All booked up

Five unforgettable books about people, places and journeys

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Busy day? Listen to this note, instead of reading it:

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Dear NE One

Two piet-my-vrous have been calling outside our home since before first light. Theirs is a repetitive, sometimes frantic call that rises and falls and rises and falls: piet-my-vrou, piet-my-vrou-piet-my-vrou they insist, sometimes in unison, from somewhere among the branches of the acacia trees. It’s a call that heralds summer; these red-chested cuckoos have returned from the woodlands of equatorial Africa, bringing with them longer days, often unbearable heat and regular storms.

They’ll be here for the season, finding mates and laying eggs in the nests of unsuspecting birds who will raise chicks that are not of their own species. Around March, when the weather cools and the rain abates, the piet-my-vrous will head for the woodlands around Uganda, the DRC, Ghana and Nigeria, where people will hear their calls – less frequent, outside of breeding season – and know: the rains are coming.

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Listen to the piet-my-vrous, calling outside our home this morning:

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In the next few days I will be on that same flight path, but will go further still. I’m heading for the UK, where I’ll meet up with Mark (who’s currently on assignment in Indonesia) and spend Christmas with family before we hop over to the High Atlas mountains in Morocco. I’ll be working on chapters for two books while there; my hiking boots and thermals are about to be packed, and the mountains are calling.

Because our home is available on Airbnb when we’re away, there’s always more to preparing for a trip than simply packing my bag – and on my to-do list, every time, is finding space on our shelves for the books I’ve gathered but haven’t yet read*. Rather than lament these unread pages, though, I thought today I’d share with you some of the books I have read (or listened to) over the past few months; stories that have stayed with me, moved me and, often, taken me to places I’ve never been.

* What’s in my to-read pile? See the photo at the end of this note.

A Woman of Firsts

The Midwife Who Built a Hospital and Saved the World

By Edna Adan Ismail

A Woman of Firsts is an extraordinary memoir; a story that you’re likely to bring up in conversations over and over again. Edna Adan Ismail’s journey is both inspiring and humbling: from overcoming significant barriers and defying societal norms in Somaliland (which is not, according to the people of Somaliland, part of Somalia), she went on to becoming a trailblazing midwife and diplomat. Edna Adan Ismail is now 87, and her relentless fight for women’s health and rights, particularly against female genital mutilation, continues today; her memoir showcases her remarkable courage and compassion, and opens a window into a part of the world so many of us know too little about.

Wild

A Journey from Lost to Found

By Cheryl Strayed

I mentioned this book the other day, and really – how did it take me this long to get around to reading Cheryl Strayed’s beautiful memoir? It’s the story of her 1,100-mile solo hike along the USA’s Pacific Crest Trail – and also, it’s a story of grit, grief and growth. I listened to Wild on Audible while preparing to walk the Camino Frances – and absolutely loved it. (The book, that is. I loved walking this Camino too.)

Vagabond

A Hiker’s Homage to Rural Spain

By Mark Eveleigh

Legendary explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes labelled Vagabond ‘classic travel writing at its finest’ and National Geographic listed it as one of the top 6 travel reads of 2024. I’m telling you this up front because I am biased – Vagabond was written by my love, Mark Eveleigh, and I couldn’t be prouder. Vagabond is an ode to the way Mark used to travel – carefree, and with no set plans – and through the story of his 1,225km walk across Spain he delves into the country’s culture, history and quirks. His journey captures the essence of the country he loves, and the spirit of true adventure. (You can listen to Mark and I in conversation about Vagabond and his walk, here.)

Shadow City

A Woman Walks Kabul

By Taran N. Khan

Mumbai-based journalist Taran Khan’s beautifully crafted tome to Kabul is a fascinating journey into the heart of a misunderstood city. Through her wanderings she uncovers layers of history, culture and humanity that permeate far beyond the chaos of conflict. Shadow City was another of my cherished Audible listens, and it dropped onto my radar when I listened to Taran in conversation with travel writer Sophy Roberts on the podcast Gone to Timbuktu, here.

Children of Sugarcane

By Joanne Joseph

It’s a fact often told that Durban, a forever-summer city on the east coast of South Africa, is home today to ‘the largest population of Indians outside India’. Radio and TV presenter Joanne Joseph delves into the origins of this community as she traces the life of Shanti, one of the 152,000 Indians who sailed to Port Natal (then a British colony) in the late 1800s to work as indentured labour. Like so many others, Shanti left India in search of freedom and with dreams to escape poverty – completely unaware of the brutal realities of indentured life on a sugarcane plantation in a country so very, very different from her own. Shanti is a fictional character but her story is based on the life of Joanne’s great-grandmother, and Children of Sugarcane is the result of nine years of intensive research. It is a story, very tenderly written, that delves into a part of South Africa’s history that not widely known.

My to-read pile – books gathered recently from the charity and secondhand book stores around town.

What are some of your most cherished reads of the past few months? Please let me know in the comments – I’m always on the lookout for titles to add to my (never diminishing) to-read pile.

Here’s to books, and the journeys they take us on.

Until next time,

PS In a reading kinda mood? Put the kettle on…

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• IN 5 PHOTOS: Lesotho – a journey across the Kingdom in the Sky

• AT MY TABLE: The 106-year-old woman who speaks the language of skin

• TRAVEL: Simple solutions for a stress-free flight

• 5 O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE: Two writers, one shared moment

• BALI: Six places where you can connect with the wilder side of the island