review by Manus Lenihan There are many treasures to be found on the Borrowbox app, and Small Gods is one of them. Small Gods is one of the high points in the long span of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. In this novel (which, like most of the series, can be read as a standalone) Pratchett […]
Manus from Kilbeggan Library reviews Haven by Emma Donoghue in this staff review. Check the library for a copy by clicking here Around the year 600, three monks set out on a quest to find an island off the west coast of Ireland where humans have never set foot, there to build an outpost of […]
No Second Chances by Rio Youers, published Harper, 2022. Reviewed by Manus in Kilbeggan Library. At the center of No Second Chances is a villain you love to hate. The bearded, tattooed Johan Fly performs a hipster-Viking persona on social media, where he has a horde of adoring fans. But in his less public life […]
Julian is running a failing bookshop in a small seaside town. One day, in walks a strange elderly man named Edward who has an exciting idea to improve the fortunes of the shop. As the story goes on, Edward’s connections to the shadowy world of British intelligence slowly come into focus. Is he really the […]
Kathleen from Athlone Library reviews The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This is a memoir of a successful journalist's journey from the deserted mining towns of the American Southwest. Jeanette’s father was an intelligent man, but was an alcoholic unable to support his family. Her mother was an Artist, in her own world, and was […]
Ray from Kilbeggan Library reviews Dark Blue by Shane Carthy. Shane Carthy's journey over the last five years has seen it all. From the highs of Leinster glory in the Under 21 football final versus Meath in 2014 to the lows of waking up in St. Patrick's Mental Health Hospital a few days afterwards, a […]
In the year 2000, Irish Times journalist and poet Rosita Boland set herself the task of reading the 13th edition of the Chambers Dictionary from cover to cover, collecting words which delighted her in a notebook. She uses some of these unusual and evocative words as chapter headings in this beautifully written book which documents […]
Lorraine from Athlone Library talks about 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith: This hugely entertaining book centers around 44 Scotland Street, a fictitious building in a real street in Edinburgh occupied by a wide range of interesting characters. The characters are so well drawn they become like old friends as the series progresses: among […]
Aine reviews two titles: Homes and Experiences by Liam Williams and The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton
The Scandal by Fredik Backman review by Anne Byrne The Scandal is set in a small Swedish town called Beartown, and the community of Beartown live for hockey. They hope to win the league so that people with invest in their town. The author helps us understand the characters, and their hopes dreams, fears and […]