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Gareth Langdon Reviews The Childhood of Jesus by JM Coetzee
Verdict: stick Released in March this year, I was surprised to find that the latest Coetzee offering only crossed my desk two weeks ago. Usually you would expect a significant hype to surround the...
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Sunday Read: Transcribed Interview with Arthur C Clarke on Science Fiction,...
Tod Mesirow, television producer of shows like Richard Hammond’s Crash Course and Overhaulin’, visited the master of science fiction, Sir Arthur C Clarke, at his home in Sri Lanka in 1995 to...
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#STBooks: Your Seven Day Reading Forecast by Ben Williams
By Ben Williams, Sunday Times books editor Although books are made for all seasons, they come and go like the weather. Here are some currently affecting the barometric pressure in your area. Monday:...
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Book Bites: 28 July 2013
Book Thrill A Delicate Truth John le Carré, Viking **** (4/5 stars) John le Carré’s latest is a scathing depiction of a rampantly capitalist world where intelligence is just another commodity to be...
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Off Kilter: Michele Magwood Chats to Stuart MacBride about Tartan Noir
By Michele Magwood for Sunday Times Close to the Bone Stuart MacBride, Harper Collins **** (4/5 stars) Stuart MacBride has a voice like an old dressing gown: warm and soft and burry, a voice to draw...
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Ruth Browne Reviews The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna
Verdict: carrot The Hired Man is a story told simply, of a piece with the heat and the smell of sage in Gost, a town near the coast of Croatia. Duro Kolak is the narrator, distinguished by his quiet...
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Anthony Stidolph Reviews The People of the Sky by Walton Golightly
Verdict: carrot There is a slightly old-fashioned flavour to The People of the Sky, the third and final instalment in author Walton Golightly’s sprawling, colourful saga about the rise and fall of King...
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Sunday Read: The Writers in Stephen King’s Life
 > Susan Dominus from The New York Times has written a profile on Stephen King’s family business: writing. King’s wife Tabitha, his sons Joe and Owen and Owen’s wife, Kelly Braffet, are all...
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2013 Open Book Festival Programme (7 – 11 September)
Alert! The programme for this year’s Open Book Festival has been released. Starting on Saturday 7 September and running until Wednesday 11 September, the festival will be held at venues in Cape Town’s...
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Women of Many Words: Authors Name Their Favourite Book by a Woman Writer
In honour and celebration of Women’s Day, we asked noted authors their favourite book by a women writer. Lionel Shriver: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. I love virtually all of Edith Wharton,...
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Benhilda Chanetsa Reviews Diplomatic Pounds and Other Stories by Ama Ata Aidoo
Verdict: carrot Diplomatic Pounds & Other Storiesis the third collection of short stories by celebrated Ghanaian author, Ama Ata Aidoo. Published by Ayebia Clarke in 2012, eleven of the twelve...
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Margaret von Klemperer Reviews Deadly Harvest: A Detective Kubu Mystery by...
Verdict: carrot This is the fourth outing for Detective Superintendent Kubu Bengu of the Botswana CID, written by the team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. It is a series which has so far enjoyed...
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Richard Ali Reviews Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Verdict: carrot As a critical reader caught up in the mood of new African writing since 2001—using Helon Habila’s Caine Prize win as a rough marker—I’ve taken an interest in the writings of that...
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Sunday Read: Danielle Steele Calls Out Everyday Sexism
It’s not certain whether Danielle Steele, prolific author of popular fiction, has encountered the Everday Sexism website, but she certainly has encountered sexism in its everyday form. And that’s how...
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Book bites: 11 August 2013
Water Music Margie Orford (Jonathan Ball) **** (4/5 stars) Book thrill Police profiler Dr Clare Hart’s life is in turmoil. She is facing a personal crisis, her lover is deep undercover, and her special...
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Come Back Margaret, All is Forgiven: Lin Sampson on the Thatcher Bio
By Lin Sampson for The Sunday Times Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography Charles Moore (Penguin) **** (4/5 stars) All my life I have been dogged by self righteous lefties who blame Mrs Thatcher...
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Hear Them Roar – Michele Magwood Reviews Flappers
By Michele Magwood for The Sunday Times Flappers Judith Mackrell (Macmillan) **** (4/5 stars) Baz Luhrman’s risible, Disneyfied Gatsby has introduced the Jazz Age to a whole new generation and suddenly...
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Henning Mankell to Take Part in Open Book Festival 2013
Alert! It has just been announced that Swedish writer Henning Mankell, who spends half his year running a theatre in Mozambique, will be taking part in this year’s Open Book Festival in Cape Town....
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2013 Nigeria Prize for Literature Longlist Announced
Alert! The shortlist for the 2013 Nigeria Prize for Literature, the biggest literary prize in Africa, has been announced. Won last year by Chika Unigwe, the prize money amounts to a staggering $100...
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Sunday Read: Charles Dickens’ Relationship with His Ten Children Examined
As the new film adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel Great Expectations has just opened at South African cinemas, this week’s Sunday Read focuses on a book by Robert Gottlieb on Dickens’...
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