It seems an unlikely story. A Donegal priest with a passion for Italian art decides upon the death of his mother to commission artwork for the local church funded by his inheritance. […]
Arimathea – Frank McGuinness – Book Review
The Circle – Dave Eggers – Book Review
If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is […]
The Eloquence of the Dead – Conor Brady – Book Review
Detective fiction can come in waves. Murders in the 1880s are the current vogue, be it ‘Ripper Street’ or ‘Whitechapel’. Conor Brady’s excellent contribution to the genre, ‘The Eloquence of the Dead’, […]
Being Alexander – Diarmuid Ó Conghaile – Book Review
Alexander Vespucci works as an economist and lives with his girlfriend in a basement apartment in Rathmines. He enjoys horse riding on weekends and meets up with his friends after work for […]
The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt – Book Review
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (published by Little, Brown) A good book is a wonderful thing to ease the transition to the dark winter evenings. Ideally such a book should be long […]
Inside the Rainbow: Russian Children’s Literature 1920-35 – Book Review
Raduga (Rainbow) was one of around a hundred publishers of children’s books in Russia in the 1920s, the best of which were offspring of the earlier Leninist seizure of power. That revolution, […]
Picture Me Gone – Meg Rosoff – Book Review
Every now and then I return to my YA roots. Maybe its the longing for a time in life that seems much simpler than now, the excitement of first loves, or the […]
Book Review – A Hologram for the King – Dave Eggers
“Please, we’re separated by the thinnest filament” First published by boutique publisher McSweeney’s Press in July 2012 Dave Eggers’ novel “A Hologram for the King” hits the shelves this autumn in paperback. […]
Viewpoints: Theoretical Perspectives on Irish Visual Text – Book Review
Is What You See What You Get? – by Sean Sheehan Viewpoints: Theoretical Perspectives on Irish Visual Texts, edited by Claire Bracken and Emma Radley (Cork University Press, 2013) You might think […]
The Herbalist – Niamh Boyce – Book Review
This is the first novel by Niamh Boyce, which encapsulates the social history and rigid society of Ireland in the thirties . The main characters are all female and the story is […]
The Unsettled Dust – Robert Aickman – Audiobook Review
Robert Aickman was best known for being a conservationist and co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association. He wrote what he described as “strange stories”, 48 short stories that were published in 8 […]
Book Review: Beautiful Ruins – Jess Walter
I’ve just returned from a staycation during which I read the beguiling Beautiful Ruins by American author Jess Walter. Walter began his career as a journalist writing for Newsweek, Washington Post and […]
Red or Dead – David Peace – Book Review
Peace in Our Time Bill Shankly was, and is, one of the Father Figures of the modern Football game. Ask Alex Ferguson what he thinks of the legendary Liverpool manager and you’ll […]
Let’s explore Diabetes with Owls – David Sedaris – Audible Review
David Sedaris is an American humourist and author who came to prominence when his essays “SantaLand” were broadcasted in 1992 on NPR. His subsequent collections of essays and stories have all had […]
The Fear Project – Jaimal Yogis – Book Review (Rodale)
The tag line for Jaimal Yogis’ book The Fear Project is “What our Most Primal Emotion Taught Me About Survival, Success, Surfing… And Love”. As a husband, dad of two boys, surfer (albeit […]
The Fry Chronicles on Audible – Review
I love Stephen Fry. I should get that out of the way now. I have read all his novels and the first of his autobiographies, Moab is my Washpot. I religiously watched […]
No More Workhorse 