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From A to B
Bonang Matheba has built up her brand, making her face the most recognisable one in South Africa.
Is this a self-help book? Not quite. This is the story of how a girl from Mafikeng in the North West found her face next to that of Halle Berry's in a worldwide Revlon campaign.
The most important lesson from the book, as the subtitle suggests, will be that no one is born made - we all have to work very hard. Much like Bonang did.
While she has given some access into her life through media interviews, Bonang is yet to detail the journey that saw her become a successful, multi-talented businesswoman and TV and radio personality.
This book will be a look into Bonang's life that she has never made public.
Is this a self-help book? Not quite. This is the story of how a girl from Mafikeng in the North West found her face next to that of Halle Berry's in a worldwide Revlon campaign.
The most important lesson from the book, as the subtitle suggests, will be that no one is born made - we all have to work very hard. Much like Bonang did.
While she has given some access into her life through media interviews, Bonang is yet to detail the journey that saw her become a successful, multi-talented businesswoman and TV and radio personality.
This book will be a look into Bonang's life that she has never made public.
220 pages, Paperback
Published July 24, 2017
15 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 18, 2017
This book was pulled off the shelves as soon as it hit them because of many many errors. Having read the original copy, I realised that a lot of steps in the publishing value chain were skipped. I appreciate an error here and there, but when the whole book has grave grammatical errors and reads like a draft of a draft it is highly concerning. The publisher took all the flak for this but I have yet to hear Bonang publicly take some responsibility for it. Maybe there was a press release. I don't know.
Great lessons. Bonang had a vision for her life from a very young age and executed it to the T. An ambitious and driven young woman with an admirable work ethic. I admire her tenacity and perseverance. I'd love to see her vision board. It really pays to have supportive parents who are not battling with bread and butter issues. Parents who have the time, the inclination, the motivation and the financial means to propel a child into his/her future. Conversely, the child has to want the bright future for herself/himself.
The narration is self-indulgent and boarders on boastfulness. The less said about the writing style the better. Too many inconsistencies. Grammar 🙈. Language 🙈. Diction 🙈.Her story is not well structured at all, it is all over the place and very incongruent. It is obvious that it was NEITHER proofread NOR edited. Her tenses are all over the place rendering her account opaque. At one point I couldn't understand whether she was talking in the past, present or future tense. I am all for meandering between the past and present, the going back and forth makes for interesting reading if done seamlessly, but in this instance, this gave the narration a staccato rhythm. A "Stop. Go. Stop. Go" type of tempo.
Her life is one of perseverance and meditating on one's dreams. She is doing so much more than I knew through her foundation and all her other projects. A hard worker of note.
I loved her focus and her ability to capitalise on her synergistic relationships.
More power to her. #BlackGirlMagic 💪
#ASuccessfulEntertainmentCareer
#ABook
#ABursaryFoundation
#AProductionCompanyOwner
#ALingerieLine
#ARevlonAmbassador
#ALegitClothingAmbassador
Luck is indeed purposeful. You work at it.👏👏👏
Great lessons. Bonang had a vision for her life from a very young age and executed it to the T. An ambitious and driven young woman with an admirable work ethic. I admire her tenacity and perseverance. I'd love to see her vision board. It really pays to have supportive parents who are not battling with bread and butter issues. Parents who have the time, the inclination, the motivation and the financial means to propel a child into his/her future. Conversely, the child has to want the bright future for herself/himself.
The narration is self-indulgent and boarders on boastfulness. The less said about the writing style the better. Too many inconsistencies. Grammar 🙈. Language 🙈. Diction 🙈.Her story is not well structured at all, it is all over the place and very incongruent. It is obvious that it was NEITHER proofread NOR edited. Her tenses are all over the place rendering her account opaque. At one point I couldn't understand whether she was talking in the past, present or future tense. I am all for meandering between the past and present, the going back and forth makes for interesting reading if done seamlessly, but in this instance, this gave the narration a staccato rhythm. A "Stop. Go. Stop. Go" type of tempo.
Her life is one of perseverance and meditating on one's dreams. She is doing so much more than I knew through her foundation and all her other projects. A hard worker of note.
I loved her focus and her ability to capitalise on her synergistic relationships.
More power to her. #BlackGirlMagic 💪
#ASuccessfulEntertainmentCareer
#ABook
#ABursaryFoundation
#AProductionCompanyOwner
#ALingerieLine
#ARevlonAmbassador
#ALegitClothingAmbassador
Luck is indeed purposeful. You work at it.👏👏👏
May 20, 2020
Bonang is such a powerhouse. I enjoyed getting to know her a little bit more
February 2, 2018
From A to B is a truly compelling and inspiring read. I love the mellow style of narration - the kind of tone that makes you wanna curl up on the couch whole weekend and just bury yourself in Bonang's words - And that is exactly what I did.
After enjoying a thriving career in the entertainment industry for over a decade, Bonang Matheba finally shares her journey, adding author to her already very impressive list of titles.
In her debut memoir titled From A to B, Bonang sets out on a journey of self-reflection starting right from her earliest childhood memories to where she is today as one of the most bankable personal brands on the continent. From A to B is the story of a black child with big dreams who has worked really hard to fulfill those dreams, including ones she never even knew how to dream.
Behind all the glitz and glamour, Bonang has invested years of relentless hard work to get where she is today and that is the journey she shares in this memoir. The path to success has not been as smooth as it might look. It has taken a lot of preparation, countless rejections, a lot of patience, many lessons learned the hard way, help from numerous people and lots and lots and lots of hard work.
In this book, she uses her personal experience, her wins, her losses and all the up and downs she has lived through, both personal and professional, to share priceless lessons on how to build a solid career and achieve truly fulfilling success. Although her career has mainly been in the entertainment industry, the lessons shared are applicable across the board.
I love how she passionately speaks about the different people she has met along the way who have had a hand in shaping her path to success. I especially fell in love with her mother's wisdom.
The public often views celebrities as mere objects of entertainment, forgetting that they are human beings with real feeling. By revealing her vulnerable side, Bonang reminds us that 'hey, I might be famous but I'm still human'. In an industry that makes the public feel as if they own your life, Bonang has managed to strike a very delicate balance between giving her whole to the public professionally while keeping her personal side out of reach. I have always been amazed by how someone can be so insanely famous and yet so notoriously private. After reading her journey, I understand why it is important that she maintains that delicate balance.
I admire how, no matter how crazy her life might get, she never forgets to make time for what is really important, and that is her loved ones. How she prioritizes them above everything was one of the biggest lessons from the book and I believe that has been her secret weapon to staying happy and fulfilled in an environment that gets crazy to a vicious degree sometimes.
After enjoying a thriving career in the entertainment industry for over a decade, Bonang Matheba finally shares her journey, adding author to her already very impressive list of titles.
In her debut memoir titled From A to B, Bonang sets out on a journey of self-reflection starting right from her earliest childhood memories to where she is today as one of the most bankable personal brands on the continent. From A to B is the story of a black child with big dreams who has worked really hard to fulfill those dreams, including ones she never even knew how to dream.
Behind all the glitz and glamour, Bonang has invested years of relentless hard work to get where she is today and that is the journey she shares in this memoir. The path to success has not been as smooth as it might look. It has taken a lot of preparation, countless rejections, a lot of patience, many lessons learned the hard way, help from numerous people and lots and lots and lots of hard work.
In this book, she uses her personal experience, her wins, her losses and all the up and downs she has lived through, both personal and professional, to share priceless lessons on how to build a solid career and achieve truly fulfilling success. Although her career has mainly been in the entertainment industry, the lessons shared are applicable across the board.
I love how she passionately speaks about the different people she has met along the way who have had a hand in shaping her path to success. I especially fell in love with her mother's wisdom.
The public often views celebrities as mere objects of entertainment, forgetting that they are human beings with real feeling. By revealing her vulnerable side, Bonang reminds us that 'hey, I might be famous but I'm still human'. In an industry that makes the public feel as if they own your life, Bonang has managed to strike a very delicate balance between giving her whole to the public professionally while keeping her personal side out of reach. I have always been amazed by how someone can be so insanely famous and yet so notoriously private. After reading her journey, I understand why it is important that she maintains that delicate balance.
I admire how, no matter how crazy her life might get, she never forgets to make time for what is really important, and that is her loved ones. How she prioritizes them above everything was one of the biggest lessons from the book and I believe that has been her secret weapon to staying happy and fulfilled in an environment that gets crazy to a vicious degree sometimes.
September 12, 2017
I gave it a three because after reading it, I had learnt a lot.
It is rich with content. I appreciate that. I felt like I know Bonang a bit more after reading the book. Even though some moments were quite eye-brow raising. There's a part where she speaks about her lawyer needing to step-in during the Revlon deal. I'm still very curious as to why this had to happen. I wish she would have explained more.
For those of us who are quite obsessed with literature, to be honest, it isn't necessarily the best written book (I believe they initially wanted to keep her voice/personality as part of the narrative). Considering the perfectionist she is. You might be aware that it also got a lot of media attention for that. It's also quite repetitive and I found that a bit disturbing,
BUT I sure learnt a lot from the book, as I previously mentioned. More especially from Bonang's mother. She was and still is very much involved in her daughter's life- in the most mind-blowing way. God bless her for that. Charlotte Mokoena (Bonang's mother) is a champion of a mother and very much what I'd want to be for my children as well. What stood out for me was her, Charlotte, willingness to always learn, save money and remain unshaken by naysayers.
It's definitely not a tell all, but she sure did cover a whole lot of things about her life.
Her Ipanema deal didn't make it into the book though. I was quite surprised because I was actually interested in that, considering that she used one of her Ipanema Media photos, in the book. Oh... She also spoke about her then handbag line. I had always wondered whatever happened to that.
Ultimately this book proves, what most of us already know, that Bonang Matheba is a hardworking woman, without a doubt. She is very great at what she does. And, to a lot of woman, including myself, her career excellence is too much of an inspiration.
It is rich with content. I appreciate that. I felt like I know Bonang a bit more after reading the book. Even though some moments were quite eye-brow raising. There's a part where she speaks about her lawyer needing to step-in during the Revlon deal. I'm still very curious as to why this had to happen. I wish she would have explained more.
For those of us who are quite obsessed with literature, to be honest, it isn't necessarily the best written book (I believe they initially wanted to keep her voice/personality as part of the narrative). Considering the perfectionist she is. You might be aware that it also got a lot of media attention for that. It's also quite repetitive and I found that a bit disturbing,
BUT I sure learnt a lot from the book, as I previously mentioned. More especially from Bonang's mother. She was and still is very much involved in her daughter's life- in the most mind-blowing way. God bless her for that. Charlotte Mokoena (Bonang's mother) is a champion of a mother and very much what I'd want to be for my children as well. What stood out for me was her, Charlotte, willingness to always learn, save money and remain unshaken by naysayers.
It's definitely not a tell all, but she sure did cover a whole lot of things about her life.
Her Ipanema deal didn't make it into the book though. I was quite surprised because I was actually interested in that, considering that she used one of her Ipanema Media photos, in the book. Oh... She also spoke about her then handbag line. I had always wondered whatever happened to that.
Ultimately this book proves, what most of us already know, that Bonang Matheba is a hardworking woman, without a doubt. She is very great at what she does. And, to a lot of woman, including myself, her career excellence is too much of an inspiration.
November 13, 2017
Despite this books being pulled off shelves for the spelling errors just after it was released. It actually has a message to it. If you put aside the drama that came with the first imprint of the book, there is a lot of lessons to be learned from Bonang’s journey from the small town girl from Mafikeng to being one of the most powerful media moguls in South Africa. The bonus of this books is that it is filled with a lot of content about building brands and advice on how to “make it” not only in entertainment as well as business and the art of respecting your craft! So well done to her for that!
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June 22, 2019,
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2023
Good read gives you insight of who really Bonang is away from the cameras and all that
December 2, 2018
Inspiring
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews