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I did not set out to armchair travel but when I looked at my past year's reading list I noticed that the single common denominator was Africa.

Why Africa?

I cannot say. These stories just piqued my interest, one after another. 

When I read fiction, I prefer characters that see the world differently than I do. 

Give me a story about a chauffeur from Cameroon and his keen observations about life in New York City. A coming of age novel of a teenage girl who learns about her Ethiopian culture from a parking lot attendant in Boston works for me. A novel about a family's storied history with slavery in Ghana reminds me there is so much I do not know about the human condition.

Trevor Noah's funny and poignant memoir, Born a Crime, took me to South Africa. I had wished it had been fiction as his early life was tough and unfathomable but spoiler alert -- it has a good ending!

Get in touch if you'd like a list of fiction with a specific cultural flavor or perhaps some nonfiction to round out the missing pieces of a country's history.

Above Image Credit: St. George's Castle Ghana 

Behold the Dreamers 

by  Imbolo Mbue

Homegoing 

by Yaa Gyasi

The Parking Lot Attendant

by Nafkote Tamirat

Every Day is for the Thief 

by Teju Cole

Born a Crime

by Trevor Noah