Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Book Recommendations for General Fiction, set in Eastern Africa

Click on the buttons below to filter by subgenre/theme, time period and setting.
Learn how we choose recommended books here.
Total Books Recommended: 27

Page 1 of 4
Reset Filters
Filter by Genre
Genre: Fiction
Literary Fiction - 16
Historical Fiction - 6
Thrillers - 3
Mystery - 1
Romance/Love Stories - 1
Short Stories - 3

Filter by Subgenre/Theme
Firsts
Debuts - 11
1st in Series - 3

Humor & Uplifting
Uplifting - 1
Humor & Satire - 3

Families
Generational Sagas - 5
Parenting & Families - 3

Ages & Stages
Adult Books From Child's Perspective - 2
Coming of Age - 10
Dealing with Loss - 7

Ethnicity
Books in Translation - 1
Immigrants & Expats - 8
Black Authors - 14
Asian Authors - 2

Gender & Sexuality
Strong Women - 8
LGBTQ+ - 1

Philosophy & Spiritual
Religious or Spiritual Themes - 2

Miscellaneous
Small Press Titles - 5
Books about Books - 1
Physical & Mental Differences - 2
Books About Animals - 1
War Related - 8
Nature & Environment - 2
LibraryReads Picks - 2

Number of Pages
400+ Pages - 5
250-400 Pages - 27
Less Than 250 Pages - 6

Filter by Time Period
Time Period
19th Century - 2
20th Century (multiple decades) - 3
1920s & '30s - 2
1940s & '50s - 1
1960s & '70s - 4
1980s & '90s - 8
Contemporary - 12
The Future - 1

Select your view:
Order books by:
  • The History of a Difficult Child
    Mihret Sibhat
    Paperback: 02/01/2024
     
    A breathtaking, tragicomic debut novel about the indomitable child of a scorned, formerly land-owning family ...
  • Afterlives
    Afterlives: A Novel
    Abdulrazak Gurnah
    Paperback: 09/05/2023
     
    From the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, a sweeping, multi-generational saga of displacement, ...
  • The Lioness
    The Lioness: A Novel
    Chris Bohjalian
    Paperback: 05/02/2023
     
    A luxurious African safari turns deadly for a Hollywood starlet and her entourage in this riveting historical ...
  • A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times
    Meron Hadero
    Hardcover: 06/28/2022
     
    Winner of the 2020 Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing and the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African ...
  • A Girl is A Body of Water
    Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
    Paperback: 06/15/2021
     
    International-award-winning author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's novel is a sweeping and powerful portrait of a...
  • The Shadow King
    Maaza Mengiste
    Paperback: 10/01/2020
     
    Shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, and named a best book of the year by the New York Times, NPR, Elle, ...
  • The Old Drift
    Namwali Serpell
    Paperback: 03/19/2020
     
    An electrifying debut from the winner of the 2015 Caine Prize for African writing, The Old Drift is the Great ...

Full results are for members only - but you can cross-reference more than one theme by using the buttons in the right column. Members please login. Interested in becoming a member? Explore the many benefits of membership here.

The reviewer of each book decides which categories it belongs in - but we're only human, mistakes happen. If you see a book that you think is in the wrong place, tell us!

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.