First Book Club Review Group
This month The A-List with Alan Murphy had the first Book Club Review. This month they reviewed Emma Hannigan's 'The Gift of Friends'. In studio he was joined by Des Kenny, from Kenny's Book Shop, Mary Booth, a listener and Shannon Fogerty. Click below to listen to the first book review.
A list of all readers choice for June is listed below. If you fancy reading any of the books Kenny's would love to help.
Reading list for June:
The Gift of Friends
by Emma Hannigan
The thirteenth and final novel from Emma Hannigan - a life-affirming, uplifting story that celebrates the strength and joys of female friendship.
Kingfisher Road - a leafy, peaceful street in the town of Vayhill. But there are whispers behind closed doors. Who is moving into Number 10? Engaged to handsome, wealthy Justin Johnston, Danielle appears to her new neighbours to have the perfect, glossy life. But not everything is as it seems...
In fact, each of the other four women who live close by has a secret, and each is nursing their own private heartache. But could a gift be waiting on their doorsteps? And, by opening their front doors, and their hearts, to each other, could the women of Kingfisher Road discover all the help they need? Order on Kennys.ie:
The Cow Book by John
Connell
Farming has been in John Connell's family for generations, but he never intended to follow in his father's footsteps. Until, one winter, he finds himself back on the farm and begins to learn the ways of the farmer and the way of the cows. Connell records the hypnotic rhythm of the farming day - cleaning the outhouses, milking the herd, tending to sickly lambs, helping the cows give birth. But alongside the routine events, there are the unforeseen moments when things go wrong: when a calf fails to thrive, when a sheep goes missing, when illness breaks out, when depression takes hold, when an argument erupts and things are said that cannot be unsaid. The Cow Book is the story of a calving season. It is also the story of the cow itself, from its domestication and worship as a God by the Ancient Egyptians to the modern practice of mechanized herds, via the figure of the cowboy, the destruction of the American buffalo, the demise of the aboriginal jackaroos and the consequences of BSE. And, above all, it is the story of Connell's life as a farmer, of his relationship with his birthplace of County Longford, with the community around the family farm, with the animals he tends, and with his father. Order on Kennys.ie:
Irish Working Lives by Marie Louise O’Donnell
Work accounts for so much of our waking lives, yet we rarely reflect upon or celebrate the contribution of those whose vocations and careers are the bedrock of a thriving society.
As a broadcaster, Marie Louise has had the privilege of spending ‘work time’ and ‘thought time’ with a broad array of individuals across Ireland, gaining a unique insight into the practicalities of their particular occupation and learning about what inspires or motivates them in their chosen field.
This book is the story of the encounters and it illuminates the ways in which these individuals perceive their chosen occupation, its day-to-day demands and the inextricable relationship between work life and spiritual life.
Whether spending a day on the road with a postman in Co Wicklow or meeting the Galway gardener who has used her own experience of personal tragedy to help others heal, Marie Louise’s assiduity and innate curiosity enlivens each and every encounter.
Alongside each testimony, award-winning photographer Eric Luke’s stunning images explore each contributor’s relationship with their trade. Order on Kennys.ie:
Constellations by
Sineád Gleeson
How do you tell the story of a life in a body, as it goes through sickness, health, motherhood? How do you tell that story when you are not just a woman but a woman in Ireland? In these powerful and daring essays Sinéad Gleeson does that very thing. All of life is within these pages, from birth to first love, pregnancy to motherhood, terrifying sickness, old age and loss to death itself. Throughout this wide-ranging collection she also turns her restless eye outwards delving into work, art and our very ways of seeing. In the tradition of some of our finest life writers, and yet still in her own spirited, generous voice, Sinéad takes us on a journey that is both uniquely personal and yet universal in its resonance. Here is the fierce joy and pain of being alive. Order on Kennys.ie:
Charlie Savage by
Roddy Doyle
Charlie Savage: a middle-aged Dubliner with an indefatigable wife, an exasperated daughter, a drinking buddy who's realized that he's been a woman all along. Compiled here for the first time is a whole year's worth of Roddy Doyle's hilarious series for the Irish Independent . Giving a unique voice to the everyday, he draws a portrait of a man - funny, loyal, somewhat bewildered - trying to keep pace with the modern world (if his knees don't give out first). To order email [email protected]
