FLF 2026

When Chris Hani was assassinated in his driveway in April 1993, he left a shocked and grieving South Africa, teetering on the precipice of civil war. But to 12-year-old Lindiwe Hani, it was the love of her life, her daddy, who had been brutally ripped from her world. While the nation continued to revere her father’s legacy, for Lindiwe, being Chris Hani’s daughter became an increasingly heavy burden to bear, propelling her into a downward spiral of cocaine and alcohol addiction in a desperate attempt to avoid the pain of his brutal parting.In this intimate and revealing memoir, Lindiwe faces her demons, not just those that haunted her through her addiction but, with the courage that comes with sobriety, she comes face-to-face with her father’s two killers. The book reveals the private meetings she had with both Clive Derby-Lewis before he succumbed to cancer in November 2016, and Janusz Walus, who is still serving a life sentence for her father’s assassination. It also includes extracts of the last interview with Chris Hani by historian Luli Callinicos.

Vividly set against the backdrop of 19th century India and the British-owned sugarcane plantations of Natal, written with great tenderness and lyricism, Children of Sugarcane paints an intimate and wrenching picture of indenture told from a woman’s perspective.Shanti, a bright teenager stifled by life in rural India and facing an arranged marriage, dreams that South Africa is an opportunity to start afresh. The Colony of Natal is where Shanti believes she can escape the poverty, caste, and troubling fate of young girls in her village. Months later, after a harrowing sea voyage, she arrives in Natal only to discover the profound hardship and slave labour that await her.Spanning four decades and two continents, Children of Sugarcane demonstrates the lifegiving power of love, heartache, and the indestructible bonds between family and friends. These bonds prompt heroism and sacrifice, the final act of which leads to Shanti's redemption.Endorsements“Joanne Joseph has skilfully crafted fact into fiction. May Shanti’s story inspire others to tell herstory.” — Pregs Govender, activist and author of Love and Courage: A Story Insubordination“Shanti is a heroine that the reader will not easily forget. The story that is told here is worth not only knowing but also remembering.” — Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, author, filmmaker and academic

Look around you – is anything real or normal any more? News, images and videos created by AI are everywhere. The world we live in is changing daily, and it’s no exaggeration to say that everything you thought you knew is undergoing apocalyptic levels of change. Our new normal includes AI CEOs, AI partners, AI versions of our dead relatives to keep us company, and customers deploying their own adversarial agent ‘armies’ to negotiate on their behalf. Meanwhile, the expensive skills you have accumulated, the jobs you’ve fought for, the relationships you’ve invested in, the organisations you’ve worked for, and the economies we depend on for survival are shrinking even as our choices expand. Discernment and understanding of context are now critical to your survival. So let’s stare the future down and, instead of fearing AI, become solutionists. In order to survive in this hyper-competitive, globalised and automated world, where the strongest and smartest winners are set to take all, we need to change our mindsets and our skill sets to become fit for the post-AI apocalyptic world that is here to stay. This means embracing progress and turning AI and technology into an asset with which we can co-exist, while continuing to create new possibilities far into the future. This book is a call to action to live on the flipside of fear.

In 1976 Max du Preez witnessed the first stones thrown and the first shots fired in Soweto on June 16 as a young newspaper reporter. Having grown up in the heart of Afrikaner nationalism, it was the end of his normal. It was also the end of normal for white South Africans, most of whom were living in blissful ignorance. The events of 1976 set in motion a continuous series of developments that led to the ruling National Party and the main liberation movement reaching a settlement in 1994 that brought democracy to South Africa for the first time. Over the last fifty years, Du Preez has had a front-row seat witnessing South Africa’s darkest and brightest moments as a journalist. He paints a colourful story as a child of apartheid, doing his military service, studying at Stellenbosch University and starting his career at Afrikaans newspapers. But what he experienced and had to report on, eventually led him to rebel and become a traitor to his volk and a media terrorist exposing apartheid’s darkest secrets. In The End of Normal he explores how otherwise decent people came to implement and support an evil system like apartheid. He examines the long-term impact of June 16 and takes a hard look at white and black attitudes today, in particular the resurrection of Afrikaner nationalism. A raw and honest account spiced with fascinating anecdotes, confessions and revelations.

Tannie Maria is wrestling with a fear of the dark, and her hen, Henrietta, has PTSD. But this doesn’t stop this intrepid agony aunt from going undercover with her fiancé, Detective Henk Kannemeyer, to the Karoo Wilderness Reserve. They're there to save the vetplantjies. At the KWR luxury game lodge, they spy on guests and support the Anti-Poaching Unit in a battle against dangerous criminals. Jessie attends the succulent symposium addressing international succulent poaching. Then, there is a murder ...Our favourite Ladismith sleuths – Maria, Henk, Jessie, Hattie, Reghardt and Piet – engage with a colourful cast of characters, including a barefoot artist, a botanist cowboy, a singing gardener, a shaman, and a sangoma. Between spying on tourists, solving murders, writing agony-aunt letters, eating divine food and having epiphanies, Maria and Henk get fabulous fashion tips from a couturier and his Baroness.But soon they too will be in the crosshairs.

Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido are languishing in Stellenbosch. Run-of-the-mill police work in the leafy university town is a far cry from their previous life in the elite Hawks. But when a student is found dead on a mountain trail, the two detectives find themselves trying to unpick a stubbornly difficult crime that grows more complex, and more ominous, as their investigation appears to implicate ever higher levels of government and law enforcement.In the north of the country, meanwhile, a beautiful wildlife guide is recruited by a group of special forces soldiers to act as a honeytrap, part of a dangerous multi-million-dollar heist that goes tragically wrong. Then back in Stellenbosch, a local businessman is found murdered in what looks like a professional hit—suffocated by fast-action filler foam sprayed down his throat. A message to keep silent—but about what? And the gang of thieves reorganizes, this time in pursuit of a fortune in illicit gold bullion.Unraveling who is connected to what is challenging, as the ex-soldiers’ plot careens into Benny and Vaughn’s now clandestine investigation, and South Africa’s “state capture” is increasingly evident. Solving this puzzle is turning into a deadly race against time, while another date approaches for Benny—Alexa has fixed the date for their wedding.Big trouble, on every front. The new book by #1 internationally bestselling author Deon Meyer builds to an astonishing climax as the corruption behind three seemingly-unrelated homicides is revealed.Endorsements“Deon Meyer is one of the unsung masters.” — Michael Connelly“Deon Meyer’s name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.” — Tess Gerritsen

The first of our organs to form and the last to die, the heart is both a simple pump and the symbol of what makes us human; as long as it continues to beat, there is hope. In The Story of a Heart, Dr. Rachel Clarke interweaves the history of medical innovations behind transplant surgery with the story of two children—one of whom desperately needs a new heart. One summer day, nine-year-old Keira Ball was in a terrible car accident and suffered catastrophic brain injuries. As the rest of her body began to shut down, her heart continued to beat. In an act of extraordinary generosity, Keira’s parents and siblings immediately agreed that she would have wanted to be an organ donor. Meanwhile nine-year-old Max Johnson had been in a hospital for nearly a year, valiantly fighting the virus that was causing his young heart to fail. When Max’s parents received the call they had been hoping for, they knew it came at a terrible cost to another family—in what Clarke calls “the brutal arithmetic of transplant surgery.” The act of Keira’s heart resuming its rhythm inside Max’s body was a medical miracle. But this was only part of the story. While waiting on the transplant list, Max had become the hopeful face of a campaign to change the UK’s laws around organ donation. Following his successful surgery, Keira’s mother saw the little boy beaming on the front page of the newspaper and knew it was the same boy whose parents had recently sent her an anonymous letter overflowing with gratitude for her daughter’s heart. The two mothers began to exchange messages and eventually decided to meet. This is the unforgettable story of how one family’s grief transformed into a lifesaving gift. Clarke relates the urgent journey of Keira’s heart and explores the history of the remarkable surgery that made it possible, stretching back over a century and involving the knowledge and dedication not just of surgeons but of countless nurses and technicians, immunologists and paramedics. The Story of a Heart is a testament to compassion for the dying, the many ways we honor our loved ones, and the tenacity of love.A riveting and inspiring true story of two families linked by one heart—written by a bestselling author and palliative care doctor.

Danny Marais is the twin brother of the beautiful, talented Charlie.The Wildest Beauty is a remarkable novel, an account of their early childhood to their eventual enlistment in the First World War. From their placidly peaceful Stellenbosch schooldays to, ultimately, the battle of Delville Wood, Danny keeps a loving but half-resentful eye on his brother.Though set largely in wartime, the novel is an intimate account of a small group of friends and family, including the loving parents left behind in Stellenbosch. And then there is Danny’s life-changing encounter, in the darkened streets of wartime London, with a wryly cynical, battle-scarred officer.In the midst of the greatest conflict in history, facing the wild beauty of ‘the abyss of unmeaning,’ Danny discovers the power of love, between friends, family — and even foes.

Three bodies are found scattered across South Africa. One on the shores of the Indian Ocean, one in a farm invasion in modern KwaZulu-Natal, and one in 1880, in the aftermath of the Anglo-Zulu War.Detective Sannie van Rensburg and marine biologist and former soldier Adam Kruger are each on the trail of a mystery, while more than a century ago colonial police officer Peter Gregory has a secret: to find the lost sword of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. But he’s not the only one who wants it.From the blood-soaked battlefields of colonial-era Zululand to the modern-day political struggles over land and poaching in South Africa and war in the Middle East, these investigations are on a dangerous collision course. Because people will kill for a symbol of power.A heart-stopping chase across South Africa to find Napoleon’s priceless lost sword, by the master of adventure, Tony Park.

Through exclusive interviews with zama zamas, syndicate insiders, intelligence operatives, and law enforcement officials, Zama Zama sheds light on the hidden mechanics of this shadow economy. The book delves into the violent and treacherous underworld where gang wars, brutal enforcement tactics, and corruption are rampant.

Claudia Esnouf went on a fearless, soul-searching odyssey to reclaim herself after the worst kind of heartbreak.For nearly a year, she ventured deep into the wilds of the Caucasus Mountains, trekked through the spiritual heart of Nepal, and navigated the chaos of India—all the while battling inner turmoil. Along the way, she faced down a rampaging water buffalo, survived a freezing glacier crossing, and unknowingly camped in a minefield.After returning to Europe, she embarked on the Camino Frances and, even after reaching Santiago de Compostela, refused to stop, walking the Camino Portugues as well—covering over 1,800 kilometers in eight months.Walk Like a Girl is a testament to the strength it takes to keep walking, even when you’re not sure where the path leads.Fans of Cheryl Strayed's 'Wild' will love Claudia Esnouf's vivid and poignant writing.

In the Eastern Cape, the gale force winds have nothing on the chanting gees of the boys at the prestigious local school. Isaac ‘Izzy’ Kingston, a recent matriculant and newly minted varsity dropout, has several bashers’ worth of hilarious and harrowing school memories to share with a sympathetic audience. Isaac’s nostalgic first-person confessional, peppered with tongue-in-cheek observations, takes readers from the testosterone-fuelled excitement and high drama of the rugby field on Reunion Weekend to near-death encounters on overnight excursions in Cradock.

Growing up can be difficult. When the government labels your people inferior and banishes them to a windswept ghetto, it’s going to be so much tougher. Then you find yourself out of step — belittled and jeered at. How much worse can things get? Much, as it turns out, for Anwar Mc Kay of Bonteheuwel. He discovered that his superpower was invisibility, only for the demons inside his mind to be let loose. But inside there has always been a spark and, with support from family and the occasional friend, he fought back until the spark became a flame. And then, as if by magic… best let him tell the story.

“Moving, fearless and unforgettable. Swift does what the very best books do: brings us into the beating heart of our humanity.” - Craig HigginsonWritten in the six weeks following the sudden death of Mat, Ferguson's soul mate, Swift is a memoir that unfolds, breath by breath, as the narrator moves through shock, fury, unspeakable sorrow, and an almost mythic sense of responsibility to save the life of a Swift, which she rescued seven days before her beloved left Earth.She somehow keeps the half-dead Swift alive through the blur of grief, but she has no real clue what she's doing. Mat was the one who knew all about birds. He was the man with the heart of feathers who identified the rescue bird as a Little Swift when she brought it home. Mat told her many things about the bird: that it never touches the ground, that it eats, sleeps, drinks, and mates on the wing, and that it is a bird that can fly for up to two years without landing.In the aftermath of his shocking departure, and all its absurd bureaucratic requirements, an unlikely long-distance Swift guide appears in Ferguson's DMs on old Twitter. Her name is Hannah, a hardcore Swift activist from the UK. Ferguson is mesmerized by the Swift Queen's ethereal beauty and the tattoos of Swifts across her back.

Should Paul Mashatile be South Africa's next president?Having survived scandal, controversy and the Zuma years, Paul Mashatile has risen through the ranks to the doorstep of the presidency.Over a political career spanning 30 years, he has successfully navigated the corruption and factionalism that the ANC has become known for.Now he wants to take charge of the party – and the Union Buildings. The question is: Should he? Is Paul Mashatile suitable for the highest office?He has been associated with the 'Alex Mafia' for more than 30 years. What influence do they have over Mashatile?He leads a lavish lifestyle, living in luxury homes in Johannesburg and Cape Town. How were they acquired?He has been outspoken about the economy, black economic empowerment, and South Africa's foreign relations. But does he have firm principles?And how has his string of lovers affected his professional life?This meticulously researched account by Pieter du Toit answers these vital questions and reveals the dark truth about the ANC's crown prince.

'Each one of these boxes contains a human being . . . We ran out of drawers,' the professor explains, 'so we started using these boxes.'Nicole Engelbrecht is back with a new book that delves into the cold cases of her phenomenally popular True Crime SA podcast.In Bare Bones, she re-examines missing-person and murder cases she has covered in her podcast series, and revisits the leads she tracked and the interviews she conducted. Much of the information has never been made public before.From the bones of a Jane Doe discovered under a swimming pool to a troubled young man who seemed to vanish in the prison system, from a business trip turned deadly to a child snatched from outside her home, Engelbrecht sifts the evidence anew and shines a light on old and new unsolved cases in the hope of bringing closure to the victims' families and friends. Join her in the search for the truth behind the scenes of the podcast desk.,

Norma Jacobs is your average accountant, running a book club on Facebook and living quietly with her gamer boyfriend in London. Except for the part where she’s being threatened by a deranged author and questioned by the police about attempted murder. All just as she’s started a new job as the only forty-two-year-old intern in the history of publishing.Harry Shields is a crime writer desperate to hit the big time when a negative review of his latest book on Norma’s page results in him having a spectacular public meltdown. He gets cancelled, his events get cancelled, and before you can say ‘author behaving badly’, he’s plotting revenge and stalking his nemesis.By the time Harry’s gone viral, and Norma’s given up trying to stop him, the online book club has over a hundred thousand rowdy members, and the comments section is a (literal) riot. Entertaining until one member ends up in a coma.A comedy about a group of book lovers who literally lose the plot. A savagely funny satire about online media and cancel culture, for everyone who thinks books are harmless.

The Chaos Precinct presents a compelling, brave – at times, lyrical – narrative of how migrant Ethiopians have shaped a trading post in Johannesburg’s inner city.On maps it is defined as the eastern edge of the original administrative area of Johannesburg. Those of us who have encountered the area of the city centre roughly bounded by Plein, Troye, Pritchard and von Brandis Streets have coined various names for it. The Ethiopian Quarter, Little Ethiopia and Little Addis are phrases we exchange in animated conversations about this unique entrepreneurial explosion. This exoticises a booming makeshift shopping hub that emerged without any formal planning intention or support. Municipal officials speak informally of the area as the ‘Chaos Precinct’. But the traders in the area call it by the hallmark road – Jeppe. For them it is a place of opportunity and fevered trade – in which the annual revenue generated is twice that of Africa’s wealthiest shopping mall. Jeppe is a dynamic, exuberant nerve centre that fosters entrepreneurship.Fortunes are made, loved ones back home are supported and commodities flow across Southern Africa – particularly fast fashion. Local and cross-border traders arrive on buses and taxis to buy shoes, t-shirts, dresses, underwear, jeans, suits, wallets, belts, nail clippers and cosmetics. Though situated on the dry Highveld, Jeppe is an entrepôt which bears a close resemblance to major port cities.

Unleashed is the hilarious, intensely honest memoir of Caitlin Venniker’s journey from Onderstepoort, the only veterinary training institution in South Africa, into the heart of private practice, with a few stops in the United Kingdom and Middle East along the way.It’s a story of growing up, juggling owners with high expectations and animals with big opinions, bluffing confidence, quirky colleagues, cows with anger issues and midnight emergencies. It’s about navigating the challenges of dating, using coffee as a crutch, finding humour in dark moments, and the immense joy and grief that come with loving animals.Endorsements‘Unleashed is filled with empathy, depth and a charming touch of humour at the perfect moments.’ — Sylvester Chauke‘An effortlessly comedic and deeply moving tale of a vet finding her feet and purpose. Venniker is that rare guide who’s honest, witty and relatable.’ — Alastair McAlpine‘Fascinating, funny and poetically heartbreaking. Who knew the secret life of a vet would be a page-turner?’ — Dion Chang‘Unleashed is a book that celebrates life.’ — Mike Nicol

The book explores his contribution to the National Planning Commission, the effects of the Marikana massacre on his political prospects and the real story behind his rise to the deputy presidency of the country in 2014. It sets out the constraints Ramaphosa faced as Jacob Zuma’s deputy, and explains how he ultimately triumphed in the election of the ANC’s new president in 2017.The book concludes with an analysis of the challenges Ramaphosa faces as the country’s fifth post-apartheid president.This commanding biography tells the full story of this enigmatic leader’s life and political career for the first time. It is based on numerous personal conversations with Ramaphosa over the past decade, and on rich interviews with many of the subject’s friends and contemporaries.

This family saga is told through the lens of the third generation of women who surround Lemohang Ntoi, the head of the family, as he struggles to hold onto life as he knew it. It is the Ntoi women’s assertiveness and drive that threaten Lemohang’s position and ideals for this family. We see their attempts at healing past trauma while they pursue their dreams. Fabrics of Love navigates issues around culture, legacy, love and marriage.

Most people can name the influential leaders and major battles of the past. Few can name the most destructive storms, the worst winters, the most devastating droughts.In The Earth Transformed, ground-breaking historian Peter Frankopan shows that engagement with the natural world and with climatic change and their effects on us are not new: exploring, for instance, how the development of religion and language and their relationships with the environment; tracing how growing demands for harvests resulted in the increased shipment of enslaved peoples; scrutinising how the desire to centralise agricultural surplus formed the origins of the bureaucratic state; and seeing how efforts to understand and manipulate the weather have a long and deep history. Understanding how past shifts in natural patterns have shaped history, and how our own species has shaped terrestrial, marine and atmospheric conditions is not just important but essential at a time of growing awareness of the severity of the climate crisis.Taking us from the beginning of recorded history to the present day, The Earth Transformed forces us to reckon with humankind's continuing efforts to make sense of the natural world.

Loony Birds, Lion Men and the Snake That Was a Gerbil draws from Bristow’s Stories from the Veld collection to bring readers the ultimate compilation of fascinating characters, extraordinary insights and action-packed bush tales of derring-do. Meet a five-foot-tall, gender-bending doctor prone to gun duels and a Khoi chief who escaped Robben Island multiple times. Venture to Mapungubwe, South Africa’s very own El Dorado; learn how the Sabi Reserve’s first game ranger fought off two lions with the help of his trusty hound, and get ready to be astonished.

The results of the 29 May 2024 elections caused a seismic shift in South Africa’s political landscape. For the first time in three decades of democracy, the ruling ANC did not emerge with a majority.With a constitutional deadline of just fourteen days to elect a president, the nation held its breath. Would the ANC forge a so-called doomsday coalition with the EFF and Patriotic Alliance, or a centrist partnership with its nemesis, the DA? What role would smaller parties play, and how would Jacob Zuma’s disruptive MK party impact on the negotiations?The Deal takes you behind the scenes of the negotiations that redefined a nation, providing exclusive interviews with party leaders, unique insights and stories, thoughtful analysis and vital context. From the exclusive Inanda Club to clandestine hotel basements and affluent private houses on Johannesburg’s Westcliff Ridge, negotiating teams met under immense pressure. Amidst volatile markets, a skittish currency and intense social media scrutiny, every decision was critical.Witness the nail-biting moments as talks through bilaterals and back channels teetered on the brink of collapse, and discover the personality clashes, factionalism and deft political manoeuvring that ultimately led to the establishment of the Government of National Unity. The Deal is a compelling record of history.

Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own…Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow—a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.

Enter the world of Charlie's four unlikely friends, discover their story and their most important life lessons. The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse have been shared millions of times online — perhaps you've seen them? They've also been recreated by children in schools and hung on hospital walls. They sometimes even appear on lamp posts and on cafe and bookshop windows. Perhaps you saw the boy and mole on the Comic Relief T-shirt, Love Wins?Here, you will find them together in this book of Charlie's most-loved drawings, adventuring into the Wild and exploring the thoughts and feelings that unite us all.

Forensic pathologist Ryan Blumenthal works in a world few people are ever exposed to . . . the mortuary. He spends his days among the dead, uncovering how they died and whether a crime was committed. To date, he has performed over 13 000 autopsies. In Trace, Ryan takes readers behind the scenes of some of the strange death scenes he has attended, such as a shallow grave beside a river where a body was found with an amputated finger. He also shares rare and unusual cases, including a man who may have died from autoerotic asphyxia and a suspected poisoning that turned out to be a shooting. His work has brought him face to face with many kinds of unnatural deaths, including those caused by lightning strikes, wild animals, muti killings, and even a solitary wasp sting. Through it all, Ryan sees himself as a voice for the voiceless, striving to bring justice to the dead and truth to their loved ones.

Kamran Esfahani, a dentist living out a dreary existence in Stockholm, agrees to spy for the Mossad after he’s recruited by Arik Glitzman, the chief of a clandestine unit tasked with running targeted assassinations and sabotage inside Iran. At Glitzman’s direction, Kam returns to his native Tehran and opens a dental practice there, using it as a cover for the Israeli intelligence agency. Kam proves to be a skillful asset, quietly earning money helping Glitzman smuggle weapons, run surveillance, and conduct kidnappings. But when Kam tries to recruit an Iranian widow seeking to avenge the death of her husband at the hands of the Mossad, the operation goes terribly wrong, landing him in prison under the watchful eye of a sadistic officer whom he knows only as the “General.”And now, after enduring three years of torture in captivity, Kamran Esfahani sits in an interrogation room across from the General, preparing to write his final confession.Kam knows it is too late to save himself. But he has managed to keep one secret—only one—and he just might be able to save that. In this haunting thriller, careening between Tehran and Tel Aviv, Istanbul and Stockholm, David McCloskey delivers an intricate story of vengeance, deceit, and the power of love and forgiveness in a world of lies.From former CIA analyst and best-selling author David McCloskey comes a novel that takes readers deep into the shadow war between Iran and Israel.

Imagine starting with a bold mission in 2012: to achieve financial inclusion through a multi-country bank. Within a decade, this vision becomes one of the fastest-growing fintechs in the world.Now, picture starting this business in South Africa, a country the IMF ranked as the hardest place to do business out of 49 countries surveyed. Imagine having the foresight to partner with a family-owned food retailer to establish a low-cost, physical banking footprint. Such success didn’t go unnoticed and one of the world’s largest banks acquired the company. A clash of cultures followed and, just four years later, the divestment. Despite the risks, one of South Africa’s wealthiest entrepreneurs stepped in to take control. Then came Covid-19. The business nearly hit the wall and shareholders demanded a successor of their choosing be trained. A frantic 217 pitches for fresh capital yielded no success. And then, at the eleventh hour, there was a reprieve as one investor and then another stepped up.Now, imagine launching in the Philippines, replicating and improving what works while designing an entirely new cloud-based banking stack with over 500 Vietnamese developers. Imagine assembling a team from Italy, the US, the UK, South Africa, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, India and Zimbabwe. Picture shaping a culture where failure is part of growth, and audacity is the norm, not the exception. Imagine becoming the global poster child for AI in banking and receiving an email in June 2025, informing you that your company is one of Time magazine’s Top 100 most influential companies in the world. This incredible story unfolds within the pages of It’s About Tyme.Endorsements"Courage and audacity are not just bold strategies — they’re the safest. Because playing it safe is, ironically, the riskiest thing you can do." — Roger Grobler, a long-standing investor in Tyme

Lions are the stuff of legends. Revered and feared in equal measure, both majestic and terrifying, they once reigned supreme over an extensive domain. But this once-dominant beast’s original range has contracted by some 85%, and the world population is thought to have dropped to just over 20,000 individuals. The IUCN Red Data List now classifies lions as Vulnerable, and the West African subpopulation as Critically Endangered.Not only are lion numbers crashing, but the remaining populations cling to their existence on ever smaller, more fragmented pockets of land. Feared and despised by farmers trying to eke out a living on marginal land, lions are increasingly being exterminated or repurposed for commercial gain. Trophy hunters pay extortionate sums to bag specimens in their prime, and lion bones are being sold for the roaring Eastern trade in ‘tiger wine’.This landmark book aims to halt the downward spiral. It takes you on a journey across the continent and into the lives of rangers, scientists and communities, and the majestic creatures they work to conserve. Along with the bad news about today’s lions, it offers a message of hope, showing how innovative conservationists are rethinking our approach to human-lion coexistence.This book, with its searing, inspiring images and vivid accounts from the experts and foot-soldiers of conservation, brings the plight of lions to the attention of the world and is an urgent plea for the actions that need to be taken before it’s too late.

As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait – were bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known officially as the ‘Indian Empire’, or more simply as the Raj.It was the British Empire’s crown jewel, a vast dominion stretching from the Red Sea to the jungles of Southeast Asia, home to a quarter of the world’s population and encompassing the largest Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian communities on the planet. Its people used the Indian rupee, were issued passports stamped ‘Indian Empire’, and were guarded by armies garrisoned in forts from the Bab el-Mandeb to the Himalayas.And then, in the space of just fifty years, the Indian Empire shattered. Five partitions tore it apart, carving out new nations, redrawing maps, and leaving behind a legacy of war, exile and division.Shattered Lands, for the first time, presents the whole story of how the Indian Empire was unmade. How a single, sprawling dominion became twelve modern nations. How maps were redrawn in boardrooms and on battlefields, by politicians in London and revolutionaries in Delhi, by kings in remote palaces and soldiers in trenches.Its legacies include civil war in Burma and ongoing insurgencies in Kashmir, Baluchistan and Northeast India, and the Rohingya genocide. It is a history of ambition and betrayal, of forgotten wars and unlikely alliances, of borders carved with ink and fire. And, above all, it is the story of how the map of modern Asia was made.Sam Dalrymple’s stunning history is based on deep archival research, previously untranslated private memoirs, and interviews in English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Konyak, Arabic and Burmese. From portraits of the key political players to accounts of those swept up in these wars and mass migrations, Shattered Lands is vivid, compelling, thought-provoking history at its best.A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it.Endorsements'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' — Peter Frankopan'Remarkable … The prose is vivid, the storytelling cinematic' — The Guardian'This book is a revelation … both original and important' — Mishal Husain'A stunning achievement. Shattered Lands reframes the story of South Asia with rare empathy and elegance, breathing life into the legacies of the partitions that shape a quarter of our world today' — Thant Myint-U'This richly researched, vividly written book tells the story of how a colossal and powerful Empire was broken up into many distinct nation-states… An impressive debut by a gifted and very energetic young writer' — Ramachandra Guha

Dr Sara Buhle, a troubled obstetrician, is thrust into a frantic search for a missing newborn in Durban. Sara is pulled into the search by rising SAPS star Vuyi Vilakazi. With time working against them, and rumours of muthi murders hounding the investigation, the pair find themselves in a race from the city centre to an informal settlement in the Hammarsdale Hills. Mere minutes will make the difference between success and failure.

South Africa can sometimes appear to be awash with occult crime. From satanist conspiracies and witchcraft accusations to muti murders and demonic possession, a trawl through our national news suggests a society at war with the forces of evil. Why does the occult have such a grasp on our collective imagination? In this vastly unequal country, with its crises of gender-based violence, child abuse, poverty and unemployment, there are more than enough obvious dangers to our social stability. Why, then, are South Africans so quick to blame the supernatural for violence and misfortune? How do beliefs in occult crime intersect with problems of gender, race and class? And is there any truth to these supernatural tales? The Devil Made Me Do It examines these and other thorny questions by probing the stories, beliefs and rumours behind the so-called occult crimes that have entranced South Africa’s fractured psyche. They include the murder of a child mistaken for a tokoloshe in the 1920s, the satanic panic that gripped the nation in the 1980s and 1990s, the Krugersdorp cult killings of 2012–16, and the muti murder of a six-year-old girl in 2022. What can these crimes, and the way they are represented by media, police and other institutions, tell us about South Africa today?

The story of a once promising young musician, this autobiography demonstrates how Roger Lucey’s life journey was radically changed by the South African apartheid. Having performed songs that reflected upon the cruelty and violence of late 1970s South Africa, Lucey drew unwanted attention from the State and police. A covert operation made sure that his music career was severely curtailed, forcing Lucey to search for other means of supporting himself. Following the musician as he explored various careers, including becoming a barman, a roadie, a sound technician, and a news cameraman, this account, told with humanity and humor, shares the hardships of a nation’s history.

When the flames of life's challenges have swept through you, who do you become from the ashes?Nozipho Tshabalala is a high-performing, excellence-driven, successful black woman. Being in control of everything in her life was crucial to her survival and success. For the most part, it had always served her well – until it didn't.In this captivating and deeply personal memoir, conversation strategist Nozipho invites you into her world – one shaped by political violence, professional triumphs on global stages and the intimate battles with loss that would test her most fundamental beliefs. Now in her 40s, she has realised that what she needed most to survive may not be what she needs to thrive.With vulnerability and wisdom, Nozipho demonstrates how surrender becomes not an act of defeat but a pathway to freedom. Her story reminds us that sometimes our greatest strength lies not in holding tighter but in opening our hands to release what no longer serves us.After the Fires is a call to reclaim the narrative amid life's unexpected turns. It honours the complexity of womanhood while celebrating the possibility of becoming exactly who you were meant to be, even when that person looks nothing like what you imagined.

Love, Zola is the captivating continuation of Zola’s vibrant, heart-stirring story. From career pressures to unexpected confessions, Zola and Mbali’s journey tests their understanding of commitment and what a happy ending truly looks like.Okuhle’s return to Joburg brings unfinished business — not just with her relationship but also with Zola, whose successes only serve as painful reminders of what she’s lost. Meanwhile, Zozo’s happily-ever-after in Durban is shaken as old feelings resurface.Filled with tension, passion, and poignant revelations, Love, Zola is a story of self-discovery, second chances, and the challenges of modern relationships. Can love survive when the past refuses to let go?

Fleeing her moribund marriage in Cape Town, Beth accepts a diplomatic posting to Shanghai. In this anonymous city she hopes to lose herself in books, wine, and solitude, and to dodge whatever pangs of conscience she feels for her fealty to a South African regime that, by the 21st century, has betrayed its early promises.At night, she hears the sound of typing, and then late one evening Zhao arrives at her door. They explore hidden Shanghai and discover a shared love of Langston Hughes—who had his own Chinese and African sojourns. But then Zhao vanishes, and a typewritten manuscript—chunk by chunk—appears at her doorstep instead. The truths unearthed in this manuscript cause her to reckon with her own past, and the long-buried story of what happened to Kay, her fearless, revolutionary friend...Connecting contemporary Shanghai, late Apartheid-era South Africa, and China during the Great Leap Forward and the Tiananmen uprising—and refracting this globe-trotting and time-traveling through Hughes' confessional letters to a South African protégé about the poet's time in Shanghai.An extraordinary, ambitious, globe-spanning novel about what we owe our consciences. How To Be a Revolutionary is an amazingly ambitious novel. It's also a heartbreaking exploration of what we owe our countries, our consciences, and ourselves.

The back-to-back Rugby World Cup–winning Springbok team has captured the imagination of South Africans in a way that has never been achieved before. This team serves as a fascinating case study of what is possible when an organisation focuses on being not just smart, but also healthy. By incorporating and modelling specific principles that aim to enhance the experience of players, staff and coaches, the team has managed to become more than the sum of its parts.This book unpacks these principles in a way that equips anyone responsible for leading a group, team or organisation with the tools to replicate what the Boks have managed to achieve in their own context. By drawing on personal and media interviews with those who helped shape their environment, including Jacques Nienaber and Steven Kitshoff, the book provides practical examples that enable readers to apply the approach themselves.The Bok Way is for anyone who wants to build a great team of their own and needs some stepping stones on the way. The principles highlighted are taken from the best-practice knowledge of organisational health and employee experience and are packaged in such a way to make them relevant, practical and entertaining.

Hell of a Country is a creative reimagining of the Scissors Murder – a famous crime from early 1970s South Africa.Eighteen-year-old Lorraine van Niekerk despises the fact that her boss and lover, middle-aged André Bekker, won’t leave his wife, Sunette, and marry her instead. Then one day her life fatefully intersects with driver Alfie Geemooi, a recent amputee who is on the run from the police.André is an orthopaedic technician, and Lorraine can grant access to the prosthesis Alfie desperately needs — but at one hell of a price…A pacy, poetic novel told from multiple points of view, Hell of a Country is a riveting true-crime story that examines the fault lines between power and desire.

Carol Trehorne’s only child, Max, is in ICU with severe burns. Max, a performance artist, has set himself alight. He recovers but it becomes clear that he is planning further performances that will put him at risk of serious injury or death. Carol, a single parent and a GP in a busy suburban practice, is worried that her son is not the genius his friends think he is, but might be on drugs or going psychotic. As she discusses her concerns with her son’s psychiatrist, she wonders if her past behaviour, in particular her relationship with the adventurous and anti-social Jack, has influenced Max’s determination to use his body as a site of violent art in the pursuit of revelation. Carol cannot accept that Max’s self-harm will have any effect other than to add to the meaningless violence in the world. Accident raises questions about what kind of life is worth living and what death is worth dying. It explores the different responses artists and scientists can have to violence and self-destructive behaviour, and throws into sharp relief the difficulties parents face when their children make decisions that appear incomprehensible.

Secrets are stacking up like wine barrels in the heat. And this year’s ferment? It’s definitely going sour.Winifred and Sylvie are keeping one eye on the dwindling bank balance of their bookshop-café and another on the menacing villager who knows too much about their side-hustle, which is anything but legal. When a wine-themed reality TV show rolls into town, the village of Riviersvalleij erupts in excitement. For Winnie and Sylvie, it should be a welcome distraction. But there’s nothing more real than reality TV and the cameras bring their own complications.Sylvie is convinced the slick presenter is greasier than her freshest vetkoek and Winnie chokes on her Sauvignon Blanc when she hears that Skokiaan, the mampoer king, is suddenly bottling five-star wine.But then a body turns up in the leiwater... When survival depends on keeping the freezer door — or wine vat — firmly shut, how far will Winifred and Sylvie go to protect their deadly secret?

'Dear Eve Simmons, your husband has applied for a divorce,' it read.All I was required to do was click the link enclosed and select if I agreed or disagreed. I ticked the box titled 'agree', bit off a chunk of my nail and looked at the screen, thinking, now what?What happens when 'happily ever after' ends too soon?Eve Simmons had the life she thought she loved, a home, a future, security. Then, overnight, it was gone. Her husband left with no explanation. No conversation. No closure.Thrown into a heartbreak she never saw coming, the award-winning journalist did what she does: she investigated. What she discovered was startling — her story wasn't rare. A growing number of women are being blindsided by sudden, unexplained breakups. Some are mourning long-term relationships and others, marriages that had barely begun.In What She Did Next, Simmons blends gripping memoir with original reporting to uncover the hidden dynamics driving modern lovers apart, from emotional avoidance and burnout to shifting expectations of intimacy.This is a powerful, timely book of love, loss and the courage to begin again.Endorsements'An honest and helpful guide to what happens when life doesn't go according to plan. I know so many people who need this.' — Elizabeth Day

Farah Garda believes that she’s incapable of change, stuck in a pattern of self-loathing and destructive tendencies. She leaves Cape Town to care for her ailing mother and stumbles into grief, growth, and green smoothies. Love doesn’t save her—she saves herself.Told with humour and unflinching honesty, Why Am I Like This? follows Farah on her journey to finding purpose in life, perhaps for the very first time.

This captivating and informative book focuses on the coastal and terrestrial bird species most at risk within South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini. Personal accounts from scientists, conservationists and guides on the front lines offer insight into the science, skill and dedication required to safeguard these species. The birds featured are not merely fascinating creatures — they act as sentinels of biodiversity, whose decline signals concerning ecological shifts. A valuable resource for birders, students, educators, conservationists and anyone who cares about the future of our planet, Birds on the Brink is both an enduring record and a call for conservation action at this tenuous moment in time. It is a reminder that while the challenges are immense, so too is our capacity for change.

At school, James Urdang was a troublemaker who battled to get a passing grade. His most memorable achievement, aside from earning a coveted spot in the rowing First VIII, was driving his BMW down a narrow corridor at speed. But for all his learning challenges, the young James was driven by a dream. Conscious of his place of privilege in a divided society and stirred by the quest for social justice in the face of apartheid, he hoped to start a school to educate, uplift and empower the lives of others. At the dawn of South Africa’s democracy, with the mentorship and support of Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela, that dream took root in a non-profit organisation called Education Africa. But this is also a story of the fight to save Education Africa from a hostile takeover attempt, led by executives from a global bank that had once been a trusted benefactor. Told with wit and candour, this is a story about possibility, about what can happen when you believe in something bigger than yourself, and about the power of education to rewrite lives, one lesson and one classroom at a time.Endorsements‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ — Nelson Mandela‘…this memoir captures the essence of what it means to lead with heart, to serve with humility, and to believe – truly believe – that every child, no matter where they come from, deserves a fighting chance.’ — Razia Saleh, Nelson Mandela Foundation

Force for Good is a bold and refreshingly balanced exploration of positive masculinity, written to inspire men to become powerful forces for good in a world that desperately needs them to step into this role. The book challenges the extremes that often define the discourse around masculinity – aggressive dominance on one side and passive disengagement on the other. It offers a vision of true and healthy masculinity that is both strong and gentle, fierce and safe, confident and humble. At its core is the conviction that men are made to be powerful forces, but only in service of what is good. Power, often misunderstood or negatively viewed, is essential. Without it, a man cannot fulfil his potential or meet the needs of those who depend on him. Power itself is neutral; how it is used determines whether it becomes a force for good or harm. The book is divided into three parts – Being Man, Becoming a Force, and Doing Good – and builds a compelling case for the value of healthy masculinity. It explores the internal and external battles men face, the journey from boyhood to manhood, and the sacred responsibility to grow in strength and purpose. Force for Good calls men to action, not against others but for the good of others. It is a timely, courageous invitation to be all that a man was made to be, because such a man will be a Force for Good.

Annemarié van Niekerk returns to South Africa from the Netherlands to pay her respects to her gentle friend Ruben after he and his mother are brutally murdered on their farm in the Eastern Cape. The visit triggers memories of journeys in her youth from the 1960s to the 1980s: from Port Elizabeth, where Annemarié grew up in a loving yet strict Afrikaner household, to Umtata, where she lectured at the university and fell in love with Denzel, a black colleague, leading to serious and ongoing conflict with her staunchly Nationalist father. It also recalls her time in Hillbrow, and later Yeoville, where she and Denzel illegally lived together, until violence tore their relationship apart. As she grapples with the violence that permeates South African society, Annemarié immerses herself in the details of the court case against the murderers of Ruben and his‑mother. Masterfully told, it poignantly interweaves the author’s personal story with some of the most pressing issues of our time.

It hasn’t been a great week for struggling actor Arnold Prinsloo. His career has hit rock bottom, he’s about to be evicted from his cottage in Melville, and, worst of all, Zelda, the love of his life, has finally run out of patience and left him. But when Arnold is accused of murdering insurance billionaire JP Mulder, his problems are only just beginning. Now Arnold must tackle the greatest and most dangerous acting role yet: pretending to be a hard-boiled East Rand detective in a race against time to clear his name, win back Zelda, and finally take off these way-too-tight polyester pants. The curtain is rising…

In the 1970s, South Africa’s wine industry was a closed shop – dominated by monopolies, Afrikaner nationalism and Apartheid-era control. Red Tape tells the remarkable story of Tim Hamilton Russell, a maverick entrepreneur and founder of Hamilton Russell Vineyards, who was determined to challenge this status quo. Defying restrictive laws, industry boycotts, and scepticism from the establishment, Tim pursued his vision to plant noble grape varietals in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley – a region few believed in – proving the country could produce world-class table wines.This richly detailed account, written by his daughter Bridgid Hamilton-Russell, uncovers the political obstacles he faced, the court battles he waged, and the legacy he built in establishing a wine region now recognised worldwide. Blending biography, social history, and an insider’s view of a transformative era, Red Tape reveals how courage and vision can reshape an industry.Key features: The first book to chronicle the birth of the Hemel-en-Aarde wine region and its impact on South African wine culture. A rare, behind-the-scenes look at Apartheid-era bureaucracy and its effect on the wine industry. Written by the subject’s daughter, offering personal insight and authenticity. Appeals to wine enthusiasts, historians, and readers interested in stories of innovation and defiance. Includes archival material, personal correspondence, and contributions from key figures in South African wine.

Captain Jonathan Morris, the Confessor Cop, used empathy to extract confessions from even the toughest criminals. With a 99% success rate, his cases, from catching serial killer Jimmy Maketta to investigating the Sizzler’s Massacre, earned him the respect of prosecutors and profilers. In this memoir, Michael Behr explores Morris’s high-profile investigations and personal struggles, revealing the man behind the badge in a gripping blend of true crime and personal story.

At 39, Michelle Roniak underwent cosmetic surgery—in secrecy.She hated her torso and had spent a lifetime chasing the hourglass figure. Liposuction felt like the final solution. Her surgeon suggested a small gap at the top of her thighs—it was trendy. Why not?There wasn’t a flicker of doubt that anything could go wrong. She’d had Botox, fillers, even a boob job. All successful. All with top professionals—this one included.Botches were for back-alley surgeons.What followed was catastrophic. Her body ballooned instead of shrinking. Morphed. Possessed. Grief hit like a terminal diagnosis, and self-blame moved in, savage and unrelenting. Shame swallowed her whole.She couldn’t find a single book, forum, or guide for women like her.So she wrote one.Through that sticky, suffocating grief, a deeper truth: She had been living with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)—a relentless, unspoken battle where perceived flaws became an obsession, and self-acceptance always felt out of reach.Healing from Botched Cosmetic Surgery is a raw, unflinching memoir about body dysmorphia, plastic surgery gone wrong, and the silent shame women carry. It is for anyone who has battled body image, endured the trauma of a cosmetic surgery nightmare, or is searching for a story of resilience and healing.A mommy makeover—minus the baby. Her artillery. Her high. This is not just a story about what went wrong. It’s about what it takes to come back.

Presented as a literary mixtape, Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is a work that provides you with a uniquely modern reading experience. The A-Side, read as one narrative, tells the story of a soon-to-be thirty-year-old aspiring writer navigating a complicated world. The B-Side, taken as a separate experience, features (seemingly) independent and unrelated short stories. There’s “Crunchy, Green Apples (or, Omo)”, a story about loss told by the strangest of narrative devices: a shopping list. “Sofa, So Good, Sort Of (or, John Muafangejo)” is a first-person account of a family’s history and a long journey towards hope. A group of friends attempts to navigate a recent breakup in “From the Lost City of Hurtlantis to the Streets of Helldorado (or, Franco).” When read together, however, a third world emerges—a complex, intergenerational, and interconnected journey across genres that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. Endorsements “An absolute marvel of a book.” — Dinaw Mengestu, author of Someone Like Us “A journey across all genres.” — Mukoma Wa Ngugi, author of Unbury Our Dead with Song

Mac Mackenjee is a tax collector in a country that refuses to pay taxes on principle and in an age when populism is on the rise. Mac is an expert at uncovering hidden ‘black money’ and soon finds himself unravelling a high-level conspiracy to loot public company revenues. Meanwhile, his wife Tejal, a lawyer, defends a young revolutionary accused of destroying statues and burning buses.As these two strands intersect, Mac and Tejal are entangled in a web of tax cheats, forensic investigators, activists, politicians, billionaires, and even a baker. Amidst rising threats, the couple grapples with their minority status and the universal middle-class challenge of finding the right school for their sons.

From the bustling township of Mamelodi to the heart of European diplomacy in Brussels, Mbali Langa has fought for every opportunity – and sacrificed more than she cares to admit. As a rising diplomat with a sharp mind and an unwavering ambition, she is no stranger to the delicate balance of power and persuasion.But when an illicit affair threatens to shatter her career, and hidden enemies begin to close in, she finds herself trapped in a game where trust is a luxury she can’t afford. In Brussels, behind the polished façades of diplomacy, lies a dangerous world of secrets, betrayals and high-stakes deception – where one wrong move could cost her everything.Caught between duty, love and the weight of her past, Mbali must decide just how far she’s willing to go to secure the future she’s always dreamed of.A gripping story of power, ambition, and the price of desire.

'You can't win it all. But everything, and I mean everything, can be lost.'Welcome to Vivo. Art, Maggie and Felix spend all their time at the Mean Monsoon, drinking and talking about making it big. Art loves Maggie but has a problem with his heart. Maggie loves music but can't get a break. Felix, who's currently homeless, loves everyone. But things are about to change for these three friends with the arrival of a well-dressed and enigmatic stranger.Playful, nostalgic, sexy, philosophical, original, stylish and just plain cool, The Dogs of Vivo has it all.

'. . . there is a quiet here that doesn't exist on land, a fluid suspension that reminds me that humans were never meant to be so rigid, so fixed in place. In the sea, we are both vulnerable and free . . .'Deep Blue is a love letter to the sea, exploring humans' deep connection with the ocean and the bliss of swimming, diving, dipping and simply being in salt water.Join Veruska De Vita, a learner free diver and open-water swimmer, as she delves into why the ocean calls to us. Along the way she talks to those who find healing and wellness in swimming groups and cold-water immersion, scientists who study complex marine environments, elite athletes who swim super-human distances along our coasts and free divers who plumb the depths with one breath.Water is primordial. It gives life. It represents hope and renewal. This book is not only for sea worshippers. It promises to inspire everyone to jump with joy into the waves – and offers reflections on our intimate relationship with the sea, which supports life on earth and requests that we respect it.

From South African author Nadia Davids comes a gothic psychological thriller set in the 1920s, where a young maid finds herself entangled with the spirits of a decaying manor and the secrets of its enigmatic owner.I come highly recommended to Mrs. Hattingh through sentences I tell her I cannot read.The year is 1920, in a small, unnamed city in a colonial empire. Soraya Matas believes she has found the ideal job as a personal maid to the eccentric Mrs. Hattingh, whose beautiful, decaying home is not far from The Muslim Quarter where Soraya lives with her parents. As Soraya settles into her new role, she discovers that the house is alive with spirits.While Mrs. Hattingh eagerly awaits her son’s visit from London, she offers to help Soraya stay in touch with her fiancé Nour by writing him letters on her behalf. So begins a strange weekly meeting where Soraya dictates and Mrs. Hattingh writes—a ritual that binds the two women to one another and eventually threatens the sanity of both.Cape Fever is a masterful blend of gothic themes, folk-tales, and psychological suspense, reminiscent of works by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Daphne du Maurier. Soraya Matas is an unforgettable narrator whose story of love and grief is also a chilling exploration of class and the long reach of history.

Did you just taste something delicious? That was a glimmer. Notice the way the light slanted in through the window? That was a glimmer.Glimmers are easy to miss as they’re so brief and fleeting, but they can help your mood shift and lift. Finding them—uncovering them on the commute, or while doing the same-old daily routine—is an art and a skill. Looking for glimmers is a recognized mental health practice to enable you to deal with the darkest days.In this book, 12 thematic chapters each hold 30 or 31 beautiful glimmers, plus two aligned alternatives—amounting to one entry for every day of the year and more than 1,000 glimmers. Learn to notice micro-moments of joy such as putting on a pair of new socks, stroking a purring cat, popping a cork, walking up a hill and looking back at how far you've come, finishing a jar, watching a rainbow brighten, sinking your hands into earth, being told "no rush", reviving a dying fire, and hundreds more.With beautiful line-drawn illustrations, exercises to help you uncover more joy, and reflections on the history and effects of glimmers, this fun, fresh book is small enough to pop in your bag—but big enough to expand your life.This beautiful pocket self-help book teaches us to notice three-second glimmers of joy every day, to build resilience and deal with difficult times. In difficult times it's easy to get lost in the darkness — but this book gives us the tools to find three-second glimmers of joy every day, to build our resilience and keep us going.

On the Sponge Islands follows Julia Martin’s journey through the Greek Dodecanese, where she returns three times over five years to trace the cultural and ecological legacy of sponge diving. Drawn by the ancient marine life of the Aegean Sea, Martin finds that the porosity of sponges—once symbols of utility and wonder—has also made them vulnerable, mirroring the fragility of the ecosystem and the communities entwined with it.Her first visit introduces a cast of islanders—Manuel, Aphrodite, and Lefteris—whose stories reveal the rise and fall of the sponge trade and its entanglement with environmental devastation. The islands bear scars of conflict, both human and ecological, yet the Aegean remains a luminous force.On her second journey, Martin is recovering from cancer treatment. Her encounters deepen with old and new friends, including Orfeas—a man whose name echoes mythic returns from death. Her reflections grow more personal as she begins to see the sponge islands both as a microcosm of the global environmental crisis and as a place where recovery, both human and ecological, may be possible.By 2022, during her final visit amid the post-pandemic, restoration has become central. The tiny island of Halki, once emblematic of decline, reimagines itself as the first “Gr-Eco” island, powered by green technology. On Rhodes, Martin meets Zinovia, a pioneering female diver and activist scientist who embodies the region’s future.Through Martin’s elegant, searching prose, On the Sponge Islands connects natural history, personal recovery, and environmental reckoning. It is a story of extinction and resilience, suffering and beauty, fragility and hope. Above all, it insists that it’s not too late—not yet.

Behind the façade of South Africa lies a brutal shadow-world ruled by mafias, cartels, and crime syndicates locked in a ruthless war over South Africa’s riches. There’s the tobacco mafia. The water tanker mafia. The taxi mafia. The hospital mafia. The construction mafia. The kidnapping mafia. Each one feeds off a vast web of patronage and extraction that stretches from street level to the highest echelons of government. Their bloodsucking tentacles reach deep into municipalities, state-owned enterprises, political parties, the police, and even the National Prosecuting Authority. Those who resist them are silenced in cold blood. This is not a criminal underworld lurking in the shadows. It is part of the system itself. Where does organised crime end and the state begin? Are the two so intertwined that it has become near impossible to distinguish the one from the other? Has South Africa become a mafia state? Multi-award-winning investigative journalist Kyle Cowan sets out to answer these and other questions, revealing the dark underbelly of a country where the thin blue line has all but disappeared.

On 23 August 2021, a quiet, hardworking single mom was shot down as she drove home. Her name was Babita Deokaran, chief accountant at the Gauteng Department of Health. The izinkabi paid to kill her were caught, but the question is: who ordered her murder, and why? Crime reporter Jeff Wicks set out to find the answer — a pursuit that would profoundly change, even endanger, his life. This is an explosive investigation into state capture and a moving tribute to the cost of integrity.

It is 1921 and at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Robert Hamlyn is a well-to-do lawyer and his steely wife Lesley a society hostess. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert's, comes to stay.Willie Somerset Maugham is one of the greatest writers of his day. But he is beleaguered by an unhappy marriage, ill-health and business interests that have gone badly awry. He is also struggling to write. The more Lesley's friendship with Willie grows, the more clearly she sees him as he is — a man who has no choice but to mask his true self.As Willie prepares to leave and face his demons, Lesley confides secrets of her own, including how she came to know the charismatic Dr Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighting to overthrow the imperial dynasty of China. And more scandalous still, she reveals her connection to the case of an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts — a tragedy drawn from fact, and worthy of fiction.The House of Doors is a masterful novel of public morality and private truth a century ago. Based on real events, it is a drama of love and betrayal under the shadow of Empire.EndorsementsMan Booker Prize–shortlisted Tan Twan Eng.

Popina Khumanda was five years old when a group of strangers invaded her village, bringing fire and death and terror that a young girl should never imagine. The Smallest Ones is a harrowing and powerful true story of survival and resilience in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo in the early 2000s. Popina recounts her capture by rebel soldiers, the killing of neighbours and friends, and the cruel torture and rape of the survivors. She shows how young boys were moulded into child soldiers and others were forced into slave labour. She recalls her flight for freedom with her older sister, beginning an epic journey to South Africa – and how, even so far away, their nightmare was not over. The Smallest Ones bears witness to the destructive impact of conflict on innocent lives, particularly children and women. Written with raw emotion and unflinching honesty, this book will take you to the darkest corners of human experience, yet it is also a testament to the enduring power of hope and the will to survive. This is not just a story of tragedy, but a poignant exploration of the human spirit’s capacity to endure and overcome.

For the past decade, Arthur Goldstuck has had a front-row seat to witness the remarkable rise of AI across all sectors of business and society. As generative AI becomes a household phrase and sparks hopes and fears of machines augmenting or replacing human beings, this guide offers an invaluable overview of the past, present and future of AI.The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI is aimed at both beginners and those who consider themselves experienced or skilled at using AI. It draws on many years of direct access to global and regional leaders in using AI, from Africa to the Middle East to North America to Europe and Asia, and it provides unique perspectives on generative AI, as well as practical advice for using it.It is useful for consumers, academics, professionals and anyone in business who wants to get up to speed quickly and practically. It also entertains and inspires anyone who is curious about AI or already engaged in its possibilities.Need to understand or refine prompting? You’re in the right place. Need to prepare for the coming impact of AI on health, travel, education and business? This is the book for you.

In this deeply personal memoir, released alongside her documentary, Rachel Kolisi takes readers behind the public image and into the private moments that shaped her. With courage and clarity, she traces her journey through childhood, motherhood, love, marriage, her faith in God tested and rebuilt, loss and reinvention, and the complex reality of living a life under constant scrutiny.This is not a story of perfection or arrival, but of becoming. Of breaking, rebuilding and choosing to rise anyway. Through hard-learned lessons and unflinching honesty, Rachel reflects on what it means to let go of who you were expected to be and step fully into who you are. Alongside her personal journey, she shares how purpose and service became anchors in her healing process. Her commitment to uplifting others is not separate from her story, but a natural continuation of it.Falling Forward is a story of reclaiming identity, voice and power. Raw yet hopeful, grounded yet powerful, Falling Forward is for any woman who has had her world turned upside down, and found the strength to begin again.

On 16 June 1976, thousands of Black South African school children took to the streets of Soweto in protest against the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction under apartheid education. Met with brutal police force, many never returned home. This pivotal day, now remembered as the start of the Soweto Uprising, also reverberated through the walls of 6001, Lebo Diseko’s family home in Orlando East. In The House at 6001, Diseko traces the intertwined lives of her parents and her aunts and uncles who gathered, organised and resisted within their four-room Soweto house. From banning orders and exile to late-night parties filled with music and defiance, their story captures both the intimacy and the enormity of South Africa’s struggle. Drawing on unsealed government documents, interviews and her own personal journey to revisit her family history and home, Diseko offers a moving memoir of resistance, secrets and the lasting cost of freedom.

Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions that included a central state able to keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.Francis Fukuyama, author of the bestselling The End of History and the Last Man and one of our most important political thinkers, provides a sweeping account of how today’s basic political institutions developed. The first volume of a major two-volume work, The Origins of Political Order, begins with politics among our primate ancestors and follows the story through the emergence of tribal societies, the growth of the first modern state in China, the beginning of the rule of law in India and the Middle East, and the development of political accountability in Europe up until the eve of the French Revolution.Drawing on a vast body of knowledge—history, evolutionary biology, archaeology, and economics—Fukuyama has produced a brilliant, provocative work that offers fresh insights on the origins of democratic societies and raises essential questions about the nature of politics and its discontents.

Alexandra Fuller was the daughter of white settlers in 1970s war-torn Rhodesia. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight is a memoir of that time, when a schoolgirl was as likely to carry a shotgun as a satchel. Fuller tells a story of civil war; of a quixotic battle against nature and loss; and of her family's unbreakable bond with a continent that came to define, shape, scar and heal them. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she looks back with rage and love at an extraordinary family and an extraordinary time.

Born with cerebral palsy, Sheryl James spends the early years of her life arguing with the world and God about her disability. After a strange encounter with Him, she sets out to defy the possibilities defined for her by the crowd, experts, and her family. When doors close on her quest to compete as a para-athlete, she abandons a dream she has secretly nurtured, opting instead for long-distance running against able-bodied athletes. With one failed and two successful Comrades marathons behind her, she resigns from her job to seek her real purpose. At the unlikely age of 33, longing to address the marginalisation of people with physical disabilities in rural South Africa, she is unexpectedly launched into the world of sprinting. Her trajectory is set for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Perhaps her scary dream is indeed possible. With the odds already stacked against her, what more can life hurl at her as she pursues what most believe impossible?

Since the Zuma presidency weakened crime intelligence, violent crime has surged, with murder rates rising by over 75%.South Africa faces a severe femicide crisis, and most murderers evade justice.Prisons often fail by perpetuating crime; harsher sentences do not help.After visiting prisons, Edwin Cameron advocates for reform.With colleagues, he recommends abolishing minimum sentences and cash bail, and decriminalizing drug use to improve safety and justice.

This book tells the story of how Julius Malema used his growing political clout to bankroll his party and amass a personal fortune. It reveals astounding new details about Malema’s old, seemingly forgotten scandals in Limpopo and how loot from the VBS Bank found its way to Malema and Shivambu. It shows the insidious ways in which money courses through South African politics and how some leaders exploit valid grievances about inequality to steal from the very people they claim to fight for.

Four years. Seven continents. A quest to document and champion the preservation of the most remote wilderness realms on earth. Veteran wildlife photographer Peter Pickford and his wife, Beverly, had a dream to photograph the last remaining wild land on earth. "We had become increasingly distressed by two ideas. The first was a sense of panic at how rapidly wild places and the life that thrived there were diminishing. The second was that we felt compelled to act, to do something about it. I was haunted by the words 'Be the change you want to see in the world'."To the Edges of the Earth recounts their four and a half years of overland travel across every continent in their specially adapted Land Rover. Their journey took them not only through the earth's last wild landscapes but deeper into the heart of adventure: the places, the people, the excitement, the serenity, the hardship and the joy that stepping outside into the unknown brings sharply into focus.Join them on their journey through the storms of Antarctica and the quiet brooding of ancient Patagonian forest, and discover the vast vistas and wild denizens of Alaska and the Yukon. Feel the potent scrutiny of a polar bear in the Arctic, endure the lack of oxygen on the Tibetan Plateau, the loneliness of the deserted Australian Kimberley, and sleep beside lions in the chill dawn of Namibia's Skeleton Coast, to culminate ultimately, as all journeys should, in a powerful evocation of who we are and our subconscious association and bond with the planet that is our home.

She's a single mother with a surfing-crazy teenage son. She's known as the Jackal and heads the local Internal Crime Unit, keeping cops on the straight and narrow. Her name is Zara Dewane and she doesn't take shit from anybody. But now the bad cops are gunning for her.A family murder by a cop who turns the gun on himself. In the shed behind his cottage is a cache of Russian automatics, handguns, 9mils, .38s. You don’t need forensics to work out what’s gone wrong. This is a cop with a side racket, which gets the attention of Captain Zara Dewane of the Internal Crime Unit. What she uncovers about the family murder puts her in the firing line. There are cops running guns stolen from the police armory and cops selling guns to gangsters. Thing is, the money chain goes deep into the police hierarchy. It even fingers the political bosses. “Close her down,” comes the order from on high — kill her, in other words, making Zara and her family targets, with only one way out.

This sweeping novel follows a young Anglo-Indian nurse who embarks on a journey from her home in Bombay, through Prague, Florence, Paris, and London, to uncover a mystery and prove her innocence after a famous painter dies in her care.When renowned painter Mira Novak arrives at Wadia Hospital in Bombay after a miscarriage, she's expected to make a quick recovery. Sona is excited to spend time with the worldly woman who shares her half-Indian identity, even if that's where their similarities end. Sona is enraptured by Mira's stories of her travels and shocked by accounts of the many lovers she's left scattered through Europe. Over the course of a week, Mira befriends Sona, seeing in her something bigger than the small life she's living with her mother. Mira is released from the hospital just in time to attend a lavish engagement party where all of Bombay society has gathered. But the next day, Mira is readmitted to the hospital in worse condition than before, and when she dies under mysterious circumstances, Sona immediately falls under suspicion.Before leaving the hospital in disgrace, Sona is given a note Mira left for her, along with her four favorite paintings. But how could Mira have known to leave a note if she didn't know she was going to die? The note sends Sona on a mission to deliver three of the paintings—the first to Petra, Mira's childhood friend and first love in Prague; the second to her art dealer Josephine in Paris; the third to her first painting tutor, Paolo, with whom both Mira and her mother had affairs. As Sona uncovers Mira's history, she learns that the charming façade she'd come to know was only one part of a complicated and sometimes cruel woman. But can she discover what really happened to Mira and exonerate herself?Along the way, Sona also comes to terms with her own complex history and the English father who deserted her and her mother in India many years ago. In the end, she'll discover that we are all made up of pieces, and only by seeing the world do we learn to see ourselves.

Black Economic Empowerment has not had a positive image in the media. This is partly thanks to a few individuals who became mega-rich overnight, while the majority of black people, who were supposed to benefit, remained poor.One company that did things differently is Brimstone, founded in 1995 by an accountant and an insurance salesman who did not want to leave their community behind. This is an inspiring story of small beginnings, resilience and a social conscience in business.

Stress, burnout and self-doubt aren’t signs of weakness. They’re signals. And if you know how to respond, they can become your greatest advantage.In Shift Happens, Richard Sutton distils 25 years of science and practice into 12 tools that work, alongside 12 inspiring stories of high achievers who use them.You’ll learn howHalve your stress with cold exposure.Unlock creativity through short bursts of movement.Calm your system with proven breathwork and natural resets.Perform at your best under real-world pressure.These aren't hacks or quick fixes. They're simple shifts – small changes with outsized impact that help you reclaim clarity, energy and control.Life won't get easier. But you can get stronger. Reclaim control, clarity and confidence with methods trusted by Olympic athletes, business leaders and cultural icons such as Lady Gaga, Novak Djokovic and Billie Eilish. Stress isn't the end of performance. It's the beginning.

Rooted and Rising is a transformative manifesto and practical guide that empowers Africans and people of African descent to embrace their heritage unapologetically while thriving in a globalised world. Thebe Ikalafeng challenges the Western-dominated narrative of personal branding and leadership, offering instead an African-centered approach rooted in Ubuntu philosophy — the principle that 'I am because we are'.

Caroline Herschel has always lived in the shadows. Beholden to her wildly popular older brother, William, who rescued her from servitude, she's worked hard to build a life for herself — one where she can go unnoticed and repay the debt she believes she owes. But when her brother becomes obsessed with sweeping the heavens, everything changes.Newly appointed as the King's Astronomer, William is rushed away from the bustling streets of Bath to the quiet countryside of Windsor. When Caroline makes a discovery that could send her right back to the people she was rescued from, she has no choice but to leave her carefully constructed life and follow her brother. Taking up the position as William's assistant, Caroline resolves to learn everything she can about astronomy. But the more she understands, the more she falls in love with her telescope, and soon, she discovers that she might be good at the science, great, even, and that the stars could offer her the freedom she's always secretly wanted. When it's clear that Caroline is just as much the astronomer as her brother, she realizes she must break free from the life she has lived and find her own place in the night sky.Based on the true story of Caroline Herschel, The Woman and Her Stars shines a light on a woman who was raised to believe she was worth nothing more than to serve others, but whose genius and resolve made her one of the world's leading astronomers. An awe-inspiring story set within the societal boundaries of the Georgian era, it's a hopeful journey of self-discovery, familial bonds, and passion.She must find her own place amongst the stars.

The digital world moves at breakneck speed. Since then, we’ve seen the rise of ‘we did it, Joe’, the fall of Harambe, the spread of ‘sus’—and that’s just the memes. Today’s teens have to navigate AI, deep fakes, misinformation, and so much more. Meanwhile, the law struggles to keep up, leaving plenty of hidden legal pitfalls. If fully developed adult brains struggle with it, what hope does a teenager’s freshly baked prefrontal cortex have? Enter Rorke and Emma with How Not to Mess Up Online. Emma is a continental digital law specialist (and first responder to every social media crisis). Rorke, an elder Gen Z, has the lived experience teens can relate to. Together, they break down the digital world’s biggest challenges and help teens to exist consciously—and, hopefully, safely—online. This book covers everything every teen should know: cyberbullying, sexting, sextortion, addiction, online safety, deep fakes, mental health, privacy, reputation, misinformation, scams, AI, ChatGPT, plagiarism, new laws, and more—all in a South African context. With real-life case studies from Emma’s work and unfortunate anecdotes from Rorke’s life in the digital trenches, we help today’s youth reap the benefits of the internet without ever needing to place a call to The Digital Law Company.