Reading Matters (week 41) October 6, 2026

Many of us are mad about birds. Well, I am so I was saddened when Birds on the Brink (Struik/PRH) by Alan Lee and Shamiso Banda landed on my desk. I took it to Mark Anderson, CEO of BirdLife South Africa that helped to sponsor this glorious, glossy coffee table book by Alan Lee, an ornithologist of note, and Shamiso Banda, a PhD Fellow and committed conservationist.

Mark has during his BirdLife CEO 15-year tenure, initiated research into lead poisoning of vultures: reduced albatross fatalities: secured funding to minimize the negative effect of wind and solar projects on birds: and focused research on African penguin habitat. His work and stories are legendary and you will hear some of them here.

Swan Song by British historian Charles Spencer about his sister, Princess Diana (PRH/Michael Joseph) has, in only two weeks, shattered records to become the fastest-selling hardback non-fiction title in the UK this year, selling 102,668 copies during its opening week on sale.

I was enthralled by the book. It’s had British praise and criticism heaped on it – well, it would – as the Monarchy has refuted some of Spencer’s comments on King Charles, the most ghastly of which, I think, was the then Prince Charles’ comment on Diana’s death: ‘ we’ll forget (Diana) soon enough.’

Massive worldwide book sales have refuted that comment/ wish.

Charles Spencer details his and his sibling’s often sad childhood, her extraordinary eclipsing of the one-time playboy prince’s glamour, and details the sordid background to Diana’s Panorama interview – “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.” He describes her death and the eulogy he delivered at her funeral.

It’s been reported as among the greatest speeches of the 1900s for capturing global grief and speaking truth to power in real time. An unmissable book… haunting, lyrical, fascinating.

Reading Matters with Sue Grant-Marshall