Nadine's picks for best Christmas book buys
Nadine O'Regan is a Today FM presenter and Arts editor at Sunday Business Post. She gave her picks, ranging from upper echelon dramas, to the latest edition in the Harry Potter franchise.
1. Holding by Graham Norton
Nadine said she was 'pleasantly surprised' by Graham Norton's debut album, which goes back to his roots and is set in Duneen, co. Cork.
2. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Nadine says she thoroughly enjoyed this update of the classic Pride and Prejudice novel by Jane Austen, with Sittenfeld relocating to Cincinnati in the modern day.
3.Bright and Precious Days by Jay McInerney
Nadine recommends this book to fans of commercial fiction with a touch of literary class. Full of affairs and debaucheries, Bright, Precious Days is a highly enjoyable read.
4.Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne
Fans of Harry Potter will want to read the book based on the hit West-End play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. For those afraid of being disappointed, the play is actually based on an original story by author J.K. Rowling.
5. Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent
Lying in Wait tells the story of an upper-class Dublin couple, two pillars of society, who murder a young woman in the early 1980s and bury her in their back garden.
6. The Trespasser by Tana French
Another Dublin-based novel, The Trespasser sees Detective Antoinette Conway with a new case to solve: who murdered the young and pretty Aislinn Murray.
7. This is the Ritual by Rob Doyle
Irish author Rob Doyle follows up Here are The Young Men with this collection of short stories.
8.The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
For those of you who will travelling abroad this Christmas, Ruth Ware's latest book is the perfect airport read. This quick-paced thriller follows Lo Blacklock, a guest on the luxury cruise ship, who grows fearful when she wakes to hear what sounds like a woman being thrown overboard.
9.The Muse, by Jessie Burton
Burton's book follows female-led twin stories set in two different eras: The 1960s in London and the 1930s in Spain. Odelle is a budding author who has newly moved to London from her native Trinidad; and Olive is a young artist in Spain who wishes to break out from the influence of her sexist father.
10. Solar Bones by Mike McCormack
Frankie's picks for best Christmas book buys
Frankie Gaffney is a Dublin-based writer whose debut novel, Dublin Seven has been described as "Love/Hate meets Ulysses". His picks range from insect-themed poems to a stocking -stuffer book perfect for the Grammar Nazi.
1. They All Fall Down by Cat Hogan
Frankie says he loves the story behind the writing of this book. Cat thought she was going to write something light, maybe a bit of romance, nothing too heavy. But the pen took her into dark place in this Wexford-set book about a woman trying to move on from her scarred past, and having to confront her demons when she meets a new man.
2. How to be Massive by Aoife Dooley
Frankie says he reads a lot less since he got a smartphone and started using social media. He says the book perfectly encapsulates the very short and catchy style of memes etc., that we all enjoy on FB and the like, but collated and put in book form it works perfectly.
How to be Massive is a how-to guide that follows Northside ‘hun’ character, Nikita.
3. The Blocks and Butterflies of a Bad Summer both by Karl Parkinson
Sticking with the working-class Dublin theme, The Blocks is a convention busting debut novel from Karl Parkinson, who grew up in O'Devaney Gardens.
It switches from hilarity to tragedy effortlessly, and establishes a new genre: social magic realism.
4. Hostages by Oisin Fagan
Frankie thought it was important to pick from a few different genres, as he says he tend to have a one track mind when it comes to books and focus just on the novel. This is a collection of five short stories from first time author Oisin Fagan.
It's hard to pigeonhole it, but maybe the best way to describe it is like Charlie Brooker's Netflix series Black Mirror, except set in Meath.
5. The Stinging Fly: Fear and Fantasy by various authors
This is an Irish literary journal that offers a collection of prose, short stories, poetry, translated fiction, etc. A literary sampler, and a perfect way to dip the toe into high quality literature without the onerous commitment of investing time in a new tome.
6. Making a Point: The Pernickety Story of English Punctuation by David Crystal
Crystal's book is the perfect book for the arrogant grammar Nazi in your life because it shows that what you think you know you don't know. There is no governing body of the English language as in France, there are no rules - only effective and ineffective usage.
Crystal dispels a host of myths about punctuation rules, and shows how usage remains irregular.
Special mention: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time even though it's been out years, it's the perfect present for anyone of any age and disposition and is pretty timeless.
