Be Inspired & Learn Something New with These Exclusive Books Picks

The new year is the perfect time to pick up a new interest or learn something new about the world, and what better way to do so than by shopping at Exclusive Books? Our guide highlights the best in biographies, business, sport and more, available from the Exclusive Books catalogue.

Biography

Fly, Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Jung Chang’s Wild Swans was a book that defined a generation, an epic personal history of Jung, her mother and grandmother – ‘three daughters of China’. The book opens in 1909 with her grandmother’s birth – and foot-binding – when China was under the last emperor, moving through Mao Zedong’s rule, especially the Cultural Revolution during which Jung’s parents were subjected to horrendous ordeals because of their courage. It finishes in 1978 when Deng Xiaoping officially ended the Mao era and started the ‘reforms’.

Jung, at that propitious juncture, became one of the first Chinese to leave Communist China for the West. Nearly half a century on, China has risen from a decrepit and isolated state to a global power, the challenger to the United States’ dominant position in the world.

Through those decades, Jung’s life has been intimately entwined with her native land. Her experiences dealing with the regime in those years were rich and revealing – especially so because all her books were (and are) banned. Fly, Wild Swans is the follow-up to Wild Swans and brings the story of Jung’s family – along with that of China – up to date.

My Year of Fear and Freedom by Marita van der Vyver

When Covid-19 pulled the rug out from under Marita van der Vyver and her Frenchman’s feet and they were forced to sell their old, large house in the French countryside, they decided to get rid of most of their earthly possessions and travel far across the world.

In this journey, which spans three continents, a lifetime of memories from one of Afrikaans’s greatest writers is explored. Sometimes you have to lose a lot, and also be willing to lose yourself, before you can truly gain freedom.

Available in both English and Afrikaans.

Business

It’s About Tyme by Adrian Saville & Bruce Whitfield

From a bold idea in 2012 to a global fintech leader, this is the story of building a bank against the odds. Born in South Africa – ranked by the IMF as one of the hardest places to do business – the company pioneered low-cost banking through an unlikely retail partnership, was acquired and later divested by a global banking giant, survived Covid-19 and near collapse, and rebuilt through sheer audacity.

The journey continued in the Philippines, with a new cloud-based banking stack built by a global team and a culture that embraced failure as fuel for growth. By 2025, Tyme had become a global AI banking leader and earned a place on Time magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential Companies list. As investor Roger Grobler puts it: courage and audacity aren’t just bold – they’re the safest strategy of all.

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money – investing, personal finance, and business decisions – is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do.

But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together.

In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.

Cookery

Damn Good Food by Fehmz

Social media sensation Fehmz explodes onto the cookbook scene with recipes as bold and unapologetic as she is. Whether you’re a kitchen newbie or a seasoned home chef, her flop-proof instructions guarantee results. Her infectious energy jumps off every page, turning everyday cooking into an adventure.

Her debut cookbook Damn Good Food brings the playful, flavour-packed meals she is famous for from screen to page in a collection of over 80 recipes. Bring Fehmz’s magic – loved by hundreds of thousands of followers across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook – to your kitchen.

In this cookbook, you’ll find enticing recipes that draw you into the kitchen, easy swaps, a great conversion guide, and a whole chapter dedicated to flavour-boosting essentials like her universal magic masala, red dynamite sauce, and an easy (and addictive!) fruit sprinkle.

Timeless South African by Ilse van der Merwe

In Timeless South African, renowned cook and food writer Ilse van der Merwe has compiled a list of the top 101 iconic South African dishes – meals not only seen as ‘heritage food’, but dishes that are still relevant, recognisable, loved and prepared in many South African communities today.

Well-researched and based on formal and informal discussions with chefs, members of the public and food lovers of different backgrounds, this book celebrates the country’s diverse cultures and culinary traditions, highlighting the history of each recipe as well as the modern ways in which they have been reinvented.

Current Affairs

The Shadow State by Jeff Wicks

On 23 August 2021, Babita Deokaran – a hardworking single mother and chief accountant at the Gauteng Department of Health – was shot down in a hail of bullets outside her home in Mondeor, Johannesburg. She had just dropped off her daughter at school. The izinkabi paid to kill her were caught, but the question remained: Who ordered her murder, and why?

Investigative journalist Jeff Wicks set out to find the answer. This quest would profoundly change – even endanger – his life, as he bravely followed the leads Babita had left behind. Leads that the Hawks, who were officially investigating her assassination, had failed to act on.

In The Shadow State Wicks uncovers an audacious web of crooked officials, criminal syndicates and ANC politicians, siphoning away billions meant for patients in Gauteng’s public hospitals. An explosive, fast-paced investigation into greed and state capture, this book is also a moving tribute to the courage of one woman who, when confronted by powerful wrongdoers, refused to keep quiet.

The Deal by Mandy Wiener

The results of the 29 May 2024 elections caused a seismic shift in South Africa’s political landscape. For the first time in three decades of democracy, the ruling ANC did not emerge with a majority.

With a constitutional deadline of just fourteen days to elect a president, the nation held its breath. Would the ANC forge a so-called doomsday coalition with the EFF and Patriotic Alliance, or a centrist partnership with its nemesis, the DA? What role would smaller parties play, and how would Jacob Zuma’s disruptive MK party impact on the negotiations?

The Deal takes you behind the scenes of the negotiations that redefined a nation, providing exclusive interviews with party leaders, unique insights and stories, thoughtful analysis and vital context. From the exclusive Inanda Club to clandestine hotel basements and affluent private houses on Johannesburg’s Westcliff Ridge, negotiating teams met under immense pressure. Amidst volatile markets, a skittish currency and intense social media scrutiny, every decision was critical.

Faith

To Know Him by Dr Henry Cloud

A Christian psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of Boundaries offers an inspirational devotional to inspire deeper faith through the stories, miracles, and science he’s encountered.

Who are we when we are stripped down to our very essence? What gives our lives purpose? How do we not only survive but find joy and peace in a world that is full of suffering and disappointment?

World-renowned psychologist and leadership expert Henry Cloud has invested his life in exploring the mystery of the human mind and how it interacts with these existential questions. He has done this through his decades of practice as a healer of minds and a teller of stories. In this very special collection of personal thoughts, stories, prayers, and scripture readings, Dr. Cloud shares inspiring glimpses of his own life’s journey and offers us daily reflections on who we are, why we are here, and the nature of our connection to each other and to our Creator.

Beginning Your Day God’s Way by Joyce Meyer

Each day, we have a new opportunity to make that day our best day. While we aren’t in control of what happens to us throughout our days, we can work to align our thoughts, our words, our emotions, and our actions with the way God has told us He wants us to live.

This 365 day devotional from beloved Bible-teacher Joyce Meyer allows you to start each day rooted in the truth of God’s word and His ways so that no matter what comes your way, you will have the wisdom, the courage, the peace, and the self-control to allow God’s light to shine through you, even in the darkest of circumstances.

Motivation

Poems & Prayers by Matthew McConaughey

From the Academy Award-winning actor and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Greenlights comes an inspiring, faith-filled, and often hilarious collection of personal poetry and prayers about navigating the rodeo of life and chasing down the original dream, belief.

“My prayers are my poems are my prayers. I’ve always relied on logic to make sense of myself and the world.

A prescriptionist at heart, I’ve always looked to reason to find the rhyme, the practical to get to the mystical, the choreography to find the dance, the proof to get to the truth, and reality to get to the dream. I’ve been finding that tougher to do lately. It’s more than hard to know what to believe in; it’s hard to believe.”

Strong Ground by Brené Brown

#1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown returns with an urgent call to reimagine the essentials of courageous leadership. In a time when uncertainty runs deep and bluster, hubris and even cruelty are increasingly framed as acceptable leadership, Brown delivers practical, actionable insights that illuminate the mindsets and skill sets essential to reclaiming focus and driving growth through connection, discipline and accountability.

Over the past six years, Brené Brown, along with a global community of coaches and facilitators, has taken more than 150,000 leaders in 45 countries through her Dare to Lead courage-building work. In Strong Ground, Brown shares the lessons from these experiences along with wisdom from other thinkers.

This is a vital playbook for everyone from senior leaders developing and executing complex strategies to Gen Z-ers entering and navigating turbulent work environments. It is also an unflinching assessment of what happens when we continue to perpetuate the falsehood that performance and wholeheartedness are mutually exclusive.

Sport

F1 Insider by Ted Kravitz

From Australia and Italy to China and the U.S, Ted Kravitz – hailed as an ‘icon’ and ‘one of the most high-profile voices in F1’ – is the fan’s eyes and ears in the pit, followed by millions of F1 fans eager to see what’s going on behind the scenes. His ‘Ted’s Notebook’ series is essential viewing for the fan, and his insights are fascinating, fun and accurate.

For the first time, F1 Insider: Notes From The Pit Lane brings his unique view and knowledge of the past, present, and future of the world’s most glamorous, complex, and fascinating sport to life. Drawing from his own inimitable style, crafted with over two decades of working in, mixing with, and immersing himself throughout F1, Ted provides an insider’s view of the inner circle of Teams, drivers and all things F1.

Unlocked by Eben Etzebeth

Eben Etzebeth is the most-capped player in South African rugby history. A towering lock, his intelligence, energy and aggression on the pitch is feared, respected, often imitated but never matched.

He is the heart and soul of a historically successful Springbok team and a key part of their astonishingly successful run that encompasses two consecutive World Cups and a current two-year-stint at the top of the world rankings. In this frank and disarming account, Eben uncovers the key factors in his extraordinary success, and how he keeps focused, both on and off the pitch.

From his humble beginnings in Goodwood, a Cape Town suburb where nothing came easy, through his early club career and on to his hard-won place within the South African squad, Unlocked reveals the personal side of an astonishing professional career.

This is an inspiring story of a man who has led from the front and played against the best in the world.