Burn after Reading: Top 10 Books in SA, what Madam & Eve's Rico Schacherl is reading, trending books and more

No Images? [Click here]( Dear {NAME}, The first week of August, wrote Natalie Babbitt, is like the sun-kissed pause at the top of a Ferris wheel. She was writing from her perch in the summery northern hemisphere, of course. In South Africa, stuck motionless at the bottom of the wheel, it’s cold and miserable, which is good news: it’s still book weather. Soon enough the wheel will creak to life and the country will rise into warmth. For now – scroll down for heaps of books to hoard as you hole up avoiding winter’s final bite. (Don’t really burn them after you’re done reading, though, despite this newsletter’s name, and the fact that they’d very likely give off a lovely heat.) Enjoy and, as always, meet you in the blank white spaces at the edges of print – Ben PS – Burn After Reading is co-produced with [The Reading List]( – why not send me some feedback on [Twitter](? Daily Maverick Best Sellers List Here are the bestselling books in the land, courtesy our exclusive Top Ten Best Sellers list. Drumroll please … Ten. Living Coloured (Because Black & White Were Already Taken) by Yusuf Daniels ... Nine. City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert ... Eight. The World’s Worst Teachers by David Walliams ... [Click here for our official Top Ten Best Sellers](. The grapevine: Books that have South Africans talking Notes on the books everyone has been pushing into your feeds. 1. Blood on Her Hands: South Africa’s Most Notorious Female Killers by Tanya Farber delivers an in-depth look into the lives, minds and motivations of women killers, including Daisy de Melker, Najwa Petersen, Dina Rodrigues and Chané van Heerden – who placed her victim’s facial skin in the freezer for preservation. *shudder* 2. Tobacco Wars: Inside the spy games and dirty tricks of southern Africa’s cigarette trade by Johann van Loggerenberg is a wild ride through big tobacco’s spy networks and double-dealings. Do you think Van Loggerenberg had any idea of the literary career he had on his hands, following the “Rogue Unit” saga? This is his third book in as many years! The DM’s own Sikonathi Mantshantsha says Tobacco Wars “should be prescribed reading material for lawmakers, civil servants, regulators, civil society organisations and the media, as well as alert citizens”. Plus Busisiwe Mkhwebane. (See an excerpt elsewhere in this newsletter.) 3. I Choose to Live: Life After Losing Gugu by Letshego Zulu who, in July 2016, set off with her husband, South African racing champion Gugulethu Zulu, to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro. Just days later, she returned home with her husband’s body in a coffin. Letshego’s story is a tragic and inspiring memoir, as much a tale of courage and stamina as she tries to make sense of her loss, as it is about the 17-year-long relationship the couple shared. 4. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead is the follow-up to The Underground Railroad, which won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the Arthur C Clarke Award. In his new novel, he dramatises another strand of US history, the Jim Crow-era American South, through the story of two boys sent to a hellish reform school, the Nickel Academy. 5. Black Widow Society by Angela Makholwa, first published in 2013, is back in the news: it has just gone into production as a film! In 1994, when South Africans were finally seeing the light of freedom, three well-respected businesswomen formed the Black Widow Society, a secret organisation aimed at liberating women trapped in abusive relationships – by assisting in the elimination of their errant husbands. For 15 years, the Black Widow Society operated undetected, and the novel builds to a chilling and bloody climax that will keep you guessing until the very last page. Read it before you see it! 6. Big Sky by Kate Atkinson has book clubs in shivers, because it means detective Jackson Brodie is back. He has relocated to a quiet seaside village, but there’s something dark lurking behind the scenes (natch). His current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband, leads Brodie to a chance encounter with a desperate man – and into a sinister network (natch!). Old secrets, new lies and dazzling writing by Atkinson are guaranteed. On my bedside table: Madam & Eve cartoonist Rico Schacherl Through its wit and artistry in shedding light on issues in South Africa, satirical cartoon strip Madam & Eve has brought great humour and joy to readers for the past 27 years. Today, Madam & Eve is coming to Daily Maverick! Rico Schacherl, one half of the cartoonist duo behind the comic, shares what he’s reading. I seem to be on an international, non-fiction history reading trip. I haven’t read a new novel in quite a while now, something I must remedy soon. Just finished: Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World. A fascinating, if occasionally somewhat dry, take on how and why certain languages spread worldwide, through empire, conquest, trade and migration; and how they have been used as various “lingua francas” – or shrunk or disappeared. Quite limited that, as a linguist, Ostler relied strictly on written sources, which sadly means large parts of the world, such as Africa and Polynesia, are left out. Currently reading: James Holland's Normandy ’44: D-Day and the Battle for France. Familiar territory, but with keen new insights on personal experiences from the time, on all sides. On my “to read” stack: Neil Gaiman's The View from the Cheap Seats, a collection of his non-fiction writings. Looking forward to some insights into writing, ideas and humanity to spark off renewed creative spirit. Also, Jared Diamond’s Upheaval: How Nations cope with Crisis and Change. His book Guns, Germs and Steel was a game changer for me in how to look at human history, when I first read it, many years ago. The dog ear: Brief notes on forthcoming books Coming soon to a bookshop near you, a pick ’n mix of new books. Here are six highlights. Parcel of Death: The Biography of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro by Gaongalelwe Tiro recounts the little-known life story of the “godfather” of the June 1976 uprisings. On 29 April 1972, Tiro made one of the most important anti-apartheid addresses in South African history: the Turfloop Testimony, which resulted in his expulsion with many other students, and ignited a series of strikes at tertiary institutions across the country. Tiro went into exile in Botswana, and was the first freedom fighter the apartheid regime pursued beyond the country’s borders – he was assassinated by a parcel bomb. Out later this month. Also out in August, Perfect Imperfections is the debut novel from Zimbabwean author Makanaka Mavengere-Munsaka, who worked for 14 years in finance before deciding to follow her literary calling. The book tells the story of a woman named Maxine, who escapes an abusive polygamous marriage to a man much older than her to make a new life in Harare, and the five “madams” she works for. A novel of self-love, romantic love and female friendships. A secret anguish for some, a proud responsibility for others, “black tax” draws heated and wide-ranging reactions. In a forthcoming work on the subject, acclaimed author Niq Mhlongo brings together deeply personal stories that tease apart a multitude of thought-provoking perceptions on black tax, by well-known writers including Dudu Busani-Dube, Sifiso Mzobe, Fred Khumalo, Mohale Mashigo, and many more. Black Tax is out in September. Get excited for The Confession, a new novel from Jessie Burton, the million-copy bestselling author of The Miniaturist and The Muse. Her newest is pitched as a luminous, powerful novel about secrets and storytelling, motherhood and friendship, and how we lose and find ourselves. Also out in September. Described as “a dazzling Don Quixote for the modern age”, Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte has already been longlisted for the Booker Prize, though no one has read it yet. The September release is inspired by the Cervantes classic, and tells the story of Sam DuChamp, a mediocre writer of spy thrillers, who creates a character named Quichotte, an aging travelling salesman, who falls in impossible love with a TV star and sets off on a picaresque quest across the US to prove himself worthy of her hand. Rushdie takes the reader on a wild ride through a Trumpland full of bigots, opioids, and violence, with the kind of storytelling magic and humour that is the hallmark of his work. The Karoo’s favourite agony aunt and crime fighter is back in Death on the Limpopo – the third in the hugely popular Tannie Maria series by Sally Andrew. A tall, dark stranger zooms into town on a Ducati motorbike: she is Zabanguni Kani, a journalist renowned for her political exposés, who, after receiving threats, is forced to move in with Tannie Maria for safety. Deon Meyer calls the Tannie Maria books “Utterly delicious!” On shelves this September. COLUMN A book to put a blister on a president’s brain Fascinated by how Redi Tlhabi’s 2017 book, Khwezi, got under Jacob Zuma’s skin, Ben Williams has a tip for South African publishers on how they might profit from this. So many people buying Khwezi, so many people talking about the woman who almost thwarted Zuma’s rise to power. He apparently thought the book was about him – he clearly didn’t read it, but still, it lived with him, night and day, like a ghost that had witnessed an evil deed from his past. It has never left him: it was by his side, there, in the Zondo witness box. [Read the column and get Ben’s hot publishing tip here.]( EXCERPTS Two excerpts from key SA current affairs books 1. The Stellenbosch Mafia: Inside the Billionaires’ Club by Pieter du Toit The picturesque town of Stellenbosch, nestled against vineyards and mountains, is home to some of South Africa’s wealthiest individuals: all male, most of them Afrikaans – and all fabulously wealthy. In his new book The Stellenbosch Mafia, Pieter du Toit examines this “club” of billionaires to determine whether the town has an outsized influence on South African business and society. In this excerpt, Johann Rupert, one of Africa’s richest men and a member of the “club”, reveals the details of the Bell Pottinger-orchestrated campaign he alleges was launched to discredit him. [Read the excerpt here](. 2. Tobacco Wars: Inside the spy games and dirty tricks of southern Africa’s cigarette trade by Johann van Loggerenberg This is the tale of a few good men and women who dared to try to hold to account a billion-dollar international industry rife with espionage, private spy networks, tax evasion, collusion and corruption – ultimately at great cost to themselves and South Africa. In this excerpt, the lid is lifted on Rollex and “Project Robin”. [Read the excerp]([t here](. UPDATE Daily Maverick Turns 10 – The Book The Daily Maverick team are notorious for our ability to debate the finer details: should our hoodies be grey or dark grey? What should the logo on our coffee cups be? What font should we use for our business cards? Every now and then, however, we all agree. It usually requires the Earth to be tilted at a particular angle and for a couple of us to be distracted by work but it can and has happened. One such occasion was our unanimous decision on the title of our 10-year book: We Have a Gamechanger: A Decade of Daily Maverick Let us explain where it came from. In April 2017, Branko Brkic was called to a secret meeting in Johannesburg. That meeting was where he was handed the #Guptaleaks. He messaged his business partner, Daily Maverick CEO Styli Charalambous four beautiful words: “We have a gamechanger.” It was a pivotal moment for Daily Maverick and you can read all about it when the book comes out. [Sign up here to be notified of major milestones, launch plans and even suggest topics for inclusion](. INTERVIEW Yusuf Daniels Living Coloured, Daniels’ book of vignettes about life on the Cape Flats and surrounds (and an official Top Ten Best Seller, see above!), has captured South African hearts. It started as a series of Facebook posts, and now keeps Daniels busy as a full-time author. Daniels on why his book emphasises the humorous side of things. You know what, people need a little bit of humour and laughter in their lives and that is why I made it a very lighthearted book. The little things that I mention that are a bit sad, the happiness and fun in the book overshadow those things and, that was the idea, to make people smile. [Read our interview here.]( THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT Current literary awards Keep up with all the key literary awards that other people are winning. Let’s start with continuing controversy. The 9mobile Prize for African Literature remains mired in it, following an exposé on the year-and-a-half delay in the announcement of its 2018 winner (which still hasn’t been made). In July, the prize’s sponsors said they would indeed honour their commitments; also in July, the prize’s patrons, who comprise the cream of Africa’s literary crop, resigned en masse. What next for this beleaguered award? In happier news, British-born Yoruba writer Tade Thompson has won the Arthur C Clarke Award for his novel Rosewater, and Nigerian writer Lesley Nneka Arimah the £10,000 Caine Prize for African Writing – the 20th time it has been awarded, 9mobile people please take note – for her short story Skinned. Meanwhile, we have lists! Namely: the Short Story Day Africa Prize shortlist of 10; the Booker Prize longlist of 13 (known as the “Booker Dozen”, and which includes Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, The Serial Killer, Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other, Deborah Levy’s The Man Who Saw Everything, and Chigozie Obioma’s An Orchestra of Minorities – go Africa!); and SA’s very own Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize and Alan Paton Award shortlists, featuring five books each. Good luck to all the ’listees. [Get more details on these awards and use them to practice the art of articulate conversation at tonight’s dinner party](. The Recipe: Veggie Burgers from Pinch of Nom Pinch of Nom by Kate Allinson and Kay Featherstone – the UK’s fastest-selling book of all time – proves that dieting should never be a barrier to good food. Our featured recipe this month is a burger – yes, a veggie one. You can’t beat a good veggie burger, after all. The very best are substantial and tasty and, if you’re a meat-eater, you don’t miss the meat at all. [Click here for the complete Pinch of Nom veggie burger recipe](. Further Reading: Book links galore At The Reading List, we’re trainspotters for book links, and we’ve collected a host of them – including author interviews, book excerpts and generally notable book items, like how “schadenfreude”, a key word for understanding modern times, became part of the English lexicon in 1853. [Click here to browse and enjoy at your leisure]([.]( [The Reading List]( Visit [The Reading Lis](t for South African book news, daily. Copyright 2019 Daily Maverick, All Rights Reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Maverick Life subscriber list. [Like]( [Tweet]( [Share]( [Forward]( [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](