Fiction reviews Non-Fiction reviews Books for Younger Readers Author Interviews Books News and Features Books Home Page
Books of the year: Novel of the year ‘Nesting’ an achingly real story for women
Books of the year: Novel of the year ‘Nesting’ an achingly real story for women
Critic Deirdre McArdle selects her best books of the year, featuring Irish writers, an AI office romance, and a brilliant book for children and parents alike

Fri, 02 Jan, 2026

GERMANY-LITERATURE-PRIZE
Book review: Reflections on being German
'Sanderling' is a rare book: meticulous, honest, unpretentious, interrogative, and utterly compelling

Sat, 27 Dec, 2025

Book review: Short life of Mary mattered
Book review: Short life of Mary mattered
All trace of 14-year-old Mary Doherty faded from view days after her brutal murder in 1844 yet her presence is evident on every single page of this moving book

Sat, 27 Dec, 2025

DNA structure anniversary
Book review: Rich and rewarding biography of a brainiac
Francis Crick was a prolific writer, always happy to advance theories, and biographer Matthew Cobb continues that work of sharing the ideas that try to map our world and existence

Sat, 27 Dec, 2025

Poetry review: Poems where the seemingly mundane can reveal itself as spiritually radiant
Poetry review: Poems where the seemingly mundane can reveal itself as spiritually radiant
'Jonah and Me' is a chance for readers to sit with poet John F Deane as he reflects on an immense career, a life lived in service of his art and his faith

Sat, 27 Dec, 2025

Book review: Touching memoir of EB sufferer’s life
Book review: Touching memoir of EB sufferer’s life
When she was born, Emma’s parents were told she wouldn’t survive infancy yet, despite countless obstacles, aged 41, she is now the oldest Irish person living with butterfly skin

Sat, 27 Dec, 2025

Beginner’s pluck: Food entrepreneur Eunice Power
Beginner’s pluck: Food entrepreneur Eunice Power
'My Irish Kitchen Table' is much more than just a book of easy-to-follow recipes, it also includes anecdotes and memories from Eunice’s life

Sat, 27 Dec, 2025

29th Annual Critics Choice Awards – Reception
Books of the year: There’s beauty and there are beasts in real world and fiction
Chloe Barrett selects her books of the year, from a tender, beautiful story about beating the odds to one that exposes what really goes on behind the scenes of the global tech elite

Fri, 26 Dec, 2025

Books of the year: Poetry and polished prose probing power and privilege
Books of the year: Poetry and polished prose probing power and privilege
Laura Cassidy’s books of the year include intricate yet accessible poems, a Cork City-based crime thriller, the Giller Prize winner 2025, and a top grade campus novel

Fri, 26 Dec, 2025

Dynasties, disruptors, and Guinness: 2025's best business books
Dynasties, disruptors, and Guinness: 2025's best business books
From an entrepreneur-turned-presidential candidate to the House of Huawei and the succession drama of the Guinness brewery, there's a lot to learn from this year's crop of business books

Fri, 26 Dec, 2025

Book review: Erudite, witty, and illuminating read from one of Ireland’s great thinkers
Book review: Erudite, witty, and illuminating read from one of Ireland’s great thinkers
In his introduction to this collection, Liam Hannaway notes that 'Talking Heads' is a 'bracing read, as one would expect from a poet who is always pushing boundaries'

Sat, 20 Dec, 2025

Book review: Honest coming of age memoir
Book review: Honest coming of age memoir
The book is written in a careful, compelling, conversational style accessible to its intended teenage audience, and copies ought to sit in every secondary school library in the country

Sat, 20 Dec, 2025

Book review: Secrets emerge from the past
Book review: Secrets emerge from the past
A family mystery is at the heart of this emotional rollercoaster from journalist Ann O'Loughlin

Sat, 20 Dec, 2025

Dublin Street Traders
Book review: Dublin’s street traders come alive, alive-O
Susan Marie Martin’s fascinating new book charts the resilience and determination of generations of street traders

Sat, 20 Dec, 2025

Beginner’s pluck: Full-time writer Lucy Steeds
Beginner’s pluck: Full-time writer Lucy Steeds
'The Artist' is quite brilliant, a gloriously written atmospheric debut exploring creativity

Sat, 20 Dec, 2025

Children’s book reviews: New colours for classic tales and letting go of the ghosts of the past
Children’s book reviews: New colours for classic tales and letting go of the ghosts of the past
A magnetic bond with the unknown and an engrossing guide into Ireland’s animals succeed in finding their way into the second of Pet O’Connell’s Children’s books Christmas round up

Fri, 19 Dec, 2025

Children’s book reviews: Enchanting Christmas tales filled with mystery and legend
Children’s book reviews: Enchanting Christmas tales filled with mystery and legend
In the first of her Children’s books Christmas round up, Pet O’Connell explores a murder mystery, the grace of a talented ‘Ice Dancer’, and delves deep into the Irish legends of folklore

Fri, 19 Dec, 2025

POV of young woman relaxing at home reading a book lying on sofa
Anja Murray: My favourite wildlife and environment books of 2025
Photography books, community stories, fresh perspectives and inspiring solutions to environmental crises — plenty to choose from with this selection

Wed, 17 Dec, 2025

Beginner’s pluck: Consultant in paediatrics Suzanne Crowe
Beginner’s pluck: Consultant in paediatrics Suzanne Crowe
This wonderful memoir charts Suzanne’s path to medicine — her training, her doubts, and her highlights with numerous poignant stories of the children in her care

Sat, 13 Dec, 2025

Book review: Joyful tale of self-discovery
Book review: Joyful tale of self-discovery
'Is That You, Beth Cherry?' is a heart-warming, relatable, and gentle story about self-discovery and finding one’s place in the world

Sat, 13 Dec, 2025

International Booker Prize 2025 Award Ceremony in London
Book review: Forever shackled by November 18
'On the Calculation of Volume' adopts and transforms the convention that its main character must constantly live the same stretch of time

Sat, 13 Dec, 2025

Book review: ‘The shapeshifter’s daughter’, like its protagonists, struggles with identity
Book review: ‘The shapeshifter’s daughter’, like its protagonists, struggles with identity
In attempting to explore mythology, familial trauma, terminal illness, and uplifting romance all at once, the novel's deeper themes are underdeveloped

Sat, 13 Dec, 2025

Book review: ‘Fly, Wild Swans’ is a  poignant, powerful memoir
Book review: ‘Fly, Wild Swans’ is a  poignant, powerful memoir
A subtext of this book is the West’s hypocrisy towards China: securing favourable trade agreements with the country dwarfs ostensible concerns about human rights

Sat, 13 Dec, 2025

Books of the year: 2025’s best offerings that highlight political strife, pain, and injustice
Books of the year: 2025’s best offerings that highlight political strife, pain, and injustice
JP O’Malley reveals his picks for books that tell true stories of those who lived in difficult and challenging times, both in the present day and the past

Fri, 12 Dec, 2025

Heather Clark by Beowulf Sheehan
Books of the year: Four brilliant page-turners you’ll want to give to friends
Sue Leonard selects her best books of the year, featuring inter-generational guilt, a harrowing depiction of coercive control, and no shortage of wonderful prose

Fri, 12 Dec, 2025

Costa Book Awards 2015
'Confessions of a Shopaholic' novelist Sophie Kinsella dies aged 55
The ‘queen of romantic comedy’ has died 18 months after announcing her brain cancer diagnosis

Wed, 10 Dec, 2025

Books of the year: Three titles that tugged at the very fabric of Irish history
Books of the year: Three titles that tugged at the very fabric of Irish history
Diarmuid O’Donovan reveals his must-read releases this year for those riveted by Ireland’s past

Sat, 06 Dec, 2025

Book review: Collection provides new insight into mind of acclaimed writer
Book review: Collection provides new insight into mind of acclaimed writer
One of the collection’s great joys is reading the author’s accounts of how other writers have shaped her as an artist and a person

Sat, 06 Dec, 2025

Tupac Shakur
Book review: Intriguing read probes many faces of controversial rapper
By the end of this excellent biography, you may not like Tupac Shakur, but you certainly know him

Sat, 06 Dec, 2025

Beginner's pluck: Retired doctor Geraldine Osborne 
Beginner's pluck: Retired doctor Geraldine Osborne 
Atmospheric memoir sees couple take their three small children to tiny Arctic settlement in 1989, from where they adventured across the frozen sea

Sat, 06 Dec, 2025

Russia Obit Gorbachev
Book review: Vernacular voices in story of Soviet Union’s implosion
Author weaves lives of die-hard apparatchiks with the dreams of young Russian musicians more inspired by Dylan than Dostoevsky, more moved by Lennon than Lenin

Sat, 06 Dec, 2025

Book review: Investigating the personal struggles of investigators
Book review: Investigating the personal struggles of investigators
Although the crime at the centre of the book drives the plot and sparks many twists and revelations, it is the personal struggles and inner battles the main characters face that linger long after you have finished reading

Sat, 06 Dec, 2025

Two children on the floor read a book in a room with Christmas
12 books of Christmas that will make ideal gifts for young readers
Ruth Concannon takes a look back through some of the best books published in each month of 2025

Fri, 05 Dec, 2025

Book review: The battle to birth a republic
Book review: The battle to birth a republic
In 'From Crown to Harp', the story of Ireland’s development from dominion to republic is diligently outlined by David McCullagh

Sat, 29 Nov, 2025

Book review: Confessions of a sentient AI algorithm
Book review: Confessions of a sentient AI algorithm
The dystopian AI potboiler appears to be ubiquitous, but Paul Bradley Carr wisely got in ahead of the rush — 'The Confessions' depicts a world gone slightly madder than ours

Sat, 29 Nov, 2025

Beginner’s pluck: Multimedia journalist Adam Maguire
Beginner’s pluck: Multimedia journalist Adam Maguire
'The Bailout Babies' asks what has become of the generation, born in the boom, who had to contend with the crash?

Sat, 29 Nov, 2025

Book review: Behind Michael J Fox’s iconic double act
Book review: Behind Michael J Fox’s iconic double act
This book is more than a memoir, it’s a piece of film history, told with humour and fun about one of the world’s most beloved films

Sat, 29 Nov, 2025

Author interview: Orlean’s open approach provides rich insight into storytelling world
Author interview: Orlean’s open approach provides rich insight into storytelling world
'Joyride' is a hugely entertaining and engaging account of Orlean’s adventures in writing written in her own imitable and impeccable style

Fri, 28 Nov, 2025

ICE Raid Louisiana Racetrack
Author interview: Eerie parallels in treatment of immigrant communities
Shifting demographics in the US partially explains why the Republican Party have turned further to the right in recent years — especially on immigration

Fri, 28 Nov, 2025

Manchán Magan 16/3/2025
Revealed: Manchán Magan and Michael D Higgins among winners of Irish Book Awards 2025
Former President Michael D  Higgins was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his impact on Irish art and culture

Thu, 27 Nov, 2025

Book review: Little criticism or juicy gossip, but Miriam’s memoir still worth the wait
Book review: Little criticism or juicy gossip, but Miriam’s memoir still worth the wait
Miriam O’Callaghan’s 'Life, Work, Everything' can be read as a social and political history of Ireland

Mon, 24 Nov, 2025

2021 Booker Prize For Fiction: Shortlist Photocall
Book review: Wayward connection in chaos
For those new to Lockwood, 'Will There Ever Be Another You' will be a challenging and, at times, frustrating read as incidents and characters from previous books are referenced without explanation or context

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025

Harper Lee
Book review: Pinhole view into icon’s life
Harper Lee über-fans and readers interested in examining early work from a noted literary figure will likely get a kick out of the fiction here — but the stories are uneven

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025

Crime writer Michael Connelly: I???m definitely not finished with Harry Bosch
Book review: Poignant tale centred on the perils of AI
In Michael Connelly’s latest, Mickey Haller is representing the mother of a teenage girl murdered by her ex-boyfriend who claims he was encouraged to do so by a chatbot

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025

Donald Trump in Helicopter
Book review: Familiar names in colourful, gritty romp across 1980s New York
Jonathan Mahler’s enthralling overview of the city benefits and suffers from the fact we know many of the dramatis personae because they remain in the public eye

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025

Beginner’s pluck: Journal.ie columnist Carl Kinsella
Beginner’s pluck: Journal.ie columnist Carl Kinsella
This collection of funny, thought provoking essays investigate the way millennials relate to the world

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025

Author interview: From family fortunes to scandals, real-life drama of Dunnes dynasty
Author interview: From family fortunes to scandals, real-life drama of Dunnes dynasty
Matt Cooper’s new book reveals how the owners of retail empire have had triumphs but also turmoil over years, from kidnapping and addiction to a bitter battle for succession

Fri, 21 Nov, 2025

Booker Prize 2025
Overdue Booker nod brings Szalay in from the margins
A unique talent with a track record of challenging work, David Szalay creates worlds that are full of despicable characters and delectable prose

Fri, 21 Nov, 2025

Booker Prize 2025
Colin Sheridan: The Booker shows what we're willing to celebrate — a new, questioning, masculinity
The 'death of the introspective male novel' has been greatly exaggerated — see Karl Ove Knausgaard’s newest nine-volume, 6,000-page meditation on the misery of being alive

Thu, 20 Nov, 2025

FRANCE-LITERATURE-PORTRAIT
Book review: A fresh view on international politics
Exploring the parallel rise to power of amoral autocrats and tech billionaires, and the chronic inability of our political structures to do anything about the ascendancy of either

Sat, 15 Nov, 2025

Latest

Scene & Heard

Newsletter

Music, film art, culture, books and more from Munster and beyond.......curated weekly by the Irish Examiner Arts Editor.

Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited