Litnet

Compelling and revelatory, For my country shows what it takes to stand up for one’s principles and defy the most powerful man in the country.

"The boy who never gave up is a book that I could not put down. Apart from being the story of a teenager’s epic journey through Africa, it is also an inspiring book, a book of hope. I would not at all be surprised to see the story of this famous doctor one day being turned into a film."

"It’s rewarding and challenging to write for readers who are no longer children but who feel things intensely."

"The meal plans include dairy-fee, basic, budget and seven-day options. They also include inspirational testimonials from people of all walks of life and income brackets who successfully follow the Banting lifestyle, and the book serves as an easy-to-follow guide."

"In structural terms, the novel is fairly complex, with all these story strands travelling at different paces – even different directions – through the book, interleaved with each other. Juggling so many different elements can be tricky, but generally speaking Lawrence manages to keep all his balls in the air, which is impressive."

’n Verteenwoordigende groep vakspesialiste en deskundiges uit ’n verskeidenheid velde en subvelde is genader om termlyste by te dra.

"Besides, our youth in schools cannot read only about love and witchcraft from those old books written by old authors. We must start passing fresh information on to them by writing about the problems and concerns of today."

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading Shaping Addo. Reardon writes both knowledgeably and entertainingly about the history of the park as well as its current endeavours."

"I didn’t set out to be so honest, particularly about my childhood. I was going to write a short grief memoir, but the more I wrote, the more I understood that one’s childhood plays a role in how we grieve, that how we deal with loss as adults is connected to how we face loss as children, and so I went down that road, open to exploring my childhood." 

"But beyond the good that this means for visually impaired readers and the South African publishing industry, the collection’s poems are worth their own engagement. To me, the poems’ most interesting elements come from their portrayal of various humans’ attempts to relate to one another earnestly."

To celebrate the release of Christine, Melinda Ferguson Books (an imprint of NB Publishers) is thrilled to announce an exciting competition that offers one lucky reader the chance to win a return ticket to Amsterdam in 2022.

"By the fading light is a book to be read and reread. To remind us of where we were as a country. To savour the language. To laugh. But mostly to stare misty-eyed into the distance."

"This debut novel by acclaimed poet Timothy Ogene bears the traces of the author’s lyrical talent, his Nigerian origins, his expansive reading of world literature and his life-cherishing attentiveness to natural and human phenomena, both physical and spiritual. The text is, nevertheless, unpretentious in every way; as a narrative, perhaps a bildungsroman, the predominant tonal quality is a sort of quietness, a retrospective serenity."

"We recognise when our pets are happy or sad, we understand the happy expression of an elephant wallowing in a muddy waterhole or a tired lion yawning under the shade of a tree at midday. But the mannerisms of bats, fish and mosquitoes, no."

"As a reader (and writer), I find the interviews Labuschagne conducted with suspects most interesting, as they afford one rare glimpses into their worlds and the way they saw things."

On 29 April 2021 at 10:00, Marianne Thamm will be in conversation with Wahbie Long about his book, Nation on the couch: Inside South Africa's mind, as part of the Suidoosterfees-Jakes Gerwel conversations at Artscape, Cape Town. Robert Kriger interviews Wahbie to find out more about his book, which he describes as a "letter to all South African citizens".

"What distinguishes South African stories is that they are about people who experience our environment in the same way we do, who look like us, who understand the specific challenges we face, perhaps in more profound ways than people in other English-speaking parts of the world."

"I want them to pursue their studies and other talents they have, even if it is tough and challenging, because in all hard work there is reward, and hard work pays."

"Basically, we all need each other, so, no, we cannot allow humanity to self-destruct." Adam Cruise (It’s not about the bats) will be part of the Jakes Gerwel conversations at the Suidoosterfees. 

"Why write? Because you (as a reader yourself) know all about the joy that a reader finds in a good book. You want to replicate that joy, be responsible for it. A book is a hand reaching out, sometimes to communicate, sometimes to offer comfort, sometimes to outrage."