If you’re looking to buy a book for an avid reader and are stuck for inspiration, check out this list of recommendations from Declan Burke (Crime fiction author: Eightball Boogie, The Big O, Absolute Zero Cool, Slaughter's Hound) and Donal Fallon (Historian and author of ‘Come Here to Me: Dublin’s other History’).
Declan’s Picks:
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4,000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft, and become a YouTube sensation with his performance of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ in space. The secret to Chris Hadfield's success – and survival – is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst – and enjoy every moment of it. You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Colonel Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights in this book will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth – especially your own.
Nicholson: A Biography by Marc Eliot
For five decades, Jack Nicholson has been part of film history. With twelve Oscar nominations to his credit and legendary roles in films like Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Terms of Endearment, The Shining, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nicholson creates original, memorable characters like no other actor of his generation. And his personal life has been no less of an adventure—Nicholson has always been at the center of the Hollywood elite and has courted some of the most famous and beautiful women in the world. Equally at home on the bookshelves of serious film historians and fans of compulsively readable Hollywood biographies, Nicholson is both a comprehensive tribute to a film legend and an entertaining look at a truly remarkable life.
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova
MASTERMIND opens with a short chapter detailing psychologist Maria Konnikova’s life-long love affair with the Sherlock Holmes stories, which were read to her and her siblings – in Russian – by her father. The book then sets out to describe how the vast majority of people are ‘Watsons’, in terms of the way we think. Konnikova describes how our minds work on a two-system basis. The first system is a reflexive, instinctive type of thought – in other words, our mind’s default setting. The second system is a slower, more deliberate kind of thought, which depends on logic rather than instinct, emotion, etc. The first system, as you might expect, is the ‘Watson system’, while the second is the ‘Holmes system’. Once Konnikova has established these systems, she then proceeds to explain how most people can train themselves to think like Sherlock Holmes – or at least to develop a way of thinking that is more logical than our default mind system.
The Particle at the End of the Universe: The Hunt for Higgs and the Discovery of a New World by Sean Carroll
It was the universe's most elusive particle, the linchpin for everything scientists dreamed up to explain how physics works. It had to be found. But projects as big as CERN's Large Hadron Collider don't happen without incredible risks - and occasional skullduggery. In the definitive account of this landmark event, Caltech physicist and acclaimed science writer Sean Carroll reveals the insights, rivalry, and wonder that fuelled the Higgs discovery, and takes us on a riveting and irresistible ride to the very edge of physics today.
Winner of the 2013 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books. Named a Best Science Book of the Year by The Guardian, Financial Times, and New Scientist.
The Story of the Jews by Simon Schama
It is a story like no other: an epic of endurance against destruction, of creativity in oppression, joy amidst grief, the affirmation of life against the steepest of odds. It spans the millennia and the continents - from India to Andalusia and from the bazaars of Cairo to the streets of Oxford. It takes you to unimagined places: to a Jewish kingdom in the mountains of southern Arabia; a Syrian synagogue glowing with radiant wall paintings; the palm groves of the Jewish dead in the Roman catacombs. And its voices ring loud and clear, from the severities and ecstasies of the Bible writers to the love poems of wine bibbers in a garden in Muslim Spain. Within these pages, the Talmud burns in the streets of Paris, massed gibbets hang over the streets of medieval London, a Majorcan illuminator redraws the world; candles are lit, chants are sung, mules are packed, ships loaded with spice and gems founder at sea. And a great story unfolds. Not - as often imagined - of a culture apart, but of a Jewish world immersed in and imprinted by the peoples among whom they have dwelled, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, from the Arabs to the Christians. Which makes the story of the Jews everyone's story, too.
Donal’s Picks:
Liz Gillis: Revolution in Dublin
A photographic history of the Irish revolution, from the Lockout in Dublin through to the darkest days of the civil war. Includes a heap of never before printed photographs. I'd like to talk a little about a few of my favourites. Liz is a guide in Kilmainham Gaol and got a lot of stuff from there that hasn't been printed before. Lovely coffee table present.
Frank Hopkins: Ireland 366
“In this entertaining and engaging book, Frank Hopkins delivers an episode from Ireland's history for every single day of the year, including 29 February. Some are surprising, some sensational and others sad, but they are always fascinating. “ The Irish woman who shot Mussolini, Jack Lanagan (March 17); a bare-knuckle fighter from Ballybough who died on St Patrick’s Day 1846. Starting his career at the tender age of 13 when he fought and won a bout on the banks of the Royal Canal, Lanagan went on to fight Tom Spring ‘Champion of England and the Civilised World’ in a fight that lasted an incredible 77 rounds. He was defeated after failing to emerge for the 78th. “
Terry Fagan: Dublin Tenement Memories
Lavishly illustrated new history of life in Dublin's tenements, with particular focus on the 1930s,40s,50s. Incredible stories of poverty and community, mainly based on actual interviews with people who had lived through it all. The latest bit of work from the North Inner City Folklore Project. Very fitting to talk about this book, with it being the centenary of the Lockout.
Vintage Values: Classic Pamphlet Cover Design from 20th Century Ireland
Classic 'Catholic Truth Society' pamphlets, in many cases hilarious titles and impressive designs. Titles include Shall I Be A Nun, Sister Felicitas Wins a Bicycle and What To Do On A Date. A beautiful book for anyone interested in design, social history or those blessed with a sense of humour. Many of the covers have also been printed as beautiful posters which will look nice framed. The book is actually published by Veritas, a Catholic publisher, so that's how much the times are a-changing.
The Ministry of Guidance Invites You To Not Stay by Hooman Majd
Very interesting and funny account of an Iranian-American moving to Iran with his family for a year. He's a New Yorker journalist and men’s’ clothing designer. He, his wife and kids abandoned NY for Iran, and this book deals with his experiences there. I'm currently reading it but can briefly talk about it, its very enjoyable and getting quite a lot of reviews at the minute.
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