Book Choice

"This cheerful hour: Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books, has a bagful of good books to cheer us through the chill. We talk to John Hanks, conservation expert and head of WWF in Africa about his passionate and deeply persuasive book 'Operation Lock and the war on rhino poaching'. Vanessa Levenstein reviews two books, very different in style and genre, both exploring the quest for love and belonging: 'The Course of Love – A novel', written by philosopher, writer and television presenter Alain De Botton, and 'Finding Martha Lost' by Caroline Wallace, the pseudonym for Caroline Smailes. Philip Todres chats to Man Booker Prize winner, the South African novelist Christopher Hope about his caustic new satirical novel 'Jimfish', while Phillippa Cheifitz finds comfort food in 'My Cape Malay Kitchen' by Cariema Isaacs. Little comfort in heart-stopping, chart-topping thrillers chosen by Mike Fitzjames. Beverley Roos Muller finds Joyce Carol Oates’s 'The Sacrifice' powerful and gripping."

"This happy hour: Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books, has a bumper bag of books, Beverley Roos Muller finds Yann Martel’s 'The High Mountains of Portugal' a marvellous but challenging read, and Philip Todres was disappointed in many ways by the telling of an important story in 'Letters of Stone' by Steven Robins. Cindy Moritz goes 'Inside the O'Briens', the new novel by 'Still Alice' author Lisa Genova, which promises to do for Huntington's disease, what 'Still Alice' did for Alzheimers. Peter Soal pens a paean of praise to 'The Sword and the Pen – Six decades on the political frontier' by Allister Sparks. Alexander Fuller’s marriage takes her from the beautiful yet brutal Zambezi, to the mountains and relative suburban existence of Wyoming. Vanessa Levenstein reviews Fuller’s memoir, 'Leaving before the Rains Come'. Then, From Wyoming to Mexico, John Irving’s 'Avenue of Mysteries' is a novel about how both fate and memories shape our lives, and finally something for the younger generation to nibble on, Ca

"This happy hour: Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books has a high pile of uber super reads for you. Et voila we chat to Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, the farmer’s lad from Limpopo, the first South African chef to receive a Michelin star for his eponymous restaurant in Nice! Felicitation, Jan! Pair Jan’s famed food with wine as the splendid John Platter tastes and tells of Caro Feely’s new book 'Wine'. Beverley Roos Muller was much moved by 'The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown', the USA rowing eight that won the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. Jay Heale reminds us of the richness of Africa in four fine children’s books - 'The Rainbow’s Heart', 'Fynbos Fairies', 'Stories of Africa' and 'Our Story Magic'. More of Africa as photographer Lisa King and essayist Sean Christie portray the old ways and the new of the Zimbabwean Stock Exchange in 'Sometimes I make money one day of the Week', Melvyn Minnaar was entranced. Mike Fitzjames has his wicked way with three crime novels to chill your heart, while a kinder Ci

This happy hour: Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books, finds fine reads for fine minds, while we raise our glasses to two connoisseusr du vin – the great and glorious John Platter on his new book 'My Kind of Wine', and Caro Feely who tells of the Feely family’s ultimately successful venture into a French vineyard in 'Grape Expectations' and 'Saving Our Skins'. Peter Soal finds provocation and stimulation in Ferrial Haffajee’s 'What if There Were no Whites in South Africa?' while Philip Todres finds a new monograph Sue Williamson – 'Life and Work' edited by Mark Gevisser a seriously handsome overview of Sue’s work. In 'The Secret Chord' by Geraldine Brooks, Cindy Moritz finds a biblical King David ecstatic, visceral and virile. Beverley Roos Muller checks Churchillian financial facts and figures in 'No More Champagne – Churchill and his money' by David Lough. RC Sturgis writes rivetingly and revealingly on 'The Mammals that Moved Mankind – A History of the Beasts of Burden'. If we've time, Jon Geidt reviews D

"This happy hour Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books picks perfect summer reading, fiction and non-fiction. Lynda Gilfillan, down-the-line from down under reviews 'Flame in the Snow – The Love Letters of Andre Brink & Ingrid Jonker', of which she, Lynda, was the copy-editor for the English translation. Cindy Moritz gives us good reason to read Anne Tyler’s gentle unwinding of 'A Spool of Blue Thread' with its deceptively small details of ordinary family life. Peter Soal wonders, with Ferial Haffajee and with some alarm 'What if there were no whites in South Africa?'. Beverley Roos Muller spies revelations in 'John le Carre – the biography by Adam Sisman', and Mike Fitzjames takes the thriller genre further with three cracking crime novels. Phillippa Cheifitz keeps her cool - and suggests we keep ours – with 'Ice Kitchen: 50 Lolly Recipes' by Cesar and Nadia Roden. Finally Vanessa Levenstein reviews Santa Montefiore’s 'Songs of Love and War', an epic romance with strong archetypal themes of land, love an