Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

May 5, 2015

Sin by Josephine Hart

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction,Irish — The Techie @ 1:03 pm
sin
Title: Sin Author: Josephine Hart Genre: Fiction Release Date: 2010-08 Pages: 134

Proposed Meeting Date: 19th June 2015

It’s been a long time since I have picked a book for book club.  My fellow Femmes are so well read that the challenge usually lies in finding a book no-one had read before.  This time my first choice was no exception and had been read by two of the ladies.

Rejecting my first choice with a small sigh of relief

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January 10, 2012

Memoir by John McGahern

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Irish,Biography — The Historian @ 3:07 pm
memoir
Title: Memoir Author: John McGahern Genre: Biography, Irish Release Date: 2006 Pages: 272 Meeting: 14th December 2006

Sometimes bookclub books are chosen carefully; sometimes they occur by default. Memoir is one of the serendipitous accidents. A last minute trip to the bookshop before the last bookclub resulted me being unable to get seven copies of my book of choice. At the last minute, I saw a stack of Memoir and, as it’s been on my Must Read list since

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Fillums by Hugh Leonard

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Irish — The DJ @ 3:07 pm
fillums
Title: Fillums Author: Hugh Leonard Genre: General Fiction, Irish Publisher: Methuen Pub Limited Release Date: 2005 Pages: 240  Meeting: Wednesday 23rd June 2004

His newspaper columns and literary output hint that Hugh Leonard, real and imaginary, is an avuncular raconteur. His stories of people and places, of secrets and rites of passage happen in small Irish towns or anonymous Dublin suburbs. ‘Fillums’ begins, handily enough, with a trailer. In it, an aging playwright worried about his literary

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Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Irish — The Techie @ 3:07 pm
tatty
Title: Tatty Author: Christine Dwyer Hickey Genre: Fiction, Irish Publisher: Vintage Books Release Date: 2006 Pages: 205 Meeting: Friday 26th March 2004

When I read the press release for Tatty I was intrigued. I had heard of Dwyer-Hickey before but had never read anything by her, so the following lines written by Colum McCann really grabbed me:

‘A bare, lyrical story of a Dublin childhood that will rank among the very best of Irish books this year. It’s not easy to make writing seem this simple. Like all good stories, it never judges itself, and so it remains open, charming, dignified, even when the subject matter drifts towards the harrowing. A really fine book, evocative of a not-so-distant past.’

Of course the fact that she’s Irish and female was just an added bonus.

This is a very hard review to write as it is difficult to put in words exactly

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The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Classics,Irish — The DJ @ 3:07 pm
theseathesea
Title: The Sea, the Sea Author: Iris Murdoch Genre: Classics, Irish Publisher: Penguin Release Date: 1978 Pages: 495 Meeting: September 2002

At the time of choosing ‘The Sea, The Sea’ it was the earliest written book chosen so far for the bookclub (though still in its infancy at 26 years). Written in the late 1970s, it was to be Murdoch’s most lauded – and some would say – most difficult book. I was also surprised that until now, no one had opted for an Irish-born

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The Story of Lucy Gault – William Trevor

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Irish,Literature — The Historian @ 3:07 pm
lucygault
Title: The Story of Lucy Gault Author: William Trevor Genre: Cork (Ireland) Release Date: 2010 Pages: 227

Summer, 1921. Eight-year-old Lucy Gault clings to the glens and woods above Lahardane - the home her family is being forced to abandon. She knows the Gaults, as Protestants, are no longer welcome in Ireland and that danger threatens. She is headstrong and decides that somehow she must force her parents into staying. But the path she chooses ends

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Never No More by Maura Laverty

Filed under: Book Reviews,Classics,Irish — The Historian @ 12:55 pm
nevernomore
Title: Never No More Author: Maura Laverty Genre: Classics Publisher: Virago Press Release Date: 1985-01-01 Pages: 308

When I was a little one, with a voracious appetite for books and cooking, one of the books that I devoured was my Nana’s well-used copy of Full and Plenty by Maura Laverty. The distinctive blue and yellow covers contained a treasury of old Irish recipes but the icing on the cake for me were the stories with which Laverty started each chapter

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Second Son by Christy Kenneally

Filed under: Book Reviews,Irish,Thriller — The Techie @ 12:55 pm
secondson
Title: Second Son Author: Christy Kenneally Genre: Fiction Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Release Date: 2005 Pages: 463

When New York priest Michael Flaherty he hears that his younger brother Gabriel is missing he returns to the island off the coast of Galway that he fled many years before. Plagued by guilt over the drowning of his oldest brother, Flaherty hopes to find his only other brother alive, but first he has to face all the demons he ran away from.

Many years

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Pinhead Duffy by Helena Close

Filed under: Book Reviews,General Fiction,Irish — The Techie @ 12:55 pm
pinhead
Title: Pinhead Duffy Author: Helena Close Genre: Fiction Publisher: Blackstaff Press Release Date: 2005 Pages: 250

Set in 1970s Limerick, Pinhead Duffy tells the story of four young men at a turning point in their lives. It is the last summer between primary and secondary school and the four boys – Sean, Dodge, Eyebrows and Pinhead – are looking forward to a good one.

At thirteen they are beginning to notice girls and Pinhead, the leader of their gang

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I’m Irish: Get Me Out of Here! by Donal Ruane

Filed under: Book Reviews,Irish,Biography — The Techie @ 12:55 pm
irish
Title: I'm Irish Get Me Out of Here Author: Donal Ruane Genre: Biography Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd Pages: 233

Donal Ruane has taken it upon himself to explain why the Irish are so fed up. Apparently we are suffering from a national hangover. For years we have had this party, called the Celtic Tiger, and now the party is over we all have a bit of a headache, according to Ruane.

The first part of this book is Ruane having a good old moan, giving out about binge

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