The Reading Room with Melanie Walker

So - you thought books were harmless?

South African columnist/advertising copywriter/online book club convenor - and most importantly, author - Paige Nick’s tenth and latest novel, Book People, delves into a world of book clubs, both in-life and online, social media backlash, cancel culture, and Author’s Behaving Badly.

Joining (not just ‘In Conversation With') Melanie Walker to chat about how characters and books come to life, about how world views on books change yet stay the same, and what it means to be a reader or a writer, Paige’s Capetonian view on the world takes a not-so-Sho’t-Left to London and a Facebook book club accountant, and how social media can become The Virus…

Just what is Uncultivated Food in the bigger scheme of things?

Author Nikki Brighton takes the reader on a journey about this growing way of viewing those plants that are growing in the 'wrong' place (ie. weeds) and shows us how to forage, and what you can garner from not just your garden, but from wild spaces in your area, to add to your pantry.

Wild About Weeds is an easy guide to the most common edible weeds and uncultivated foods to be found all over South Africa, and will surely stimulate your curiosity by giving you ideas on how to make the most of the delicious abundance on your doorstep.

Find out more by visiting www.plantabundance.co.za

Getting a Grip on Cancer and Positivity.

“This book is an honest recollection of my childhood - the good and not so good. Some of the stories I share, not even my husband or my children knew about, and they struggled to read past it. I have hidden it for so long, as I was scared and ashamed. Alcoholism, poverty, hardships, violence, unforgiveness, but now that I have dealt with it, forgiven them, and forgiven myself for not feeling good enough, I am set free. It further focuses on my cancer journey. My life is now literally an open book.”

Since 2019, age 48, diagnosed with Breast Cancer, Stage 3, 5 years later, Lindie is into her 6th fight against the dreaded disease.

“The power of knowledge is crucial in the fight against cancer I had to take control of cancer, and not to be fear driven. Faith over fear."

“You never know how strong you are, till being strong is your only option!”

Literary and Physical Journeys in South Africa.

"Before it can ever be a repose for the senses, landscape is the work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rock." – Simon Schama

So starts a journey into the mind, not just yours or the author’s but into 9 South African writers and their characters and creations.

Justin Fox, author of 24 books in varying genres takes a trip down many people’s memory lanes, as well as his own, in a book that visits and revisits places that are special to him, whether from experience of the Place, or from having visited in a novel.

A bit-to-be-missed delight by those who love travelling, and love South Africa and its history - real or imagined.

But be quick - the first release sold out in three weeks!

Has the Mining Industry in South Africa collapsed?

In 1994, the South African mining industry was a world leader; in 2010 it had descended into a state of both anarchy and paralysis.

This book tells the story of the disintegration of the South African mining industry over a period of more than a quarter of a century since the ANC's accession to power.

Author and mining expert Dr Ian Robinson lays out the background to this calamity, as well as explains how things changed a once flourishing money machine - an industry that made money for the people, not money for those in power - into a floundering entity, and the factors that have led to this.

Is there a way back? Listen here.

Sometimes cookery books aren't just about cooking, they're about a whole lot more; the ingredients and where they come from, the ancestors who hold the lore surrounding them, preserving wild foods (in nature, not just in jam jars), and the heritage of indigenous ingredients. It's about the stories that come with the 'lekkerness', the 'mnandi-ness' of the people and their culinary culture.

Gregory Henderson is more than just a chef, he's been a global winner of the LUX Awards Most Sustainable Dining Experience and is an ardent promoter not only of living off the land but ensuring that our unique South African tales about food aren't lost in the mists of time.

Gregory's books showcase these proudly South African values and they're on the menu for discussion in this tasty episode.

A guide to the best decade evah - The 80s!

The 80s were a time of hope and frustration for teens and 20-somethings in South Africa, but there was a whole lot of boogying going on.

Drummer (and wannabe frontman!) of such iconic SA bands, such as eVoid, Petit Cheval and Wonderboom, Danny de Wet takes us back on a memory trip through the fogs of time, to an era that not only those that lived through it will appreciate, but as a handy manual for the youngers who are locked into electronics and social media on just how the youth used to live their lives.

For this (mostly) unadulterated look at one of the most prolific times in SA Rock history, #ListenHere for a bit of background - and then get the book to find out more.

“Sometimes I think that the point of birdwatching is not the actual seeing of the birds, but the cultivation of patience. Of course, each time we set out, there's a certain amount of expectation we'll see something, maybe even a species we've never seen before, and that it will fill us with light. But even if we don't see anything remarkable - and sometimes that happens - we come home filled with light anyway.”

― Lynn Thomson, Birding with Yeats: A Mother's Memoir

And that's what it's about!

Whether you be brand new to the birdwatching game, or a long-time, avid spotter, as one writer has it - “Birds will give you a window, if you allow them. They will show you secrets from another world– a fresh vision that, though it is avian, can accompany you home and alter your life. They will do this for you even if you don't know their names– though such knowledge is a thoughtful gesture. ”

We find out more about Adam Riley's new book, commissioned by Helm Wildlife Guides, on Birds of South Africa, the portable concise must-have that will give you an entry into 'twitching', or a quick reference if you're travelling light. And more about how birds are so essential to not only the world at large but to the space surrounding you.

Social Media Musings and Going Viral.

While people all over South Africa were hunkered down in their homes baking banana bread, coming up with ways to find gin, bemoaning the fact that they couldn't go for a walk, while finding new ways to navigate this strange new walk of Life, one Facebooker kept a host of other flounderers mentally intact with her pithy, insightful posts, not just about her journey, but on how well others were (or were not) faring in this weird world.

From this, comes Hold The Line, a compilation of many of the posts from Kim Nicola Stephens that had us in hysterics with a bit of backstory to them - not a guide on how to weather a pandemic, not a self-help book, and not an autobiography - this is a book to remind you of no matter how different we may seem, so many of us go through the same things, a reminder that even in deepest darkest days, we're not alone. And there's always a story to be retold, a lesson to be learnt, a life to be lived. Fully.

Our Guest: Mike Nicol (Author: Poet: Writing Instructor)

Getting the tips of the trade from the Crime Meister in half an hour is fairly speedy, but you won't want to miss the workings of the inner mind of one of South Africa's top authors. Whether it be his way of getting into the character of Mace Bishop or Fish Pescado, or into the lives of some of South Africa's top icons, Mike Nicol blurs the invisible line between fact and fantasy, in and out of rabbit holes real and imagined. Connect with Mike · Write Online Website