Steven Krawitz looks at his favourite books of 2015

STEVEN KRAWITZ

What follows is a list of books published in 2015 I have read and want to recommend and books I would like to still read.

Jewish Interest

Not in G-d’s Name by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. Hodder & Stoughton.

In this powerful and timely book, Rabbi Sacks explores the roots of violence and religion.

Killing a King by Dan Ephron. Norton.

Published on the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, this book investigates the assassination and explores the impact this tragic killing has had on Israel. The Rabin family and Yigal Amir co-operated with Ephron on the book.

South African interest

The Secret Society by Robin Brown. Penguin Books.

An interesting exploration of Cecil John Rhodes’ plans and success in creating a secret society that would guide and steer the British Empire. For once it is comforting to read about a non-Jewish organisation’s striving for world domination.

An Empty Coast by Tony Parks. Macmillan.

A thriller set in Namibia and South Africa, involving mercenaries, the CIA and buried secrets from the Bush Wars of the ‘80s. Park is an Australian author who divides his time between Sydney and the Kruger Park and is tipped as the next Wilbur Smith.

Social issues

So You’ve Been Publically Shamed by Jon Ronson. Picador.

While you are posting pictures of your holiday on social media platforms, take the time to read these cautionary case studies of the damage and devastation we can so easily inflict on others by simply retweeting or responding and how we are all part of the phenomenon.

How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims. Bluebird books for Life.

An anti-helicopter parenting manifesto that sets forth an alternative philosophy for raising preteens and teens to self-sufficient young adulthood, written by a freshman dean from Stanford University. If you think you’re not a helicopter parent, read the first chapter (free sample from Google Play Books) and then once you have confronted the awful truth, (because which Jewish South African parent is not?), go out and get yourself a copy of this book and save your relationship with your children.

True adventure

No Picnic on Mount Kenya by Felice Benuzzi. MacLehose Press.

A reissued classic about an Italian soldier who breaks out of a POW camp in Kenya during the Second World War to climb Mount Kenya. Thrilling and electrifying.

Business

The Rise of Robots by Marin Ford. OneWorld.

The scary possibility of robots replacing people in many highly skilled occupations from a major Silicon Valley player. Winner of the Financial Times McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.

Fiction

Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, The Story of the Lost Child). Europa.

The intricate, emotional and psychological story and study of female friendship between Elena and Lila, set in Naples from 1950 onwards. If your book club has not bought this Italian sensation, indulge yourself in all four.

New York Sagas: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Picador.

One of the most talked about books of the year, shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Jude, a victim of the most terrible sexual abuse as a child, is the centre of a group of four young men living in New York. This is a story about friendships and how they change, about the miracles love can perform and the limitations of love. Not for the faint hearted.

City of Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg.

1970s New York, a huge cast of characters brought pulsatingly to life are all connected to the murder of a college student in Central Park and a summer night when the electricity grid overloads and the city is plunged into darkness and madness. One of the most hyped and anticipated novels of the year.

Dictator by Robert Harris. Hutchinson.

The final instalment of Harris’ Cicero trilogy, set in the Rome of Julius Caesar. This is a study in politics, pure and simple, by a master writer who has shared the last 12 years in the company of Cicero, one of the greatest statesmen and orators of all time. Do yourself a favour and read Imperium and Lustrum first, then finish off with Dictator.

The Last Century Trilogy by Jane Smiley (Some Luck, Early Warning, Golden Age). Mantle.

Five generations of the Langdon family, starting in Iowa in 1920, spreading across the US and ending in 2019. Smiley has achieved a work on the scale of Dickens and Tolstoy and guaranteed for herself a place among the hallowed names of American letters.

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. Little Brown.

Private detective Cormoran Strike’s third outing. Galbraith is the pen name of J K Rowling, who has proved her talent as a crime writer.

Shanghai Redemption by Qiu Xiaolong. Mulholland Books.

China is the rising world power. Xiaolong is one of China’s rising crime writers. This is the ninth Inspector Chen book. Crime fiction is a good way to get to know a country. Enter the Dragon and enjoy the ride.