Here’s the lighter side of non-fiction. So maybe you don’t like fiction, but you’re also not especially mad about blown-whistles, academics or economics. Have a go at food and cartoons! You can’t say fairer than that… it’s been a favourite combination since breakfast was invented (sometime just after midnight, we think). Take a look.
50 People Who F***ed up South Africa: The Lost Decade – Alexander Parker, Tim Richman & Zapiro
Was R299, Now R249. Save R50!
There’s a particular asterisk that’s popping up quite a lot this year – and we all know why, really. It’s been that sort of year. And, as it turns out, people just keep f***cking things up… we’re nothing if not persistent.
With the first hilarious book in this series, our team of good-humoured and outraged authors plundered 350 years of SA history to bring us the worst of the country and illustrate their hopeless deeds.
With this funny and accessible list of morons, crooks and shenanigans, it took the authors just ten years to get up to fifty ignominious names. Yup, it’s been a ruinous sort of decade. A sociopolitical snapshot, this book is a handy coping mechanism, an excellent stocking filler and, of course, a necessary rundown of recent reality.
Miracle Men: How Rassie’s Springboks Won the World Cup – Lloyd Burnard
Was R279, Now R239. Save R30!
The Springboks’ victory at the 2019 World Cup was, of course, a glorious moment. It was, however, a triumph made all the more historic as it involved the game‐changing efforts of two men in particular: Coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi.
Before 2019, the last time that South Africa had won the world cup was back in 2007 – a year in which racial inequality was a fair deal worse than it is today (though the issue still persists). For that win, the Springboks’ match‐day squad included just two nonwhite players. Last year, there were five black Africans in the starting line‐up.
Told by sports writer Lloyd Burnard, Miracle Men is the triumphal before‐and‐after story of the special relationship that transformed the SA national rugby team and made history. It’s also a thrilling tale of obstacles overcome and catastrophes narrowly avoided.
Zapiro Annual 2020: Do the Macorona – Cartoons from the Daily Maverick
Was R189, Now R159. Save R30!
Going viral has never been such a bad thing!
Okay, so it may seem a little counterintuitive but, the fact is, nothing is ever so bad that a laugh cannot be wrung from it… well, that’s true when Zapiro is on the case, at least. Yes folks, it’s been an absolute stinker of a year, but sometimes all it takes is a new viewpoint for things to change – and that’s where Daily Maverick cartoons come in. You know what? Sometime in the not too distant future, you might be glad to have a souvenir of this particular sh*t storm. And there’s so much to remember: aside from Covid-19, there was Trump, Ramaphosa… actually, you know what happened, just get the cartoons, you’ll feel better for it.
Siba – Let’s Cook
Was R299, Now R249. Save R50!
A cookbook for kids, written by kids!
Kids absolutely can make nutritious meals. In fact, if you teach them how to do it now, they might just make a habit of it and carry those skills on into later life.
Let’s Cook has a whole bunch of delicious recipes that can be made by mum and dad with the help of their little ones, as well as great family meals and snacks that can be prepared by just the grown-ups and even by older children.
Wholesome breakfasts, imaginative snacks and masterable basics – this book has everything you need to inspire young chefs everywhere and start them off down the right dietary track.
Banting 7 Day Meal Plans: Vegetarian – Rita Venter
Was R389, Now R299. Save R90!
Banting means just eat as much meat as you can, right? Wrong! It’s totally possible to adopt a low-carb diet and still feast on delicious vegetables – in fact, you can be vegetarian and still be low-carb. Who’d have thought it? Vegetarians, that’s who… because, take it from a bona fide veggie, carbs are all too tempting to we non-carnivores, and it can be kind of tricky to reduce their presence in our meals. That’s where this book comes in.
With a Facebook group that has grown to over 2.3 million people — many of whom follow a vegetarian lifestyle part or full time — and using current research, the authors of this book give you the tools, practical advice and show it is possible to follow a Low Carb, Banting or Keto lifestyle while observing the choice to not eat meat.
Oh, and it’s a Quivertree book too – which, as you’ll know if you have ever browsed the cookery section of your nearest Bargain Books, are as beautiful as cookbooks get. Full stop.
Braaibroodjies and Burgers – Jan Braai
Was R379, Now R349. Save R30!
Let’s not beat about the braaivleis here. It’s Jan Braai – burger-maestro of the covered-brazier and tong-wielding national hero – and it’s got braaibroodjies… which are a terrific reason all by themselves to get the fire lit in the first place.
Master the art of the grilled sandwich – which, as any toastie-aficionado will tell you, is an endeavour into which far too many people put far too little effort – with the help of a familiar fireside friend. What bread should you use? What filling goes best with what bread? How do you get it perfectly crisp without setting fire to your own Schwartzbrot.
Here’s what Jan Braai himself has to say about it:
For the cover of this book, we needed a supermodel. Now, unlike beauty and fashion magazines in the days when beauty and fashion magazines existed, you cannot simply phone up the managers and agents of superstar braaibroodjie cover model agents. The greatest braaibroodjies in the world are all in this book. The book you are holding is the catalogue of models. And so my colleagues and I (the ‘Jan Braai Dream Team’ as I call them – without whom this book would not have been possible) set about to create a supermodel braaibroodjie, fit for the cover of this book. This is it.
WHAT YOU NEED
(makes 6)
12 bread slices
butter or olive oil
1 red onion (sliced)
1 green bell pepper (sliced)
1 yellow bell pepper (sliced)
2 wheels (about 150 g) feta cheese (crumbled)
240 g Cheddar cheese (sliced or grated)
3 big red tomatoes (sliced)
salt and pepper
1 tot fresh parsley (stemmed and chopped)
Voetstoots – Annelie Botes
Was R289, Now R249. Save R40!
Voetstoots is a collection of beloved author Annelie Botes’ newspaper articles gathered from sixteen years of commentary, observation and storytelling.
A funeral letter from Holland. A farmer closing his farm gate for the last time. A box of LPs. A buried child. A tainted tomato salad. A list of do’s and don’ts for ladies from 1944. A box of pap-sack wine that has turned sour…
The articles collected here tend to begin with a simple image. But from the simple image is drawn something special. Something that gathers on a delicate thread the varied beads of laughter, sorrow, anger, nostalgia, compassion, incomprehension and all the rest of it.
A wonderful gift for anyone who values the weft and warp of ordinary life.
Treat Someone to Something Spirited.
Happy Reading and Happy Holidays!