Flesh by David Szalay
The 2025 Booker Prize Winner ‘Flesh’ by David Szalay is the story of István, a Hungarian who we follow over the course of his life both at home and abroad. It’s written in a sparse, unsentimental manner that can be unsettling but always compelling.
The City and its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
A review of Haruki Murakami’s 2024 novel The City and Its Uncertain Walls — a slow-burning meditation on memory, love, and the walls we build inside ourselves.
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
A young couple, Mari and Takahashi, meet in the twilight hours in a Tokyo diner before we set out on a story that involves love hotels, Chinese gangster and literal sleeping beauties. Another beguiling and enchanting novel from Murikami.
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Two brothers along with some friends set out for a fresh start in california, in a road trip that goes in the opposite direction it’s meant to. Charming, funny and moving, Amor Towles intricate storytelling shines brightly again.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Booker prize winning ‘Orbital’ by Samantha Harvey is a meditative and moving short novel about a day in the life of six astronauts orbiting planet earth.
Book Review -Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Sally Rooney’s fourth novel is a moving and nuanced story of two grieving brothers and their complicated relationships.
The God of The Woods by Liz Moore
A brother and sister disappear from a summer camp in the Adirondack mountains, 15 years apart. Are the cases connected? Find out in this fine literary thriller that will keep you guessing right to the end.
Long Island by Colm Tóibín
Twenty years on from ‘Brooklyn’ and we find Eilis Lacey in Long Island, settled in her life. But a knock on the door changes everything, in the long awaited follow up to ‘Brooklyn’. Is the past a foreign country, and what of Jim and Eilis?
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
With ‘The Heart in Winter’, Kevin Barry creates a sort of Irish Western set in Montana in 1881, about two lovers fleeing across country, pursued by bounty hunters, in an engrossing and vivid novel that crackles with life.
Earth by John Boyne
‘Earth’ is the story of a young professional footballer who is on trial in a sexual assault case, in another concise and engaging story from master storyteller John Boyne.
North Woods by Daniel Mason
North Woods is the story of a plot of land in rural masachussets, told over 400 years and via 12 interconnected stories, ranging from painters to panthers.
Book Review - The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
The Booker prize nominated ‘The Bee Sting’ by Paul Murray is a tragicomedy that fizzes with energy, as we follow the rich inner lives of the Barnes family, as their world starts to fall apart.
Book Review - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Like opera, this book that could be described as a mixture of farce, drama and romantic comedy. But does it hit the high notes?
Be Mine - Richard Ford (Frank Bascombe #5)
The fifth outing for Frank Bascombe, as he goes on a road trip with his son Paul. Funny. poignant, and wise, Fords prose is as beautiful and resonant as ever.
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright
Anne Enright’s latest is about how trauma passes down through the generations, as well as love and hope. Beautifully written.
Kala by Colin Walsh
Strong literary thriller about a group of friends who reunite 15 years after a traumatic summer, when dark secrets begin to resurface.
Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
Pacy literary thriller about the theft of an unpublished manuscript, that explores cultural appropriation, greed and white privilege in the world of publishing.
Book Review - Winter People by Gráinne Murphy
Winter People by Gráinne Murphy is a reflective and emotional book about three strangers on the Atlantic Coast of Ireland, dealing with grief and isolation.
Book Review - A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
‘A little life’ by Hanya Yanagihara is 700 page epic that follows the lives of four friends in New York. Immersive, depressing and heartbreaking, this is a book that continues to polarise opinion.
Ordinary Human Failings - Megan Nolan
A child is murdered on an estate in London, and attention falls on a Irish family who had previously kept to themselves. Megan Nolan’s superbly written second book is about ‘ordinary families’ who find themselves having to face their secrets.
