Latest news with #BookoftheMonth
The Hindu
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Jayant Kaykini highlights power of literature at book event, praises Bandaya
Renowned Kannada writer Jayant Kaykini emphasised that literature is a powerful tool to face life's challenges, especially for today's youth. Speaking at the 'Book of the Month in the Courtyard' event organised by the Kannada Book Authority and Sheshadripuram College on Tuesday, Mr. Kaykini highlighted the relevance of Vyasaraya Ballal's novel Bandaya. He described Ballal as a rare literary voice who shifted from emotional narratives to revolutionary themes. Bandaya explores conflicts not only between laborers and capitalists but also personal rebellions across generations and relationships, reflecting the universal human struggle. Kaykini praised Ballal's symbolic portrayal of a red kumkum mark as revolutionary. Manasa, chairperson of the Kannada Book Authority, stressed that 'every student should have a book in hand and mind.' She noted the authority's efforts to promote reading through initiatives like 'A Library for Every Home' and the 'Monthly Book' program.
Scotsman
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
TV Adaptation of Wax Fruit adds Nicholas Ralph to all-star cast
All Creatures Great and Small star Nicholas Ralph has joined the cast attached to Wax Fruit, a multi-episodic prestige drama based on Guy McCrone's internationally best-selling trilogy. The series is currently in development, led by Showrunner and Executive Producer Sarah Purser. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Set between the Gaelic-speaking Highlands and the gritty streets of Victorian Glasgow, Wax Fruit follows the explosive rise of the Moorhouse family, who leave rural poverty behind to climb into the ranks of the city's powerful merchant elite — at a time when Glasgow was one of the most glamorous and powerful cities in the world. The novels sold over a million copies, were translated into five languages, and were originally selected as a New York Times Book of the Month. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Now being adapted for screen, the show blends sweeping, character-driven period drama with a sharp, modern edge — think Succession meets Bridgerton in tartan. Molly Windsor & Martin Compston Nicholas Ralph (35), best known for his lead role in Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece television series All Creatures Great and Small, joins a multi-award-winning cast attached to the project, including Martin Compston, Ashley Jensen, Shirley Henderson, Molly Windsor, Elaine C. Smith, Kenny Doughty, Bill Paterson, Juliet Cadzow and Forbes 30 Under 30 breakthrough star Frankie Corio. Ralph has also appeared in The Devil's Light and Outlander, and is known for his grounded, emotionally rich performances. He has been nominated in the Best Drama Performance category of the National Television Awards 2025 for his performance as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, along with fellow Wax Fruit cast members also nominated; Martin Compston for The Rig, Ashley Jensen for Shetland and Mitchell Robertson for Curfew. Ralph said: "Sarah's passion, energy and deep knowledge of the material and history was totally inspiring and with the incredible Scottish actors and creatives she had involved - some legends - I was already enamoured. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He added, "Then Sarah sent episode one. I devoured it - all the characters are so well drawn and unique but at the heart you have the big bold Moorhouse family. I love the world, the time period and these wonderful characters and I am so invested. Needless to say, I'm very excited to be joining the Wax Fruit gang." Sarah Purser Also joining is Emun Elliott, currently starring in season two of The Gold. The team behind Wax Fruit includes BAFTA winning and Oscar-nominated creatives in writing, direction, design and score, including Emmy-winning composer Tommy Reilly. The adaptation has a detailed five-season arc, with episode one already written and funded by Screen Scotland. A teaser has been filmed, and the production plan is ready. Showrunner and Executive Producer Sarah Purser added: 'We're over the moon that the brilliant Nicholas Ralph and wonderful Emun Elliott are joining the Wax Fruit team. We literally have the dream cast. The top tier talent that Wax Fruit is attracting is testament to the quality of the source material and the skill and calibre of our scriptwriting team. We are thrilled with the ongoing interest and excitement.' Following recent media interest, the original books have sold out. Library waitlists are months long and new editions of the novels will be published in August 2025.
Daily Maverick
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Mathews Phosa's memoir is a bold narrative of political influence and resilience
This book is an elegy to a beloved political party and a failing, if not failed state. Mathews Phosa is devastating in his truthfulness, and stunning in his attempt to be generous to friend and foe alike. To bring her children up and to provide them with as much supplementary home-schooling support as she could, Reshoketjoe Phosa, Mathews Phosa's mother, indefinitely postponed the start of her own career as a professional nurse. She was a natural-born entrepreneur, a biscuit vendor and a maker and seller of ladies' hats as well as a prize-winning retailer of a popular brand of pyjamas. His father, Paul Phosa, was a teacher, principal and a serial builder of schools in many villages scattered around Nelspruit. This thanks to his artisan training in carpentry, building and plumbing, as well as his training as a teacher. When Mathews Phosa was of school-going age, his parents sent him back to their own roots — a farm called Polen near Mokopane — where he was raised by his grandfather Mathews Phosa Senior, after whom he was named. Grandpa Phosa was a devout Christian and a strict disciplinarian who was determined to shelter, cushion and shield his grandson from the 'contamination' and the dangers of South African politics. But guess what: as soon as Matthew Phosa 'broke free' from Grandpa's leash and became a high school student at Maripi High School in 1967, he dived headlong into the furious river of South African (student) politics, only to come up for air 50-something years later. Phosa's political memoir Witness to Power is an attempt to narrate and to review, in 18 chapters, his 50-something year journey into politics. More than a Witness We must resist Mathews Phosa's spirited, if also poetic, attempt to have us believe that he was a mere 'witness to power' as the title of his latest book and its contents seem to suggest. I put this to Phosa as we talked about his most recent work, Witness to Power: A Political Memoir, at the 'VC Book of the Month' conversation held at the Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria Campus, on 3 June 2025. The noun 'witness' conjures up the image of a curious spectator, a disinterested onlooker, a passive observer, an innocent bystander, an outsider who happened to be eavesdropping, from time to time, or someone compelled, by force of law, to testify. Phosa was and is none of the above. Not only has he been influential in the ANC, but his influence has been both national and international — putting him on first-name terms with several African presidents. In this book, he takes special pride in his unofficial role as ANC deal-breaker, kingmaker and king-breaker, as well as his informal roles as adviser and confidante to former presidents Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma as well as his close relationship with Thabo Mbeki in exile. He fondly recalls his camaraderie with Cyril Ramaphosa, a fellow student at Turfloop in the 1970s. Phosa puts a high premium on his relationship with Mandela, who, he suggests, sought his advice on who to appoint as deputy president of the country in 1994. At that time, Phosa voted for Mbeki, we are told. But things would later change. More than three decades of influence Phosa bitterly laments in various chapters of his book how former president Mbeki refused to reappoint him for a second term as premier of Mpumalanga. He ruminates over his time as treasurer-general of the ANC, member of the National Executive Committee and his failed attempt to become deputy president and president of the ANC. After the ANC's 2007 Polokwane conference when an increasingly (self?) isolated Mbeki 'ruled the country as a lone ranger' and 'began to run programmes parallel to the ANC's national programme', Phosa took the lead in the formulation and tabling of the unprecedented NEC motion to recall Mbeki in September 2008. This happened moments after Phosa had discreetly approached Zuma, 'two seats away from me… and asked him, 'Mr President, do you still need Thabo?'' Later when Phosa 'witnessed corruption and State Capture under the Zuma presidency on a scale that we could not have imagined when we ascended to power in 1994', he did more than just speak against it. When Zuma sought his advice on whether to resign or not to resign in their marathon meeting during the night of 13 February, 2018, Phosa advised and persuaded Zuma to resign, which he did publicly, the next day. Clearly, Phosa cannot meaningfully be described as a mere 'witness to power'. Admittedly many may, and some will, disagree with Phosa's version of what went on in the corridors of power and his precise role in it. But few will deny that he has been influential. For more than 30 years, Phosa has been a wielder of power even if he did not get to exercise as much power as he may have fancied, for as long as he might have preferred. For the poet that Phosa is, it is possible that his idea of being a 'witness to power' is intended metaphorically — as a teaser rather than a clincher, not so much to denote as to provoke, and not so much impose as to evoke. Indeed, part of the original meaning of the noun 'witness' is taken from the classical Greek word from which we have inherited the word 'martyr'. In its original meaning, a martyr is someone unafraid to bear witness even in the face of torture and at the risk of death. While Phosa may not be regarded as a martyr by any stretch of the imagination, perhaps his fearless denunciation of comrades and foes on matters of corruption and political principle has frequently exposed him to the dangers of character assassination, at least. Ready to wield power – again? The heart of this 18-chapter book is in chapters seven (Premier of Mpumalanga), eight (Trouble in [Mpumalanga] Paradise) and nine (Out of the Fold). These are easily some of the most emotional chapters in the book. Phosa seems to regard his tenure as premier as both the zenith and the nadir of his political power. Though he claims that the matter is water under the bridge, the incident of 24 April 2001 — when the then minister of police Steve Tshwete announced on national television that Phosa, Ramaphosa and Tokyo Sexwale were involved in a plot to harm and/or overthrow Mbeki, only to withdraw the allegations on 4 December, 2001 — appears to remain at once a sticking point and a turning point. Throughout his book, Phosa tries hard to maintain an air of objectivity and generosity, often finding reason to say something good about all the main characters in his book, with mixed results. Between, above and beneath the lines, behind and in front of the seemingly benign adjectives and adverbs that are occasionally summoned to describe friend and foe with kindness, the smell of anger, disappointment and fury is palpable across the pages of this book. This book is an elegy to a beloved political party and a failing, if not failed state. Phosa is devastating in his truthfulness, and stunning in his attempt to be generous to friend and foe alike. As he winds the book down to a hopeful end, Phosa says: 'In my own journey I have tasted both success and failure. After serving my term as premier of Mpumalanga, I was elected to the NEC of the ANC and later served as treasurer-general for a term. My nomination for deputy president did not succeed, nor did my later campaign for the presidency of the party. In success and failure, I have learnt a few lessons about the nature of politics in South Africa. … I stand ready to make a contribution again.' This passage is part of a repeated refrain in this book of anger and ferocity. Surely, this book is about more than a mere 'witness to power'! But could it be a political manifesto through which Phosa is announcing his readiness to stand (again) for election and for leadership? Could this be Phosa's version of Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope (2006), which was an integral but disguised part of the election manifesto that catapulted him into the US presidency in 2008? Phosa's Witness to Power may be a statement of farewell to political innocence, but nothing in it intimates, let alone announces, a loss of appetite for political power. DM
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Amazon's Memorial Day tech deals have up to 50% off Apple, Blink, JBL
Amazon's Memorial Day tech deals have up to 50% off Apple, Blink, JBL Tech deals make great gift ideas for dad! Memorial Day weekend is here, and Amazon's tech deals are heating up! Amazon is offering up to 50% off select Amazon devices, TVs, JBL speakers, Apple products and more. This would be a great time to grab dad a Father's Day gift idea or for some new tech upgrades for a recent graduate. Don't miss out on these limited-time offers, as some of the best deals could sell out fast. Below, we've put together some great deals you can score now on the best-selling tech gadgets, laptops, tablets, and TVs, making it the perfect opportunity to snag those highly anticipated electronics you've been eyeing. Amazon's best-selling Memorial Day tech deals More: We just found a summer reading list hack: Join Book of the Month for $5 and get a free hat More: Stylish savings: Add an extra 20% off markdowns at the Coach Outlet Memorial Day sale 👜 More: One year of Peacock Premium is less than $25 for National Streaming Day More: Is an Amazon Prime membership worth it? Here's what you need to know When is Memorial Day 2025? Memorial Day 2025 is observed on Monday, May 26. Is Memorial Day a federal holiday? Yes, Memorial Day is one of the 11 federal holidays recognized nationwide. It's also the unofficial start to summer in the retail world.
Indianapolis Star
24-05-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Amazon's Memorial Day tech deals have up to 50% off Apple, Blink, JBL
Memorial Day weekend is here, and Amazon's tech deals are heating up! Amazon is offering up to 50% off select Amazon devices, TVs, JBL speakers, Apple products and more. This would be a great time to grab dad a Father's Day gift idea or for some new tech upgrades for a recent graduate. Don't miss out on these limited-time offers, as some of the best deals could sell out fast. Below, we've put together some great deals you can score now on the best-selling tech gadgets, laptops, tablets, and TVs, making it the perfect opportunity to snag those highly anticipated electronics you've been eyeing. More: We just found a summer reading list hack: Join Book of the Month for $5 and get a free hat More: Stylish savings: Add an extra 20% off markdowns at the Coach Outlet Memorial Day sale 👜 More: One year of Peacock Premium is less than $25 for National Streaming Day More: Is an Amazon Prime membership worth it? Here's what you need to know Memorial Day 2025 is observed on Monday, May 26.
