Book Choice - May 2016

"This happy hour: Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books, has a bumper bag of books, Beverley Roos Muller finds Yann Martel’s 'The High Mountains of Portugal' a marvellous but challenging read, and Philip Todres was disappointed in many ways by the telling of an important story in 'Letters of Stone' by Steven Robins. Cindy Moritz goes 'Inside the O'Briens', the new novel by 'Still Alice' author Lisa Genova, which promises to do for Huntington's disease, what 'Still Alice' did for Alzheimers. Peter Soal pens a paean of praise to 'The Sword and the Pen – Six decades on the political frontier' by Allister Sparks. Alexander Fuller’s marriage takes her from the beautiful yet brutal Zambezi, to the mountains and relative suburban existence of Wyoming. Vanessa Levenstein reviews Fuller’s memoir, 'Leaving before the Rains Come'. Then, From Wyoming to Mexico, John Irving’s 'Avenue of Mysteries' is a novel about how both fate and memories shape our lives, and finally something for the younger generation to nibble on, Cathy Cassidy’s 'Fortune Cookie, The Chocolate Box Boy'. Melvyn Minnaar unearths buried treasure in 'SPQR – A History of Ancient Rome' by luminary historian Mary Beard. Finally, Ann Donald Director of the Franschhoek Literary Festival gives us the low down on some FLF highlights this weekend."