DLR Library Voices: Spring 2013

There is a stunning line up for the Spring series of dlr Library Voices, we have read three out of the four authors in this very bookclub. Curated by Bert Wright, this is the fifth year of this groundbreaking series featuring bestselling national and international authors. All events take place in the Pavilion Theatre, Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire. Tickets €10 & €8 concessions



Kate Atkinson In Conversation with Sinead Gleeson: Sunday 24th March at 2.30pm
Kate Atkinson was one of the stars of the 2010 Mountains to Sea Book Festival and we’re delighted to welcome her back to Dún Laoghaire. Already garnering rave advance notices, her new novel, Life After Life, poses the intriguing question, What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? Here is Kate Atkinson at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves. Whether on the page or on the stage, Kate Atkinson is a delight. Don’t miss her.

Douglas Kennedy In Conversation with Nadine O’Regan: Tuesday April 9th at 8.00pm

Douglas Kennedy ranks among that rare breed, the bestselling author whose novels attract critical praise. His previous novels include massive bestsellers such as The Big Picture, The Pursuit of Happiness, A Special Relationship and The Moment. In his new novel, Five Days, we meet Laura, a model wife and mother who through a chance meeting in a hotel lobby is reminded of the young woman she used to be and the woman she could have become. Five Days is a compelling novel about how life can change with one brief encounter.


Audrey Niffenegger In Conversation with Mia Gallagher: Friday 31st May at 8.00pm

The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger’s talismanic first novel sold more than two million copies and became the quintessential book club choice. Her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, sparked a feverish auction among the major world publishing houses and went on to become another bestseller. Now comes Raven Girl which opens with the memorable line “ Once there was a Postman who fell in love with a Raven …” Niffenegger, one of the world’s most audacious and inventive storytellers, has created a dark fairytale full of wonderment and longing. Illustrated with her own bewitching etchings and paintings, Raven Girl explores the bounds of transformation and possibility.

Jeffery Deaver In Conversation with John Connolly : Tuesday 25th June at 8.00pm

Jeffery Deaver is the creator of the critically-acclaimed Lincoln Rhyme series and the award-winning author of 29 internationally bestselling thrillers, including the recent James Bond novel Carte Blanche. In The Kill Room, brilliant criminologist and quadriplegic Lincoln Rhyme returns to investigate the state-sanctioned killing of a US citizen who is suspected of planning a terrorist attack on a US oil company. Deaver’s trademark suspense, richly developed characters and left-field plot twists mark him out as the consummate thriller writer. Don’t miss this rare chance to hear one of the world’s most successful thriller-writers talking about his work with Ireland’s leading crime writer, John Connolly.

For further details and to check out the programme, click on the link below:
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/library/spring_voices_2013.htm

First Bookclub of 2013

Our first bookclub of 2013 was held last Saturday hosted by the domestic goddess that is Shinners. We were supposed to meet in February but the date was rescheduled as baby Adam was poorly. The book under discussion was ‘How to Talk to a Widower’ by Jonathan Tropper. All agreed it was a good read and it looks like our new year’s resolution is holding fast as most of us had read the book. Long may that last! I especially liked the part about the bunnies.
Lots of good news since 2012 with new houses, new jobs and new babies on the way, 2013 is already looking busy and getting off to a good start for some. Shinners had a lovely spread of homemade sausage rolls, salads and had been baking up a storm including a Swedish apple cake and a carrot cake. We all asked for the recipes. And of course Adrienne brought her by now infamous and obligatory fairy buns. We had a lovely afternoon of lovely food, company and conversation. It was a small get together as Amers had jetted off to Madrid, Li was sick, Debs dropped by for a short visit and being between e-mails and changing jobs poor K was out of the loop and had missed the rescheduled date.

So the next book is, Debs suggestion, How We Met by Katy Regan.

Summary: A contemporary story of love, friendship and grief, told with Katy's inimitable laugh-out-loud humour, poignancy and heart.
There are some people you can’t imagine life without.
Liv Jenkins had been meticulously planning her ultimate to-do list – from the outrageous to sensible – of everything she longed to do before her dreaded thirtieth birthday, but when tragedy struck she never got the chance…
Two years later, Liv’s five closest friends have come together on the anniversary of her death and have made a pact: they will complete Liv’s to-do list in tribute to her memory.
Over the next year, before what would’ve been Liv’s thirtieth birthday, her friends set out to complete the tasks. But along the way deeply buried secrets, silent guilt, unrequited love and years of lies, rise to the surface rocking their friendships.
When they reach the end of Liv’s list the final task shakes the group to their core and they realise that they must face their futures and the consequences of their pasts, and with Liv’s help, live the lives they have always dreamed of.

Taken from: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15847922-how-we-met

Happy Reading!