a whole new world

Last night I read that Anne McCaffrey died.  It has been confirmed by several sources, including the Guardian so I can't stay in denial any more.  She was getting older, 85 at her last birthday, so I knew it was going to happen, I just didn't want it to happen now, or ever.

As I've related before, she was one of the first real SF authors I read.  Her books stayed with me throughout my teenage years and into my 20s (and I really need to dust them off and give them a re-read).  They were groundbreaking at the time, female heroes who did things rather than waiting for things to happen.  Menoly from Dragonsong, played music, like me, and kept me sane through the experience of being bullied in school, my own copy is in bits.

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There is something very comforting about  whodunnits.  Unlike real life, there are never any unsolved mysteries or loose ends; the murderer is properly unmasked, scooby-doo fashion, at the end; and the whole thing is a gentle exercise for the old brain cells as we get to play along, working out clues and chasing red herrings. They’re the televion equivalent of toast: warm, cosy, and easy to digest. A whole host of detective series is available on DVD in libraries now, including a pretty hefty set of Miss Marple that would make an admirable murder weapon in itself. Read more »

As we are experiencing a baby boom in Ireland at the moment, more and more of you are becoming parents for the first time. Why not look to your local library for some advice? We have a huge range of books that could help you. Whether you are thinking about starting a family, have just found out that you are expecting a baby or are trying to cope with a demanding toddler, we have something to suit all your needs. Read more »

       Ireland's 'glitterati' came out in force last night at the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards Ceremony in the Concert Hall of the RDS. In a night when Seamus Heaney received the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by fellow poet Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, it would be easier to say who wasn't there, than who was - even former US President Bill Clinton appeared in a pre-recorded tribute to 'one of the world's favourite poets'.

The Irish Book Award winners are voted on by the public and the various categories were hotly contested. All winning and shortlisted books are available to borrow from Dublin City Public Libraries. Winners on the night were; Read more »

I am on record as being not very caught up with the entire book awards industry.  However this week I couldn't but be caught up with Anna Carey's experience of the Irish Book Award.  The Real Rebecca is a book I've watched happen over twitter with a woman I don't think I've ever met but I care about. 

It's funny, I have no idea why I followed Anna (or Urchinette as she is known on Twitter), possibly because she's a fellow Irish Knitter, possibly because a friend recommended her, but I do.  I watched over the last year or so as she wrote the book, launched it in the Gutter Bookshop (and watched the Gutter Bookshop on Twitter talk about their preparations for the launch) and watched both of them worry about people not turning up (thankfully people did).  I waited with bated breath for it to turn up in the libraries and snapped up an early copy to read it and enjoyed the story of a girl trying to prove who she is in the face of a mother who wrote about a character not completely unlike her. Read more »

Congrats to Irish novelist Kevin Barry on being shortlisted for the 2011 Costa First Novel Award for his novel City of Bohane. Three other authors are shortlisted in this category of the annual Costa Book Award.

Judges: "Startlingly original – a tour de force of language and imagination."

"City of Bohane' is a visionary novel that blends influences from film and the graphic novel, from Trojan beats and calypso rhythms, from Celtic myth and legend, from fado and the sagas, and from all the great inheritance of Irish literature" (catalogue summary).

Kevin Barry was born in Limerick in 1969 and now divides his time between Sligo and Dublin. He won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2007 for his short story collection There are Little Kingdoms. 

Kevin was one of a number of authors involved in a series of talks and readings presented by Dublin City Public Libraries and Ireland Literature Exchange in the Central Library in May 2011.You can listen on our blog to Kevin reading from City of Bohane, and taking questions afterwards.