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Books

Book ReviewsFighting Words

Aunts fictional and real matter more to us than they may know

Aunts fictional and real matter more to us than they may know

By Hazel Gaynor
Listen | 06:02
Garth Risk Hallberg’s The Second Coming: Bigger isn’t always better

Garth Risk Hallberg’s The Second Coming: Bigger isn’t always better

By Val Nolan
Listen | 02:31

Sam Tallent’s Running the Light: Tale of a god-gifted comedian masquerading as joker and joke

A fictional tell-all that is Dante as gag-artist, trapped in a Diabolical Comedy

By Peter Murphy

Seamus Heaney’s North at 50: Poetic landmark ‘came most intensely out of the first shock of the Troubles’


Elaine Feeney on her new novel: ‘I was pushing a sort of Chekhov dinner party in the west of Ireland’


Behind the Scenes: The Dramatic Lives of Philip Burton; Yankeeland; Soft Tissue Damage


The Names by Florence Knapp: what’s in a name?


Air by John Boyne: Superb, at-times harrowing, still questioning


How did European identity develop? Three authors take on colonialism, imperialism and witchcraft


For Valerie by David French: A very personal study of femicide that is ‘dedicated to the silenced women’




SHORT STORIES

Gertrude’s Favourite Pfeffernüsse by Melanie McGee Bianchi

Gertrude’s Favourite Pfeffernüsse by Melanie McGee Bianchi

By Melanie McGee Bianchi
Catastrophic, a new story by June Caldwell

Catastrophic, a new story by June Caldwell

By June Caldwell
Book Club

Book Club

Sign up to the Irish Times books newsletter for features, podcasts and more


POETRY

Poem of the Week: Snail Notes

Poem of the Week: Snail Notes

By Patrick Cotter
Poem of the Week: The Walk Out

Poem of the Week: The Walk Out

By Alice Kinsella
Paul Durcan: ‘Poetry was a gift that he loved to give others’

Paul Durcan: ‘Poetry was a gift that he loved to give others’

By Martin Doyle

Deadly Silence: The compelling and harrowing story on the killing of Clodagh Hawe and her children

Deadly Silence: The compelling and harrowing story on the killing of Clodagh Hawe and her children

By John Walshe

Ciara Geraghty: Author of 10 novels on turning to children’s books

Ciara Geraghty: Author of 10 novels on turning to children’s books

By Martin Doyle

Sister Europe by Nell Zink: A novel driven almost entirely by dialogue

Sister Europe by Nell Zink: A novel driven almost entirely by dialogue

By Ruby Eastwood

Poem of the Week: Snail Notes

Poem of the Week: Snail Notes

By Patrick Cotter

The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey: A work of conscience and consequence

The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey: A work of conscience and consequence

By Adam Wyeth

Kincora: Britain’s Shame by Chris Moore - Strong and unnerving, some accounts linger like a bad taste

Kincora: Britain’s Shame by Chris Moore - Strong and unnerving, some accounts linger like a bad taste

By Malachi O’Doherty

The Greek Revolution and the Violent Birth of Nationalism: A ‘crooked line’ leading to war and independence

The Greek Revolution and the Violent Birth of Nationalism: A ‘crooked line’ leading to war and independence

By Richard Pine

Irish writers up for CWA Dagger awards

Irish writers up for CWA Dagger awards

By Martin Doyle

The Unaccountability Machine by Dan Davies: an excellent diagnosis but a depressing prognosis

The Unaccountability Machine by Dan Davies: an excellent diagnosis but a depressing prognosis

By Kevin Gildea

Niall Williams’s Time of the Child wins Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award

Niall Williams’s Time of the Child wins Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award

By Martin Doyle

Joe O’Byrne: ‘We’re having the reactivation of the type of politics that we saw in the early 1930s’

Joe O’Byrne: ‘We’re having the reactivation of the type of politics that we saw in the early 1930s’

By Henrietta McKervey

Ripeness by Sarah Moss: A captivating novel about the unwritten codes of Irish social interaction

Ripeness by Sarah Moss: A captivating novel about the unwritten codes of Irish social interaction

By Michael Cronin

The Secret Life of Leinster House by Gavan Reilly: A survey of political life from the inside out

The Secret Life of Leinster House by Gavan Reilly: A survey of political life from the inside out

By Pat Leahy

Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever by Lamorna Ash: a literary feat and deeply humane book about faith

Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever by Lamorna Ash: a literary feat and deeply humane book about faith

By Kevin Power

American Dirt author Jeanine Cummins: ‘I felt like the entire world was against me but I knew I would emerge’

American Dirt author Jeanine Cummins: ‘I felt like the entire world was against me but I knew I would emerge’

By Niamh Donnelly



MOST READ

1

Man dead after shots fired in Carlow shopping centre, Army bomb disposal team called to scene


2

Report reveals ‘toxic culture’ among consultants at CHI hospital


3

‘He is 13 and he’s huge. He will be the next Wayne Dundon’: Limerick on edge as a new generation takes over gangland


4

My mother’s plan to leave her house to my sister and I could create more problems than solutions


5

‘Like living near a helicopter’: Residents fed up at takeaway delivery drones buzzing over their homes

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