West African reading list

Here's what I read while I was gone. There's not a single thing on this list that I didn't like and wouldn't recommend, but I've tried to rank them within each category in order of what I suspect general interest will be :-)

NON-FICTION (choices were largely determined by what was available on Kindle)

• The Shadow of the Sun -- selective memoir of the three decades Poland's leading international correspondent spent in Africa. Super-readable, evocative, and not too long.
  
• You Must Set Forth at Dawn: A Memoir -- by Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize for Literature from Nigeria and one of the leaders of the Nigerian diaspora's anti-Abacha movement). Fascinating and (not surprisingly) very well-written; also very long.
• Shady Practices: Agroforestry and Gender Politics in the Gambia -- surprisingly well-written and interesting account of the interactions between NGOs/development agencies and small-scale female gardeners, their families, and their villages. Well worth reading if you work in international development!
• Various selections from works of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president (revered like Washington, Lincoln, and FDR all rolled into one) and one of the foremost pan-Africanist intellectuals. He was quite the philosopher and rhetorician!
  
• Culture and Customs of Senegal -- extremely informative; especially useful given that the language barrier meant I couldn't talk to people to learn stuff or ask questions
• Mali: A Country Profile -- very short, almost like an encyclopedia entry.
  

FICTION/POETRY (I bought most of these in paperback at bookstores while traveling)

• Things Fall Apart -- one of Africa's most famous and widely-read modern novels, it is a page-turner set centuries ago about the downfall of one proud, ambitious man when the Europeans first arrive in his village.
  
• So Long a Letter -- a poignant, eminently readable portrayal of polygamy in Senegal.
  
• The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born -- an extremely provocative portrait of politics and corruption in the early years of Ghana's indepedendence.
• An anthology of West African poetry that doesn't seem to be on Amazon.

STILL TO BE READ

• The Belly of the Atlantic -- Haven't started it yet, but highly recommended by both Lonely Planet and the bookstore in the Gambia. A recent novel about the Senegalese emigration/diaspora and the country's relationship with France.
• The History of Ghana -- About halfway through this one; interesting, pretty straightforward, reasonably well-written. Uncle Nasir read much of it too and assured me that it was balanced and accurate, even though it's written by a white non-Ghanaian.
  
• I'd like to read some fiction/poetry/theater by Wole Soyinka (author named above of You Must Set Forth at Dawn)