Rae of Light

Hereafter by Terri Bruce Genre : Paranormal Audience : Anyone who likes ghost stories Reader Rating : 4 STARS After a night of drunkenness with friends and an inevitable death by car crash, 30 something Irene Dunphy finds herself stranded on earth as a ghost. She’s stuck in an earthly version of limbo with no idea of how to avoid final judgement and the only person able to see and communicate with her is a 14 year old boy fixated on the afterlife. I loved the concept of this book. The central character wanders from place to place as she tries to figure out what has happened to her and more importantly, what will happen to her next. She is forced to rely on the resources of a teenage boy whose motives and movements she cannot quite fathom. Both Irene and the reader are kept wondering about what will happen next. The writing style is relaxed and the characters well drawn. Even though Irene appears to have been living loose and hard when she was alive, we can’t he...

  Setting a reading challenge is the easy bit. Go to Goodreads homepage Click on annual reading challenge Pick a number of books to read for the year Go to… Read! Mmmmm. I’ve done the 100 book challenge previously as some of you know. When it was completed I vowed Never Again! Obviously, like those who experience the pangs of childbirth and then go on to deliver countless more sprogs despite the agony – I too decided to feel the burn just once more. “So why put yourself through it?” I hear you ask. “To encourage reluctant readers I teach by getting them to do a mini challenge of their own and compare notes. To see their excitement when they tell me they’ve finished a book I set. To read, just for the love of reading. And because I’m just a little bit crazy too.” So here I am, more than half way through the year and only at 70%. My Goodreads dashboard informs me I'm 6 books behind schedule. I’m feeling the pressure, especially since I pulled it ...

My maternal grandfather, George Carr, was a member of the ANC and did hard labour for actions he and his fellow members undertook in the 40s and 50s. This piece of writing is my tribute to him. It is part of a fictionalised biography I plan to publish when I’ve completed much research. Me, Oupa Carr, my cousin Sean “James, why does mother refuse to have Ramona as the cook?” The brothers, in their new bedroom, were unpacking the box containing the few precious items their mother had allowed them to take from the Cape. James, by the large picture window, eyes focused on the movement of the other boxes making their way into the house turned to 4 year old George. “Mother is of the Zulu people while Ramona is Basotho.” “But what does that mean?” Moving over to a recently unpacked stack of books, James began leafing through a hefty atlas.   He sat, cross legged on the bare boards and placed the book before him.   Without invitation George joined him. James’ po...