Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Scottish writer who enjoys travelling and meeting people of different cultures and beliefs. I have always been a fan of adventure stories, particularly those with a strange or supernatural bent. My travels to The Ivory Coast and North Africa, hearing accounts of various witch stories, and encountering strange events and practices firsthand inspired me to write The Witch’s List Trilogy: the first two books published and the third in progress. 


I wrote

The Witch's List

By Andrew Cairns,

Book cover of The Witch's List

What is my book about?

Young Scot, Sandy Beech doesn't believe in witches and the supernatural. However, certain strange events occur which put his skepticism…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of In Search of King Solomon's Mines: A Modern Adventurer's Quest for Gold and History in the Land of the Queen of Sheba

Andrew Cairns Why did I love this book?

If you haven’t discovered Tahir Shah’s work yet, then this is a great place to start. It is about a quest the writer sets himself to discover the lost Solomon’s Mines in Ethiopia after purchasing an old map in a bazaar in Jerusalem. Shah goes off the beaten track venturing to a cliff-face monastery where the monks pull visitors up on a leather rope, to the ruined castles of Gondar, and to the rock-hewn churches at Lalibela. Most striking of all are his descriptions of an illegal gold mine that he visits where the miners dig with their bare hands. The people he meets, the strange circumstances he finds himself in, and the interesting historical and geographical background he provides all contribute to a rich and compelling account.  

By Tahir Shah,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked In Search of King Solomon's Mines as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

King Solomon, the Bible’s wisest king, possessed extraordinary wealth. The grand temple he built in Jerusalem was covered in gold from the porch to the inner sanctum, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Long before H. Rider Haggard’s classic adventure novel King Solomon’s Mines unleashed gold fever more than a century ago, many had sought to find the source of the great king’s wealth. In this new adventure—“a hybrid of Indiana Jones and Herodotus” (Sunday Times, London)—Tahir Shah tries his hand at the quest. 
Intrigued by a map he finds in a shop not far from the site…


Book cover of A Month and a Day: A Detention Diary

Andrew Cairns Why did I love this book?

This is an interesting and moving account by Nigerian writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa, which describes his non-violent struggle against big petroleum companies and the military dictatorship who were involved in human rights and environmental abuses of the Ogoni people. He describes his detention and the events leading up to it in harrowing detail and gives lucid convincing arguments against his accusers. A truly inspirational message, especially given that much of it was written in secret in prison, and knowing that he was unjustly tried and executed in 1995, shortly after the book’s publication. 

Book cover of Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

Andrew Cairns Why did I love this book?

Perhaps the most inspiring African figure of the twentieth century, this is Nelson Mandela’s story written in his own words. The book allows you to find out a lot more about his childhood, his struggle against apartheid, and most of all his resilience and strength of spirit during his 27-year imprisonment. Despite all his suffering and mistreatment, Mandela never gave up hope and refused to give in to hatred, even forgiving his tormentors once released. A book to be read and a message/example that we should all endeavour to follow.  

By Nelson Mandela,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Long Walk to Freedom as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

2018 is the centenary of Nelson Mandela's birth

'The authentic voice of Mandela shines through this book . . . humane, dignified and magnificently unembittered' The Times

The riveting memoirs of the outstanding moral and political leader of our time, A Long Walk to Freedom brilliantly re-creates the drama of the experiences that helped shape Nelson Mandela's destiny. Emotive, compelling and uplifting, A Long Walk to Freedom is the exhilarating story of an epic life; a story of hardship, resilience and ultimate triumph told with the clarity and eloquence of a born leader.

'Burns with the luminosity of faith in…


Book cover of What the Day Owes the Night

Andrew Cairns Why did I love this book?

This is a story of love and friendship set in 1950s Algeria before and during the Algerian War of Independence. The main character, Younes, is an Arabic Algerian but forms friendships with some European boys and falls in love with Emilie a beautiful European girl. Great descriptions of the environment and the characters’ feelings make for an engrossing and moving read as Younes has to make choices about his loyalties towards his friends and family from the two different cultures. 

By Yasmina Khadra,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What the Day Owes the Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Darling, this is Younes. Yesterday he was my nephew, today he is our son'.

Younes' life is changed forever when his poverty-stricken parents surrender him to the care of his more affluent uncle. Re-named Jonas, he grows up in a colourful colonial Algerian town, and forges a unique friendship with a group of boys, an enduring bond that nothing - not even the Algerian Revolt - will shake. He meets Emilie - a beautiful, beguiling girl who captures the hearts of all who see her - and an epic love story is set in motion.

Time and again Jonas is…


Book cover of Paradise

Andrew Cairns Why did I love this book?

Set in East Africa in the late 19th century, this novel follows the adventures of Yusuf, a young boy who is sold by his father in repayment of a debt, to an Arabic trader called Aziz. 

It describes the harsh conditions of ‘uncle’ Aziz’s trading trips from the coast to the interior including attacks by wild animals, and dealings with hostile tribes and the almost alien-like European colonialists. What I loved most about this book was the great balance between the subtle development of the diverse characters, the descriptions of the environment, and the eventful adventure story. Overall a fascinating and ultimately sad story of an Africa at the end of an era before the onslaught of massive European colonialism.

By Abdulrazak Gurnah,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Paradise as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sold by his father in repayment of a debt, 12-year-old Yusuf is thrown from his simple rural life into the complexities of precolonial urban East Africa. Through Yusuf's eyes, Gurnah depicts communities at war, trading safaris gone awry, and the universal trials of adolescence.


Explore my book 😀

The Witch's List

By Andrew Cairns,

Book cover of The Witch's List

What is my book about?

Young Scot, Sandy Beech doesn't believe in witches and the supernatural. However, certain strange events occur which put his skepticism to the test: a burning book, a falling crucifix, a mysterious illness, and a fire in a convent that kills all twelve nuns. On her deathbed, Bernadette, the last surviving nun, warns him to control his lusts and avoid African women. He pays no heed though, and marries Rocky from the Ivory Coast. On a visit to her home country, Sandy is drawn into a world of strange beliefs and practices, notably the Witch's List - a list of people destined to die imminently. He delves further and further into the realm of African witchcraft, but the horrific truth remains obscure...

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No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

By Rona Simmons,

Book cover of No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

Rona Simmons Author Of No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I come by my interest in history and the years before, during, and after the Second World War honestly. For one thing, both my father and my father-in-law served as pilots in the war, my father a P-38 pilot in North Africa and my father-in-law a B-17 bomber pilot in England. Their histories connect me with a period I think we can still almost reach with our fingertips and one that has had a momentous impact on our lives today. I have taken that interest and passion to discover and write true life stories of the war—focusing on the untold and unheard stories often of the “Average Joe.”

Rona's book list on World War II featuring the average Joe

What is my book about?

October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on any other single day of the war.

The narrative of No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident while focusing its attention on ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. All were men who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place.

No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in…

No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

By Rona Simmons,

What is this book about?

October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war. In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller's pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp. It concludes with the death…


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Interested in Africa, Nigeria, and gold mining?

Africa 265 books
Nigeria 67 books
Gold Mining 8 books