What is Twitterature?

Twitterature: Great books on Twitter ;-) (now available from Viking/Penguin, among others).

Interview with Antjie Krog, author of "Begging to be Black"

Podcast of Talk Radio 702's Book Show hosted by Jenny Crwys-Williams, during which she interviewed Antjie Krog, author or "Begging to be Black". Other podcasts also available on the 702 website.

Afrikaanse skrywer Henriette Grove sterf

Beeld, 17 Desember 2009: "Die bekroonde skrywer Henriette Grove (87) is eergisteraand stil in Pretoria oorlede. (...) Sy is gister uit verskeie oorde geloof vir haar merkwaardige bydrae tot die Afrikaanse literatuur en haar skryfstyl wat respek afgedwing het".
"Grove laat drie kinders, proff. Elsa Nolte, Pretoriase letterkundige, Niek Grove, registrateur van UP, en A.P. Grove, 'n ingenieur, sowel as sewe kleinkinders agter."
Literere pryse tydens haar lewe aan Henriette Grove toegeken: Hertzogprys (twee keer) CNA-pryse (drie keer) W.A. Hofmeyr-prys

The Book Lounge list 2009

The Book Lounge list of favourites published in 2009.

Ons beveel aan: Die Boek van toeval en toeverlaat / Ingrid Winterbach

Lees Louise Viljoen se resensie op Litnet by http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news_item&cause_id=1270&news_id=12231&cat_id=558

Want to start a book club?

Have a look at this VIRTUAL book club concept - "Boekemakranka" http://leeskring.lefora.com/

FICTION FRIDAY Fiction @ Merensky

We recommend:

The Gathering / Ann Enright (Man Booker Prize winner 2007)

The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother Liam. It wasn’t the drink that killed him – although that certainly helped – it was what happened to him as a boy in his grandmother’s house, in the winter of 1968. The Gathering is a novel about love and disappointment, about thwarted lust and limitless desire, and how our fate is written in the body, not in the stars. (booksatrandom: http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/)

We recommend:

THE MERCY OF THIN AIR
(Ronlyn Domingue)

“Raziela and Andrew are a star-dusted couple. Then Raziela dies, and life changes. Especially for Raziela, who didn’t believe in spirits and suddenly finds herself one.”
“Written from the viewpoint of a spirit;
could be called ‘afterlife fiction’.”
“Perceptive, compelling” (http://www.reviewers-choice.com/)

At shelf no 813.6 DOMINGUE

We recommend:

CONFESSIONS OF A GAMBLER (Rayda Jacobs)

“Confessions of a Gambler centres, almost incongruously, around a Muslim woman in Cape Town who develops a compulsive gambling problem. Her name is Abeeda Ariefdin, or Beeda, and she is, in no particular order, a faithful Muslim, mother to four sons, the ex-wife of a cheating ex-husband, a sister, daughter, neighbour, employer and friend to some of the most delightful characters ever to wend their way into a novel.”

“The book is absolutely gripping and the reader is thrust from one drama to the next, all underpinned by the deterioration of Beeda’s state of mind, as she is drawn into the ever-darker world of the hopelessly addicted gambler.”

“Jacobs’s writing is littered with typically SA phrases and she switches between Afrikaans, English and African languages throughout, lending her writing a very chatty feel.” (Lisa McLeod, The African Review of Books)

We recommend:

PETALS OF BLOOD (Ngugi wa Thiong'o)

“After a terrible murder in the village of Ilmorog, four suspects are placed in detention: the headmaster; the storekeeper; the assistant teacher and the barmaid. Their lives are inextricably linked with the lives of the murder victims, the fortunes of Ilmorog and with the fate of Kenya itself.”
“Published to great controversy (…) it is as much a whodunnit as a political novel and satire.” (Nielsen BookData Online)

We recommend:

Six fang marks and a tetanus shot (Richard de Nooy)

“A war correspondent sets out from Amsterdam to South Africa to piece together the fragmented history of Ysbrand (Ace) and Rem, two brothers from SA.”

“The book starts with a hilarious look into the childhood of brothers Ace and Rem. Rem blunders into so many accidents as he tackles life without thinking . One feels sorry for Ace who gets burdened with the responsibility of keeping Rem, if not in one piece, at least alive.”

“…gripping ending which will take you by surprise.” (http://ninjamonkeys.co.za)

Get it at shelf no. 823.92 DE NOOY on Level 6

We recommend: KATY’S KID by Rosemund J Handler

- “Sex sells, or so the saying goes. If that is the case, this novel should be a bestseller”

A local author’s disturbing, heart-warming fictional tale of a young Cape Town girl’s life and struggle to choose better options amidst abandonment, violence and prostitution.

“Riveting local tale!”

Get it @ 823.914 HANDLER