By KARI MUTU

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Each year famous people and notable book clubs release their lists of favourite books or planned reads. African authors are increasingly taking their place at the global table of literature.

Among the books on Barack Obama’s summer 2023 reading list is by DK Nnuro. Since 2009 the former US president has issued a list of books he plans to read. What Napoleon Could Not Do is the first novel by Ghanaian-born Nnuro, an educator based in the USA and described as a "storyteller of the ages."

Nnuro explores the saga of a Ghanaian family on two continents and their pursuit of the American dream. This intricately crafted narrative examines America by "people with ties to Africa," covering complex themes from secrets, sibling rivalry and sexuality, to dashed hopes, Blackness and anti-Blackness.

Read: OBBO: We’re being punished for sinning against our best writers

Tech billionaire Bill Gates said that Born in Blackness by Howard French “changed how he sees Africa’s past”. American university professor and former journalist, Howard French takes a revisionist look at Africa’s history from the 13th century until World War II.

An inequitable commercial and imperial engagement developed over six millennia between Africa and Europe. While the West ascended into the modern world, Africa’s rich cultural, military and economic eminence were systematically eliminated or trivialised.

One of Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga’s top 10 books is The Theory of Flight, a debut historical fiction novel by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, also from Zimbabwe. A young woman who is HIV-positive and possesses mystical abilities struggles to come of age in an unnamed, war-battered country in Southern Africa.

An intriguing book on South African comedian Trevor Noah’s list is To Quote Myself: A Memoir by South African media personality Khaya Dlanga. Critics commend Dlanga’s book for its honesty, humour, relatability and insightful views of a young black man struggling to overcome apartheid’s slow-dying legacy.