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Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Maaza Mengiste is a novelist and essayist. She is the author of the Booker shortlisted-novel, The Shadow King, set during Italys' invasion of Ethiopia. Her debut novel, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, was selected by The Guardian as one of the ten best contemporary African books, and her work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and Granta, among other journals. She is also the editor of Addis Ababa Noir (Akashic Books), which features short stories from Ethiopian writers around the world. "When I was young, all of Ethiopian history came to me through oral storytelling," she told Washington Square Review. "I understood the country through the voices of people that I knew." Thanks to Mengiste's work, that history might now find the wider audience it deserves. Below are Maaza Mengiste's favorite books, available to purchase individually or as a set. See the full list...