Verbatim Books in Cape Town Daily Photo

http://www.capetowndailyphoto.com/blog/2010/02/books-are-verbatim/

"If you’re a book person, you definitely should make a visit to Verbatim Books an item on your long to-do list. Kerry-Anne says it’s the best bookshop she’s ever been to. And she should know, I guess."

Season´s Greetings...

Romance between the pages...

Christoff & Stefini´s engagement photos by PC Benade

Book Review: ´Room´ by Emma Donoghue

´´Room by Emma Donoghue was on the Booker shortlist and was a favourite of many readers. One would think that a novel based on the Fritzl case where a young woman and her child are kept captive in a room, would be most depressing. Room is an uplifting and beautifully depicted story of a mother’s love and her ability to interact with her son in a confined space. It is an achingly beautiful story narrated by Jack, a nine year boy who is kept in the room. For Jack ordinary objects have a personality and everything outside his Room is outer space. I held my breath as Jack made his escape attempt and then when they were released, one started to wonder if life outside is any better for the captive. His mother´s love shines through the whole book and their bond is unbreakable. Please please read ´Room´. It will enrich your life. - Enid

THE BBC´S TOP 50 MUST READ LIST:

1.The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

Book Review: King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hochschild from our blog creator

I've just finished reading a great book called 'King Leopold's Ghost' by Adam Hochschild. It's all about the Congo in the late 1800s and early 1900s and the terrible happenings between the natives and the colonialists. If you are anything like me and enjoy having a good old rant about whether colonialism is good or bad, this is a wonderful read for you. Or, if you are just simply interested in men with strange facial hair I suppose this will be tantalizing for you as well.
While reading this book I came across a wonderful quote (above) and I had to share it. It is taken from a piece of work that Mark Twain wrote during this time called King Leopold's Soliloquy, an imaginary monologue by Leopold II of Belgium. After all the terrible things dug up by reformers trying to stop the vicious cycle of colonialism and slave labour that King Leopold and his associates had buried so well comes the inevitable and gruesome truth that a photograph always reveals, as well as conquering the test of time.

UPCOMING EVENTS: Nick Norman´s Book Launch:

´The Extraordinary World of Diamonds´ is being launched at Verbatim on 

1 December... join us for wine and snacks, meet Nick and pick up your copy of this wonderful book!

Old Possum´s Book of Practical Cats

Jellicle Cats come out to-night
Jellicle Cats come one come all
The Jellicle Moon is shining bright
Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball!

T.S. Eliot´s classic - meeaaow!