NON-FICTION

Fiction reviews Non-Fiction reviews Books for Younger Readers Author Interviews Books News and Features Books Home Page
NEWS
Book review: Fight to discover your identity
Paul Cullen had always been fascinated by the unanswered questions about his origins, but for many years pushed them to the back of his mind for fear of upsetting the people who had raised him

Sat, 21 Feb, 2026

Goetz Victims on IRT
Book review: Violent and divided, the US of a bygone era is sadly familiar
This book is long, at times dense, and tough to digest, but ultimately a worthwhile read — a story of an America that hasn't changed that much at all

Fri, 20 Feb, 2026

"Libri Come 2024 – Umanità" Literature Festival
Book review: Final Julian Barnes book an exemplary endnote
'Departure(s)' is most certainly not a novel; the book is more akin to correspondence, a signing off from a career which contains many fine novels and numerous awards

Sat, 14 Feb, 2026

Book review: The Famine years in West Kerry
Book review: The Famine years in West Kerry
Bryan MacMahon’s descriptions of events between 1845 and 1849 leave no doubt that the Famine was as bad as any famine witnessed in the television era

Sat, 14 Feb, 2026

Book extract: ‘Turnover tax’ in 1963 was fraught with political risk
Book extract: ‘Turnover tax’ in 1963 was fraught with political risk
When finance minister James Ryan introduced a new sales tax of 2.5% on all goods and services it was the most significant change to the Irish taxation system since independence

Fri, 13 Feb, 2026

Book review: How criminals are making a killing
Book review: How criminals are making a killing
Never a better time to be a criminal, says author Oliver Bullough, saying around €50bn a year washes through Europe’s money laundering schemes

Sat, 31 Jan, 2026

Book review: Fresh look at old battle scars
Book review: Fresh look at old battle scars
'The War of Independence in East Cork' makes an important contribution to the understanding of what occurred in East Cork during the 1919 to 1921 period

Sat, 24 Jan, 2026

Book review: Radical shift in political culture
Book review: Radical shift in political culture
While the  focus of 'Abundance' is the US, the problems the authors consider — in housing, transportation, energy and healthcare — apply to most developed economies

Sat, 17 Jan, 2026

Book review: Going off-piste for success
Book review: Going off-piste for success
For those who write or aspire to write, there is enough quality information in 'Joyride' for it be considered something of an instructional manual

Sat, 17 Jan, 2026

"Kinds Of Kindness" New York Premiere
Book review: False dawns and incremental gains of a writer’s slow recovery through drugs
The general argument in 'Breaking Awake' seems to be in favour of across-the-board legalisation of drugs

Sat, 17 Jan, 2026

Book review: Rare insight into an obscure Irish traditional music icon
Book review: Rare insight into an obscure Irish traditional music icon
This fine biography does that most rare of things: it brings to life, on the printed page, exactly how Tommie Potts felt the music that so defines him. And why

Fri, 16 Jan, 2026

Book review: 'Escape from the Anthill' is both illuminating and wise
Book review: 'Escape from the Anthill' is both illuminating and wise
The essays in this reissued collection are told with great wit and on a variety of fascinating subjects where there is neither a dull sentence nor a careless thought

Sat, 10 Jan, 2026

First Part Of Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Report Released
Book review: Surviving the ordeal that was the Post Office Horizon scandal
Jo Hamilton — one of the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal — has written a personal account of the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice

Sat, 10 Jan, 2026

Book review: Imagining a not so wee North
Book review: Imagining a not so wee North
If we are moving towards a 32-county Ireland anything that prepares the ground for the kind of difficult, uneasy sacrifices needed to make that evolution a success is welcome

Sat, 10 Jan, 2026

Book review: A particular kind of courage
Book review: A particular kind of courage
The narrative of 'Seized' is vulnerably raw and deeply human, documenting not only illness but the endurance required to live alongside it

Sat, 03 Jan, 2026

Book review: That was then, this is now in mingling of the personal and the polemical
Book review: That was then, this is now in mingling of the personal and the polemical
Westerners dismiss their ancestors, individually and en masse, as 'racists, thieves, and murderers', but this brown-skinned woman from North Africa has come to tell whitey to get over himself

Sat, 03 Jan, 2026

France Sarkozy Legion of Honor
Book review: When a president goes to prison
The overarching sentiment of this book is that a former French president should not have to suffer the indignity of being classed with with other detainees inside Paris’ La Sante prison

Sat, 03 Jan, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: 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

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: 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

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

Book review: Witty, robust defence of the power of sentimentality to effect change
Book review: Witty, robust defence of the power of sentimentality to effect change
The central thesis of Ferdinand Mount's 'Soft' is compelling: Sentimentality is a form of mass soft power that steers us towards a better, more humane world

Sat, 15 Nov, 2025

Book review: Get clued up on Irish slang
Book review: Get clued up on Irish slang
Colm O’Regan’s entertaining account of the Irish version of the English language is an etymologist’s delight, being nicely scholarly, but it wears its learning lightly, which means it’s accessible to all of us

Sat, 15 Nov, 2025

Book review: Shocking downfall of a legend
Book review: Shocking downfall of a legend
DJ Carey was the game of hurling's first great superstar but there was always something that suggested his spirit was in some way troubled

Sat, 15 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

Book review: No need to shop around for this story of Dunnes’ burgeoning retail empire
Book review: No need to shop around for this story of Dunnes’ burgeoning retail empire
From the 1960s, Dunnes Stores, or family members, have been embroiled in some of the most infamous disputes and scandals

Sat, 08 Nov, 2025

Missing person Tina Satchwell case
Book review: Rushed mess that badly needed an edit
That the nuts and bolts of story are revealed in the eight-page prologue almost makes wading through the subsequent 355 pages unnecessary

Sat, 08 Nov, 2025

FILE PICS: Former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald is understood to be seriously ill in hospital.
Book review: Class, corruption, and rivalry at the birth of modern Ireland
Eoin O’Malley’s thesis is that the rivalry between these two individuals shaped the Ireland that was to evolve after they had both departed the frontline

Fri, 07 Nov, 2025

Zadie Smith Receives WELT-Literaturpreis 2016 In Berlin
Book review: Incisive Smith offers insights on creativity in random collection
Through 'Dead and Alive', Smith retains her crown as one of the sharpest, sanest, perceptively unpretentious minds of our generation

Sat, 01 Nov, 2025

Book review: Witty, wry, yet poignant and thought-provoking
Book review: Witty, wry, yet poignant and thought-provoking
This is a self-deprecating, insightful and humorous collection of stories where it feels like journalist Carl Kinsella is trying to understand the world, and himself

Sat, 01 Nov, 2025

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Fulham v Reading - Craven Cottage
Book review: Cameras, microphones, and money used to isolate Al-Fayed’s victims
The Monster of Harrods: Al-Fayed and the secret, shameful history of a British institution

Fri, 31 Oct, 2025

Prince
Book review: Extensive portrait of a Prince of music invites questions
Prince bestrode popular culture during the late 20th century and his legacy extends far beyond his considerable mainstream commercial success.

Fri, 31 Oct, 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