Top Reads for the Christmas Holidays
One of the hardest things about having kids of the digital generation, who are always tethered to three different kinds of electronic device, is that it can be difficult to find presents to put under the tree. You can’t exactly wrap a Spotify Premium account or a phone upgrade, can you? Yet, somehow, it still feels wrong not to have a pile of tempting gifts of all shapes and sizes on Christmas morning.
So, I was thrilled to read recently that young people raised on digital downloads are returning to “physical media”. That’s books and records to you and me. Teens and twentysomethings have started sharing “shelfies”, photographs of hardbacks and LPs, just like I had when I was my twins’ age. It turns out that millennials love the reassuring heft of a hardback or a paperback just as much as their parents and grandparents. Books help them disconnect from online life and reconnect with their relations IRL (in real life, in case you didn’t know).
One of my favourite things over Christmas, away from the mayhem of the kitchen, is to snuggle up with Coco the dog and a new book. One that I’ll be buying this year for all my my female friends is 'How Hard Can It Be?' By Allison Pearson. This is the sequel to Pearson’s international bestseller, 'I Don’t Know How She Does It', which introduced us to Kate Reddy, a working mother who was trying to juggle a demanding City career (like mine) with being a mother. When I read it, I thought that Allison must have been spying through my kitchen window, so spookily accurate was the way she described all the crazy dilemmas and the guilt women like me feel. The opening scene, where Kate is distressing shop-bought mince pies to look home-made, so she can take them to the school carol concert and won’t be judged by the disapproving stay-home mums, is justly famous. I still remember laughing at the line, “Women used to make their own mince pies and had to fake orgasms. Now, we can just about manage the orgasms, but we have to fake the mince pies. And they call this progress”!
Anyway, the sequel is even better. Kate is coming up for her 50th birthday (er, she really is me) and she’s juggling elderly relatives and tricky teenagers as well as re-entering a rather ageist workplace. What I love about the novel is that, despite everything, it really celebrates what midlife women can bring to business. After all, if you can deal with a teenager daughter who’s innocently shared a picture of her naked bottom (a belfie, apparently) and seen it go viral, then no client relationship will ever faze you!
A lot of women gave 'I Don’t Know How She Does It' to their male bosses so they would understand the challenges they faced. I reckon the sequel would be a perfect gift for any puzzled man living with a menopausal wife.
Bumper round-ups of Books of the Year are all very well, but nothing beats personal recommendation. Here at Sanlam, I asked colleagues for books they would like to give or receive.
Jonathan Polin, Group CEO
I was fascinated by Homo Deus: a Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s the sequel to the widely celebrated Sapiens, a hugely ambitious introduction to the whole of human activity on the planet. Fans included Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Barack Obama and it was translated into 40 languages. At a time when we get our information in bite-size pieces, Harari satisfied our desire for a grand, sweeing narrative. Humanity, he predicted, would engineer one more epochal event to rival the agricultural and scientific revolutions. We would create networked intelligences with a far greater capacity for reason than our own. Sapiens would disappear in the foreseeable future.
In Homo Deus, that apocalyptic future is imagined in detail with numerous ingenious scenarios for the way we might overreach ourselves. “Modernity is a deal,” Harari writes. “The entire contract can be summarised in a single phrase: humans agree to give up meaning in exchange for power.” That power may give us the ability to extend lifespans and even cheat death. But there will be a price to pay for playing God.
John White, CEO Sanlam Wealth
Angry White Pyjamas by Robert Twigger. He’s an Oxford writer/poet who, whilst living in Tokyo, spent four hours five days a week learning the Japanese martial art of Akido with the Tokyo Riot Squad. Not many books on sport, especially martial arts, are written by writers as good as Twigger. It is a great example of what it takes to truly dedicate yourself to something (including the pain and discomfort of learning) and the benefits of martial arts to your fitness and mental life. Even if you’re not into Martial Arts, it’s still a really interesting read, covering the challenges of living your life in a different culture and experiencing the modern and traditional worlds of Japan
Justine Colley, Portfolio Manager South Africa Desk
I would highly recommend Red Notice: How I Became Putin’s No 1 Enemy. It's a true story about Bill Browder, a Hedge Fund manager who became a human-rights crusader. Bill started off with high aspirations and had natural entrepreneurial talent. The book details what he uncovered, money that changed hands and a lot of legal implications. With edge-of-your-seat storytelling, it reads like a thriller. I simply could not put this book down!
Tom Carroll, Head of Investment, Private Office
A favourite inspirational book is Four Iron in the Soul by Lawrence Donegan. One for all amateur golfers who aspire to being a pro. But this great read from the perspective of the caddy shows what life for the “non-elite” is really like on tour. Grappling with the logistics of a different venue every weekend, the surprising and very funny reasons why certain venues have tour status and then comes the big opportunity, the one chance to make it big, the Open. Leading on the last day, can he handle the pressure?
Another top read is the Elon Musk biography by Ashlee Vance. I really enjoyed this description of a frankly unbelievable life. Arriving from South Africa close to penniless, Musk built some of the most iconic brands we love today - PayPal, SpaceX, Solar City and of course Tesla! With a crazy personal life and often on the brink of bankruptcy, he followed his dreams to build companies that were considered by most financiers to be ludicrous, but his personal charisma, drive and enthusiasm brought people with him to a point where he is not only one if the richest men in the world but his technology is truly transforming the world we live in.
?Lisa Lloyd, Sanlam Wealth Planner
Absolutely anything by Philippa Gregory. Historical novels full of romance, intrigue and plotting in Tudor times. The last in “The Cousins War“ series is “The Kings Curse “. Set in Henry VIII’s court when he’s married to Catherine of Aragon and following his brother’s death. The curse was made by Elizabeth Woodville and placed on whoever killed her sons in the Tower. Margaret Pole, who the story is centred around, has to conceal that an old curse cast upon all Tudors is slowly coming true. Compelling reading!
Well, that’s some “physical media” I will be wrapping for family and friends this Christmas. Who knows, if books get everyone off their devices for a few days, then maybe there will be peace on earth and a little more goodwill to all men.
Have a happy one!