Best crime fiction: A fascinating new detective and a poison pen letter to Los Angeles
Gripping new works by Dervla McTiernan, Jess Kidd, Chris Brookmyre, Michelle McDonagh and Jordan Harper
Book Reviews
Michael Collins’s Pope Leo XIV biography traces rise of first American pontiff
Dublin priest’s study examines how Robert Prevost emerged from Chicago, Peru and Rome to the papacy
Reviews in brief: The Pilgrimage, Stalin’s Apostles and The Asset Class
New books from John Broderick, Antonia Senior and Hettie O’Brien
Animate: How Animals Shape the Human Mind – An intellectual menagerie
This strange beast of a book constantly flits between anthropology, neuroscience and cultural studies
Farming in Ireland. Crisis and Climate: Lived experience of our rural hinterland
Reflections on fraying communal bonds as a consequence of modernity
Walter Benjamin by Peter Gordon: A compelling read
A new biography of a significant 20th-century philosopher
Blasket Bound by Lesley Bond: Ancient place seen from a new perspective
The author and her husband were selected to be the island’s first caretakers in 2019
After the Fall by Ian Shapiro: Thought-provoking guide to how the world got into this mess
The path that led to Donald Trump and current crises was forged decades ago by the missteps and missed opportunities of other leaders
Growth, Democracy, or Climate Action? The New Political Trilemma of Advanced Capitalism
A well-debated book that draws the reader in
Irish Anthropocene - Literature, Climate Change, Sovereignty: Meditation on words and nature
Tracing the path of a global issue through accomplished writers
American Hope by Christopher Lamb: Is Leo the right pope at the right time?
Lamb’s enlightening book prompts optimism
Latest sci-fi: Future lifeforms, ‘Indiana Jones’ in space and a woman’s reluctance to save mankind
New Novels from Portia Elan, Brandon Sanderson, Susan Ertz, Mahmud El Sayed and a collection edited by Ronald A Geobey
People Like Us by Julie Parsons: A life formed around a deeply personal mystery
This nonfiction outing is a story of loss and of the tightly interconnected milieu of the south Dublin Protestant
Unmasking Samantha Cookes: Superb exposé of a spiralling conwoman
Bradley writes brilliantly, setting out the facts with the poise of a forensic investigator and the pacing of a thriller writer
Summer YA reading: Romeo and Juliet meet at a death resort while teenagers take over the world
The latest from Kelly McCaughrain, Soman Chainani, Caitlin Devlin, Beth Steiner and newcomer to the genre Tig Wallace
Whistler by Ann Patchett: a lesser-told love story between step-parents and stepchildren
Ultimately Whistler itself is a testament to the transformative power of storytelling
Land review: Breathtaking epic marks Maggie O’Farrell as a daring chronicler of 19th century Ireland
Hamnet author’s 10th novel urgently and passionately maps historical change driven by famine, emigration, language loss, secularisation and much more
Dooneen: In Keith Ridgway’s retrofuturistic Dublin, the housing crisis plays out with deadly consequences
Compelling novel about hope, dereliction and the unmercifulness of privilege is set in a city that is both recognisable and weirdly unfamiliar
Books in brief: Love Lane; On Memoir: An A-Z of Life Writing; Ghost-Eye
Moving meditation on belonging, loneliness; valuable details on life writing; expansive novel from one of India’s finest authors
First of December of Karen Jennings: A quietly devastating novel about slavery’s undoing
This South African-set book focuses on three people in the run-up to emancipation day
Iran and the Revolution by Homa Katouzian: A missed opportunity
Structural weaknesses undermine a book that was unfortunately outdated before it was even published
Stefan Al’s spirited account of what humans have got right and wrong when making homes
Dwelling on Earth: The Past and Future of the Places We Call Home by Stefan Al
Caroline Aherne: Rebel in Disguise balances the goofs and the genius
David Scott’s focus on her work has good intentions, but also sees a missed opportunity
What Am I, a Deer? by Polly Barton: A resonant take on the distance between reality and illusion
Barton’s debut novel is a surprisingly hopeful existentialist text grounded in modern anxieties
Rough Edges by Natasha Carthew: Irish echoes in Cornish writer’s account of Britain’s coast
Carthew writes about her native place in context of a society that relegates communities to generationally diminished opportunity
The Make-Believe by Hannah Murray: The descent of a Game of Thrones star
Corrosive lifestyle patterns left the young actor susceptible to mood swings and depression as she fell under the spell of a wellness cult
Jemimah Wei’s The Original Daughter: Masterful in depiction of pettiness and codependency
Although bleak and at times sprawling, author’s debut novel is tender, surprising and immersive
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett: A return to Mississippi
Second novel from the author of The Help tells the story of Meg, an 11-year-old orphan
Make Strange by Niamh Campbell: Haunting portrayal of maternal anxiety nested in an unnerving premise
There’s a lot going on in this novel, so much so that the main plot is in danger of being sidelined
Marilyn and Her Books by Gail Crowther: A bizarrely retrograde portrait of the actor as more than a ‘dumb blonde’
This book about Marilyn Monroe’s literary life brims with anodyne observations and saccharine psychology
New poetry: Emma McKervey; Tim MacGabhann; Shannon Kuta Kelly; and Rishi Dastidar
Martina Evans reviews God-Head Contraption; Found in a Context of Destruction; The Tree Is Missing; and Cherry Blossom at Nightbreak
The Queer Bookshelf: A Reader’s Guide – a useful framework, but by its nature a book of omission
Author Layla McCay excludes queer Irish writers who have more than earned their place in any survey of LGBT culture
This Poor Book: A Poem by Fanny Howe – a radical final act by an extraordinary Irish-American
Daughter of Dublin playwright Mary Manning was a ‘free spirit’ who dared to make the human soul her subject
Elites and Democracy by Hugo Drochon: Heavyweight contribution to long-running debate
Intensively researched and soberly written, but perhaps too academic for some
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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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices