The New Yorker blog has a post about the ten biggest Africa stories of 2010. It prompted me to think about the best/most influential or provocative books about Africa I've read lately. They are
Ethiopia Since the Famine by Peter Gill – detailed reportage on Ethiopia post-1985
The Plundered Planet by Paul Collier – the resource curse and its consequences
War Games by Linda Polman – a critique of the aid business
Beneath The Lion's Gaze by Maaze Mengiste – a heartbreaking novel about Ethiopia's civil war
No doubt others will come to mind as I head off to today's meetings, and I'll expand the list. Other suggestions also welcome!
i do recommend: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
A bit older one, tough to read but i would say compulsory to understand how hard it is to estabilish the peace in post-genocide country.
I've heard great things about it.
An older one I really liked was Martin Meredith's The State of Africa.