#ReadIrishWomenChallenge22 #RIWC22 It’s April so I’m back once again with the Read Irish Women Challenge – the month where we celebrate outstanding books by Irish women. Starting on April 1st, there will be a different prompt for each day of the month – for instance on April 5th the prompt is “a book with something that flies on the cover” – I’m looking forward to see how much fun fellow readers have with that one! Dedicating April to discussing and …
Category: Essays
How different are we from the people who lived a thousand years ago or more? We all experience certain fundamental, universal emotions: grief, love, joy, despair. Sometimes we have to …

After much consideration and reading, here are our bookseller's favourite reads of 2021. In here you'll find titles old and new, with enough recommendations to keep you going well into …
Oh William by Elizabeth Strout. The welcome return of Lucy Barton. Recently widowed, she reconnects with her first husband, William, the father of her two grown daughters. Having forgiven past …
Before openhearted was published I had written reams in minute detail about my life growing up, about my husband Peter, about how he became ill and his subsequent suicide. I …
I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay was written over a decade, in between books. But it really took shape over the last year. I was remote working, …
OK, Let’s Do Your Stupid Idea is what I say to myself silently whenever a loved one, bandmate or colleague has an idea I am unsure of. Then I smile …
Literary journals have thrived in Ireland and have repeatedly succeeded in their goals of finding, supporting, and showcasing new writing. These journals have published works by writers who go on …
Many years ago, my mother met Maeve Binchy at an event and they got on like a house on fire: two Dalkey women with a lot in common. From then …
The first thing to note about Coventry by Rachel Cusk is that it is not a sequel to her (brilliant) trilogy of novels, Outline, Transit, and Kudos. Faber do their …
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