Today we're bringing you the best March releases in fiction, non-fiction, and children's books. 

Click the links below to navigate to the section you would like to explore. Once you've found your new favourite book, click the title to order!

 FICTION    NON-FICTION    CHILDREN'S 

FICTION

To Paradise - Hanya Yanagihara - R 360.00

In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means.

In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father.

And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist's damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him - and solve the mystery of her husband's disappearances.

These three sections are joined in an enthralling and ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can't exist.

What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness.

The great power of this remarkable novel is driven by Yanagihara's understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love - partners, lovers, children, friends, family and even our fellow citizens - and the pain that ensues when we cannot. 

The Leviathan - Rosie Andrews - R 325.00

Norfolk, 1643. With civil war tearing England apart, reluctant soldier Thomas Treadwater is summoned home by his sister, who accuses a new servant of improper conduct with their widowed father.

By the time Thomas returns home, his father is insensible, felled by a stroke, and their new servant is in prison, facing charges of witchcraft.

Thomas prides himself on being a rational, modern man, but as he unravels the mystery of what has happened, he uncovers not a tale of superstition but something dark and ancient, linked to a shipwreck years before.

Something has awoken, and now it will not rest.

Richly researched, incredibly atmospheric, and deliciously unsettling, The Leviathan is set in England during a time of political turbulence and religious zealotry. It is a tale of family and loyalty, superstition and sacrifice, but most of all it is a spellbinding story of impossible things.

The Man Who Loved Crocodile Tamers - Finuala Downling - R 330.00

Gina knows hardly anything about her father apart from the fact that he was once engaged to Koringa, a crocodile tamer, and that he is buried in an unmarked grave.

In between shifts at a call centre, with Doubt always looking over her shoulder, she works on a novel about him, ultimately drawing back the curtain on a complex, sad but also funny and enchanting life.

The Man Who Loved Crocodile Tamers is a story about love, family, fear and the banishing of fear: a celebration of strong women and a defence of a ‘nervous’ man.

The Milk Tart Murders - Sally Andrew - R 290.00

Who knew a Marilyn Monroe movie could kill you? When Oom Frik of Oom Frik’s Fantastiques dies during a vintage movie screening in Ladismith, Tannie Maria and her policeman boyfriend Henk are on the scene.

Ja, the old thrift-shop owner had a heart condition, but was there more to his demise? It’s rumoured that among Frik’s junk are valuable treasures, and the grumpy, paranoid old guy frequently altered his will.

When a second body turns up, there’s a clue: a letter addressed to Tannie Maria asking for advice – and a milk tart recipe. Fifty-plus agony aunt Maria and feisty young journalist Jessie conduct their own treasure hunt and murder investigation. The police are looking for the perpetrator too, but the amateur detectives have unique skills, and Tannie Maria’s food is a powerful incentive to get people to talk.

Maria and Jessie step into deep danger, but all is not doom and gloom. Spring has arrived in the Karoo, and Henk and Maria discuss moving in together, even though his home is full of his late wife’s stuff. Maria knows food has a way of filling the dark spaces, for better or for worse. Perhaps, once the Klein Karoo crime-buster’s work is done, she might follow her own advice and try a healing recipe.

NON-FICTION

1 Recce, Volume 3: Through Stealth our Strength - Alexander Strachan - R 320.00

The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale has been a source of fierce contestation and emotion for decades, but up to now little was known about the Recces’ presence and impact during this controversial battle.

In this final book of the nail-biting trilogy, Strachan takes the reader along on night-time seaward operations into the heart of Luanda, through swamps in Mozambique filled with stinking mud that sucked one in, and ultimately into the final battle of the Border War.

Driven by their strong will to survive and excellent training, the Recces harnessed every possible tactic to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy. At times there were hairbreadth escapes. Sometimes there were victories, but often also painful losses.

Packed with suspense, adrenaline and unforgettable accounts by ex-Recces who experienced these adventures at first hand.

Too White to be Coloured, Too Coloured to be Black: On the Search For Home and Meaning - Ismail Lagardien - 290.00

Too White to be Coloured, Too Coloured to be Black is a hybrid narrative, blending memoir with social commentary and political analysis.

Always in search of "home", the book tracks Lagardien's vast experiences of a deeply lived life, always against a backdrop of "unbelonging" - first as a reporter in the turbulent 80s, to studying economics at the LSE, then achieving a doctorate at the University of Wales, to working as a speechwriter at the World Bank in Washington. A unique and brilliant read.

Now You Know How Mapetla Died: The Biography of a Black Consciousness Martyr - Ntombizikhona Valela - R290.00

Mapetla Mohapi was a leading member of the Black Consciousness Movement, and the first to die in detention in 1976. Police produced a 'suicide note'. The note was later confirmed by a leading British handwriting expert as a forgery.

Since then, his wife Nohle has worked tirelessly for justice, first enlisting the help of Steve Biko, who would tragically meet the same fate at the hands of the police a year later in 1977. 

CHILDREN'S

The Secret of Haven Point - Lisette Auton - R 190.00

Some bonds are built to last forever . . .

When Alpha was a baby, she washed up by the lighthouse at Haven Point, a remote beach alive with wild magic. Alpha was the first foundling - and now the lighthouse at Haven Point has become a ramshackle home for any disabled child or adult who has ever felt excluded from society.

They call themselves the Wrecklings, looting from passing ships with the help of the mermaids who live in their waters, and whispering superstitions to the wind and the waves. Alpha and her gang spend their days adventuring on the shore - and getting into trouble with the grown-ups.

Then one day, everything changes. When Alpha spots a strange light up on the headland and realizes that her beloved family are in danger of being discovered by Outsiders, it sets in motion a chain of events that will change Haven Point forever.

With their home under threat, the Wrecklings must decide what kind of future they want... and what they're willing to do to get it.

The Soul Hunters 2: The Soul Prophecy - Chris Bradford - R 195.50

'I saw him die right in front of my eyes.'
'That you did,' replies Damien.
'But you underestimated his power.

When Genna's parents are murdered, the police put the tragedy down to a burglary gone wrong. But Genna knows the truth: the Soul Hunters are back and her nightmare is far from over.

With home no longer safe, she flees to America to find Phoenix, the only one who can help her - or so she thinks. While searching for her Soul Protector, Genna meets other First Ascendants like her, and Soul Warriors tasked with protecting the Light.

But the Hunters are on her trail and it's only a matter of time before Genna comes face-to-face with their leader once more. For Tanas has miraculously incarnated into a new body, and is hungry for her soul.

Genna must look to her past lives to survive. But how can she defeat Tanas when evil never dies?

Just Our Luck - Julia Walton - R 207.00

“Bad luck follows lies.”

That was the first rule for life that Leo’s Greek grandmother, Yia Yia, gave him before she died. But Leo’s anxiety just caused a fight at school, and though he didn’t lie, he wasn’t exactly honest about how it all went down... how he went down. Now Leo’s father thinks a self-defense class is exactly what his son needs to “man up.”

“Leave the Paros family alone.”

That was Yia Yia’s second rule for life. But who does Leo see sitting at the front desk of the local gym? Evey Paros, whose family supposedly cursed Leo’s with bad luck. Seeing that Leo is desperate to enroll in anything but self-defense class, Evey cuts him a deal: she’ll secretly enroll him in hot yoga instead—for a price. But what could the brilliant, ruthless, forbidden Evey Paros want from Leo?

At the End of Everything - Marieke Nijkamp - R210.00

The Hope Juvenile Treatment Center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have been exiled there; the world barely acknowledges that they exist.

Then the guards at Hope start acting strange. And one day...they don't show up. But when the teens band together to make a break from the facility, they encounter soldiers outside the gates. There's a rapidly spreading infectious disease outside, and no one can leave their houses or travel without a permit. Which means that they're stuck at Hope. And this time, no one is watching out for them at all.

As supplies quickly dwindle and a deadly plague tears through their ranks, the group has to decide whom among them they can trust and figure out how they can survive in a world that has never wanted them in the first place.

Which of our March highlights are you most looking forward to reading? Let us know in the comments!