Books to read, especially during Women’s Month
Local bookstore owner and author suggests a few book to have on your night stand.
During this Women’s Month why not find the strength that lies within you through female authors whose words inspire, encourage and have you recognise your own potential.
Author and local bookstore owner Sewela Langeni gives her top 10 suggestions of books, written by female authors, you should stock up on during Women’s Month.
1) Dearest MaRiky
As the mother of much-loved music star Riky Rick, who died by suicide in 2022, Louisa Zondo’s loss was shared by millions. However, Louisa’s was a uniquely vast, lonely and life-shattering grief, as the loss of her beloved MaRiky brought to the surface devastating trauma from her past. In this book, Louisa Zondo takes the first small steps into facing her grief. She finds herself speaking to her son in a series of letters, and gradually unearths the words to express her love for him, and the pain of losing him. In voicing that love, she tells the story of her life and the experiences that shaped her.
2) Prison Child
After Vanessa Goosen is imprisoned for smuggling drugs out of Thailand, she gives birth to Felicia in Lard Yao Prison. Felicia is sent back to South Africa when she turns three. Here she is lovingly raised by her mom’s best friend. But Felicia feels desolated and she does not know how to voice her feelings. Years of rebellion and self-harm follows. In her student years Felicia’s life turns around, and she becomes a wounded healer, reaching out to others bringing a message of hope.
3) My So-Called Friend
This book is targeted at young adult readers by Prudence Makau. In the story, Thlalefo’s family is constantly moving, and she doesn’t often get to establish friendships. At a new school yet again, she strikes up a friendship with the beautiful Boitumelo and shares the story of her secret crush on Lethabo, whom she falls for when she sees him in her taxi. As it turns out, Boitumelo is a ‘mean girl’ – she steals Lethabo’s attention while pretending to stay friendly with Thlalefo, leaving Thlalefo to learn a hard lesson.
4) Dreamer
Latest offering from Black Bird Books by author Tanya Junghans is a story about Thando Weber who is a half-South African and half-Swiss nerdy girl with hopes of going to the best university in Switzerland like her father did. She is also the last surviving descendant of the Watchers of Realms, a powerful race of light beings who watch over the Milky Way galaxy. Her mission is to find her lower-self, and her higher-self to complete her triad, so that she may bond with them and be the next Dreamer – an interdimensional traveller and protector of the Earth Realm. Through her adventures, she learns about her mother’s Zulu culture and inches closer to her goal, but it is not enough.
5) Freedom Writer
The late, great Juby Mayet passed away in April 2019, at the age of 82. The New Age, Drum, Golden City Post, and Voice were elevated by Juby’s voice. Her hepcat, jazz-inflected writing is thrilling, and all the more so in this, her memoir. Mayet was a writer and a fighter, for whom media freedom was sacred, and being a writer was the greatest thing a person could do. Susanne M. Klausen’s afterword is an essential and elegant contribution to Juby’s life and times, and an urgent call for Juby Mayet to receive the recognition she so deserves.
6) Handle Black Tax Like a Pro
This a helpful guide that will provide you with a roadmap to stronger relationships, better finances and overall well-being. Drawing on particular themes in each story, Ndumi Hadebe will show you how to tackle your black tax in a way that is peaceful and non-threatening to your relationships with loved ones. She also opens up about her own struggle with boundaries and reflects on the ways that this has impacted her life.
7) Maame
Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Jessica George’s Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy. From familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong.
8) Noni Jabavu : A stranger at home
Noni Jabavu was the first black South African woman to publish books on her life. Her memoirs Drawn in Colour and The Ochre People have been compared to Zora Neale Hurston’s work. A cosmopolitan, free-spirited woman, she returned home in 1977 and wrote a weekly column in the Daily Dispatch. This book is a compilation of these cheeky, insightful and hilarious columns for a younger audience of empowered women.
9) The Soft Life
In this book, Lihle, Jolie, Camilla, Nomonde and Bongi are women from very different walks of life and openly share their stories, providing an insider perspective on the life seen on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. Lavish holidays, designer bags, dinners and champagne and the luxury vehicles that make the Soft Life so irresistible. Feminist thinker, author and anthropologist Lebohang Masango explores the many dimensions of this phenomenon, grounding her often unexpected insights in South African pop culture and prominent women who have made this lifestyle the staple of gossip blogs.
10) I Write The Yawning Void
This is a compilation of essays from the world-acclaimed author, Dr Sindiwe Magona. These essays bring to life many facets of Magona’s personal history as well as her deepest convictions, her love for her country and despair at the problems that continue to plague it, and her belief in her ability to activate change. They demonstrate Magona’s engaging storytelling and mastery of the essay form which serve as meaningful supplements to her fictional works, while simultaneously offering insightful responses to the conditions that inspired them.
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