My Story

The Four Books I’m Currently Reading

by melissajavan
The Four Books I’m Currently Reading

It’s National Book Week between 3 to 9 September 2018 in South Africa.

I had the opportunity this week to share the books I’m currently reading during a Twitter chat on Monday 3 September. The Twitter chat was done in collaboration with Mensa wines, a brand that focuses on storytelling. Myself and several bloggers used the hashtags #MensaBookList, #LiveAGreatStory and #SAVineShare during the chat.

HOW IT WORKED
Our challenge was to pair a Mensa wine (each of us got three different wines from Mensa) with a book (or two) of our choice. We then had to explain why we are pairing this wine with the particular book (or just give a book review).

It was fun to share and to see everyone else’s reviews. Everyone had a different list of books they shared. There were books shared that made me think “I want to read that too!” I’ve never been in a literal book club, so talking about books virtually was really a bliss.

mensa book list reading
The different books on my list this year. (Image: Melissa Javan)

MY BOOK LIST
We paired the books with three wines: Mensa Sauvignon Blanc 2018, Mensa Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2018, and the Mensa Cabernet Sauvignon 2017. All of the books I’m reading are local South African authors.

My favourite flavour (of the three wines) is the Mensa Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2018. I love white wines.

Here are the books that I paired the wines with:

Mensa Sauvignon Blanc 2018

mensa book list Vusi Thembekwayo
I’m enjoying Vusi Thembekwayo’s “Lessons from A Black Dragon” book because it’s full of life- and business lessons. He’s a great storyteller and he always shares the background (history) to an event or story. This book is inspirational and gives one a sense of hope. (Image: Melissa Javan)

Mensa Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2018

Mensa Book list Niq Mhlongo
Niq Mhlongo’s “Soweto Under The Apricot Tree” is a list of fictional short stories. It’s animated stories based on real life (I would think). It talks about township life, families… It really shows you that everyone has a story to tell. (Image: Melissa Javan)

Mensa Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

mensa book list nozizwe cynthia jele
This wine is dark and spicy – just like this book. Nozizwe Cynthia Jele shares in her book “The Ones With Purpose” about a family who loses their sister to cancer. The book touches on the ups and downs of family life, a family that come together again, loss, etc. You also get a few shocking tales/ occurrences that took place within this family’s life. If you’re a sucker for drama (and soapies) or you’re just into knowing things, you’ll love this book. (Image: Melissa Javan)

I’ve also paired Julian Jansen’s De Zalze Murders book with this wine. This book gives a behind the scenes look of the murder case that took place in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The parents and their eldest son was murdered, while their daughter and second son survived the ax-murder ordeal. The second son was trialed and convicted of the murders. I love how you get to see what goes on in the life of the journalist (the author) as he was working on this case.

Here are some tweets from the discussion we had on books:

Thank you for reading about my favourite books! What are you currently reading?

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