Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Clear away that mental clutter!
Patricia McCracken’s selection, as always, has something for everyone: property advice from an expert; a trio of books to get you thinking creatively; sharks off the beaches of Cape Town; and murder Down Under.
She was a township girl from Ga-Rankuwa who dreamt of becoming Miss South Africa. Now Koketso Sylvia Milosevic is a property multi-millionaire, co-host of the Home Channel’s
The Property Game, and a mentor. Her book, Winning the Property Game (Tafelberg,
R256), is part autobiographical and part inspirational selfhelp business advice.
Here are five key aspects summing up her journey:
1. Fear: I was so scared at the age of 16 when my father was retrenched and our family went from stability to poverty overnight. I was angry that you could be a model employee for years, but if you were an ‘employee’, you had no control over your future.
2. My mother: My father couldn’t get another job so my mum, who’d been traditional and stayed at home, started selling soft drinks and vetkoek, then developed into owning shops and a construction business.
3. Aha!: When my parents gave me Robert Kiyosaki’s
Rich Dad, Poor Dad for my 21st birthday it opened my eyes.
I realised that I could lose my fears by using jobs as temporary stepping stones towards a future that I would control through investing in solid, tangible property.
4. Work: In my early
20s, I worked in sales on international cruise ships, becoming a manager.
Giving presentations rebuilt my confidence and self-esteem. I don’t think I’m naturally talented, but a skilled person who has put in the work.
5. Learning: My mother retrained as a teacher and in her 60s is still studying. It’s vital to inform yourself about your business environment, so now I’m studying a law course to understand as much as possible about contracts and protect myself.
My Side of the Ocean by Ron Irwin (Macmillan, R340)
Luxury oceanside living beyond the glitter of Camps Bay might be expected to exude wealth and expensive minimalism. Instead, artist Stella Wright is eyeballed by a shark, ripping any romantic haze from the ocean she has fallen in love with, even though it’s on the other side of the world from her US home and her husband Jack’s many business interests. She’s not deterred by the city’s taps running dry and collecting water from springs or by the lurking fear of wildfire. In this environmental and emotional warzone, Stella and surfer Ben, who bears the wound of his own more physical encounter with the shark, need each other’s presence to reassure themselves that they’re alive. Their shark encounters become turning points for them. Cape Town’s ocean and landscape become powerful characters in their own right, forcing the plot into unexpected directions in this beautifully evoked setting and subtle human power play.
Homecoming by Kate Morton (Mantle, R340)
This absorbing novel wraps a family murder mystery in a plot that’s split between the present day and the late 1950s.
Today’s investigator is Jess, a journalist called back to Australia from London after her grandmother’s life-threatening accident. Pacing the old family home in Sydney as she waits for news, Jess ponders the gaps in her odd family history.
Who was her father? Why was her mother so ready to relinquish her to live with her grandmother? Who are the people that her grandmother mentions in her coma?
The secrets that Jess reveals lead her to an unsolved crime that has haunted the heart of her family for six decades.
Both plots are ingeniously layered and well weighted with characters whom you would love to meet or have met in small towns, making this 600-plus pages of perfect holiday reading.