Book reviews: Children's books

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

Explore delightful children's book reviews, featuring 'I Hate Everything' by Sophy Henn, a charming tale perfect for toddlers, and a retelling of 'Heidi' that reimagines a classic. Discover the inspiring story of Zulaikha Patel in 'Brave Like Me,' a …

Book review: Taking the Anxiety out of AI

Karen Watkins|Published

Discover how to transform your relationship with artificial intelligence in Sameer Rawjee's 'Taking the Anxiety out of AI'. This insightful review reveals practical ...

Book review: Watersound Reflections: Wanderings through haiku

Karen Watkins|Published

Delve into 'Watersound Reflections' by Steve Shapiro, a collection of haiku that captures life's fleeting moments with humour and depth. This review explores the ...

Book review: Making a Killing

Karen Watkins|Published

In 'Making a Killing', Bonnie Espie weaves a delightful tale of friendship and mystery in a quaint village, where a bookshop-café becomes the backdrop for an unexpected ...

Book review: The Interpreters

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

Discover why The Interpreters is a must-have for every library, as Lauren O'Connor-May highlights the anthology's compelling narratives and exceptional writing. ...

Kamini Pather on cooking, culture and her new cookbook

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

MasterChef South Africa winner shares her culinary journey and the inspiration behind All Dhal'd Up.

Romance books reviewed

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

I am totally fangirling on Johannesburg author Jo Watson and trying to track down all her other books after devouring this one in a day.

Spooky Durban story gets traction abroad

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

“I always wanted to write a kind of love story but I realised, you can’t tell a love story without telling a life story. I was going to have a young person talking ...

Book review: My Life As A Chameleon

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

This is not a light-hearted book but teens and pre-teens may relate to Lily’s desperation to fit in. The book’s stark depictions of racism is good food for thought. ...

Book review: Unfortunately Yours

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

In this follow-up to Secretly Yours we meet Natalie and August again and put on your seatbelts for more very explicit sexual content.

Book review: Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

In this sweet book of high jinks, mystery and adventure, Cosima and her gaggle of eccentric friends embark on an ambitious adventure to steal back their futures ...

Book review: The Race to Be Myself

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

When the IAAF tried to stop Caster Semenya from racing because they suspected she had balls, she turned around and showed them just how ballsy she could be.

Book review: Madly, Deeply The Alan Rickman Diaries

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

This book made me guffaw, in a very unladylike fashion, in a public place.

Book review: Icebreaker

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

Don’t be fooled by this book’s cover. I mistook it for a teen romance but I was quickly disabused of this notion by the warning on the title page: “Content warning: ...

Book review: The Bedtime Boat

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

Everything about this bedtime book is soothing; the colours, the images, the font, the poetry; which makes it very effective as a bedtime story that incorporates ...

Book review: Black Heat

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

A friend and I once joked that we would start a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Fictional Characters after I was getting particularly worked up about the ...

Book review: Service

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

For me, the old adage of don’t judge a book by its cover rings true for this wonderful novel because I mistook it for non-fiction and didn’t give it another look ...

Book review: The Hidden

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

I read this novel by Johannesburg author Fiona Snyckers with increasing levels of “what the f***?”.

Book review: BTS Icons of Pop

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

’m not usually a fan of celebrity biographies but I was intrigued by this book because I had to wonder, what was so special about this boy band that I heard so much ...

Book review: Risking Life for Death

Lauren O'Connor-May|Published

A colleague beat me to Ryan Blumenthal’s first book, Autopsy: Life in the trenches with a forensic pathologist, published in 2020, so I was eager to get my hands ...