OUR AUTUMN BOOK PICKS

FOR YOUR COFFEE TABLE

HIDDEN KAROO BY PATRICIA KRAMER AND ALAIN PROUST

The Karoo is big-sky country; aland of vast plains punctuated byflat-topped mountains, conicalhills and secluded valleys, a landof scrubby bushes and hardy trees,where pioneers carved roads outof rock to set down roots in anunforgiving environment.

Here dreams are born, legendsare made, and outcasts findsanctuary. It is also an ancientplace, whose story is revealedthrough geology, fossils andartefacts, and whose humanlineage predates any writtenhistory. Today, the people whoinhabit it must manifest the samefortitude that sustained thosewho left their footprints in theprimaeval mud.

In Hidden Karoo you will findall this, and more. Through aseries of superb photo-essays, thismajestic place is revealed as a landwhere conservation and neglectare seldom far apart, where onetown boasts splendidly restoredbuildings, while along a dusty roadlie forgotten villages waiting for...something. Could it be a renewal,or a slow death? There’s nothingnovel about the movement ofpeople from country to city, andthe Karoo mimics other parts of theworld where rural areas becomederelict as they are depopulated.

Hidden Karoo presents a snapshot of the region, offering a glimpse into towns and villages, farms and churches, public buildings and private homes, all against a backdrop of aweinspiring landscapes. Through words and pictures, it prompts us to consider what was, what is and, perhaps, what might be. One constant about the Karoo is change. A book can do no more than capture a moment in time or depict fragments of a place but, in doing so, it bears witness to the past and offers the hope that there may yet be a future for this unparalleled part of our country.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

HOW TO AVOID A CLIMATE DISASTER: THE SOLUTIONS WE HAVE AND THE BREAKTHROUGHS WE NEED BY BILL GATES

In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical – and accessible – plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe.

Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet’s slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal.

He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market,he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions – suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise.

As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, itis a goal firmly within our reach.

FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT

GIRL A BY ABIGAIL DEAN

Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn't want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as GirlA: the girl who escaped. When her mother dies in prison and leavesLex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared. Beautifully written and incredibly powerful, Girl A is a story of redemption, of horror, and of love.If you liked Room, My Dark Vanessa and We Need to Talk About Kevin,you will love this book.

FOR YOUR INTEREST

SLABBERT: MAN ON A MISSION BY ALBERT GRUNDLINGH

Frederik van Zyl Slabbert was a man on a mission, whether as an academic, an opposition politician, a democratic facilitator or a businessman. Perhaps this was a product of his restless, probing intellect, or his early ambition to become a dominee in the Dutch Reformed Church. When he famously led a delegation of leading Afrikaners to Dakar in 1987 to meet the exiled ANC, many saw it as a breakthrough, while others felt he had been taken in. And yet, his reputation – for honesty, integrity, wit and courage – still towers above many of his contemporaries. Slabbert was always different.

As an academic turned politician, the charismatic Slabbert brought unusual intellectual rigour to Parliament, transforming the upstart Progressive Federal Party into a force that challenged the National Party government. But disillusioned by the paralysis of formal white politics, and by the growing polarisation of South African society, he resigned in 1986 to explore democratic alternatives to the impasse into which the country had been led under apartheid. Largely sidelined during the democratic transition, he continued to pursue a broad range of initiatives aimed at building democracy, empowering black South Africans and transforming the economy. Albert Grundlingh’s penetrating biographical study offers sharp insights into the thinking and motivation of this most unlikely politician. Concise but wide ranging, Slabbert: Man on a Mission provides new perspectives on a figure who, even today, remains something of an enigma.•