The Compound by Aisling Rawle: An engrossing and confidently executed dystopian novel
The novel’s power lies in its atmosphere, its pacing and the completeness of the author’s narrative control
Book Reviews
The Haves and Have-Yachts. Dispatches on the Ultrarich: How Trump exploited mass-manipulation to stoke culture wars
Evan Osnos shows how social media is at the core of Republicans’ drive to destroy human empathy with maximum misinformation and minimum civil discourse
Nordic Socialism: The Path Toward a Democratic Economy – A hopeful, practical blueprint for democratic socialism
For anyone interested in building a fairer, freer future, Pelle Dragsted’s proposals are essential reading
Kevin Barry: The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney feels like a living thing
Cork in the 2010s is presented to us in an era of strange new criminal and digital frontiers
Operation Sandworm by Andy Greenberg: Terrifying narrative of a pervasive digital threat
The senior WIRED writer details a scenario where a hacking superpower wages global cyber warfare without restraint
Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart book review: Not nearly as funny as it thinks it is
None of this satirical writer’s shots at capitalist America bite so fiercely that he risks his phone being examined by the TSA when next he enters Trump’s US
The Most Powerful Court in the World by Stuart Banner: More than US legal analysis, it’s an excellent history
A consideration of the US supreme court decisions, the lives of its justices and an analysis of its influences
The Party’s Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian: The paranoid and intensely emotional political culture behind China’s Xi Jinping
Xi Zhongxun biography takes us into the world of the Communist Party and the life of its elite figures
Paschal Donohoe on How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio: a bleak picture of volatility
Ray Dalio, founder of one of the most successful hedge funds in the world, imparts his economic wisdom through a sequence of books
We Don’t Use Words Like ‘Crazy’: Irish readers will find many points of comparison to this insider’s view of the crumbling NHS
Elliot Sweeney knows the system is broken and how many have fled; he’s still there
Buckley by Sam Tanenhaus: A masterclass in showing over telling
William F Buckley was the leading right-wing intellectual of the post-second World War United States
Goliath’s Curse: Powerful if uneven portrait of societal collapse sings the praises of Irish Citizens’ Assembly
According to Luke Kemp’s learned, provocative and deeply unsettling book about how societies come crashing down, today’s equivalent of Goliath is staring us in the mirror
Sinister experiments and girl-power cults feature in August’s young adult titles
Works by Kathryn Clark, Lauren Wilson, Mary Watson, Daniel Tawse and Becki Jayne Crossley
Why Irish romance fiction deserves its happily ever after
Romance is having a cultural moment - but the genre often gets dismissed as mindless guilty pleasure
Gratefully and Affectionately. Mary Lavin and the New Yorker: A rich trove of insights
The book charts Mary Lavin’s career from the moment she was introduced to The New Yorker by JD Salinger in 1957
Unbroken: Secrets, Lies and Enduring Love - a couple’s riveting account through the UK justice system
Mary Attenborough and Michael Gallagher reveal what happened when their London flat was raided and the following events
Bless Me Father by Kevin Rowland: Dexys star gives a powerful account of his life
The Colonel and the King by Peter Guralnick: Examining the life of Elvis Presley’s mysterious manager, Colonel Tom Parker
The Work We Need by Hilary Cottam: An ambitious call to rethink work
Latest book from the author of Radical Help reimagines our relationship with work
‘I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer’ by Mary Beth Norton: A dive into 1690s messy relationships
Readers’ problems in the late 17th century ranged from the mundane – unhappy marriages, difficult in-laws to the dramatic
Beating Time: the Story of the Irish Bodhrán by Fintan Vallely – a forensic examination of a much-neglected instrument
While the drum is now part of many traditional Irish ensembles, it only arrived on the scene in the 1950s
Books in Brief: David Brennan’s scintillating second novel feels ancient, magical and urgently new
Reviews of Spit by David Brennan; In The Rhododendrons by Heather Christle; and Your Life is Manufactured by Tim Minshall
The World of the Cold War by Vladislav Zubok: Three decades on, echoes remain in today’s turbulent world
Zubok argues that the West played a key role in creating the Russia we face today
Gwyneth: The Biography review - Gwyneth Paltrow’s world is notoriously hard to break into. This book takes a shot
Paltrow never rises to the level of monstrous during this jog through the actor and wellness guru’s life
British-Irish Relations in the Twenty-First Century: A strong examination of the Belfast Agreement’s legacy and the impact of Brexit
Etain Tannam argues that John Hume’s central three-stranded idea for the agreement has been neglected
The Colonialist: Gruelling but impressive portrait of the virulent racist who bankrolled Parnell
If Cecil Rhodes was your specialist subject on Mastermind, William Kelleher Storey’s biography would supply the answer to every conceivable question
Books in brief: How pilgrimage has changed; a dentist practising for 700 years; a budding ghost-writer
Reviews of new works by Kathryn Hurlock, Keith Davey and Gabriel Flynn
Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick: ‘With picture books, I’m ruthless, and that has carried over into my novel’
The writer and illustrator reveals the first book in her new fantasy series - The Museum of Lost Umbrellas
Four music books chart unconventional lives in the industry
Influences and life moments behind the musicians from the ‘70s to ‘90s are revealed
Aisling Rawle: The Compound novel is ‘dark satire of reality television’
The Leitrim author’s debut novel sees 19 reality TV contestants isolated in the desert
Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark – a fitting tribute to a writer who found comedy in the blackest corners
Frances Wilson’s sly, unsentimental biography hews closely to its subject’s spirit
Children’s fiction: The Moon Seeker is a wildly original debut and worthy Staróg prize-winner
Plus: The Nightmare Club by Annie Graves; Taking the Long Way Home by Jake Hope; Our Pebbles by Jarvis; Hidden Treasure by Jessie Burton, and more
Michael Haag’s biography of Lawrence Durrell is important and often revelatory, but it is not neutral
Larry: A New Biography evokes a lovable cad, whose problematic behaviours Haag either skims over or defends vehemently
Crime fiction: domestic noir at its most beguilingly chilling
New works by Michelle McDonagh, Peter Swanson, Ruth Ware, Nick Harkaway and Sophie Hannah
David Gentleman’s Lessons for Young Artists: advice for living well, for people of all ages
A richly wise book about how to live a creative life in a world full of distractions and false goals
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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