African authors.
I will also read books written about the Gambia and the rest of the African continent. It will probably be both fiction and non-fiction and I´ll also try to rate the books.

If you know any book that I should read – please let me know by emailing me here!

African Aliens by Lang Fafa Dampha, 2005 – The Gambia
Sainy, a young Gambian, arrives in Paris with high hopes for a better life. Confronted by a minefield of immigration restrictions with which he struggles vainly, he accepts an easy way in by marrying a Gambian-born divorcée and becoming the step-father of the woman’s young son.

As the months pass, Sainy learns new fact about Africans living in France and sees how their home-grown values of culture, community and morality adapt in their new culture, for better or worse.
3 stars out of 5

Half of a yellow sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2006 – Nigeria
The book Half of a yellow sun takes place in Nigeria in the 1960s and we follow the lives of two sisters, their men and their houseboys. Born as the daughters of a wealthy businessman in Lagos the sisters privileged lives start in luxury. But personalities, life choices and the approaching Biafra war chisels out different paths for the sisters.

4 stars out of 5 – and here is my book review

The Sun will soon shine by Sally Sadie Singhateh 2004 – The Gambia
This is a moving and emphatic tale of a young woman’s struggle to come to terms with her past and culture, and above all, the possibility of having a future to look forward to, no matter what the odds.

2.5 stars out of 5 – and here is my book review

The Outcast by Ousman Minteh, 2014 – The Gambia
The outcast is a story about a young boy born outside of marriage and all the obstacles and troubles he goes through in life. We also follow his family and different characters of the village which helps us in understanding his background and the choices he makes along the way.
The Outcast is a story of struggle. It tells the tale as old as time of good winning over evil.

1 stars out of 5 – and here is my book review

Nonfiction

Do not disturb by Michaela Wrong, 2021 – Rwanda
The book has the murder of Rwandas ex spy chief Patrick Karegeya (2014) as a starting point. From Karegeyas murder, Wrongs sharp pen draws the circles of a gruesome political landscape making hidden things visible to the untrained eye. This is a landscape where human life has little to no value and where no one gets out alive.

3 stars out of 5 – and here is my book review