Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Irish
Irish Reading Month
I only managed two books for Irish Reading Month this year, and one was a ripper. Continue reading
Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week
01. All Mondays should come with a Pool Pass. Continue reading
Reading Ireland Month 2024
It’s fast approaching March which in the bookish world, is Reading Ireland Month, hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. I’ll be using it as an opportunity to attack the TBR stack. I’ll be selecting from the following: Continue reading
#NovNov – two by Claire Keegan
YES! I KNOW IT’S DECEMBER! (But I’m determined to finish my #NovNov reviews. Also, there’s more to come).
Claire Keegan occupied a good part of my 2022 #NovNov efforts, and I was rewarded – I love her stories. This year’s Keegan selections – The Forester’s Daughter and So Late in the Day – were fantastic (actually, they’re probably short stories, not novellas, but I have both as neat, printed books so….). Continue reading
Sample Saturday – three recommendations from Kim
Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye.
This week, all three come from Reading Matters 20 Books of Summer reviews. Continue reading
Tender by Belinda McKeon
When it comes to Belinda McKeon’s novel, Tender, my first thought was that the final destination was better than much of the journey. That sounds harsh but I’ll explain.
The story is told from the perspective of Catherine. She’s from a small town in Ireland, and arrives at university naive, overwhelmed, and desperate to immerse herself in Dublin life. She shares a flat with two other students, through which she meets James. James is adventurous, charismatic, and artistic. He encourages Catherine to go after what she wants, and they soon become close friends, sharing nights out, deep conversations, and hungover mornings. However, as the years progress, Catherine and James begin to move in different directions, and Catherine discovers she is not ready to let James go.
Dinner Party: A Tragedy by Sarah Gilmartin
Based on the title alone – Dinner Party: A Tragedy – I thought Sarah Gilmartin’s debut novel would be exactly my thing. Unfortunately it wasn’t.
To mark the anniversary of the death of her twin sister, Elaine, Kate meticulously plans a dinner party for her family. However, before dessert can be served, old tensions flare, revealing strained relationships.
The story then rewinds to Ireland in the nineties, when the family was complete – Kate’s parents, Elaine, and her two older brothers. We learn that her mother is an extremely demanding and narcissistic person, who presents one way to the world, and another way to her family. Continue reading
The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell
Let your eyes drop to my score for Maggie O’Farrell’s Costa Book Award-winning-novel, The Hand That First Held Mine, and freak out. Because nearly everyone I know loved it. And when I finished both of her completely immersive historical novels earlier this year (here and here), I expected I would also love it. But I didn’t and I’ll (very briefly) tell you why. Continue reading
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
Six Degrees lets me find links between the various books I read – sometimes a theme, sometimes an odd detail, sometimes it’s something totally random. But there’s also book serendipity (as described by Bookish Beck) – I don’t keep track of it, but I notice it. When I began A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne, I was aware of the serendipitous links to other books I was reading or had just finished. Indulge me a moment – Continue reading