Well-known Irish readers pay tribute to the books that changed their lives

In a new book, librarian Annie Spence writes letters to the books that moved her. Here, Irish celebrities write love notes to the tomes that changed their lives, as told to Ciara McDonnell

For lovers of the written word, books often feel like friends. Jostling against each other on a bookshelf, well-thumbed and with broken spines, these are the books that shaped our thought processes or enabled us to escape our lives for a blissful few hours. What would you say to the books that forever changed your view of the world, if you had the opportunity?