Understanding Homelessness in Ireland Since Independence: A gruelling but valuable history
Eoin O’Sullivan, Mike Allen and Sarah Sheridan’s study is essential reading for anyone with a role to play in breaking vicious cycle of persistent problem
Book Reviews
Rituals by Danielle McLaughlin: Working magic with the tiniest details
There are many poignant moments, but the main character’s inner monologue is often scathingly funny
Nuclear Weapons - An International History by David Holloway: Serious treatment of the fundamentally absurd
A salutary warning of the dangers of carelessness and miscalculation in the conduct of international affairs
My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy: observations, reflections and a missing cat
Hybrid work aims to create an enigmatic portrait of the French author
Crime fiction: Anne Cadwallader blends politics, violence, law and media in gripping debut
Plus new works by Rosemary Hennigan; Catriona Ward; Claire Coughlan; and James Wolff
Home Economics by Caitríona Lally made me reconsider my views on cleaning, work and what we value
Trinity College Dublin cleaner’s beautifully written memoir is no rags-to-riches story but a book about motherhood, choice and the constant renegotiation of a woman’s life
A Hosting: Interviews with Irish Writers 1991-2026 – A good listener’s illuminating, engaging conversations
The 60 authors in this ‘career retrospective’ include Claire Keegan, Anne Enright, Maeve Binchy and Sebastian Barry
Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone by Louise O’Neill: A gleefully tawdry Tinseltown novel
Louise O’Neill’s past novels have demonstrated a capacity to disturb; here she has opted to write something more superficially entertaining
Sweep the Cobwebs off the Sky by Mary O’Donnell: Another vital work from a quiet radical
A novel of doubleness, memory, and the uneasy inheritance of love
Boyhood by David Keenan: One of those special books that enter the world still unfolding
Scottish writer’s novel is propelled by an anarchic energy whose literary style approaches the quality of a troubled dream
Bread Alone: Working-class writers on voice, visibility and the limits of opportunity
New anthology brings together 33 voices exploring access, ambition and the cost of getting on in publishing
The Wisdom of Farmers by John Connell: What on earth we can do to live better lives
Practical advice on how we can reconnect with nature and our community, and tackle hunger and poverty without destroying the planet
The Irish Proust: A fascinating search for a creature that may not be mythical after all
Clues to its existence abound, from the works of Bowen to Behan
Into the Wreck by Susannah Dickey: Unexpected page-turner centred around a family funeral
Set in Northern Ireland, Dickey manages to skilfully include the brutalising legacy of the Troubles while simultaneously keeping it in the background of this novel
Few and Far Between by Jan Carson: compelling fiction is a bravura act of imagination
Carson’s forays into the strange borderlands of Lough Neagh’s waters give the novel a weird brilliance, like Kevin Barry without the swearing
Look What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester: a revenge story of Millennials versus Boomers
Function of this genre is to sublimate what Nietzsche called ressentiment, the rage that arises from a feeling of powerlessness
On Strategists and Strategy: Collected Essays 2014-2024 by Lawrence Freedman: absence of ethical leadership akin to a ‘drunk clinging to a lamppost’
A timely contemplation, in a series of academic essays, of the strategies of war, international relations and nuclear deterrence
Music books: From the ugly side of the business to becoming a household name, and a dialogue of trust
Love Magic Power Danger Bliss: Yoko Ono and the Avant-Garde Diaspora; A Hard Day’s Night; The Evolution of American Film Music, 1960s-1990s
Buzzy, starry-eyed YA titles argue for the importance of the arts
YA fiction reads for April from Caryl Lewis, Méabh Collins, Derek Landy, Susie Nadler and a debut from Stephen Daly
Author Emma Donoghue: ‘I grew up very normal, yet had this secret side that I thought everyone would consider foul’
The writer on literary reputation, emigration and ‘the crushing weight of being the only gay in the village’
An Arrow in Flight by Mary Lavin: Excellent exploration of a different yet similar Ireland
Country she depicts is not romanticised but simply lived in: a world of small houses, strained marriages and worried parents
Banshee: Mythological Irish Women Retold edited by Ailbhe Malone – Breathtakingly varied tales rekindle storytelling tradition
Authorial relish and exuberance are apparent on every page of this short story collection, with contributions from Naoise Dolan, Sarah Maria Griffin and more
Nine Days in May by Jonathan Schneer and Radicals: The Working Classes and the Making of Modern Britain by Geoff Andrews
Despite their defeat in two historic strikes, the British miners’ struggle raised huge questions for society
The Keeper by Tana French: A crime writer at the top of her game
The third novel in French’s Cal Hooper series is an immersive read that demands to be savoured
Contentious Spaces by Rosaleen McDonagh: Prose that’s measured, assured and fully human
An accomplished playwright, performer and essayist, McDonagh brings to her debut novel the authority of lived experience
Defiance by Loubna Mrie: A gripping, devastating account of a Syrian woman’s revolution
Mrie is remarkably brave in her documentation of Syria, its people and what she did after she realised she was unable to keep living in the way that was expected of her
Seán Lemass, The Lost Memoir: Leadership, Ireland’s economic transformation and Fianna Fáil
Ronan McGreevy’s new book edits 22 hours of private recordings to reveal the inner workings of the former taoiseach’s mind
Everything That Is Beautiful by Louise Nealon: a breathless romance and a torrid hurling tale
Novel taps into a passion that has set generations alight - a sport that binds communities and creates heroes
New poetry: John McCullough; Paddy Bushe; Raquel F Menéndez; Wendy Cope
Reviews of Crowd Voltage; Uncertain Passage; The Posthumous Book of Shahrazad; and the Collected Poems of Wendy Cope
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
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’
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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