Gift Grub & Me by Mario Rosenstock: entertaining, very funny and extremely honest

Although brilliant at showing the consequences of Trump administration actions, the book is limited in explaining the reasons behind them

Plus Winterveil by Ava Reid; Firstborn by MJ Hastings; and don’t read E Lockhart’s The Pools on public transport, whatever you do

Teenage ache captured beautifully in author’s most assured work

Reviews by NJ McGarrigle, Céire Sadlier and John Walshe

A work with two crowning glories: the inventive narrative architecture and the luxurious prose

A new collection of 62 letters shows the enormous emotional range of Irish emigrants’ experiences in the US – and complicates narratives of national loss and American opportunity

A hearing from which defence counsel is largely absent and where the voters must be the ultimate judge

Also reviewed: Those Who Listen – New Irish Writing on the Bog

Debutant Djamel White, whose literary crime thriller was longlisted for the Booker Prize, is up for two awards

The novel ‘was always a form that not only thrived on inequalities but required them’, Philip Hensher says

This story of aspiration, romance, disappointment and reconciliation drags in the middle

An incisive and vital book, with a glaring omission

The title of this collection makes sense as many characters follow strange orbits

Paul Cullen’s book examines the planning mistakes, disputes and spiralling costs behind a hospital that was once expected to open in 2011

Catriona Clutterbuck on Throat Full of Feathers; Estuary; This Deep; The Matter

Most of the characters are puppet-like, reduced to stereotypes

Despite us being brought up to believe the West is a place of democracy and peace, for many it’s justifiably linked only to death, destruction and corruption

Supernatural a pervasive preoccupation, as is the relationship between sisters, and the circular nature of time

Rich writing on dealing with grief could have undertaken a slower, deeper exploration