Clemency Browne Dreams of Gin (Arlen House) is Órfhlaith Foyle's second collection of short fiction, and I was gripped by every page.

Martina Devlin's The House Where it Happened (Ward River Press) is a darkly atmospheric triumph, a novel set in the 18th century but crackling with contemporary resonance.

Sarah Moore Fitzgerald's young-adult novel The Apple Tart of Hope (Orion) is a layered, morally complex and captivating read. And I was entranced by Rachel Cusk's strange and beautiful novel, Outline (Faber).

For me the discovery of 2014 was Sara Baume, whose magnificent story Solesearcher1 won the Davy Byrnes Award, (Davy Byrnes Stories 2014). She's the most exciting new writer I've read in a while. I think her debut novel will be the literary highlight of spring 2015.

Joseph O'Connor is McCourt professor at the University of Limerick, where he teaches the MA in creative writing. His novel The Thrill of it All (Harvill Secker) was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards