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A BOOK IS a portal to another place – a way to escape. You can jump into the past, explore the future, or take a sidestep into someone else’s life in just a few pages.
So what with 2020 being, well, the year that it was, it’s no surprise that many of us turned to books to get a bit of a break.
So we want to know: what books brought you comfort this year, and why? Let’s kick things off with what brought some of our writers a bit of respite. Plus, here’s what some of Ireland’s best authors turned to for comfort reading this year.
Conal:
“I re-read all of the Montalbano detective series, read Dario Fo’s plays and, most recently, Hannah Arendt’s report of Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem which absolutely did not bring me comfort but was very good. Camilleri’s lovable detective Salvo Montalbano is a tonic. The novels transport the reader to the mean streets of Sicily where the sun beats down every day. A far cry from cold Ireland in lockdown.”
Ian:
“I loved The Kingdom by Emmanuel Carrere. It’s a French bestseller that uses the story of the early church as a parable for Carrere’s own life.”
Daragh:
“The John Delaney book (Champagne Football) – because it was such a good read got through it in a couple of days.”
Aoife:
“I don’t often read books aimed at teens, but I realised what I was missing when I read The Boldness of Betty by Anna Carey. It’s set at the time of the 1913 lockout, as seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old girl living in Dublin’s North Strand. It has fully-fleshed characters, a great feminist spirit, and taught me about Dublin’s history in a really natural way. It tackled big topics, like class, unions, strikes, and the lockout itself, in an open-hearted but factual way. Seeing the world through Betty’s eyes brought me some calm and joy. It was a great bit of feelgood escapism from an excellent writer. Sara Baume’s book Handiwork also helped me tap into my creative brain when things felt a bit dead.”
Adrian V:
“The Priory Of The Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon – as a big fantasy lover, I was impressed by the richness and the complexity of the world, especially its geopolitical history. It’s almost 900 pages, but everything is fluid and I couldn’t feel the time passing. There’s a narrative switch between the four points of view at the perfect moment to keep us in suspense. Also, The Bear And The Nightingale by Katherine Arden. If you like old Russian stories, you will love this one. It is a book which perfectly mixes feminism, fantasy, fairy tale creatures. It’s difficult to synopsise, but it was like reading an old book before the light of a fireplace. It is atmospheric more than narrative, even if characters’ relationships are complex and the stakes of the story make us anxious about the protagonist’s destiny. This first book of the Winternight trilogy was my favorite book of the year, without a doubt.”
Gordon
“It’s got to be a sports book for me, The Dynasty by Jeff Benedict that came out this year. It’s all about the New England Patriots but goes a lot deeper then just reliving season by season. Tells the full story of how the Patriots became greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century. It’s an inspiring story from a business perspective too to hear how Robert Kraft bought the team he supported and brought his kids to. But also how they handled adversity (deflategate and the Aaron Hernandez murder trial, etc) while never being happy after one successful year, and it always being about the team as opposed to the individual which is rare in the NFL . I’m not a Patriots fan, but could not put this one down. The detail and insights are what sports fans what to hear about, in my opinion. Why it brought me comfort? Sports is my escape, and having no sport for the first part of this pandemic really made me appreciate it even more when it came back, especially with the NFL this season.”
Paula:
“I loved Keelin Shanley’s autobiography, A Light That Never Goes Out. Despite the obvious element of tragedy, she takes such a pragmatic approach to life and death in the book that reading it did bring me some comfort! Plus there were some great behind the scenes bits from the Six One and Prime Time, like herself and Catríona Perry sneaking off to watch a performer on one of the other RTÉ sets minutes before going on air, but leaving their mics on and being caught rotten by the producers.”
What about you? Let us know in the comments.
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Shuggie Bain great read harrowing but unputdownable . Went on to win the Booker Prize and its the authors debut novel. Hopefully book shops wont close in this stage of lockdown for a llt of our sanity
@Margaret Mcgarry: super choice!
@Margaret Mcgarry: big fan of book shops Mags but needs must now. Order online if necessary
@Margaret Mcgarry: A wonderful book
I was on a fantasy buzz this year which started with the book “the dwarves”i thought it would be rubbish but I ended up reading the entire series plus any related books by the author which I think added up to 9 books.and then followed that up with one of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read”the name of the wind”.its the first of a yet to be concluded trilogy. The second book is just as good although I cant remember the name of it right now and the third book has not been released yet.
@Aidan Ryan: The Wise Man’s Fear is the second one. Both amazing books. We’ll be waiting until we’re old men for the third one it seems.
@Bold Underline: I have been waiting literally YEARS for the third one to come out – a brilliant series!
Came across irish writer Jane Casey who is based in london. She has a series of meave Kerrigan detective that are so captivating. Fiction but reads factual. Each one with a few surprising twists.
@Matt: I had a look at her books and picked the first ‘the running’ but was put off by the seeming darkness of the story line. Are they very heavy? I cant do depressing books lately. But I do love a well written detective story. And a female lead would interest me
I bought several Tom Clancy books and worked through them. I bought a few biographies which I always enjoy. Also read some of the books my children had collected over the years such as Alex Rider and The Hunger Games.
I was given 6 books for Christmas from various family members which will help me get through Lockdown 3.0
John Creedon’s new book on place names of Ireland (half way through at the moment) and Manchán Magan’s book on the richness of the Irish language… two books I recommend without a doubt
Doireann ni Griofas ‘a ghost in the throat’
Wonderful
And any of the Benjamin black novels.
The phone book
@Alan Cosgrove: That’s grand so, now try explaining the storyline to someone.
@RJ.Fallon: spoiler: Mr. Zebedee did it.
@Alan Cosgrove: online?
@The Other John Madden: yeah but Aaron Aableson started it.
Bill Brysons Book ‘One Summer’ has to be the Book of the Year, in the absence of an uncle telling you a few fireside tales of an eventful 1927 it was a perfect companion for this empty Christmas,Enjoy folks
Some of my favourite books (not just of 2020): Memoirs of a Geisha, The Historian, The Kite Runner, Rachel’s Holiday, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, all the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly, A Discovery of Witches, The Butterfly Garden, Rachel Abbott’s Tom Douglas books, and The Thief of Time by John Boyne. Many more but they’re off the top of my head – hopefully someone will get a good read out of it. Happy New Year all :)
The Three-Body Problem trilogy was an interesting read, my first encouter with any chinese SciFi which seems to have lost little if anything in translation, its an interesting take on the deafening silence of the Universe with a lot of believable science for a layman, its very unusual, and despite very little deep character development and almost an autistic feel to it at times, I found it fascinating, right from its disturbing opening scenes set in Mao’s China, to the brilliant second book (The Dark Forest), right thru all its speculative ages set in our real past and distant future.
@Marco Rolo: excellent. chinese sci-fi is becoming popular.
@Marco Rolo: loved those books. Be interesting to see the Netflix adaptation of them – though I can’t imagine how they’ll film the end of the third one!
The first two books of the Phillip Pullman Trilogy – the Book of Dust. Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy, Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickelby. I’m now dipping a toe into Dolores Cannon’s book, The Keepers of the Garden which I will have to read at least twice to try and get my head round what it says about our origin and that of our planet.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. An astonishingly beautifully written book. Tells the touching story of Shakespeare’s son and reimagines Anne Hathaway as the gifted herbalist and devoted mother, Agnes. Cannot recommend highly enough.
Barack Obama – A Promised Land, particularly in audiobook format with him reading it. Great book, incredible story about the type of leader the USA needed and needs to have, now that we’ve seen the madness….
Books picked up for a couple of euro in charity shops were interesting reads for me during 2020. A tribute to Maureen Potter, edited 2004 by Deirdre Purcell, was what I call comfort reading. My Education, edited by John Quinn (1997) was based on interviews with a range of Irish people – so many of whom went to everyday schools. I read two of the late John le Carre’s espionage novels, most recently Absolute Friends (2004). Le Carre doesn’t glamourise spies and their accomplices and is reasonably skeptical about the shifting morality displayed by friendly and unfriendly states in international affairs. Happy reading in 2021.
I’ve started ” Serpents and Saviours ” by S.V.Wolfe , looks very promising fantasy so far.( a new Irish based writer with amazing storytelling skills)
Game of thrones book series. Set in a world of political intrigue devious leaders and ficticious creatures. A real guide to the world of today.
Helen Moorhouse’s latest book, The Gallery of Stolen Souls, was brilliant. It’s not in any of the bookshops though but is available through Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gallery-Stolen-Souls-Helen-Moorhouse/dp/1781993815
American dirt by Jeanine Cummins, started learning Spanish on the back of it, outstanding writing. Also loved where the crawdads sing (Delia Owens) , the whereabouts of eneas mcnulty (Sebastian Barry), the water dancer (Ta-nehisi Coates), the madd Adam trilogy by Margaret Atwood, anything by Liz Nugget. I listen to books rather than read, but these books had me gripped for different reasons, all tugging at different parts of my soul
Barack Obama – A Promised Land, particularly in audiobook format with him reading it. Great book, incredible story about the type of leader the USA needed and needs to have, now that we’ve seen the madness….
Apart from The Borstal Boy I’ve been binging on box sets on Amazon Prime (Ragnar) and Netflix (Uhtred)
Richie Sadlier’s ‘Recovering’ made light of the realities of life as a professional footballer and how small some of my own problems might be in comparison to his own.
Donal O’Cusack’s ‘Come what may’ is another essential read for any Irish sports fan with a real behind the scenes look at life in hurling.
I discovered Donald Ray Pollock. Nothing comforting about his stories. They’re dark, violent and very grim at times but also sometimes hilarious. But always brilliantly written.
To many to mention, but The Wisdom of The Green Gage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar was amazing as was Shuggie Bain. A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson is my poetry book of the year.
Read all of the Yuval Noah Harari books in lockdown, great read.
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall is excellent also.
Yaa Gyasi is a wonderful writer. Her first book, Homegoing is a great read and her new book,Transcendent Kingdom, looks good, too
have your say