This is a look at some of the books that I reviewed and enjoyed this year. This was published one day before Christmas so that your last-minute gifts did not need to come from a garage shop! And I have included a book for 2018 that should be a school set work! Wishing everyone a book-filled 2025.
Prepare to be captivated once again by the brilliant storytelling of Deon Meyer in his thrilling new novel, LEO! Fans of Meyer’s iconic detectives, Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido, are in for a treat as they return in a gripping tale that intertwines mystery, suspense, and the complexities of life.
The story opens in Stellenbosch in a rather light-hearted manner, with Benny and Vaughn still demoted and seconded to the local police station. Then the roller-coaster ride begins with the discovery of the body of a young female student on a mountain trail. In a parallel storyline, and a Meyer novel ALWAYS has a parallel storyline (or two), a female field guide with a shadowy past gets swept into a high-stakes heist involving special forces soldiers. And as if that weren’t enough, a local businessman is brutally murdered in a shocking professional hit, leaving behind a cryptic message that begs the question: what secrets must be kept hidden?
During my chat with Deon, I learned just how much hands-on research he does into the technical aspects of his stories. Be it the timing of trucks driving from point A to point B or having the opportunity to fire the weaponry that his characters get to use. With his signature style, he explores themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the pressure of impending decisions—especially for Benny, who is just weeks away from his wedding day and grappling with the weight of it all.
LEO is published in South Africa by Human & Rousseau and is a must-have for any Deon Meyer enthusiast. Leo will entertain, inform and educate in ways that you never expected. SPOILER ALERT…Do not read LEO too quickly as you are going to have to wait 2 years for the next novel. ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT…If you think that you recognize some of the characters that populate the storyline, you are not mistaken. Reality and creativity at its very best…and a lot of the references make me either laugh out loud or groan as I remember what South Africa had gone through under certain politicians.
If you are struggling to find books that might fulfil your reading requirements. then give Bookist a try. It is a sort of dating app for books yet without the stress of will they like me back. Easy to download, and relatively easy to navigate, this app will help you find books in the genres you currently enjoy, yet with an occasional curveball to show you a title that you might like even though it is not in one of your chosen genres.
The app is, and according to Andrew, will always be free, so why not give it a try? To find out more about the app, use this link: website: https://www.bookist.app
Published by Struik Nature, Professor Emeritus Paul Skelton’s new book, Freshwater Fishes of Southern Africa, fills in many of the blanks that earlier incarnations of this work did not. Technology has allowed species that were previously unnamed to be identified, and the work is the seminal book on freshwater fish. As someone who knows very little about the species found in rivers, ponds, dams and streams in Southern Africa, this work was an eye-opener for me.
A new platform where I chat with authors of books that have crossed my desk.
Click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHlnIOSmJVkbaDWvseKUqbw
To find out who is currently in my ‘In Conversation With’… archive, use this link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC388F-0Eg2f8DQmd9hmMXzA
Travel is the proud winner of this prestigious award from the digital British lifestyle magazine Luxlife. The award is for Best Travel & Experiences Blog 2024 – South Africa.
“Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?”
Edgar Bergen
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