Tymon Smith’s 2008 Top Ten
Alert! Convener of the Sunday Times Literary Awards and books editor of the paper that sponsors them, Tymon Smith has made his list, checked it twice, and announced his top ten SA Lit reads for 2008.
Non-fiction edged fiction this year for Smith: just three novels and one collection of short stories got his considered nod.
What’s especially nice about his piece is that he augments his mini-carrots with multimedia: click through to listen to podcasts and watch a video with the various authors whom he singles out.
Last, try to avoid speculating whether any of the titles will punch through to the ST Lit Awards shortlists, now the judges know Smith’s favourites. All in good time, dear readers – all in good time!
In a year of upheaval and uncertainty the local publishing industry has continued to put out books for everyone’s tastes and interests. Here’s my unashamedly patriotic selection of the best local books I’ve enjoyed reading this year in no particular order of preference. This is the full top ten, which due to space considerations we weren’t able to run in full in this week’s paper.
Playing the Enemy by John Carlin, Atlantic R 220
If your idea of a sports book is the autobiography of Lewis Hamilton or a pic-heavy compilation of the sayings of Christian Ronaldo then you can skip Carlin’s intelligent and insightful analysis of the behind the scenes events leading up to the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. A little too enveloped in the glow of Madiba magic at times, Playing the Enemy is nonetheless the kind of sports book that anyone interested in politics, history and other non-playing field related topics can appreciate and it’s well written too.
Book Details
- Playing the Enemy, Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin
EAN: 9781843548690
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- In a Different Time by Peter Harris
EAN: 9781415200490
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- Three-letter Plague, A young man’s journey through a great epidemic by Jonny Steinberg
EAN: 9781868422883
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- Street Blues by Andrew Brown
EAN: 9781770220324
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- The Mandela Files by Zapiro
EAN: 9781770130043
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- The Joburg Book by Nechama Brodie
EAN: 9781770100794
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- The Rowing Lesson by Anne Landsman
EAN: 9780795702624
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- The Lost Colours of the Chameleon by Mandla Langa
EAN: 9781770100848
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- Beethoven Was One Sixteenth Black by Nadine Gordimer
EAN: 9780143024217
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- Payback by Mike Nicol
EAN: 9781415200469
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Apr
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