BOOKS & MUSIC
The Woodpecker Mystery: The Inevitability of the Improbable by Nick Norman,
The Franschhoek Press R295 in bookstores
While working on a mining project in Brazil in the 1970s, geologist Nick Norman noticed something peculiar in southern Bahia: a woodpecker that bore a striking resemblance to those he knew back home in South Africa.
During later visits to South America, he saw more and more similar birds and trees. How did they come to be here, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? This book is his attempt to explain the mystery, delving into a range of topics like continental drift, plate tectonics and ocean currents.
Norman is best known for his books about geology, including Geological Journeys: A traveller’s guide to South Africa’s rocks and landforms (co-written with Gavin Whitfield; 2013) and BoxofRocks (2015). He does a great job of making complicated concepts easy to understand.
He also turns to the field of biology for answers, unpacking Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, Gregor Mendel’s genetics research and Rosalind Franklin’s contribution to the discovery of DNA.
It’s an interesting take on natural history, geology and birding, with great bird illustrations by Jeanne Hugo van der Merwe.
Decima by Eben Venter, Penguin Random House South Africa
R290 in bookstores
Decima, a black rhino cow and matriarch of her crash, is the main character in this novel by acclaimed author Eben Venter. Part autobiographical fiction, part wildlife crime mystery, the novel explores how humanity’s greed has contributed to the plight of the rhino over centuries.
Decima’s story is told by various voices: The main narrator, Eben, is a writer from Australia doing research about rhinos and poaching syndicates while visiting his ageing mother in South Africa. We also see the rhino through the eyes of the poachers who set out to kill her, the researchers who study the use of rhino horn in traditional medicine in Hong Kong, and the game warden tasked with keeping her safe in a reserve in the Eastern Cape.
Venter tackles themes like conservation, motherhood and loss in an eloquent tale that will draw you in from the very first page.
Beyond the Ranges by Riaan Vorster, self-published R375 in bookstores
Riaan Vorster knows a thing or two about adventure: He regularly accompanies hikers and climbers up Table Mountain as a guide (his book Lines of Least Resistance is a compilation of 101 vignettes about the many routes on the mountain) and he’s done several expeditions to the forests of Brazil and Venezuela.
Beyond the Ranges is his first novel. He self-published the book in 2009 and it’s now in its second edition. Ranges tells the story of tame and timid Mathew Travis who tires of his dull life in 1920s Cape Town, where he services trawlers in the harbour. He rediscovers his childhood dream of being an explorer, and when he can no longer deny his yearning for a more exciting life, he travels to the Amazon. There, he meets a German historian and an American guide, and together they set off into the rainforest in search of a rumoured emerald mine…
This book is the definition of “action-packed”. If you like your protagonists thrown into impossible situations in a hostile landscape, this novel will keep you on the edge of your hammock this summer.
Pocket Guide: Tracks & Tracking in Southern Africa by Louis Liebenberg, Struik Nature R230 in bookstores
No lions? No problem! Learn how to read the signs of the veld and you’ll soon unearth a wealth of information about animal behaviour that will make even the quietest day in a nature reserve exciting.
This revised guide, first published in 2000 as A Photographic Guide to Tracks & Tracking in Southern Africa, will introduce you to the basics of tracking. It covers 105 species found in our region, including reptiles, amphibians, ground-feeding birds, mammalian predators and herbivores. Each entry is accompanied by an illustration of the spoor of the species in question (forefoot and hind foot if four-legged), a description of its habitat and habits, and other signs it might leave behind.
There’s also a short section about insects – now you’ll be able to tell if a dung beetle trundled past earlier!