Bodily Fluids by Liam Hughes: Medical memoir aims to entertain but lacks nuance
Retired cardiologist’s dedication is evident but the tone of this book is at times problematic
Book Reviews
EL by Thaddeus Ó Buachalla: An early contender for most ambitious Irish novel of the year
Equal parts Flann O’Brien and Dan Brown, EL is a novel of impressively epic sweep
Communion by Jon Doyle: A genuinely idiosyncratic way of describing the everyday
Novel has a meandering quality and a subtlety in terms of what’s actually happening that proves a bit too subtle
The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley: More extraordinary writing about ordinary lives
So engaging it will be read in one sitting
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe: Mastery of timing makes this investigation a page-turner
New Yorker writer’s drive to get to the truth again brings impetus to ask ‘just one more thing’
Mr Hoo and Other Stories: No judgment in these barrister’s tales united by literary mastery
A number of the stories in John O’Donnell’s collection focus on people who run foul of the law, an area in which the author has expertise
Python’s Kiss by Louise Erdrich: Intriguing, vital and often funny
Maybe Minnesota helps make this writer great
In brief: Leo XIV: An Augustinian Life in Context; The Sky Is Not Enough; The Dice Was Loaded from the Start
Reviews of works by Brian Heffernan; June O’Sullivan; and David Annand
Nonesuch by Francis Spufford: Distinctly Narnian in timbre – pure story of the richest kind
Part of the game of Nonesuch is to restore the reality of the second World War to a Narnian story of magic
Among Communists by Sinéad Morrissey: memoir captures North in pressure cooker of weirdness
Memoir expresses an attitude of observation that rhymes quietly with poetry, a revelation of a writer and her experience
All Them Dogs by Djamel White: Magical writing which tenderises the most hardened characters
Novel is filled with a street lyricism that mines masculinity in a manner reminiscent of Jim Carroll or Robert McLiam Wilson
The Visit by Neil Tully: Lyrical debut novel asks what happens to those left behind
A once insular Wexford community casts its gaze outwards as it prepares to welcome JFK
The News from Dublin by Colm Tóibín: Stories by a writer with complete command of the craft
New short story collection ranges over territories familiar to Tóibín’s readers: Wexford, Catalonia, Argentina and the US
Fiction in translation: City Like Water; Women Without Men; X is Where I Am; You Are the Fuhrer’s Unrequited Love
A nightmarish cityscape that is identifiably Hong Kong; a classic of oppression in Iran; a celebration of queer lives; and a stark exploration of Albert Speer
James Joyce - A Political Life by Frank Callanan: Depth and detail over a wide historical canvas
Book’s raison d’être is to magnify the effect of Charles Stewart Parnell and his downfall on Joyce for the whole of his career
Book reviews in brief: A Better Death; Wilderness of Mirrors; The Throats of Birds
New releases cover assisted dying, race in South Africa and Ireland reimagined as a surrealist dystopia
What We Tried to Bury Grows Here by Julian Zabalbeascoa: traumatic Spanish Civil War impact captured
Everything is torn apart in this moving novel: families, lovers, decency and indeed the narrative itself
Our Martin and All the Dead Voices: two republican takes on three decades of violence
Jim McVeigh writes the apologia for Martin McGuinness’s life, while Sinn Féin figure Danny Morrison revises and updates his memoir
Muskism: essential to understanding where we are and how we got here
A convincing case that Muskism has been possible only because our culture celebrates gross inequality and derides empathy and the common good
Elemental by Arthur Snell: how climate change influences who holds world power
A tough read, but a valuable one. Snell presents us with some fascinating geopolitical nuances
We Need to Talk about Roy by Dave Hannigan: Game effort, but Roy Keane is no Katie Taylor
Interesting observations on the Corkman’s influence on Irish rugby and tabloids
As If by Isabel Waidner: the absurdity of living with your shadow self
Review: Comically intricate layers slowly reveal themselves in the fifth novel by Goldsmiths Prize-winner Isabel Waidner
The Shortest History of Ireland by James Hawes: Unorthodox, accessible, deeply impressive
The author’s narrative choices will not be to the taste of some readers but he has packed a pleasing amount of knowledge and understanding into his concise work
Red Dawn Over China: Frank Dikötter revisits Communist rule before 1949
A critique of Communist triumph and its human cost, from the civil war to early statehood
The First Ghetto: Venice and the Jews by Alexander Lee: Stunning account of a dark history
Tracing the creation of Europe’s first designated urban quarter and the bleak reality for those who lived there
The Library of Traumatic Memory by Neil Jordan: Immediately engaging kaleidoscopic read set in 2084
Novel speaks to our current moment of data-harvesting taken to extremes and the kind of dud seances which Big Tech proports to offer via its ghoulish ‘grief avatar business’
Crime fiction: From a disturbing revenge story to a Romanian detective in an absurd bind
The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent; Witch Trial by Harriet Tyce; Maneater by Ellie Graves; The City in Year Zero by Michael Russell; and Astronaut! by Oana Aristide
A Far-Flung Life by ML Stedman: An epic and intimate family saga
Author’s descriptive talent and prose anchor the story in place, a vast sheep station in remote Western Australia
Minor Black Figures: a searingly intelligent critique of contemporary culture
Acclaimed author Brandon Taylor’s new novel is less romance novel and more dissection of art in the age of identity politics
A Rebel and a Traitor by Rory Carroll: Thrilling account of a key figure in Irish history
Author expertly arranges a huge range of characters and locations in absorbing story about Roger Casement
Helenio Herrera: Football’s Original Master of the Dark Arts
A riveting ride both on and off the pitch, beautifully crafted and impressively researched
Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs by Antony Beevor: perhaps a mirror for our troubled times
A dual examination of the decline of imperial Russia and the backdrop against which Rasputin’s influence was enabled
Enough Said by Alan Bennett: eclecticism of fourth diaries collection ultimately charms
Diaries are notable as the internal record of a thinking, feeling person behind the icon
Four Night Seas by Niamh Mac Cabe: A quiet, subtle capturing of cultural identity without resort to cliche
These strange, yet strangely familiar short stories encapsulate the distinctive Irishness of the rural west
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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