books about: irish

books about: irish

books:

Irish

Tana French

Viking Adult, 2008

Even better than French's first book
Several months ago, I read French's first book, In the Woods, and I thought that it was absolutely gripping as a mystery, with interesting characters and flowing language. Well, The Likeness is even better. Picking up after the events in The Woods, The Likeness is ...

The Gathering (Man Booker Prize)

Anne Enright

Grove Press, Black Cat, 2007

Graceful & Imaginative
I'm not surprised that this book won the Booker Prize. Enright has a superior command of the language. She creates fluid yet surprising prose, moving between real and imagined events, past and present with astounding grace and skill. This book is a surreal meditation ...

Resolution

Robert B. Parker

Putnam Adult, 2008

Resolution is excellent addition to Parker Universe
One joy of Robert Parker's books is that they all inhabit the same universe. There are good guys (male, female, straight, gay), who are strong, loyal, resourceful, protective of the weak, and usually laconic. They are often violent but never gratuitously so. If they ...

The Secret Scripture

Sebastian Barry

Viking Adult, 2008

A Clear View
Roseanne Clear is an ancient woman living in an Irish asylum to which she was committed "for social reasons" after she bore an out-of-wedlock child. She has been a resident for so long that no one knows how old she really is or exactly what the circumstances of her ...

The New Annotated Dracula

Bram Stoker

W.W. Norton & Co., 2008

For the dead travel fast
"Dracula" was not the first vampire novel, nor was it Bram Stoker's first book. But after years of research, Stoker managed to craft the ultimate vampire novel, which has spawned countless movies, spinoffs, and books that follow the blueprint of the Transylvanian ...

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Alison Weir

Grove Press, 1991

Fill in the holes, if you have read other books about this period.
A must read if you have been enticed by the interesting tale of the period... Perhaps you have read some of the fluffier books with more romance and fictional license. This is book fills in many of the holes. This book is a nice enjoyable read with great details that ...

Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon

Melissa Anelli

Pocket, 2008

A Fantastic History
I am reading the most wonderfully, magnificent, incredible and enjoyable book I have read in ages. It is a breath of fresh air and I'm thrilled that I picked it up. I'm talking about Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli. I remember the first time I read Harry Potter ...

An Irish Country Christmas (Irish Country Books)

Patrick Taylor

Forge Books, 2008

So Many Wonderful Characters
Patrick Taylor will be the first to tell you that Ballybucklebo does not really exist. But at one time there was a village much like it and that's the one we get to visit in this great series. This is the 3rd book in the series but you don't need to have read the ...

The Irish Americans: A History

Jay P. Dolan

Bloomsbury Press, 2008

An American Epic
Despite my Welsh surname the roots of my family tree run mostly to Ireland and for that reason I obviously found this book to be a fascinating read. As I read through this book though it became clear to me that any student of American history would find this to be a ...

The King James Bible (with book and chapter navigation)

Diana Mecum DianaDoesIt.com, 2008

This is the best of the KJVs!
When I first used my Kindle, I inadvertently downloaded the wrong KJV. It had no table of contents and to get to the New Testament I had to turn every single page. I wasn't through the first chapter in Genesis when I realized the futility of my task. I began a more ...

Five Days in London: May 1940

John Lukacs

Yale University Press, 2001

It's caviar.
Several reviewers here don't appreciate scholarly writing. Lukacs (and his editor) didn't adulterate concise prose to produce a coffee table book. There are no fictions here; its conclusions are based on carefully and voluminously researched facts. Lukacs HAD to ...

Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library)

William Shakespeare

Washington Square Press, 2004

Can Love Conquer All?
Innocent love is the most pure... and the sight of those who are in that beautiful whirlwind of its hypnotic clutches is a sight to behold. Is it true? "Is youth wasted on the young." Sometimes, sometimes not. Romeo and Juliet is the most known western love ...

The Collectors

David Baldacci

Grand Central Publishing, 2007

Part two of the Camel Club
Besides THE COLLECTORS, I have read the following works of David Baldacci: THE WINNER, THE SIMPLE TRUTH, and THE CAMEL CLUB. I found most of these unmemorable. However because of the difficulty in following the storyline, I forced myself to read THE CAMEL CLUB ...

The Children of Henry VIII

Alison Weir

Ballantine Books, 1997

This is real history - not a whitewashed novel. I loved it!
Recently I've become interested in the Tudors. I've been following the series on television and have also read a few historical novels. This book, however, is different because it is not a novel. It is a biography. All I can say is WOW - truth really is stranger ...

The Pilgrim's Progress (Dover Thrift Editions)

John Bunyan

Dover Publications, 2003

Great book!
I have not been able to finish this book yet as I only have time to read it during down times (which are few), but what I have read is great. Not difficult to read at all. I find that I have a hard time putting it down. It really does cover some of the temptations ...