Musings of a South African Bookworm

sharing my love of books with a special focus on SA literature

Dec 16

The Million Rand Teaspoon – Nikki Ridley

by musingsofasouthafricanbookworm

How many of you have read ‘A Million Little Pieces’ by James Frey?  I read it, and I know that there was huge controversy with the book but the bottom line for me, was the ability of James to kick his addiction.

‘The Million Rand Teaspoon’ is very similiar, it is a story on addiction. Paul Batemans  true story on how he became addicted to pinks, and heroin. The road to destruction and how he eventually came to an abrupt halt on his downward spiral.

It is extremely readable, set in and around Cape Town and Joburg, it makes you realise how much goes on that we are not aware of.

I recommend this book to anyone who is in any interested in the effect drugs have on a person, and the lives that are affected around the person. It is sad, and just makes one realise how addiction takes control of ones entire life.

shoo, hardcore reading but brilliant!

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Dec 15

The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follet

by musingsofasouthafricanbookworm

I eventually read this book!

It has been on countless best seller lists and when I was in the UK a couple of years back, this was the Next Best Thing. It was huge, had been on the Richard and Judy show aswell as Oprah and when ever there is huge hype over a book, I get pulled in two directions. One – is it as good as they say it is should I read it? or, nah, def cant be as good as they say it is, wont read it.

I did start it two years ago, I booked it out of the library and read the first chapter. I couldn’t really get into it, so abandoned it for another time. That another time was recently, and I couldn’t put it down. I took it out from book club, thinking I really must read this and see what all the hype was about and I am very glad I did.

Hugely enjoyable book, hugely rich in its tapestry of stories of the characters lives, how the lives are intermingled, the violence that abounds still to this day but maybe not quite in the form of the 12th century, and the building of Kingsbridge cathedral, the first Gothic cathedral in England. I have always enjoyed historical novels and this one fit the bill for me.

So, if you haven’t yet read this book for the same reasons I hadn’t, put aside your doubts and just read it for what it is. A really great story.

(and now, time to get my hands on the second book… World without end.)

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Dec 14

The Love Verb – Jane Green and a give away!

by musingsofasouthafricanbookworm

This book was on my Christmas Wish List but last week I was in my favourite second hand book store purchasing some books as gifts, when I found it. ( I always do a mandatory check for which ever book I am currently on the look out for) and was very pleasantly surprised to find this one. Of course, I bought it, it was literally half price, which is a bargain!

My verdict?

It is a beautiful heart wrenching book, it had me in tears in one section and I literally could not put it down. In fact, I read it in one day.  I shirked all duties to finish it and loved it. It made me ponder on real life stuff, relationships, love, you know all the usual things one gets from a ‘chick lit’ author but it truly was an extremely sad, but uplifting book. Full of serious stuff but also the lighthearted, it really has a great balance.

The blurb-

Love is not an abstract idea. It is not saying ‘I’m here for you, let me know if you need me’. It’s making the decision, when someone close to you is in trouble, about what you will DO to fix as much as you can for them. It’s a ‘doing’ thing. A verb. For Callie, love is about looking after her family – her husband and two children – and their beautiful home. For Steff, Callie’s younger sister, love is about experiencing all that life has to offer without having to ever settle down. For Lila, Callie’s best friend, love is about finding a soulmate. And when she meets divorced father-of-two Eddie, she knows her search is over. For Walter and Honor, Callie and Steff’s divorced parents, love is about caring for the daughters they share. Then Callie gets some life-changing news. And suddenly the whole family is about to understand what ‘love’ really, really means….

This book was dedicated to one of Jane Greens friends who passed away recently and if I were her friend, I would of been seriously impressed with this book.

One of her best, for sure!

So, in keeping with the festivities of this time of year, I have one copy of this book to giveaway.  Open to anywhere in South Africa and all you need to do is leave a comment. Random.org will choose the winner on Monday 20th of December. Just think , you  may receive another Chrismas gift that you weren’t expecting!

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Dec 13

The Last Dragonslayer – Jasper Fforde

by musingsofasouthafricanbookworm

As most of you know, I received this book through The Book Blogger Holiday Swop and was seriously looking forward to getting stuck in.

It only took me  a couple of days to read, due to it being a smaller book than his usual fare. It probably would of taken less time to read if I had had uninterrupted reading time, but alas, that was not to be.

I really enjoyed this, it was short, sweet and had the characteristic Jasper Fforde characters. If you haven’t read him before, this is not a bad one to start off with.

The storyline:

‘Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for soothsayers and sorcerers, but work is drying up. Drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and even magic carpets are reduced to pizza delivery.

So, it’s a surprise when the visions start.Not only do the predict the death of the Last Dragon at the hands of a Dragonslayer, they also point to Jennifer, and say something is coming. Big Magic…’

This is an easy to read book, with a twist and a turn that isn’t expected. It has the greedy power mongers vs the caring dragonslayer, and it doesn’t fail to deliver.

I enjoyed this book immensely, and I think it would make a great gift for Christmas especially a young adult, or someone who enjoys a bit of fantasy (but not too much and more tongue in cheek, than the usual fantasy fare0.

Go on, give it a go and then let me know what you think…

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Dec 3

My gift from my Secret Santa arrived!

by musingsofasouthafricanbookworm

I received my Secret Santa gift this morning!

So very excited, I had to hold back on opening my gift until I arrived home from the post office and as I had a guest waiting for me on my arrival, I then had to prolong it even more for after I had made coffee and got the biscuits out.

But, then I did, and this is what I received…

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde.

He is one of my favourite authors and this is his latest book which has just recently been published. His writing is humorous and I love his books.

So, thank you so much Ana from thingsmeanalot, you have made my day!

(expect a review soon as I will be getting stuck into it asap!)

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