WIN! Exclusive Books GIVEAWAY: Take your mind on holiday with these fantastic festive reads

Competition is NOW CLOSED.

Congratulations to our winners:

1. Premium: CL Geber (KZN)
2. Premium: Peter Pretorius (Pretoria)
3. Premium: Renette Human (Berario)
4. Premium: Muzi Khawula (Noordwyk)
5. Premium: Sune Van Heerden (CT)

Compliments of the season: Stand the chance to win one of five Exclusive Books vouchers and “slip between the covers” this festive season with a good book…

A book is the only present you can open twice: First peeling back the gift wrapping to reveal a cover and then opening the magic inside…between the pages and the lines!

The Exclusive Books Christmas List

To give your festive book hunting a boost, The Citizen is giving away five R350 Exclusive Books vouchers (See details of how to enter this exciting giveaway, at the end of this article.)

The Exclusive Books Christmas List covers fiction, history, humour, children’s, cookery, sport (and more…) to dive into during the holidays or guide you to that perfect gift for bookworms young and old.

Take a look at some of 2023’s book trends on the list to whet your appetite for our festive voucher giveaway:

Fiction

The Exclusive Books fiction list features something for every kind of reader – from speculative and fantasy to book club and mystery.

The Fiction List is deep and wide, with page-turners from the ever-faithful Ken Follett, Tess Gerritsen and Lee Child,  Jeffrey Archer, Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, David Grisham and others.

A long-awaited title is Terry Hayes’s The Year of the Locust – we’ve waited 10 years for the sequel to I am Pilgrim.

Other inclusions on the Exclusive Books Christmas list reflect international trends, with a new “cosy murder” crime novel by Richard Osman, The Last Devil to Die, and Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi representing the current obsession with Japanese writing.

‘Local is lekker’ books to dive into on the Exclusive Books Christmas List

Local gems abound, leading with a new thriller, The Reed Dance Stalker, by Angela Makholwa and Lauren Beukes’s Bridge. Literary fiction features Michael Cunningham’s Day and Daniel Mason’s North Woods

Books about books are always a hit for readers – John Connolly’s The Land of Lost Things and Alice Hoffman’s Invisible Hour both celebrate the power of books to transport and enchant.

For sheer reading pleasure, you can’t beat The Covenant of Water – at 750 pages of sheer literary splendor, as much a spiritual teaching as it is a work of fiction.

ALSO READ: WATCH: The healing power of reading books

History and Current Affairs

Women finding their voices is a theme we have seen throughout 2023, and the Christmas List tips its hat to this trend with the Emperor of Rome from the iconic feminist classicist Mary Beard, and the stories of Normal Women by Phillipa Gregory.

For those looking for sumptuous titles worthy of the coffee-table display, look no further than two big celebrations of South African Heritage – Grootbos Florigium and the new book on Mandela.

And of course, nothing says “fun gift” like the iconic Zapiro or Madam & Eve!

ALSO READ: ‘Mandela is Dead’: Come and whisper new thoughts of freedom in an enamel cup

Cookery books

The Christmas List menu sizzles with local cookery books. Highlights include Nostalgie by Herman Lensing and Khanyisa – A Culinary Storyteller, by Khanyisa Malabi.

Biography: The people behind the stories

Biographies offer an intimate glimpse into the lives of remarkable individuals, showcasing triumphs, tribulations and transformative moments on their personal journeys.

The range of personalities spans across sport luminaries, such as Rassie Erasmus to business icons like Elon Musk and Lew Geffen. And lest we forget culture greats like renowned South African choreographer and dancer Gregory Maqoma, Miriam Margolyes, Marius Weyers and the K-pop sensation BTS.

ALSO READ: New Rassie book: How it came to be that Kolisi was picked as Bok captain

ALSO READ: Gregory Maqoma focused on legacy as he turns 50, with the launch of two books

Children’s Books

The young ones are always the focus at Christmas time, and what better way to introduce them to the joy of reading than to gift then of a special book?

There is tremendous value in children reading stories set in their local environment. Some of these titles include Refiloe Moahloli’s A Friends for all Seasons, Paula Fourie’s The Dog with the Broken Wag, former Miss Universe Shudu Musida’s new book, I am Shudu…and the widely popular Jaco Jacobs.

There is a reason some books or characters are timeless, and we have included some classics in the Christmas selection for their ever-faithful appeal. For the really littlies – which features the now-famous Gruffalo, the Grinch, Mr Men and Little Miss.

For slightly older readers, there are Percy Jackson, Treehouse and Wimpy Kid, as well as Alex Rider…and a new David Walliams is always an event!

ALSO READ: Five ways that reading with children helps their education

Young Adult and TikTok

TikTok books trending now are mainly light romance and fantasy titles. Wildfire by Hannah Grace, Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood and Holly’s Black’s Stolen Heir are but some.

All these books (and more) in the jam-packed Christmas Catalogue are available at Exclusive Books instore.

Or order books from Exclusive Books by phoning in, Uber Eats, and online via
its website at www.exclusivebooks.co.za. Delivery to your doorstep in 36 hours. (Free delivery for
order R450 and up).

Fanatics members earn double discounts on all Christmas Catalogue titles for December, plus shopping with at Exclusive Books in December will put you in line to win one of 10 R1,000 vouchers

WIN AND READ! Enter The Citizen’s Exclusive Books Voucher Giveaway competition

Five lucky readers stand a chance to WIN Exclusive Books vouchers valued at R350 each! T&Cs apply. 

The competition will run online only.

The competition closes Sunday, 17 December 2023 at midnight.

By entering the competition, you agree to sign up to The Citizen’s free online daily newsletter and accept The Citizen’s standard terms and conditions, and the competition rules as published on citizen.co.za.

Premium members get an automatic entry to all citizen.co.za competitions.

• The R350 Exclusive Books vouchers will be emailed to our lucky winners as soon as the lucky draw has taken place. Please note that the vouchers are not redeemable for cash.

FOR MORE THE CITIZEN COMPETIONS, CLICK HERE.