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‘Few books have managed to hold my attention since the start of lockdown, but now that I’m reading again, I’m hooked. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is a fantastic Russian novel spanning decades. Ironically, the hero is sentenced to live out his life on lockdown, in a hotel in Moscow, unable to ever leave the premises, and 400 and something pages in, I’m still reading it, rapt. Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler was also great. It’s a quick read, which I found useful in getting myself back into reading. I also enjoyed Michiel Heyns’s new novel, A Poor Season for Whales, but then I have always been a huge fan of his work.’
Paige Nick
‘I’m enjoying a lot of books set in other countries because I can’t travel right now. I went to Morocco with Lawrence
Osborne’s The Forgiven and to Alaska with A Wolf Called Romeo by Nick Jans. Next up? An obvious choice: Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back by Mark O’Connell.’
Lisa Fugard
‘I love reading food-themed novels (duh!) and some of my favourites are The Food of Love by Anthony Capella, The Prodigal Daughter by Prue Leith, Bread Alone by Judith Ryan Hendricks and Sourdough by Robin Sloan. A few other favourites are Bread Wine Chocolate by Simran Sethi, Heston Blumenthal’s biography by Chas Newkey-Burden, Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain and The Angry Chef by Anthony Warner.
Katelyn Allegra
‘I love learning about the different roads that people in the funny business have travelled. It’s such a beautiful thing. My favourites (in no particular order) are: Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up, Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, Tina Fey’s Bossypants, I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart, Michael McIntyre’s Life and Laughing: My Story, and Judd Apatow’s Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy.’
Dalin Oliver
‘I’ve been struggling to concentrate long enough to read but here goes: American Pastoral by Philip Roth, Grace by Grace Coddington, The ANC Spy Bible by Moe Shaik, Normal People by Sally Rooney and American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins.’
Annika Larsen
‘I guess at the moment reading the news is more of a thriller than any sci-fi!’
Schalk Bezuidenhout