Unique drawings by Quentin Blake, one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators, are available at a Christie’s online auction which runs until December 17.

In advance of his visit to Kinsale, author Donal Ryan tells Des O’Driscoll about some of his favourite music, books and TV shows through the decades.

People never buy me books as presents. (They never allow me to join their book clubs either, which is a story for another day. I hope it’s because they think I’ll insist on actually reading the book rather than the alternative, which is that everyone assumes I am minus craic.)

Several days ago, the long-awaited sequel to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was released.

Comedian Josh Pray says he won't commentate on the All-Ireland Football final this weekend after being targeted by online trolls.

I moved school lots. I went to seven primary schools, I think. My family moved from London to Ireland and back again and then to Germany, though I didn’t go to school there. I was used to being the new girl in school all the time, so I had a routine down.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The BFG are also among the books checked out most often.

I still remember the moment when I first figured out that the books I adored didn’t magically appear out of thin air; there was a real-life person behind those stories.

Authors4Oceans will be at the International Literature Festival as part of their efforts to use kids’ books to raise awareness about the destructive powers of plastic, writes Richard Fitzpatrick.

This is the full and unedited address by Father Martin Magill at the funeral of Lyra Catherine McKee in St Anne’s Cathedral Belfast this afternoon.

Éibhleann Ní Ghríofa runs Scéal Eile bookshop in Ennis, Co Clare with her husband Pat Hynes writes Marjorie Brennan.

Here's your morning bulletin.

Children’s author Deirdre Sullivan appears at the Towers and Tales festival in Lismore on Saturday. She also works as an SEN teacher, and currently lives in Dublin, writes Des O’Driscoll

Wes Anderson has enlisted such longterm chums as Bill Murray and Frances McDormand to provide the voices for

Irene Halpin Long meets a class of book lovers in Cork, and also chats to established authors about what they read as children.

Ireland has been named as one of the world’s ultimate storybook locations by the Lonely Planet.

Today is Roald Dahl Day!

To say we’re excited is an understatement.

Rory’s parents made sure that he became a reader.

The Arts Council is urging people to share the joy of reading with children this Christmas, writes Marjorie Brennan. Here, some of the well-known people backing the ‘Story for their Stocking’ campaign select the books that captured their imagination as youngsters

Funding for payments to authors and illustrators whose books were borrowed from public libraries in the Republic was cut by a third last year.

Charlie Brooker is has just released the third series of Black Mirror on Netflix. He tells Ed Power it is less sci-fi and more a chance for us to study where humanity may be headed.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today

The family of Coast Guard volunteer Caitriona Lucas who died in a search operation have remembered her as an inspirational hero.

Moobs, gender-fluid, and YOLO are among more than 1,000 words and terms that have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

Ahead of Roald Dahl Day, and on the anniversary of his birth, Suzanne Harrington celebrates the life of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory author and his fantastic literary journey dedicated to entertaining children. 

The owner of popular children's TV character Peppa Pig has rebuffed a takeover approach from British broadcasting giant ITV worth more than £1bn.

Star Trek Beyond 4/5

Mrs Brown’s Boys gets a one-off live special tonight at 9.20pm on RTE One.

BOOK WORMS: Steven Spielberg’s eagerly awaited adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The BFG opens in cinemas today.

A little girl is snatched by a towering creature who turns out to be quite friendly.

Steven Spielberg and Mark Rylance have become good friends through the making of The BFG, writes Helen Barlow

It's a pretty unlikely pairing, with the latest Star Trek movie going head to head with a new take on a classic novel by Roald Dahl but that's how this week is shaping up in cinemas.

Journalist Jody Moylan and artist Mateusz Nowakowski used a new approach to focus on the life of the Great Liberator, writes Don O’Mahony

A rare first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses sold yesterday in Dublin for almost €10,000.