In this Saturday’s Irish Times, Wendy Erskine discusses her new story collection with John Self. Patrick Foster, author of Might Bite: The Secret Life of a Gambling Addict, writes about his memoir. Book reviews are Orla Tinsley on This Mortal Coil: A History of Death by Andrew Doig and The Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History by Vidya Krishnan; Nuala O’Connor on When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo; Declan O’Driscoll on the best new books in translation; Brian Maye on Death on Ireland’s Eye: The Victorian Murder Trial that Scandalised a Nation by Dean Ruxton; John Self on What is American Literature? by Ilan Stavans; Arnold Fanning on All My Friends Are Invisible by Jonathan Joly; Sara Keating on children’s books; Susie Mesure on Small Town Girl: Love, Lies and The Undercover Police by Donna McLean; Lucy Sweeney Byrne on A Previous Life by Edmund White; Barry Pierce on Grace Lavery’s Please Miss: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis; and Sarah Gilmartin on Violets by Alex Hyde.
All Her Fault by Andrea Mara is this weekend’s Irish Times offer at Eason. You can buy the bestselling thriller for just €4.99, a saving of €5, when vyou buy your newspaper.
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Walker Books has announced Siobhán McSweeney as narrator for the audio edition of Caroline O’Donoghue’s dark and supernatural contemporary YA debut, All Our Hidden Gifts. McSweeney is an actor and writer originally from Cork, where the book is set. She is best known for her role as Sister Michael in Derry Girls as well as for presenting The Great Pottery Throw Down. The sequel to All Our Hidden Gifts., The Gifts That Bind Us, is published latere this month, with the audio edition to follow soon after. The final instalment in the trilogy is slated for spring 2023.
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Ireland Reads is aiming to get the whole country reading this month in the lead-up to a national day of reading on Friday, February 25th. Irish libraries have teamed up with publishers, booksellers, authors and others for the campaign, which is part of the government’s Healthy Ireland programme and aims to celebrate reading and all the benefits it can have for wellbeing and enjoyment. The pledge to read can be made at irelandreads.ie where you can also see how much time has been pledged by the Irish public so far and sign up for reading reminders. The website also offers book recommendations suited to a person’s interests and the time they have available.
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Kennys of Galway has luanched an exclusive limited edition of Louise Kennedy’s brilliant debut novel Trespasses, which will be published in April.
