No 537 Happiness by Mary Lavin #readingirelandmonth19
Mary Lavin is probably one of the best short story writers you have never heard of. A former staffer at The New Yorker in its heyday, Joyce Carol Oates has called her one of the ‘finest short story writers of the twentieth century’. Her stories are, in the main, concerned with the domestic sphere and…
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An Arrow in Flight: Introducing Short Story Week and a giveaway!
June Round Up! – #20booksof summer
The curse of 20 Books of Summer has struck again! For yet another year, my reading is going really well, but the reviewing is falling by the wayside. I swore I wouldn’t do mini-reviews, but I have to face facts. We’re one month in and by my calculations, I should have 6.66 books reviewed. I…
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…
Frank O’Connor and The Lonely Voice
20 Books of Summer 2015!
It’s hard to believe a year has passed, but there are hints of a change in the weather here in Ireland and I’ve decided to challenge myself again this year to read my 20 Books of Summer! Last year I managed a mere 16 ½ books, so hopefully I can beat that record this time…
No 700 The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates
The full title of this collection is The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares: Novellas and Stories of Unspeakable Dread. Joyce Carol Oates might not seem like the first port of call if you are in the mood for some unspeakable dread, but novels such as Zombie, My Sister, My Love and We Were the Mulvaneys all…
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