Mazee unajua maana ya "novel"
Dreams From My Father ni Biography, particularly Autobiography ya Obama, si novel.
I am not much into fiction, but if you are into mysteries and rich detective stories Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never disappoints.He has the rare combination of timeless narration and classic style coupled with an educated, unbelievable imagination.
From East Africa, if you are looking for the authentic East African experience look no further than Agoro Anduru, he churned out "Temptations and Other Stories" "This is Living and Other Stories" back in the days I never missed him on Mfanyakazi, these were the days of Mutaza Lakha and transcripts of "Kesi ya Uhaini", way even before Stan Katabalo and James Nende, when Lusekelo was an up and coming writer for Daily/Sunday News these were literate writers not the hollow fartz excuses like the Shigongos. Of course you also have a whole host of Swahili writers from Zanzibar, and I am not merely talking about Shafi Adam Shafi
If your taste is on the world scene, especially it's chick lit/ feminist / gender issues check out "Riyadh Girls" an account of Saudi from the eyes of Americanised modern Saudi women.
Of course if you don't want anything thematically heavy or literally demanding you can always curl up with James Hadley Chase, his intrigue is characteristically uncharacheristic.
I used to enjoy Alex Hailey from "Wheels" "Hotels" and "Airport". If you really want a black author whose character out-Obamaded Obama before Obama was a community organizer check out "The Spook Who Stood by The Door", this guy was sharp, militant, fresh and hip without being a bore a USA Today writer hailed it as " one of the few uncompromised representations of black armed resistance in the United States"
I just realized I havent been reading my fiction as i used to.Too much nonfiction, especially biographies.
But perhaps that is just right, as Benjamin Disraeli said "Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory."