Patricia Scanlan was born in Dublin, where she still lives. She is a No 1 bestselling author and has sold millions of books worldwide. Her books are translated in many languages. Patricia is the series editor and a contributing author to the award winning Open Door Literacy series.
*******************************************************************************
Venetian Vespers –John Banville – Faber & Faber
Winter 1899, and strange things are afoot. As the new century approaches, English hack writer Evelyn Dolman marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat. But in the midst of a rift between Laura and her father, Evelyn's plans for a substantial inheritance look to be dashed.
Arriving in Venice for their belated honeymoon at Palazzo Dioscuri - the ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo - the couple are met by a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences, which exacerbate Evelyn's already frayed nerves. Is it just the sea mist blanketing the floating city, or is he really losing his mind?
********************************************************************
Deadly Evidence – Marie Cassidy – Hachette Books Ireland
State Pathologist Terry O’Brien is about to take on her toughest role yet!
Tasked with leading the Open Case Review Unit, her usual post-mortem work has been extended to cold-case investigation into unsolved suspicious deaths.
When a garda detective is murdered, his body mutilated and dumped on gangland ground, she is called in. As a large-scale investigation takes shape to hunt down the killers, Terry's post-mortem uncovers uncomfortable evidence.
She soon finds herself up against the powers that be. But, as new evidence emerges from her cold-case work that impacts closer to home, this may be the least of her worries. Can the identity of her sister Jenny's killer, all those years ago, be revealed? And are some truths best left buried?
*****************************************************************************
Speaking My Mind – Leo Varadkar – Sandycove
Leo Varadkar shares his fascinating experience as Irish prime minister at a time of much change and turbulence, in this remarkably honest memoir. Leo Varadkar was an unlikely Taoiseach – the youngest on taking office in 2017, the first Taoiseach to be gay, and the first person of colour to be Taoiseach.
Equally unlikely was his decision to bow out of politics in his mid-forties. Now, liberated from the constraints of office, he tells his fascinating story with characteristic courage and candour, and provides a unique insight into the formation and evolution of a senior politician.
In Speaking My Mind Leo Varadkar shares his pride in helping to bring about transformational changes, such as marriage equality.
He describes experiences that only a prime minister could have – speaking frankly to Pope Francis on the legacy of church abuses, connecting with Barack Obama about both being the ‘tall, dark guy with the funny name’, navigating challenges such as the pandemic and the fallout from Brexit. And he writes honestly about the costs that go with the immense privilege of holding high office.
***************************************************************************
Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun) – Manchán Magan (Author) Megan Luddy (Illustrator)
Meet the néaladóirí (cloud-watchers) and réadóirí (stargazers) from our past who, without the luxury of Met Éireann at their disposal, observed birds, trees, animals, as well as markers on land and sea for signs of weather change. The sheer richness and variety of terms they amassed reveal the closeness with which they observed the world around them. Swallows flying low foretold rain.
The heron’s behaviour offered many hints: Aimsir chrua thirim nuair a bhíonn an corr éisc suas in aghaidh srutha chun na sléibhte (when the heron flies upstream to the mountains the weather will be dry but rough). Fearthainn nuair a thagann sí an abhainn anuas (when she goes downstream, it will rain).
Evoking countless sodden, shivery experiences on this Atlantic-swept island of ours, this beautifully illustrated gift book uses Irish words to grasp an almost-lost world through the wisdom stored in the Irish language.
*****************************************************************************
From Crown to Harp: How the Anglo-Irish treaty was undone 1920-1949 – David McCullagh – Gill Books
The crown was the symbol of British power in Ireland, and in December 1921 opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty claimed that its terms tied Ireland to the Crown forever. The new Irish Free State would be within the British Commonwealth, with limited sovereignty. And some believed it would stay that way if the Treaty was accepted.
And yet, within 16 years, Ireland had become a republic. A dozen years after that, it acquired the name as well and removed any ambiguity about its constitutional status by formally leaving the Commonwealth. And all without the firing of a shot.
This peaceful revolution had been achieved by a succession of governments of different parties and a cast of characters included a monarch prepared to surrender his throne for love; a British prime minister who made Irish neutrality possible and another who did his best to bully or bribe Ireland into World War II.
What had seemed impossible in 1921 had been achieved through relentless pressure, considerable skill and no small amount of luck. This is the story of how it happened.
*******************************************************************************
Hymn to All the Restless Girls – Annemarie Ní Churreáin –Gallery Press
In Hymn to All the Restless Girls Annemarie Ní Churreáin continues to trace the personal in public tragedies and to transmute them into fiercely dramatic poetry. Celebrating the rebel spirit of the restless girl, sometimes known as a troublemaker but valued as a truth-teller, she offers prayers of defiance, sacraments of identification, howls of protest and lyric flights.
Poems with the force of charms cast their gaze in all directions as they castigate the history of the Irish State (the ‘Free’ State) and the Catholic Church and find ways to thrive beyond cruel experience. Folklore, including superstitions, Irish words and the atmosphere of rural life imbue poems of empathy for the ‘girls in trouble, sinful girls, the fallen’ and emigrants forced to leave. Taking bearings from the ancient art of fiachairecht, the practice of looking to ravens for omens and prophecy, this is a handbook of care and healing and, ultimately, reclamation.
. . . The cure of breath is given
like a stream of foals passing
through the creaking pines.
— ‘The Handywoman Tends to a Sickly Child’
*************************************************************************
Disaster Dad: Fun Day Fiasco – Donncha O’Callaghan (Author) Jenny Taylor (Illustrator) – Eriu
When Finn, Emma, Dad and Mum participate in a family fun day to raise money for charity, their competitive nature is revealed!
When the family discover that Dad's arch-rival is also competing in the family fun day, Dad is determined to win! With a welly-throwing competition, wacky races and a talent show to prepare for, the family are on a strict NO DOUGHNUTS diet and training regime. But will their efforts be enough to win the prize?
Full of mishaps and chaos, this hilarious story is sure to delight all readers aged 7+
Sites linking to this page have chosen to adopt this Privacy Policy as their own. This means: they agree to abide by the principles laid out below.
In common with other websites, log files are stored on the web server saving details such as the visitor's IP address, browser type, referring page and time of visit.
Cookies may be used to remember visitor preferences when interacting with the website. Where registration is required, the visitor's email and a username will be stored on the server.
The information is used to enhance the visitor's experience when using the website to display personalised content and possibly advertising.
Email addresses will not be sold, rented or leased to 3rd parties. Email may be sent to inform you of news of our services or offers by us or our affiliates.
If you have subscribed to one of our services, you may unsubscribe by following the instructions which were included in the email that you received.
You can block cookies via your browser settings but this may prevent you from accessing certain features of the website.
Cookies are small digital signature files that are stored by your web browser that allow your preferences to be recorded when visiting the website. Cookies are used by most websites to record visitor preferences. Also they may be used to track your return visits to the website.
Like all sites, we use 3rd party tools to help us run the website. They are used not to track you but to track info like the visitors numbers on the site over a given period, to allow you to interact with the social-media widget and to allow us to login into this web based CMS (Content Management System).