What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

Mickey7, sci-fi that reminds me a bit of Ancillary Justice. Has a sense of humour while dealing with concept of cloning. Bong Joon-Ho set to direct the film version.

The Great Lighthouses of Ireland by David Hare

From the same guy that brought us the incredible 2 season documentary of the same on RTE, this book is a a spectacular continuation. Beautiful photographs and paintings accompany fascinating stories about the history of our Lighthouses and the men and women who worked for Irish Lights.

If you enjoyed the TV documentary then this book is a must read for you.

Lion Heart, Justin Cartwright, he is a favourite writer of mine.

Grace by Paul Lynch.

Was a bit unsure for the first few pages due to the writing style but didn't want to put it down once I got going.

On a feel good binge 🤣

I had started Fahrenheit 451 but something about it didn't grab me, I felt the same way about Something Wicked This Way Comes, after a while.

It was really the first few pages that just didn't grab me, but to be honest it was for other reasons I just didn't get around to continuing with it. I also felt the same about the first chapter of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Got through The Little Friend by Donna Tartt.

Thought I was going to love it, but found it to be a slog in the end.

Started reading A Girl's Story by Annie Ernaux. Pretty raw!

The History and Social Influence of the Potato.

I love spuds (why are they always humble?) and picked this up in some second hand book shop years ago. Only got round to reading it now. It was written in the 1940's and is terribly structured, but the idea that the introduction of the potato to Europe was actually one of the most impactful things in modern history is compelling.

Population exploded, mortality decreased, people could store a crop for use over the winter, it was fairly nutritionally complete and calorie dense, productivity improved; countries with imperialist notions could raise an army and send them overseas without scurvy killing most of them, would grow quickly almost everywhere they arrived. As we all know it was also susceptible to disease which caused enormous famines in Ireland (and lots of other countries I wasn't as aware about).

There probably exists a more definitive account of the impact of the potato on the world, but this was grand.

THE GRASS ARENA by John Healy

Been meaning to read this for a long time. Saw the excellent documentary on Netflix.

Number two is fantastic but not for the queasy. 🤣

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (about 5 years after everyone else). Excellent, thoroughly recommend.

The Keeper by Graham Norton. Very good story, well written, didn’t enjoy the timeline switching at first but loved it later. Real page turner.

His non fiction book Bad Blood is worth a read. It's a sort of travelogue where he walks the length of the Irish border in the build up to the Good Friday Agreement.

And if like me you think religion is daft The Sign of the Cross is a similar book where he travels around Europe going to various religious sites and festivals. He isn't vicious but also isn't on the fence about how stupid he thinks it all is.

Cool story bro.

Finished ‘Roadside Picnic’ by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky there. A decent, and different, take on the aftermath of an alien visitation.

Must watch the Tarkovsky film version again, haven’t seen it since I was in college.

Will crack into ‘If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller’ by Italo Calvino next.

The Coastal Atlas of Ireland edited by Robert Devoy, Val Cummins, Barry Brunt, Darius Bartlett and Sarah Kandrot.

A third Christmas in a row in which I have read one of the 5kg monsters produced by Cork University Press.

This is obviously a HUGE book but don't let that put you off reading it if you have any interest in Ireland's coastal and maritime history and future prospects. I really enjoyed this and it is not overloaded with a lot of scientific jargon, so it is easily accessible to non-science people.