• Bookmark: R.B Kelly

    June 16, 2016 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark, we spend some time with upcoming sci-fi writer R.B Kelly as she selects the books that made a huge impression on her writing. Her debut novel Edge of Heaven is available through Liberties press this month. Photos by Dee McEvoy. This Other Eden – Ben Elton This was the first adult science fiction book I ever read, and it’s what got me writing science fiction in the first place. Elton was writing about the near future as he saw it in the early nineties, and I love the way he creates a frighteningly plausible scenario…

  • Bookmark: Liam Geraghty

    March 22, 2016 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark, we spend a morning hanging out with RTE radio reporter and CBBC’s Brain Freeze puppeteer Liam Geraghty around some of his favourite spots in Dublin, while he shares with us the books which have influenced his life. Photos by Pedro Giaquinto. Jim Henson The Biography – Brian Jay Jones I’ve been an obsessive fan of the Muppets since I was small. My parents would often wonder how I’d recognise stars of a bygone era like Roy Rogers (who guest starred on The Muppet Show) so it quickly became a joke in our family that I…

  • Bookmark: Frankie Gaffney

    March 2, 2016 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark, we chat to Dublin author Frankie Gaffney about the books that have made the biggest impression on his life thus far. Photos by Pedro Giaquinto. I’ve split my list into fiction and non-fiction. Non-fiction tends to get neglected, but it influences my writing every bit as much as fiction. Non-Fiction A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson This book gently and briefly explains what’s currently known about the universe: the very basics of the cosmos, our planet, and the life that inhabits it. For some reason they don’t really teach you the broad…

  • Bookmark: Caitriona Lally

    November 4, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark, we head over to the cosy home of Irish writer Caitriona Lally, author of Eggshells which was chosen by The Irish Times Book Club as their book of the month for October. She has just been shortlisted by the Irish Book Awards 2015 for the Newcomer of the Year award. Photos by Melanie Mullan. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller For his fearlessness and honesty and rawness and laugh-out-loud sentences. The kind of book that changes the way you think about fiction, that makes you think a more powerful, more real kind of writing is possible. Oranges Are…

  • Bookmark: Will O’Connor

    September 24, 2015 - By 

    Will O’Connor is a producer and recording engineer based in Galway. His band Grounds For Invasion released their debut album Dying Stars in February. He mostly reads fiction. Photos by Sean McCormack. Cormac McCarthy – The Border Trilogy It’s hard to sum up what McCarthy did with these novels. Yes, they’re violent and tragic, but they’re also fiercely beautiful. Have a Spanish-English dictionary handy. * Although this might be me being an arse again. Raymond Chandler – The Big Sleep Thrilling, funny and entertaining. Guy drives around a lot, gets punched a lot, drinks a lot, meets lots of inexplicably…

  • Bookmark: Bennie & Davey (little xs for eyes)

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark, we hang out with Bennie Reilly and Davey Moor from little xs for eyes to discuss some of their collective and personal favourite books.  Photos by Abigail Denniston. Gary Shteyngart – Super Sad True Love Story Davey: Our protagonist, Lenny Abramov, loves books.  He loves all kinda other antiquated old stuff too.  In our western reality he might be what we understand as a hipster, but in the (very) near future of this 2010 novel, he is a fish thoroughly out of water.  The young woman he loves, Eunice Park – a recent graduate with…

  • Bookmark: Nadine O’Regan

    March 31, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark we spend some time with Nadine O’Regan, who is the Books and Arts Editor with The Sunday Business Post and presents Songs in the Key of Life on Dublin station TXFM (www.txfm.ie and 105.2FM) on Saturdays from 11am. Photos by Mark Earley. Jeffrey Eugenides- Middlesex  American author Jeffrey Eugenides writes novels incredibly slowly – he has published just three in his 55 years and for Middlesex, his 2002 novel which won the Pulitzer Prize, his American editor had to fly to Berlin, where Eugenides was living at the time, to wrest the manuscript from his grasp. Luckily…

  • Bookmark: Joe Lindsay

    March 25, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark we chat to Belfast broadcaster and DJ Joe Lindsay about some of his all-time favourite books. Photos by May Chan. Lou Reed – Victor Bockris I am a huge fan of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. I couldn’t believe when I started in radio that my first interviewee was to be Victor Bockris. I loved his book Uptight: The Story Of the Velvet Underground and there I was, about to interview him about his new book on Lou Reed. The dark lord of three chords. White noise and black leather. The Velvet Underground opened some many…

  • Bookmark: Stephen White (The Last Mixed Tape)

    March 17, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Bookmark, Stephen White from music blog The Last Mixtape shares his thoughts on some of his all-time favourite books, featuring many a modernist classic. Photos by Abigail Denniston. High Fidelity – Nick Hornby Unfortunately, in far too many ways, I am Rob Fleming. There’s few things that scream “music snob” more than being a music blogger… I think that’s why High Fidelity has stayed with me for so long. It’s funny one moment and raw to the bone the next – how Hornby keeps you routing for Fleming despite his various character flaws is astounding. Plus John Cusack is…

  • Bookmark: Colm Kenny-Vaughan

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Bookmark is the first of a new series where we explore the collected books of those who entertain us in the world of arts and literature. We chat to Colm Kenny-Vaughan, a Dublin based theatre actor and choral singer about the books that have influenced and inspired him in his line of work. Photos by Abigail Denniston. George R.R Martin – A Dance With Dragons I know Game of Thrones is a very popular TV series at the moment, and it’s not hard to see why based on the books (collectively entitled A Song of Ice and Fire). This latest installment…