Renee Grosz Real Estate

This weekend is the start of the Exclusive Books Summer Sale, which is one of those wonderful events that truly tells us we are up and running in a new year. It starts nationwide on Friday and, for Fanatics members, there’s a further 10 percent discount over the first weekend, while anyone else can score a free book with every nine books purchased.

As always, there’s a vast range of books, with many that would probably be too much of a luxury in normal times and at normal prices, but which are now very affordable.

There are also huge gift oppor-tunities for everyone in the family as well as friends.

With books being the best present possible, it’s simply a matter of matching the right book to the right person.

As always, there is a huge number of titles on sale and the mix covers a wide range – from simply a good read to those obscure titles that might grab the attention of only a few.

Wish You Weren’t Here, for example, is a compilation of the best of the worst travel writing, or you could go for something enduringly useful like The Complete Home Guide to Herbs and Oils.

It’s a chance to pick up the popular books you missed at a particular time, but also a chance to find those obscure topics and authors that grab your attention. Here are some personal favourites:

Architectural Excellence: 500 Iconic Buildings by Paul Cattermole (R268): This is an absolute steal at the price and could keep you busy with some serious armchair travel as you discover some of the most beautiful buildings in the world – from all the spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright houses to Santiago Calatrava’s extraordinary station in Lisbon.

Extraordinary Gardens of the World by Monty Don (R182): In similar vein, this one concentrates on gardens and it is fascinating to see what is considered the most beautiful garden. Is it simply spectacular because of the foliage, or is it the location? The criteria are perhaps less important than the overall impression you are left with. There are a few South African examples as well and it will surprise readers to find such places as Brenthurst’s splendid expanse and a squatter camp in Hout Bay are featured. It’s a fun but also inspiring insight.

Edible: An Illustrated Guide to The World’s Food Plants by National Geographic (R113): It’s trendy to plant your own vegetable and flower garden and, in future, it may be the only way to go – from an environmental as well as a financial point of view. This one goes a long way in helping with the plants that are viable and which will make it from the garden to the pot. With a foreword by vegetarian cook Deborah Madison, it’s a guide to the familiar and those that are less so. Locally, Margaret Roberts has recently launched her Healing Foods (watch out for a review or interview), but this one could be an excellent companion.

Georgia O’Keeffe by John Loengard (R137): This is exactly the kind of book you might pick up at a sale but disregard as too indul-gent when just spotted on the shelf. Loengard is a Life Magazine photo-grapher and this particular shoot was done to celebrate the then-reclusive artist’s daily life at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, where she had retired from the hustle and bustle of New York. It’s exquisite and shows both the artist and her work.

The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad (R72) and Faceless by Henning Mankell (R38): These are two perfect examples of catching up with books that were missed out on the first time round or could be bought as gifts. Mankell is always an option, while the other is an international bestseller that, with a title and reputation like this, cannot be missed.

Eminent Lives: Freud, Inventor of the Modern Mind by Peter D Kramer (R72): This is part of a series where well-known authors write about famous people. In this instance, Kramer is himself a psychiatrist and a leading authority on mental health. He throws light, both critical and sympathetic, on someone who is controversial and respected. It’s kept short in an age when most of us are battling to find enough time.

112 Mercer Street: Einstein, Russell, Godel, Pauli and the End of Innocence in Science by Burton Feldman (R64): This is another of those clever titles, hard to resist but also an intriguing insight into a different world. As World War II wound down, Albert Einstein invited three close friends, Titans of contemporary science and philosophy, to his home at 112 Mercer Street in Princeton to discuss and debate their vision of the post-war world. Just how often they met and what they talked about remains a matter of conjecture, but the author takes these historic meetings as a starting point and sketches their lives and contributions to this world.

Art and Technology in the 19th and 20th Centuries by Pierre Francastel (R80): This is the first time that this particular scholar’s work has been translated and, with this one, he studies and comments on the way technological develop-ments profoundly modified the symbolic systems of the Western world. For those in the field of architecture, this is a refreshing and new vision of times past.

Letter by Letter: An Alphabetical Miscellany by Laurent Pflughaupt (R120): We all know that letters are more than just the building blocks of our language. How they look and what they do has huge impact everywhere in the world. Here, a graphic designer and calligrapher uncovers the secrets of different letters while also analy-sing their allure, their origin, evolution as well as meanings. It’s much more than just a play on or with words.

• WIN! WIN! WIN!

One lucky reader can win a bumper hamper of sale books by answering an easy question.

To enter, SMS the word “Tonight”, followed by your name and the answer, plus yes or no if you would like us to contact you for marketing purposes, to 34518. The line closes at midnight tonight and winners will be notified by telephone. General competition rules apply.

SMSes charged at R1.50.

Question: Which book store is presenting the book sale?