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Monday – 5th August 2019

Jonathan Ball Publishers joins the audiobook revolution: Now you can listen to your favourite South African books!

A leader in the field of local publishing in history, politics and current affairs, Jonathan Ball Publishers has now joined the audiobook revolution!

Friday – 2nd August 2019

The programme for the 2019 Open Book Festival has been revealed!

The full programme has been announced for the ninth Open Book Festival!

New book alert! Rockonomics: What the Music Industry Can Teach Us About Economics (and Our Future)

In Rockonomics, Alan Krueger uses the music industry, from rock artists to music executives, from managers to promoters, as a way in to explain the principles of economics, and the forces shaping our economic lives.

Edward Snowden tells his story for the very first time in his memoir Permanent Record – out in September 2019

Edward Snowden’s memoir Permanent Record will be published globally by Macmillan Publishers on 17 September 2019.

New book alert! Women take centre stage in Perfect Imperfections by Makanaka Mavengere-Munsaka

Perfect Imperfections, the debut novel by Makanaka Mavengere-Munsaka, is out mid-August 2019 from BlackBird Books!

You can’t escape this ride from hell! Watch the book trailer for Zola, the debut novel by Johan Jack Smith

Zola: A Novel by Johan Jack Smith is out now in English and Afrikaans from Penguin Random House.

Sign up for Read This! – a new voice note show, hosted by The JRB and Volume

The Johannesburg Review of Books and Volume have launched a new books show called Read This!, where you can discover what’s hot in the world of literature.

Thursday – 1st August 2019

To have, to hold, to betray – listen to an audiobook excerpt from Your Truth or Mine? by Trisha Sakhlecha

Listen to an excerpt from the audiobook of Your Truth or Mine?, the excellent debut thriller by Trisha Sakhlecha.

Read an excerpt from Train Man, the brilliant and profoundly affecting novel by Andrew Mulligan

Journeys intersect. People find people when and where they least expect it. A missed connection needn’t be a disaster: it can save your life.

Attention fly fisherman! Yet More Sweet Days by Tom Sutcliffe is in stores now

Yet More Sweet Days, the new book by Tom Sutcliffe, is now available in bookstores and fly shops throughout South Africa.

‘What we’re seeing in Cape Town is just a fragment of transnational organised crime’ – Watch an interview with Caryn Dolley on her new book The Enforcers

Caryn Dolley chatted to Open News recently about her new book The Enforcers: Inside Cape Town’s Deadly Nightclub Battles.

Wednesday – 31st July 2019

Read an extract from Knife, the gripping new book in Jo Nesbo’s intense and brilliant Harry Hole crime series

Penguin Random House SA has shared an excerpt from Knife, the brand new Harry Hole thriller from Jo Nesbo, where Harry comes face to face with a deadly foe.

Don’t miss the launch of Get Me to 21: The Jenna Lowe Story by Gabi Lowe at Exclusive Books Cavendish (6 August)

MFBooks Joburg and Exclusive Books invite you to the launch of Get Me to 21: The Jenna Lowe Story by Gabi Lowe.

The Rapture – the debut novel by Claire McGlasson – is the history of a religious cult and a psychological thriller

The Rapture by Claire McGlasson – as captivating as The Girls, with the period sensibility of Sarah Waters, this riveting novel is based on a true story …

New book alert! Parcel of Death, the little-told life story of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro, hailed by many as the ‘godfather’ of the June 1976 uprisings

A compelling portrait of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro’s story and its lasting significance in South Africa’s history, Parcel of Death by Gaongalelwe Tiro is out this August from Pan Macmillan.

Tuesday – 30th July 2019

A reboot of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for the 21st Century – Read an excerpt from Frankissstein: A Love Story by Jeanette Winterson

What will happen when homo sapiens are no longer the smartest beings on the planet?

Funny, furious and bold, FRANKISSSTEIN is a love story about life itself, the bodies we live in and the bodies we desire.

Read an excerpt here

‘I’ve never hugged my mother’ – Listen to Landa Mabenge talk to The Cheeky Natives about his memoir, Becoming Him: A Trans Memoir of Triumph

In this in-depth podcast, Landa Mabenge talks to The Cheeky Natives about his memoir Becoming Him: a Trans Memoir of Triumph.

Video: Does the ‘Stellenbosch Mafia’ really exist and how much power do they wield over South Africa?

In this video, author and News24 assistant editor for in-depth news Pieter du Toit unpacks his book, The Stellenbosch Mafia: Inside the Billionaires’ Club.

Get your popcorn ready! The film adaptation of Angela Makholwa’s bestselling crime thriller Black Widow Society is coming soon

Book lovers, rejoice! Angela Makholwa’s bestselling novel Black Widow Society will soon be made into a feature film.

Footnotes, August 2019: Book links from around the web

At The Reading List, we’re trainspotters when it comes to interesting book links, and here are a number that caught our eye over the last month. Browse and enjoy!