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Best books for an African Safari
Best books to read on an African Safari. Books to learn about the history of Africa, the culture, and just be entertained!
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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The Poisonwood Bible
by
4.11 avg rating — 772,270 ratings
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| 2 |
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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #1)
by
Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)
3.81 avg rating — 271,685 ratings
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| 3 |
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Out of Africa
by
3.91 avg rating — 46,248 ratings
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| 4 |
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Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
by
3.97 avg rating — 56,292 ratings
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| 5 |
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Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1)
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3.74 avg rating — 397,034 ratings
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| 6 |
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Heart of Darkness
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3.43 avg rating — 539,384 ratings
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| 7 |
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King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
by
4.18 avg rating — 64,687 ratings
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| 8 |
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Cry, the Beloved Country
by
3.92 avg rating — 77,840 ratings
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| 9 |
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Half of a Yellow Sun
by
4.34 avg rating — 172,889 ratings
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| 10 |
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The Constant Gardener
by
3.83 avg rating — 29,842 ratings
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| 11 |
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Cutting for Stone
by
Abraham Verghese (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 411,735 ratings
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| 12 |
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The Power of One (The Power of One, #1)
by
4.35 avg rating — 92,109 ratings
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| 13 |
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Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town
by
3.99 avg rating — 15,376 ratings
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| 14 |
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West with the Night
by
4.15 avg rating — 39,868 ratings
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| 15 |
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When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa
by
Peter Godwin (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 9,285 ratings
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| 16 |
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Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds (Story of Elsa, #1)
by
4.16 avg rating — 33,624 ratings
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| 17 |
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The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood
by
4.11 avg rating — 6,019 ratings
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| 18 |
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Disgrace
by
3.86 avg rating — 112,673 ratings
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| 19 |
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The Shadow of the Sun
by
4.39 avg rating — 16,235 ratings
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| 20 |
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Long Walk to Freedom
by
4.36 avg rating — 91,315 ratings
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| 21 |
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Cry of the Kalahari
by
4.33 avg rating — 8,068 ratings
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| 22 |
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Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide
by
4.03 avg rating — 11,424 ratings
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| 23 |
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The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
by
3.79 avg rating — 46,257 ratings
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| 24 |
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What Is the What
by
4.14 avg rating — 86,129 ratings
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| 25 |
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Nervous Conditions
by
4.04 avg rating — 21,669 ratings
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| 26 |
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Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot, #18)
by
4.12 avg rating — 287,607 ratings
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| 27 |
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Tears of the Giraffe (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #2)
by
Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)
3.98 avg rating — 59,416 ratings
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| 28 |
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The Stranger
by
4.03 avg rating — 1,273,995 ratings
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| 29 |
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The Grass Is Singing
by
3.83 avg rating — 14,575 ratings
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| 30 |
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The Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912
by
4.15 avg rating — 2,619 ratings
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| 31 |
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Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa
by
Peter Godwin (Goodreads Author)
4.28 avg rating — 4,555 ratings
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| 32 |
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The English Patient
by
3.86 avg rating — 136,415 ratings
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| 33 |
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Green Hills of Africa
by
3.54 avg rating — 12,716 ratings
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| 34 |
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The Kalahari Typing School for Men (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #4)
by
Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)
4.01 avg rating — 41,668 ratings
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| 35 |
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The Wilderness Family: At Home with Africa's Wildlife
by
4.46 avg rating — 1,482 ratings
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| 36 |
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Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone
by
Martin Dugard (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 7,366 ratings
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| 37 |
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Scoop
by
3.79 avg rating — 21,751 ratings
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| 38 |
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A Bend in the River
by
3.77 avg rating — 18,265 ratings
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| 39 |
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We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
by
4.22 avg rating — 35,459 ratings
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| 40 |
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Brazzaville Beach
by
3.96 avg rating — 6,341 ratings
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| 41 |
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Gorillas in the Mist
by
4.15 avg rating — 20,998 ratings
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| 42 |
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River God (Ancient Egypt, #1)
by
4.22 avg rating — 42,557 ratings
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| 43 |
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The Zanzibar Chest: A Story of Life, Love, and Death in Foreign Lands
by
4.03 avg rating — 2,736 ratings
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| 44 |
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A Dry White Season
by
4.06 avg rating — 4,317 ratings
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| 45 |
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The Covenant
by
4.22 avg rating — 21,577 ratings
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| 46 |
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Little Bee
by
Chris Cleave (Goodreads Author)
3.72 avg rating — 246,206 ratings
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| 47 |
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Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #3)
by
Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 45,053 ratings
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| 48 |
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I Dreamed of Africa
by
3.96 avg rating — 4,243 ratings
score: 868,
and
9 people voted
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| 49 |
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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by
4.04 avg rating — 438,918 ratings
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| 50 |
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The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street (The Cairo Trilogy #1-3)
by
4.46 avg rating — 4,890 ratings
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| 51 |
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July's People
by
3.51 avg rating — 8,004 ratings
score: 783,
and
9 people voted
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| 52 |
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The Plague
by
4.02 avg rating — 293,737 ratings
score: 773,
and
9 people voted
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| 52 |
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A Story Like the Wind
by
4.39 avg rating — 1,561 ratings
score: 773,
and
8 people voted
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| 52 |
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Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of an Elephant Family
by
4.20 avg rating — 656 ratings
score: 773,
and
8 people voted
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| 55 |
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The Famished Road
by
3.73 avg rating — 13,307 ratings
score: 751,
and
8 people voted
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| 56 |
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Waiting for the Barbarians
by
3.93 avg rating — 34,265 ratings
score: 748,
and
9 people voted
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| 57 |
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God's Bits of Wood
by
3.98 avg rating — 3,018 ratings
score: 739,
and
8 people voted
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| 58 |
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Henderson the Rain King
by
3.76 avg rating — 15,809 ratings
score: 727,
and
8 people voted
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| 59 |
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Sweetness in the Belly
by
Camilla Gibb (Goodreads Author)
3.91 avg rating — 9,423 ratings
score: 723,
and
8 people voted
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| 60 |
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A Long Way Gone
by
4.16 avg rating — 191,453 ratings
score: 720,
and
8 people voted
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| 61 |
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The House at Sugar Beach
by
3.91 avg rating — 7,987 ratings
score: 719,
and
8 people voted
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| 62 |
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Purple Hibiscus
by
4.18 avg rating — 133,714 ratings
score: 718,
and
8 people voted
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| 63 |
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Shake Hands with the Devil
by
4.24 avg rating — 13,462 ratings
score: 714,
and
8 people voted
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| 64 |
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The Spotted Sphinx
by
4.35 avg rating — 323 ratings
score: 678,
and
7 people voted
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| 65 |
|
Mark of the Lion (Jade del Cameron Mysteries, #1)
by
3.63 avg rating — 1,435 ratings
score: 670,
and
7 people voted
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| 66 |
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Twenty Chickens for a Saddle
by
3.87 avg rating — 2,927 ratings
score: 664,
and
7 people voted
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| 67 |
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The Mission Song
by
3.47 avg rating — 7,069 ratings
score: 651,
and
7 people voted
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| 68 |
|
Weep Not, Child
by
3.90 avg rating — 3,953 ratings
score: 647,
and
7 people voted
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| 69 |
|
The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born
by
3.87 avg rating — 3,350 ratings
score: 637,
and
7 people voted
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| 70 |
|
Africa: A Biography of the Continent
by
4.18 avg rating — 1,868 ratings
score: 612,
and
8 people voted
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| 71 |
|
The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness
by
Delia Owens (Goodreads Author)
4.19 avg rating — 3,195 ratings
score: 573,
and
6 people voted
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| 72 |
|
The Slave Girl
by
3.85 avg rating — 597 ratings
score: 572,
and
6 people voted
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| 73 |
|
Mrs. Pollifax on Safari (Mrs. Pollifax, #5)
by
4.17 avg rating — 7,945 ratings
score: 567,
and
6 people voted
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| 74 |
|
Unbowed
by
4.07 avg rating — 6,863 ratings
score: 566,
and
6 people voted
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| 75 |
|
Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War
by
4.41 avg rating — 1,000 ratings
score: 559,
and
6 people voted
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| 76 |
|
The Blue Nile
by
4.16 avg rating — 871 ratings
score: 550,
and
6 people voted
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| 77 |
|
Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography
by
4.18 avg rating — 16,305 ratings
score: 548,
and
6 people voted
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| 78 |
|
The White Nile
by
4.12 avg rating — 1,422 ratings
score: 540,
and
6 people voted
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| 79 |
|
King Solomon's Mines (Allan Quatermain, #1)
by
3.79 avg rating — 51,398 ratings
score: 514,
and
6 people voted
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| 80 |
|
Life & Times of Michael K
by
3.87 avg rating — 20,385 ratings
score: 499,
and
6 people voted
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| 81 |
|
Assegai (Courtney publication, #13; Courtney chronological, #14)
by
4.06 avg rating — 7,436 ratings
score: 498,
and
5 people voted
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| 82 |
|
The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals
by
4.19 avg rating — 204 ratings
score: 487,
and
5 people voted
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| 83 |
|
The Full Cupboard of Life (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #5)
by
Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)
4.03 avg rating — 34,167 ratings
score: 473,
and
6 people voted
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| 84 |
|
A Carrion Death (Detective Kubu, #1)
by
Michael Stanley (Goodreads Author)
3.70 avg rating — 2,170 ratings
score: 470,
and
5 people voted
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| 85 |
|
The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe
by
Peter Godwin (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 1,962 ratings
score: 466,
and
5 people voted
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| 85 |
|
Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles
by
4.13 avg rating — 1,949 ratings
score: 466,
and
5 people voted
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| 87 |
|
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #8)
by
Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 27,399 ratings
score: 444,
and
6 people voted
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| 88 |
|
Anthills of the Savannah
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3.85 avg rating — 4,444 ratings
score: 435,
and
5 people voted
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| 89 |
|
Baking Cakes in Kigali
by
3.69 avg rating — 6,795 ratings
score: 417,
and
5 people voted
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| 90 |
|
Death in the Long Grass: A Big Game Hunter's Adventures in the African Bush
by
4.44 avg rating — 2,652 ratings
score: 397,
and
4 people voted
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| 91 |
|
My Life with Leopards
by
Fransje van Riel (Goodreads Author)
4.32 avg rating — 66 ratings
score: 393,
and
4 people voted
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| 92 |
|
Tick Bite Fever
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3.73 avg rating — 250 ratings
score: 392,
and
4 people voted
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| 93 |
|
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
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3.91 avg rating — 12,660 ratings
score: 390,
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5 people voted
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| 94 |
|
A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons
by
4.39 avg rating — 8,511 ratings
score: 389,
and
4 people voted
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| 95 |
|
A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa
by
3.92 avg rating — 926 ratings
score: 384,
and
4 people voted
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| 96 |
|
Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari
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4.37 avg rating — 638 ratings
score: 379,
and
4 people voted
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| 97 |
|
Travels in the Kalahari
by
Roxanne Reid (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 17 ratings
score: 375,
and
4 people voted
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| 98 |
|
No Longer at Ease (The African Trilogy, #2)
by
3.87 avg rating — 12,358 ratings
score: 374,
and
4 people voted
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| 99 |
|
Devil on the Cross
by
3.93 avg rating — 1,980 ratings
score: 368,
and
4 people voted
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| 100 |
|
Jock of the Bushveld
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4.08 avg rating — 1,451 ratings
score: 367,
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4 people voted
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473 books ·
524 voters ·
list created June 9th, 2008
by deleted user.
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Otis
(new)
Jun 09, 2008 09:51PM
I started this list because I'm going to Africa soon and want some good recommendations!
reply
|
flag
well, we need to launch this feature in the next few weeks then
booooo to heart of darkness.how about some books actually written by african authors? or contemporary writers?
On my Africa Safari I found and read my new favorite for this list: The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior. Written by a local Maasai, and a great glimpse into their culture.
Please remove my vote #149, SWITCH, from this list. Although a great book which touches African legends, it has nothing to do with a safari. Thank you
Murielle (voter)
If you would like to read The Liquidator there's a free ebook read4review promotion + Amazon gift card prize draw running to 7 Jan 2014http://bad-press.co.uk/free-the-liqui...
So please have a copy on me
Rgds
Iain Parke
The White Tribe of Africa and Mukiwa need to be on this list
Another great book is A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky, it takes place in Kenya. It's one of my favorites!
Ali wrote: "booooo to heart of darkness.how about some books actually written by african authors? or contemporary writers?"
Michael wrote: "well, we need to launch this feature in the next few weeks then"
I agree. I was disappointed by this list. Its for the readers to add them I suppose and people only add those they are aware of.
Anyone can add books to this list.
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