Put together your list of must-reads this holiday from suggestions from our local authors.
Rahla Xenopoulos
“In spite of all the controversy, I’ll be reading Jonathan Franzen’s Purity. I adore him and his books usually make for an engrossing December read. For a bit of fraught romance I’m saving Flame in the Snow: The Love Letters of Andre Brink and Ingrid Jonker, and just in case I need escape I’ll have Death by Carbs, by Paige Nick.”
Rahla is the author of Tribe (Umuzi); rahlaxenopoulos.co.za
Sally Andrew
“I look forward to revisiting old friends – cosy mysteries by Erle Stanley Gardner, Agatha Christie, Alexander McCall Smith and Andrea Camilleri – and making new ones, particularly in Flame in the Snow: The Love Letters of Andre Brink and Ingrid Jonker. On the other hand, I may be reading the Landy mechanic’s manual, if we’ve broken down on the way to Botswana…”
Sally is the author of Recipes for Love and Murder. A Tannie Maria Mystery (Umuzi); sallyandrew.com
Kathryn White
“I have a long list of holiday reading, not least Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff and Purity by Jonathan Franzen, which I’m particularly curious about. I like his insights and meandering plots. Then, the triumvirate: Mindy Kaling’s Why Not Me?, Tina Fey’s Bossypants and Amy Poehler’s Yes Please for some chick power-through comedy. I love that they are promoting feminism through laughter and working to empower women to feel good about themselves.”
Kathryn is the author of Anna Peter’s Year of Cooking Dangerously (Umuzi); kathrynwhite.co.za
John Hunt
“I’ll be reading Up Against the Night by Justin Cartwright. I enjoy his writing. He doesn’t overcook things – neither too much nor too little. I will then move on to local author Claire Robertson’s The Magistrate of Gower. I can’t wait to get my teeth into this one. Then it’s back to the sixties and a re-read of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, as research for the next book I’m writing.”
John is the author of The Art of the Idea (Zebra Press).
Pamela Power
“I’ll be catching up on all the reading I haven’t managed to do during the year. On my list: Marriage Vows by one of my favourite local authors, Gail Schimmel; True Blue Superglue by Jenny Hobbs; Icarus by Deon Meyer, and Ndumiso Ngcobo’s Eat, Drink and Blame the Ancestors, because I find him absolutely hilarious.”
Pamela is the author of Ms Conception (The Penguin Group SA); pamelapower.co.za
Paige Nick
“Top of the pile is Chasing the Tails of My Father’s Cattle, by Sindiwe Magona – love and betrayal set in the Eastern Cape. Then Quicksand, the latest by Steve Toltz. His A Fraction of the Whole was an epic masterpiece, so I’ve been hanging for this one. And Bossypants by Tina Fey. I rarely re-read books, but this one is so laugh-out-loud funny on every page, I can’t wait.”
Paige is the author of Death by Carbs (Bookstorm); amillionmilesfromnormal.com
