Cold Stone Jug


Herman Charles Bosman - 1949
    Its rise to classic status has been unstoppable, and it is now widely considered the founding text of all South African prison writings. As readable as ever, it is now hailed as Bosman's masterpiece of irony as well, vivid and unforgettable.

London - Cape Town - Joburg


Zukiswa Wanner - 2014
    . . London was good. Is good. I love London. But . . .” 1994 The world is about to change. The first truly democratic election in South Africa’s history is about to unite Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation at the ballot box. And, across the world, those in exile, those who could not return home, those who would not return home, wait. Watch and wait . . . London Martin O’Malley isn’t one of those watching and waiting. He is too busy trying to figure out if Germaine Spencer really is the girl for him and why his best friend is intent on ruining every relationship he gets involved in. And then . . . And then Germaine is pregnant and suddenly the world really has changed for Martin O’Malley. South Africa A land of opportunity. A place where a young black man with an MSc from the London School of Economics could have it all, would have it all. But what does Martin O’Malley, London born and bred with an Irish surname, really know about his mother’s country? His motherland. A land he has never seen.

The Tin Ring: How I Cheated Death


Zdenka Fantlova - 2010
    Enamored with a man named Arno, Zdenka Fantlová, a young Czech-Jewish woman, is separated from her soul-mate due to the German invasion. During a brief reunion, Arno proposes to 19-year-old Zdenka with a ring made from tin. Following Zdenka from Terezin through Auschwitz and Kurzbach to Bergen–Belsen, this heartbreaking account dwells less on the horrors of extermination camps and more on the compassion of the friends and family who shared in her ordeal.

Happiness is a four-letter word


Cynthia Jele - 2010
    Suddenly, no amount of cocktails can cure the stress that simultaneously unsettles their lives. Nandi’s final wedding arrangements are nearly in place so why is she feeling on edge? Zaza, the “trophy wife”, waits for the day her affair comes to light and her husband gives her a one-way ticket back to the township. Tumi has only one wish to complete her perfect life – a child. But when her wish is granted, it’s not exactly how she pictured it. And Princess? For the first time ever, she has fallen in love – with Leo, a painter who seems to press all the right buttons. But soon she discovers – like her friends already have – that life is not a bed of roses, and happiness never comes with a manual . . .

Onion Tears


Shubnum Khan - 2011
    Khadeejah Bibi Ballim is a hard-working and stubborn first generation Indian who longs for her beloved homeland and often questions what she is doing on the tip of Africa. At thirty-seven, her daughter Summaya is struggling to reconcile her South African and Indian identities, while Summaya's own daughter, eleven-year old Aneesa, is a girl who has some difficult questions of her own. Is her mother lying to her about her father's death? Why won't she tell her what really happened? Gradually, the past merges with the present as the novel meanders through their lives, uncovering the secrets people keep, the words they swallow and the emotions they elect to mute. For this family, faintly detectable through the sharp spicy aromas that find their way out of Khadeejah's kitchen, the scent of tragedy is always threatening. Eventually it will bring this family together. If not, it will tear them apart.

Unbreakable


Jennifer Lazaris - 2016
     Losing both of my parents in a tragic accident ripped that world apart. And I'd fallen hard for tomboy Emmy Sullinger, the girl who'd put me back together again. The problem is that the story doesn't end there—it's just getting started. Because Emmy, the girl I'm completely crazy about, is my best friend Sully's little sister. Sully's not only my best friend, he's also my teammate—and there are lines you just don't cross. Going after your best friend's sister is one of them. So I've kept my feelings—and my hands—to myself for the last three years. After all, making a play for her would result in the biggest penalty I could ever take. With Emmy away and attending University in New York City, being tempted by her hasn't been an issue. But when she comes home to Toronto for summer vacation looking sexy as hell—and suggests we hook up? Damn. I just know I'm going to end up in the penalty box…

Khwezi: The remarkable story of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo


Redi Tlhabi - 2017
    Another nail was driven into the coffin of South Africa's fight against sexual violence. Vilified by Zuma's many supporters, Khwezi was forced to flee South Africa and make a life in the shadows, first in Europe and then back on the African continent.A decade after Zuma's acquittal, Khwezi died. But not before she had slipped back into South Africa and started work with journalist Redi Tlhabi on a book about her life. About how, as a young girl living in exile in ANC camps, she was raped by the 'uncles' who were supposed to protect her. About her great love for her father, Judson Kuzwayo, an ANC activist who died when Khwezi was almost ten. And about how, as a young adult, she was driven once again into exile, suffering not only at the hands of Zuma’s devotees but under the harsh eye of the media.In sensitive and considered language, Red Tlhabi breathes life into a woman for so long forced to live in hiding. In telling the story of Khwezi, Tlhabi draws attention to the sexual abuse that abounded during the struggle years, abuse that continues to plague women and children in South Africa today.

Viral Misery: Book One


Thomas A. Watson - 2017
    The bird flu out of China has mutated. Now able to latch on and replicate within humans, the virus will spread swiftly throughout the world. When you spread a virus before you even know you have it, everyone becomes a carrier. There is no preparation, and there is no cure. You can only hope that you are one of the few who are immune, or can survive long enough to fight. Wendy and Arthur have spent their lives in service to others. Having raised one child, and learned to live off the land, their only wish is for their son to give them grandchildren. They want to retire in comfort, knowing that they are self-sufficient and able to take care of themselves. Having never been apart for more than a few nights, Wendy has the opportunity to take a well deserved ladies vacation. Little do they know that their entire world will change in an instant, and they ll be left alone to live, or to die, a thousand miles apart.

Be My Baby


Amanda Whittington - 2000
    Forcibly sent there by a mother intent on keeping up appearances, Mary has to cope with both the shame and with the dawning realization that she will have to give the baby up for adoption.

That Stubborn Seed of Hope


Brian Falkner - 2017
    A boy helps his sister disguise her birthmark on her first day of school. A seventeen-year-old awakens to find himself trapped in an elderly body. A teenage girl discovers her boyfriend has a life-threatening virus the day after they share their first kiss. A high school student tries to communicate to his hospitalised brother who is in a vegetative state. Brian Falkner serves up bite-sized tales of fear - fear of rejection, fear of dying, fear of disease, fear of the unknown, fear of exclusion, fear of being caught and fear of embarrassment - showing how that stubborn seed of hope hungers our darkest moments.

Jan Smuts: Unafraid of Greatness


Richard Steyn - 2015
    Yet little is said about him today even as we appear to live in a leadership vacuum. Unafraid of Greatness is a re-examination of the life and thought of Jan Smuts. It is intended to remind a contemporary readership of the remarkable achievements of this impressive soldier-statesman. The author argues that there is a need to bring Smuts back into the present, that Smuts' legacy still has much to instruct. He draws several parallels between Smuts and President Thabo Mbeki, both intellectuals much lionised abroad and yet often distrusted at home. This book is a highly readable account of Smuts' life. It also examines a number of overarching themes: his relationships with women, spiritual life, intellectual life and his role as advisor to world leaders. Politics and international affairs receive the lion's share, but Smuts' unique contributions to other fields - for example, botany - are not neglected. Unafraid of Greatness does not shy away from the contradictions of its subject. Smuts was one of the architects of the United Nations, and a great champion of human rights, yet he could not see the need to reform the condition of the African majority in his own country.

The Light at Midnight: A Historical Thriller Set During the Holocaust


Tom Reppert - 2020
    

The Girls on the Hill


Alison Claire Grey - 2019
     While seemingly harmless, the invitations hint at sinister and dark secrets from their shared past— a past they’ve all tried desperately to forget. Because fifteen years ago, there were five of them. Now? Only four. It was the mystery of the year: a young, beautiful college graduate falls to her death on graduation night. The world believes her death was a tragic accident. But someone knows the truth. And that someone is out for more than justice. They’re out for revenge.

September Sacrifice


Mark Horner - 2004
    Original.

God's Favorite


Neil Simon - 1975
    Just when it seems things couldn't get any worse, he is visited by Sidney Lipton, a.k.a. A Messenger from God (and compulsive film buff) with a mission: test Joe's faith and report back to "the Boss." The jokes and Tests of Faith fly fast and furious as Neil Simon spins a contemporary morality tale like no other in this hilarious comedy.