Sthembile M.

Books, Lifestyle and more

2 Recent Reads [Reviews]

I havent been posting ore reviews  here because ivebeen on a reading slump and I think I am officially out of it, so do expect more reviews.

Quick question: How do you get out of a reading slump?

 

The Toitoise Cried its Only Tear

Book Details

Title: The Tortoise Cried Its Only Tear

Author: Carol Campbell

Published: 2 January 2019
Genre: Fiction, Magical Realism
Publicist: Frieda Le Roux
Imprint: Umuzi
Distributor: Penguin Random House SA
Pages: 182
 
 

Summary

 
It’s a black karoo night and a young woman covered in blood is running along a deserted dust track. Siena must reach Seekoegat Primary School, the only safe place she knows, but it’s a long way to run, a three-day ride on a donkey cart.
As Siena runs, her story, and the story of her two friends, comes alive. Growing up with her in the margins was Boetie, neglected and wild, and Kriekie, whose mother worked the n1 truck-stops. When they meet again as grownups, the three must relive the devastating events that set them each on a new path.
 

My Thoughts

 
The story line is so intriguing and it ushed me to continue reading. The story is told in two timelines, now and the past. This alternates throughtevery chapter and it was executed perfectly. I felt like the pacing was spot on, it kept me engaged on the characters. I think the characters were potrayed in a best way considering the length of the book.
The book consists a bit of Afrikaans, which was a challenge for me as I know nothing about the language. Other parts were translated to englishbut others were not and I felt like that took part of the storyline for me, because it was like now I needed to guess what it means. 
Other than that, it was a good read and I’d recommend it.
 

Rating

 

Youth Revolution: #bethechange

 

Book Details

 
Title: Youth Revolution: #bethechange
Author: Kiara Nirghin
Publisher: Penguin
Publicist: Surita Joubert
Pages: 129
 

Summary

 
Youth Revolution is the inspirational story of how Kiara Nirghin, a sixteen-year-old high-school student from Johannesburg, overcame severe health obstacles to win the grand prize at the 2016 International Google Science Fair for her unique and innovative solution to worldwide drought. Having experienced bacterial meningitis, undiagnosed bilharzia and severe weight loss, Kiara was forced to postpone her school career for hospitalization, with a real chance of losing her hearing, her sight and the use of her limbs. Youth Revolution not only covers her journey from the hospital bed to the international stage as the winner of the science award, but also looks at issues surrounding stagnant youth innovation, while considering the dangers of lacking diversity in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). The book includes contributions from prominent women in science and education, among them Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
 

Thoughts

The writing style is amazing and reading about Kiara’s life was not daunting at all. We get a snippet of who she is and how she ended up where she is now. The writing hooks you to the point where you are invested which was just amazing. The strenght potrayeed from this book was just mind blowing considering how young she was when she encountered all those challenges. It was just motivation enough nevere to give up in any situation we encounter in life. The concept of the initiative is just amazing as to how you can provide a solution to something you identify as a challenge. It encourages problem solving in our communities and applying what we know and what we can gather to try and solve that problem. The book also details how she went about the application she did, its just amazing to read. I’d really recommend this to everyone and especially those interestem in STEM careers.

Rating

Those were the books I recently finished, have you read any of these or would you consider adding them to your tbr?

Thank you Penguin Random House SA for sending me review copies.

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Until next time, let’s keep reading.

 
 

 

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