

No 594 The Miracle Shed by Philip MacCann
‘Whatever happened to Philip MacCann?’ is a phrase that crops up if you do even a cursory internet search of this elusive author. I’m not even sure if I am right to include MacCann in Reading Ireland Month as he is possibly not Irish. Some sites say he was born in Belfast, more that he…

No 628 The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
What a fantastic collection of stories to kick off my 20 Books of Summer Challenge! Often considered one of the most terrifying stories of the twentieth century, Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery created a sensation when it was first published in 1948. The New Yorker received a record number of complaints about the story ranging from…

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Frank O’Connor and The Lonely Voice
A Kind of Compass: Stories on Distance edited by Belinda McKeon
Tramp Press a new independent publishing house based in Dublin was founded by Sarah Davis-Goff and Lisa Coen to encourage, support and maintain Ireland’s literary talent. Their aim to publish books for readers and to bring great writing in from the cold seems to be paying off as Sara Baume’s Spill Simmer Falter Wither was…

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