http://www.ennisbookclubfestival.com/survey.php
All submissions welcome and all questionnaires received by 28th February 2011 will be entered in a draw for a prize of €50 book token.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Calling all Book Clubs
http://www.ennisbookclubfestival.com/survey.php
All submissions welcome and all questionnaires received by 28th February 2011 will be entered in a draw for a prize of €50 book token.
Monday, November 01, 2010
October Book Club and last read of the year: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Inspired by the Josef Fritzl case, the novel tells the story of Ma and Jack locked in a 11ft by 11ft room and their own private world. To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world....It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it's the prison where she's been held since she was nineteen-for seven long years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him but Jack's curiosity is building alongside her own desperation—and she knows that Room cannot contain either indefinitely....Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience-and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.
Definitely worth a read.
‘A clear frontrunner to be the year’s most extraordinary novel . . . Not since The Remains of the Day has Ishiguro written about wasted lives with such finely gauged forlornness.' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times. In one of the most acclaimed and strange novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.
Amazon.co.uk
This book will be discussed at Christmas Book Club on Saturday 11th December to be hosted by yours truly.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Bord Gais Energy Book Club
To celebrate the launch of our book club, they are giving away a book light to new members on joining. By joining their book club you have the option to:
Rate and recommend books your favourite books
Post your thoughts to the forum
Suggest a book for Laura's Corner
Nominate your own book club
The book club will feature a rotating panel of reviewers including Bert Wright who is the administrator of the Irish Book Awards, a celebrity author and a librarian from one of the 369 public libraries in Ireland.
They are trying to establish Bord Gáis Energy Book Club as a great source of information for book clubs in Ireland.
The results of their online survey have just been announced and have found that the Irish are still big readers with nearly three in every four reading six or more books a year. It also found that we Irish like to hoard our books with 72% having at least 50 books on our shelves and 42% of us having more than 100. More than half of us put the book on our shelves when finished reading, only 1% throw it out while more than one third swap with friends and 13% donate to charity. The bed is still the most popular reading place according to 56%, followed by the sitting room with 25% and 18% prefer to read while commuting. Despite the advent of e-readers and iPads, 95% still prefer the paperback. Among the top ten books we would take to a desert island are Life of Pi, Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings, Ulysses, the Bible and How to Survive on a Desert Island. We are nothing if not practical!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Book Club: A New Chapter
This article written by Yvonne Joyce appeared in Saturday's Weekend Magazine of the Irish Independent, October 16 2010.
Ten years ago, I was a 'stay-at-home' Mum to three small kids and the highlight of my life was a Wednesday-morning jaunt to the local Methodist Church, the venue for a mother and toddler group, the only social outlet for a Cork girl getting used to life in Dublin suburbia.
That is until The Book Club came along -- a decade ago this month.
I was lucky to be asked. The Book Club had been conceived in a housing estate in which I did not live. It comprised a group of girls, all in their early 30s, some working, some not, all married with small children and uniform in their need for something more.
I felt privileged at having being invited but, being an 'outsider', I felt awkward and self-conscious too. I arrived that first evening to a home I had never visited to be greeted by a host I had never met. It was a longing, however, that pushed me over the threshold and a need for decent adult company that got me over any notion of inferiority.
The rules were set down from the get-go. There were to be six of us. The host would cook a meal, with the host-in-waiting -- ie, next one up to hold The Book Club -- doing dessert. The book was not to be discussed until the main course was served, a point at which everyone could then relax and be privy to the conversation.
I thought this was fantastic. Yes, you had the pressure twice a year of hosting the thing but, let's face it, once a month for 10 months of the year you got to dress up, shut the door on the chaos behind, arrive to a tall glass of wine, a dinner that you hadn't had to plan and a company of ladies second to none.
There were more rules.
We were not allowed to talk about the children and no one got to be the boss. Everyone had equal rights to the floor. The date of each book club was of paramount importance and, once agreed, was respected, noted and, most significantly, non-transferable.
The Book Club has been a real team effort, with everyone pitching in to help the host on book club day in the guise of taking over the host's children so that the house could be cleaned and food prepared, thereby ensuring that no child would fall foul of any demented host in the process.
It is this etiquette, structure and format, however, that has been the subject of subtle criticism from our colleagues in the book club world, particularly in respect of our commitment to the serving of a full-blown, sit-down meal. Murmurs from 'outsiders' (see how my inferiority has blossomed to superiority) have cited the inevitability of competition and undue pressure to outdo those that go before you.
Not so. My motto has always been that my going to anybody's home and anybody coming to mine is doing so in the quest of good company, a lively debate and a zone free of children -- a meal is a nice addition but not the motivation. That's how I operate and, for a decade now, I have always assumed the same of the others.
For me, in the early days, The Book Club was like that moment in the morning when I used to work full-time. That time of the day before work takes over and you get to glance at the newspaper and discuss what you heard on 'Morning Ireland' during the commute. I always liked this about the working day. You get to hear everyone else's opinion, opinions you might never be privy to had you not sat in their vicinity.
When I left the workplace to rear my kids I missed this. Very much.
The Book Club gave it back to me. Yes, we choose our books carefully. [Another rule: the book you recommend is always the one discussed on the night of your hosting.]
There are some literary snobs among us and others who are not, but we balance each other out and the end result always makes for interesting discourse and a balanced menu of literature. The discussion about the book is taken very seriously, yet it is the issues thrown up that ensure the night rolls into the early hours.
When we were in our fledgling days, the whole working mother vs stay-at-home mother was a topic that raised its head repeatedly, often leading to roaring matches and bruised egos but an altogether better understanding of both sides of the coin.
We progressed from there and analysed more deeply the characters that inhabited our book choices. Again, this might have reflected the place we were all at in our own lives -- routinely attempting to maintain healthy marital relations on a diet of four hours' sleep a night with exhaustion levels to challenge an Olympic marathon runner.
Though there was great comfort in knowing you were not battling alone, our gathering was not a band of defeatists and I still managed to leave with a little more armour in the guise of cute hints and useful asides to be contemplated, brought home and applied.
Speaking of relations, twice a year, in tribute to our partners, we include the menfolk. Many's the time they facilitate The Book Club, whether it be buying wine, mopping the kitchen floor or presenting their signature dessert, so it's only right they are welcomed into the inner sanctum. This is always a highly charged night. New blood, novel thoughts and an undeniable electric current -- the gender factor.
There can be accusations of us girls being proprietorial, elitist and exclusive, so, in a bid to force us to take ourselves less seriously, they formed their own unit, 'Book Club, Me Arse'. They meet in the local on a monthly basis and run a book on whatever sporting event coincides with their chosen night.
What has been our favourite book? That would never be agreed upon. 'The Life of Pi'? 'The Poisonwood Bible'? 'The Da Vinci Code'? -- that's just a sample of what has been read, embraced, chewed upon and dissected.
Consistently when I read the chosen material, anticipation builds up inside me as I ponder what so-so will think of this. Just when I think I know what will irk some and please others, I am always surprised and never fail to treasure the ensuing exchanges.
Sometimes, I go to The Book Club itching for an argument about a particular book choice or searching for affirmation of a book I have chosen. Invariably, however, I go for the banter and for the friendship six girls gave birth to 10 years ago in an estate in Rathfarnham.
None of the girls lives in that estate any more, and life outside The Book Club has moved on. It has seen us experience many of life's ups and downs but though the knocks have made women of us all, The Book Club remains. It is a warm comfort blanket and is the greatest of equalisers.
At age 10, we are proud of our history, proud of our repertoire of reading material and proud of meeting the challenge of reading books we'd never have read had we not the pressure of presenting our take.
I am no longer dependent on The Book Club for adult company, I am no longer dependent on The Book Club for the escapism I once sought from it and I am no longer dependent on The Book Club to make alternative book choices.
Yet, I am still dependent on The Book Club. The rules have eased and the need to impose them has gone; the team effort to take over the kids has waned as children are entering their teen years, but the commitment to the agreed date and having the book read in time remains central to our ethos.
Why do we stay together when sometimes life on the outside is falling apart?
I can only speak for myself. The Book Club is my very own diamond in the rough; it has many angles and, of course, some flaws but, ultimately, it shines brighter with the years and age and time does not dull its sparkle.
Viva La Book Club, and here's to another 10 years, girls!
- Yvonne Joye
Irish Independent
Ten years ago, I was a 'stay-at-home' Mum to three small kids and the highlight of my life was a Wednesday-morning jaunt to the local Methodist Church, the venue for a mother and toddler group, the only social outlet for a Cork girl getting used to life in Dublin suburbia.
That is until The Book Club came along -- a decade ago this month.
I was lucky to be asked. The Book Club had been conceived in a housing estate in which I did not live. It comprised a group of girls, all in their early 30s, some working, some not, all married with small children and uniform in their need for something more.
I felt privileged at having being invited but, being an 'outsider', I felt awkward and self-conscious too. I arrived that first evening to a home I had never visited to be greeted by a host I had never met. It was a longing, however, that pushed me over the threshold and a need for decent adult company that got me over any notion of inferiority.
The rules were set down from the get-go. There were to be six of us. The host would cook a meal, with the host-in-waiting -- ie, next one up to hold The Book Club -- doing dessert. The book was not to be discussed until the main course was served, a point at which everyone could then relax and be privy to the conversation.
I thought this was fantastic. Yes, you had the pressure twice a year of hosting the thing but, let's face it, once a month for 10 months of the year you got to dress up, shut the door on the chaos behind, arrive to a tall glass of wine, a dinner that you hadn't had to plan and a company of ladies second to none.
There were more rules.
We were not allowed to talk about the children and no one got to be the boss. Everyone had equal rights to the floor. The date of each book club was of paramount importance and, once agreed, was respected, noted and, most significantly, non-transferable.
The Book Club has been a real team effort, with everyone pitching in to help the host on book club day in the guise of taking over the host's children so that the house could be cleaned and food prepared, thereby ensuring that no child would fall foul of any demented host in the process.
It is this etiquette, structure and format, however, that has been the subject of subtle criticism from our colleagues in the book club world, particularly in respect of our commitment to the serving of a full-blown, sit-down meal. Murmurs from 'outsiders' (see how my inferiority has blossomed to superiority) have cited the inevitability of competition and undue pressure to outdo those that go before you.
Not so. My motto has always been that my going to anybody's home and anybody coming to mine is doing so in the quest of good company, a lively debate and a zone free of children -- a meal is a nice addition but not the motivation. That's how I operate and, for a decade now, I have always assumed the same of the others.
For me, in the early days, The Book Club was like that moment in the morning when I used to work full-time. That time of the day before work takes over and you get to glance at the newspaper and discuss what you heard on 'Morning Ireland' during the commute. I always liked this about the working day. You get to hear everyone else's opinion, opinions you might never be privy to had you not sat in their vicinity.
When I left the workplace to rear my kids I missed this. Very much.
The Book Club gave it back to me. Yes, we choose our books carefully. [Another rule: the book you recommend is always the one discussed on the night of your hosting.]
There are some literary snobs among us and others who are not, but we balance each other out and the end result always makes for interesting discourse and a balanced menu of literature. The discussion about the book is taken very seriously, yet it is the issues thrown up that ensure the night rolls into the early hours.
When we were in our fledgling days, the whole working mother vs stay-at-home mother was a topic that raised its head repeatedly, often leading to roaring matches and bruised egos but an altogether better understanding of both sides of the coin.
We progressed from there and analysed more deeply the characters that inhabited our book choices. Again, this might have reflected the place we were all at in our own lives -- routinely attempting to maintain healthy marital relations on a diet of four hours' sleep a night with exhaustion levels to challenge an Olympic marathon runner.
Though there was great comfort in knowing you were not battling alone, our gathering was not a band of defeatists and I still managed to leave with a little more armour in the guise of cute hints and useful asides to be contemplated, brought home and applied.
Speaking of relations, twice a year, in tribute to our partners, we include the menfolk. Many's the time they facilitate The Book Club, whether it be buying wine, mopping the kitchen floor or presenting their signature dessert, so it's only right they are welcomed into the inner sanctum. This is always a highly charged night. New blood, novel thoughts and an undeniable electric current -- the gender factor.
There can be accusations of us girls being proprietorial, elitist and exclusive, so, in a bid to force us to take ourselves less seriously, they formed their own unit, 'Book Club, Me Arse'. They meet in the local on a monthly basis and run a book on whatever sporting event coincides with their chosen night.
What has been our favourite book? That would never be agreed upon. 'The Life of Pi'? 'The Poisonwood Bible'? 'The Da Vinci Code'? -- that's just a sample of what has been read, embraced, chewed upon and dissected.
Consistently when I read the chosen material, anticipation builds up inside me as I ponder what so-so will think of this. Just when I think I know what will irk some and please others, I am always surprised and never fail to treasure the ensuing exchanges.
Sometimes, I go to The Book Club itching for an argument about a particular book choice or searching for affirmation of a book I have chosen. Invariably, however, I go for the banter and for the friendship six girls gave birth to 10 years ago in an estate in Rathfarnham.
None of the girls lives in that estate any more, and life outside The Book Club has moved on. It has seen us experience many of life's ups and downs but though the knocks have made women of us all, The Book Club remains. It is a warm comfort blanket and is the greatest of equalisers.
At age 10, we are proud of our history, proud of our repertoire of reading material and proud of meeting the challenge of reading books we'd never have read had we not the pressure of presenting our take.
I am no longer dependent on The Book Club for adult company, I am no longer dependent on The Book Club for the escapism I once sought from it and I am no longer dependent on The Book Club to make alternative book choices.
Yet, I am still dependent on The Book Club. The rules have eased and the need to impose them has gone; the team effort to take over the kids has waned as children are entering their teen years, but the commitment to the agreed date and having the book read in time remains central to our ethos.
Why do we stay together when sometimes life on the outside is falling apart?
I can only speak for myself. The Book Club is my very own diamond in the rough; it has many angles and, of course, some flaws but, ultimately, it shines brighter with the years and age and time does not dull its sparkle.
Viva La Book Club, and here's to another 10 years, girls!
- Yvonne Joye
Irish Independent
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Dublin Writers Festival 2010
New initiatives in 2010 include a exploration of song writing with Paul Brady and Neil Hannon in performance and conversation with John Kelly and insights into the art of reading well from Anne Enright and Dermot Healy.
For a full-line up and to see the programme go to http://www.dublinwritersfestival.com/
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Bookworms @ The Abbey
Bookworms: a new play by Bernard Farrell
@ The Abbey Theatre
1 June - 10 July 2010
World Premiere
Skeletons leap from suburban closets in Bookworms, Bernard Farrell’s hilarious and razor-sharp vision of a household savaged by the Celtic Tiger.‘….and Larry, let’s try to show everybody that, recession or no recession, we are contented, confident and happy – and that this evening is going to be fun!”
This month’s Book Club hostess Ann is struggling to stay calm, desperate to deliver the perfect evening of literary classics and late-night canapés. But when the all-female group invite their husbands to join the club, and a mysterious figure pays a visit from an upstairs room, everyone is forced to contend with a lot more than just Virginia Woolf.
Opinions are challenged, suspicions aroused and tempers flare as their daily lives unravel into a saga to rival even the most outrageous fiction.
Director Jim Culleton brings to life this hugely entertaining new play by the popular and celebrated playwright Bernard Farrell (I Do Not Like Thee Doctor Fell, Canaries, Lovers At Versailles) in an evening of wine and cheese, mystery and mayhem.
Tuesday 1 June – Saturday 10 July
Previews 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31 May
Monday – Saturday evening 7.30pm, Saturday matinee 2pm
Tickets: €13 – €38
Book now or call 01 87 87 222
Bring your Book Club to Bookworms!
Competition
To coincide with the opening of the play in June and to celebrate the Irish phenomenon of the Book Club, the Abbey are giving you the chance to bring your group to the opening night! To win, simply tell them a story from your Club. Was there drama? Romance? Rows or mix ups?
Send your stories to bookclubs@abbeytheatre.ie before Friday, 7 May 2010. The Book Club with the winning tale will get tickets to the opening night of Bookworms on Tuesday, 1 June and an interval drink!
Special Offer
Also Book Clubs of 6 or more members can get discounted tickets to Bookworms. Phone Box Office on (01) 87 87 222 for details. Or have your book club meeting pre-show in the Abbey Bar over a coffee. Better still a G&T!
You could also join a panel of bookworms on Thursday 10 June for a discussion about their favourite books, or meet writer Bernard Farrell for a pre-show chat on Thursday, 24 June. For full details and to book tickets click here.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Vote for the Book of the Decade
Vote for the Book of the Decade
50 great books........only one winner..........YOU choose!
Voting for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards Book of the Decade begins on April 14th and ends on May 27th. Simply click on the button for the title you regard as the best Book of the Decade for your chance to win €250 of National Book Tokens, the only gift voucher welcomed in bookshops across Ireland. The winner will be announced on May 28th.
The Irish Book Awards covers the broad spectrum of Irish publishing from popular to literary and this promotion is intended to reflect that diversity. The judging panel was therefore instructed to select books which had made a dramatic impact either through critical acclaim or popular success or a combination of both factors.
To vote for your choice go to:
http://www.irishbookawards.ie/PublicVote.aspx
Thursday, April 08, 2010
May/June Read: All Names Have Been Changed by Claire Kilroy
‘We are a nation that likes nothing better than a good story, preferably featuring one of our own, ideally the parish black sheep, and few could hold a candle to Glynn in that field.’
All Names Have Been Changed is set in Dublin in the mid-1980s - a city in the grip of recession and a heroin epidemic. Narrated by Declan, the only boy of a tight-knit writing group at Trinity College, it tells of their fascination with the formidably talented but troubled writer Glynn, and the darkly exhilarating journey this leads them on.
‘He wanted his art to be a dangerous force, alive. Well then, you might say he got what he asked for.’
Brilliantly exploring the shifting group dynamic, and offering a unique insight into the pursuit of the creative life - with all its energy and demons, its moments of artistic elation and defeat - this is a novel of considerable verve. Following earlier forays into the worlds of art restoration and classical music, it is further evidence of Claire Kilroy’s natural gift for narrative, atmosphere and character.
About the Author
Claire Kilroy's debut novel All Summer was described in the Times as 'compelling ... a thriller, a confession and a love story framed by a meditation on the arts', and was awarded the 2004 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Her second novel, Tenderwire was published to great acclaim in 2006, and was shortlisted for the 2007 Irish novel of the Year as well as the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. Educated at Trinity College, she lives in Dublin.
Easter Book Club: Pot Luck
We all arrived round lunchtime and everyone brought something to the party - Debs had made some lovely salads, Lisa brought pizza, V brought home-made lemonade, P brought lots of chocolate and I had made my white chocolate and raspeberry cheesecake. The theme was potluck. After a nice lunch and some chat, we got down to business and think the majority of us enjoyed the book -The Missing by Jane Casey- but the character of Sarah Finch annoyed some and others felt she wasn't strong enough to be the central character. There were also some dark issues in the book that made some uncomfortable. I think we all agreed the ending wasn't the best but all in all it did hold our interest and we all finished the book and it did get us talking, always the sign of a good bookclub book.
Thanks for hosting Debs in your lovely new home. And I'm sure everyone would agree it was a lovely literary luncheon.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Dublin: One City, One Book
The 'Dublin: One City, One Book' choice for April 2010 is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Dubliner Oscar Wilde. It is the fifth year of the project that encourages everyone in the city to read the same book during the month of April each year. The project promotes reading in a city which boasts one of the world’s greatest literary heritages including four Nobel Laureates and is a major element of Dublin's submission to become a UNESCO City of Literature.
For more information on the book and the events during the month of April, check out the Dublin: One City, One Book website.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Eason's launch an Interactive Online Book Club
Eason's launched the Eason Book Club on the 14th March 2010, an interactive online forum for book lovers and book clubs. The Eason Book Club will host discussions and reviews, top tips for setting up book clubs, recommended reads, regular competitions and interactive polls. John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas topped the first Eason Book Club poll of best book club reads of the noughties. The poll revealed the popularity of “cross-over” books – popular with both children and adults – for book clubs.
The Eason Book Club, which is powered by Facebook, has already more than 1,500 registered fans who are availing of book advice from Eason’s team of experts, including suggested reads, information on book events and group discussions on many bookish topics from favourite re-reads to judging books by their covers! There will be a monthly discussion on a selected title which has been kick-started with a lively debate on the poll winner The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The Eason Book Club will feature regular author participation and this month’s discussion includes an introductory synopsis of the book from the author, John Boyne.
Maria Dickenson, Head of Purchasing at Easons said “Book clubs have become a huge phenomenon in the last 10 years with thousands of book-clubs getting together on a monthly or weekly basis around the country. There is an incredible word of mouth network when it comes to book club books, and titles can have a long shelf life as they are passed from reader to reader over the years. Our online forum is designed to offer support to existing book-clubs and also to allow individuals who are perhaps not in a book-club to take part in discussions in their own time.
It was incredibly interesting to see in the results of our first book-club poll, that “cross-over” children-adult titles are making very popular book club reads with John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas topping the poll. Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief and Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Bind Up all also feature in the top twenty. Children’s literature has produced some real gems during the noughties and it is great to see that adults are happy to explore the genre.”
The first Eason Book Club poll registered 1700 votes and respondents were asked to choose their top reads of the noughties from a selection of 125 books. The books selected were drawn from national sales data over the last ten years. There was also a strong qualititative element with the Eason team selecting books that they have read and loved in their own book clubs, as well as books that customers have recommended or responded well to. (The full list of the top 50 selected titles can be found below).
The Eason Book Club is also providing a new way for Eason to interact with its customers. “This online forum is facilitating direct dialogue with our customers which we greatly welcome. The feedback we receive from our online members can have a direct influence on our in-store promotions, for example, following our first poll of top books of the noughties, we are now running a 3 for 2 offer on the book-club top 50 of the noughties. The Eason Book Club will allow us to actively listen to our customers views which is essentially changing the way we do business”, Maria Dickenson concluded.
Visit the Eason Book Club on http://www.facebook.com/EasonBookClub
EASON BOOK CLUB – Top 50 Books of the Noughties
1 THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS BOYNE, JOHN
2 TIME TRAVELLERS WIFE NIFFENEGGER, AUDREY
3 THE LOVELY BONES SEBOLD, ALICE
4 GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO LARSSON, STIEG
5 CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG HADDON, MARK
6 KITE RUNNER HOSSEINI, KHALED
7 BOOK THIEF ZUSAK, MARKUS
8 THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS HOSSEINI, KHALED
9 THE ROAD MCCARTHY, CORMAC
10 ATONEMENT MCEWAN, IAN
11 WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN SHRIVER, LIONEL
12 LIFE OF PI MARTEL, YANN
13 MIDDLESEX EUGENIDES, JEFFREY
14 NEVER LET ME GO ISHIGURO, KAZUO
15 SECRET LIFE OF BEES KIDD SUE, MONK
16 THE READER SCHLINK, BERNHARD
17 HIS DARK MATERIALS BIND UP PULLMAN, PHILIP
18 SHADOW OF THE WIND ZAFON, CARLOS RUIZ
19 Q & A SWARUP, VIKAS
20 BROOKLYN TOIBIN, COLM
21 SECRET SCRIPTURE BARRY, SEBASTIAN
22 MEMORY KEEPERS DAUGHTER EDWARDS, KIM
23 VERNON GOD LITTLE PIERRE, DBC
24 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING CHEVALIER, TRACY
25 TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG CAREY, PETER
26 CONSTANT GARDENER LE CARRE, JOHN
27 LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN MCCANN, COLUM
28 STAR OF THE SEA O CONNOR, JOSEPH
29 WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS ATKINSON, KATE
30 LONG LONG WAY BARRY, SEBASTIAN
31 JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL CLARKE, SUSANNA
32 ISLAND HISLOP, VICTORIA
33 KAFKA ON THE SHORE MURAKAMI, HARUKI
34 NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN MCCARTHY, CORMAC
35 BLIND ASSASSIN ATWOOD, MARGARET
36 AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY CHABON, MICHAEL
37 PAULA SPENCER DOYLE, RODDY
38 THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN MCGAHERN, JOHN
39 CLOUD ATLAS MITCHELL, DAVID
40 WHITE TIGER ADIGA, ARAVIND
41 SHANTARAM ROBERTS, GREGORY DAVI
42 AMERICAN WIFE SITTENFELD, CURTIS
43 IM NOT SCARED AMMANITI, NICCOLO
44 THE SEA BANVILLE, JOHN
45 STAR CALLED HENRY DOYLE, RODDY
46 WOLF HALL MANTEL, HILARY
47 EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED FOER, JONATHAN SAFRAN
48 RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST HAMID, MOHSIN
49 NOTES ON A SCANDAL HELLER, ZOE
50 THE GATHERING ENRIGHT, ANNE
Friday, March 05, 2010
Dublin Book Festival 2010: 6th - 8th March
Organised by Publishing Ireland, the Dublin Book Festival will take place from Saturday 6th to Monday 8th March 2010 in Dublin’s City Hall, Dame Street, Dublin 2.
Don't you just love their header?
Check out the Events on the Dublin Book Festival Website.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Irish Times BookClub does The Lovely Bones
The Irish Times Bookclub has chosen The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold as their book for March. Thought it very timely as our last bookclub meeting was an outing to see the movie of The Lovely Bones so interesting to see what other people thought of the book/film. As with most film adaptions of books, it does tend to not live up to the imagination like with The Time Travellers Wife - the movie was so bad that I was left feeling deeply disappointed. Sometime it's better for films to stay in your imagination!
Check out the Irish Times Book Club blog:
Friday, February 26, 2010
February's BookClub: A Trip to the Movies
Last Sunday bookclub headed to see a matinee of 'The Lovely Bones'. Starring our very own Saoirse Ronan as the lead character, Susie Salmon who was murdered when she was fourteen on her way home from school by a neighbour. The film is set in the 70's and Peter Jackson does a great job at capturing the era on screen - all innocent and dreamy. The film loses its way somewhat with the depiction of Heaven or the 'in between' with Peter seemingly taking inspiration from cartoons like the care bears and telly tubbies which jars considerably with the tension created in the search for the murderer.The light relief is provided in the form of the eccentric granny played to perfection by Susan Sarandon who 
comes to help the family who is in crisis. Jack, Susie's father, is obsessed with finding her murderer and Abigail, Susie's mother, can't cope and eventually abandons the family to work on a winery. I enjoyed the film overall and thought that it did a good job of bringing the book to life. It was a little overly long and the ending could have been tied up better but they did have to condense the time period from the book to the film so this is most likely the reason for the disjointed ending.
comes to help the family who is in crisis. Jack, Susie's father, is obsessed with finding her murderer and Abigail, Susie's mother, can't cope and eventually abandons the family to work on a winery. I enjoyed the film overall and thought that it did a good job of bringing the book to life. It was a little overly long and the ending could have been tied up better but they did have to condense the time period from the book to the film so this is most likely the reason for the disjointed ending. As our last bookclub read was Her Fearful Symmetry, the theme of ghosts fit in quite well. Both books had a different version of an "in between" and also both could communicate in some way with the living.
And the book chosen for next month's bookclub is 'The Missing' by Jane Casey. It is a psychological thriller and received good reviews in Glamour this month. Jenny Shepard is twelve years old and missing. Her teacher, Sarah Finch, finds Jenny's body beaten and abandoned in the woods near her home. As a little girl, Sarah's brother Charlie had also gone missing and the strain of not knowing what happened ripped her family apart. Now in her early twenties, she is back living at home with her mother who drinks too much and keeps her brothers bedroom as a shrine to his memory. Sarah becomes drawn into the police investigation.The author, Jane Casey, was born in Dublin and studied English at Jesus College, Oxford followed by an mPhil in Anglo-Irish Literature in Trinity College, Dublin. She now lives in London and works in publishing as a children's books editor.
It is hoped to have the next bookclub towards the end of March and Debs has kindly offered to host and show off her new house.
Happy Reading.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The Irish Times Book Club
So the Irish Times have created an online Book club at the beginning of this year and the first book they have chosen is Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.
How does it work?
You don't have to be in a book club already to join in, it's free, and you just have to sign up onlin eto contribute your comments. They'll be reading a book a month - March's book will be announced mid-February so keep an eye out on the website.
So to sign up or get involved in the conversation and read more, go to the website below:
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
January Bookclub 2010: Extreme Bookclub
So the first bookclub of a new year and a new decade didn't exactly go to plan due to adverse weather conditions. Only those close enough made the short trek across snow and ice like mini Bear Gryll Explorers to Lisa's house. We were welcomed with pizza, salads, wine, tea and lots of christmas cheer. Among other things we discussed the last book, So what if I'm Broken. It was agreed that it was a light read but most found the additions of Jack L a little overbearing and forced.
For the first book of 2010, we decided on Audrey Niffeneggers second book, Her Fearful Symmetry. Amazon Best of the Month, September 2009: Following her breakout bestseller, The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey returns with Her Fearful Symmetry, a haunting tale about the complications of love, identity, and sibling rivalry. The novel opens with the death of Elspeth Noblin, who bequeaths her London flat and its contents to the twin daughters of her estranged twin sister back in Chicago. These 20-year-old dilettantes, Julia and Valentina, move to London, eager to try on a new experience like one of their obsessively matched outfits. Historic Highgate Cemetary, which borders Elspeth's home, serves as an inspired setting as the twins become entwined in the lives of their neighbours: Elspeth's former lover, Robert; Martin, an agoraphobic crossword-puzzle creator; and the ethereal Elspeth herself, struggling to adjust to the afterlife. Niffenegger brings these quirky, troubled characters to marvellous life, but readers may need their own supernatural suspension of disbelief as the story winds to its twisty conclusion. -- Brad Thomas Parsons [Amazon.com Review]
For the next bookclub, it has been decided to have a bookclub outing in February 2010. Some ideas proposed were a play either Little Gem in The Peacock or The Faithhealer in The Gate; a film, The Lovely Bones or lunch/dinner in town.
In other news we didn't win the Ennis Book Club Festival's "Bookclub of the Year", that particular honour went to the NCBI Audio Book Club from Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.
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