Reading Matters (week 044) 28 Oct 2025

Mandy Wiener, gutsy journalist, media personality and author of bestselling books including, Killing Kebble and The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story, is back with another sure-fire hit, The Deal (Pan Macmillan). It describes in telling detail what went on behind closed doors after the ANC failed to win the last election and political parties struggled, indeed haggled, to land the best deal for themselves.

Wiener wrote the book because she says the public has the right to know what went on in secret. In the process she reveals fascinating insights into many politicians and their dealings. An easy and riveting read.

Ken Follett, international author who has sold over 198 million copies of his 38 books, concentrates his once-considerable writing powers on Stonehenge in his new book, Circle of Days (Quercus / Jonathan Ball). Unfortunately the general consensus amongst reviewers, including me, is that this book has been a stretch too far for the wordsmith.

Jamie Oliver. Just the name makes me salivate. The British celebrity chef who has made millions re-evaluate their eating habits is doing so again in a splendid hardback book: Eat Yourself Healthy (Michael Joseph/ Penguin). Naturally it’s packed with easy-to-follow, tantalising recipes and glorious pictures but more than that it makes healthy food supremely scrumptious.

Have you ever woken screaming and hyperventilating after a nightmare and found you could quite literally not move your body ? It’s a terrifying condition called sleep paralysis. It can make you feel there’s a great weight on your chest suffocating you, or you might feel an evil presence near you.

In This is Why you Dream (Cornerstone Press/ PRH) neurobiologist and neurosurgeon, American Dr Rahul Jandial explains what our dreams reveal about our waking lives and why we need nightmares. Most of us need this book.

Reading Matters with Sue Grant-Marshall