FICTION

By Owen Dwyer

An award-winning, burnt out writer is visited by the characters he is researching while writing a book about the assassination of President James Garfield. Richard Todd, writer, can’t write anymore, paralysed by a sense of futility. His publisher sends Jenny Lambe, a talented young editor, to help him work on his latest book about the assassination of Garfield by Charles Guiteau. In between falling for Jenny and leaving his wife, Richard is visited in turn by the major players surrounding Garfield's death, giving their own views on the assassination and on Richard’s own choices and their consequences.

A Summer in Moldavia By Ionel Teodoreanu, Eugenia Farca, A.K. Brackob and Alexandra Maxim

A classic work of Romanian literature and a wonderful novel for all ages. A novel full of warmth, wit, love, and the pursuit of dreams, the story takes place during the years between the two world wars. It is a delightful account of brother-sister rivalry, and the life of a generally happy, easy-going family in rural Moldavia. Ionel Teodoreanu captivates your mind and your heart and places you alongside his memorable characters: Olga, Monica, and Dan.

By Liviu Rebreanu, Eugenia Farca, A.K. Brackob and Phoebe Cho

One of the greatest novels in Romanian literature explores the psychological turmoil of WWI. This classic Romanian novel lends psychological insights into the tragedy confronting minorities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during WWI. It is the story of Apostol Bologa, a middle-class Romanian officer serving in the Austro-Hungarian army who undergoes a transformation as his sense of national consciousness awakens, leading him to make a critical choice. Based on the author’s brother, the author approaches the inner struggles of Bologa as he confronts the savagery and injustice of war with authentic emotion and immediacy.

By Marika Guerrini

An exciting novel that pushes temporal, spatial and literary boundaries. The location is Manhattan, the protagonist is Richard Schwan, journalist for the New York Times. There follows a newsroom, airplanes, oceans, then after New York there is Los Angeles, Istanbul, Baghdad, Rome and then the return, everything to cross over, suffer, enjoy, to be lived. And in this living there is a war, one of those wars that continues but is never declared. Beyond the peculiarities of contingency, this novel pushes the reader to pass over from non-being into being.

By Joanna Pearson

A collection of stories about discovery, set in North Carolina. Winner of the Drue Heinz for Literature. Poised on the precipice of mystery and longing, each character in Now You Know It All is on the brink of discovery – and decision. Set in small-town North Carolina, or featuring eager Southerners venturing afar, these stories capture that crucial moment when someone’s path changes irrevocably.

A Novel By Ignaty Potapenko

Explores how to bring about social change within an oppressive political system without resorting to violence. Between 1890 and 1893, Ignaty Potapenko published a number of works (including Not a Hero) in which he presented the Russian intelligentsia with a new role model, the “mediocre but commonsensical man” whose diligence and steady devotion to the improvement of society are depicted as being more productive than the reckless heroism of the regime’s most outspoken, and often violent, opponents.

Prisoners in Paris By Patric Nystrom, Illustrated by Per Demervall and Translated by Joseph A. Davis

The perfect comic for kids wanting to learn about the Vikings. In this third adventure in the series, Siri and Zack are kidnapped and forced to help the dreaded Viking Rollie in his attempt to sack Paris. How will they save the city without Rollie noticing? And what happens if they fail? This comic combines adventure and history in a humorous story, with colourful characters and fascinating settings.

By Kenneth Kuenster

The story of an American painter obsessed with the meaning and significance of paintings of the Annunciation. The intensity of the relationship between Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin, and the message “You have in your womb an infant” intrigues our protaganist; he believes that Gabriel is involved. This book traces the painter’s obsession from the day he set off to view the Annunciation paintings in Europe to his relationship and son to a fallen-away nun in Italy, another child by an American flutist, to eventually finishing his three Annunciation paintings peopled by the encounters from his travels.

wealthy Baron?

The Legend of Gaura Dracului By Emily Girard, Dorothea Girard and A. K. Brackob

A classic Victorian novel similar to Stoker’s Dracula in its Gothic suspense. A long forgotten novel with close ties to Bram Stoker's Dracula. The heroine of the story, Gretchen, is an intelligent young German woman. Instead of marrying a man for wealth, she hunts out the Gaura Dracului (the Devil’s Pit) and its mysterious treasure. However, she is tempted by the rich, handsome debonair that courts her along the way: Will she find the lost treasure? Or will she achieve financial security for herself and her family by marrying the

By Philip Davison

A literate, satisfying work of fiction which crosses Richard Ford with Kinky Friedman, with a noir undercurrent. Being properly damned brings its own joy: that's what Richard Meadows is thinking on his way to the city dump to retrieve his wife's favourite chair, which he had thrown away earlier. And that’s where he meets old flame Virginia Coates. So begins a dance of circumstance that feeds on Richard’s newfound fearlessness, and his desire to be daring. Time to lean into the danger.

Wit from Locked-Down Ireland Edited by Kevin Gildea

A collection of short stories – from the sublime to the ridiculous. While Ireland was in lockdown in Spring and Summer 2020, we scratched our heads and wondered what to do to help lift people's spirits. We decided to join forces with Irish Pensions & Finance and run a competition celebrating Irish people's love of a good story – and a good laugh. The best stories are gathered here.

By A.A. Blair

Effie embraces her new abilities hoping they will lead her to the answers she needs to save her family. Effie knew she wasn't the same after her accident but didn't realize how different she had become until her family vacation. When Effie begins to hear whispers and have visions, she enlists the aid of her detective brother, Jimmy, along with her long-time buddies Lydia and Sniff. When the investigation falters Effie struggles to overcome self-doubt and the realisation that her idyllic vacation spot isn't what it seems to be.

Hawaiian Mystery of Romance, Revenge… and Recipes! By S.P. Grogan

Madison and her father try to discover who may have poisoned a revered Hawaiian singing star. All she wanted was to find a quiet beach, but it was not to be. Videographer Madison Merlot Dayne arrived on the Big Island to shoot her father’s popular cooking show. But from the moment she arrived, Madison and her father are involved in trying to discover who may have poisoned a revered Hawaiian singer. Her vacation involves riots, suspicious accidents, earthquakes, flowing lava, ancient Hawaiian weapons, and a real 'cliff-hanger.'

A Novel By Karen Salyer McElmurray

This mythical journey uncovers family secrets and forgotten truths to reveal the binding power of magic and memory. Miracelle Loving's world comes crashing down when her mother, Ruby, is murdered during a fortune-telling session gone wrong. Without the guidance of her mother, Miracelle grows up traveling from town to town, sometimes fortune-telling, picking up odd jobs to fill the time and escape the ever-present lostness she can't seem to run far enough away from. Desperate for answers, Miracelle sets out on a magical road trip in search of her own story and a father she's never known.

By Ernest Hebert

The first volume of a highly acclaimed series, following its anti-hero in small-town American life. Howard, anti-hero of this first novel in Ernest Hebert's highly acclaimed Darby Chronicles, is a man who is tough and tender. Howard's battle against encroaching change symbolises the class conflict between indigenous Granite Staters and citified immigrants. The seven novels of Hebert's Darby Chronicles cover 35 years in the life of a small New England town as seen through the eyes of three families and it all starts with this first volume.

By Ernest Hebert

This second volume in the highly acclaimed series explores the human psyche at its most perverse. The second novel of the Darby Chronicles follows Ollie Jordan, a man with no education, no mentors, and a serious Freudian hang-up. Hebert gives his rural underclass protagonist the depths of a tragic hero. The book is actionpacked and its prose is clean, hard, lyrical, and sometimes very funny. The book is at its heart an exploration into a brilliant mind that has laid waste to itself.

By Ernest Hebert

The third volume in this highly acclaimed series explores the clash of cultures in small-town America. The institution of town meeting, the beauty of the landscape, and the enduring qualities of the architecture all give the New England town the power to shape the identity of its inhabitants – in a good way. This premise is put on trial – and to a vote – in Whisper My Name, the third novel in Hebert's Darby Chronicles.

By Ernest Hebert

The fourth volume in this highly acclaimed series puts a major character from earlier novels in the spotlight. A major character in earlier Darby Chronicles novels, Estelle takes centre stage in The Passion of Estelle Jordan. Presently she is sliding into late middle age, drawn to two lovers who could not be more different: the widowed farmer Avalon Hillary and a mysterious young punk. The Passion of Estelle Jordan, like that of Christ, is rife with sin, suffering, sacrifice, and perhaps redemption and is for anyone going through a change of life.

By Ernest Hebert

Local politics, privilege and poverty are all tied together in the fourth volume of this highly acclaimed series. The struggle between the rural working class and the upper crust intensifies in this turning-point novel of the Darby Chronicles as Freddy Elman, son of the town trash collector, and Lilith Salmon, daughter of a prestigious family, embark on their ill-fated love affair. As that world increasingly intervenes, the lovers' attempt to bridge the chasm that divides their classalienated families inevitably collapses in Hebert's tragic tale that echoes Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

By Ernest Hebert

An optimistic return to the world of small-town America. After almost fifteen years, Hebert has returned to this rich literary landscape for a new novel of the changing economic and social character of New England. Once again, Hebert masterfully conveys the natural and social landscape of contemporary rural New England. Grounded in complex, fully realised characters, Spoonwood offers Hebert's most optimistic vision yet of acceptance and accommodation across class lines.

By Ernest Hebert

The final volume in a highly acclaimed series about love, laughs and life in small-town America. Howard Elman's Farewell begins as a coming of (old) age story, morphs into a murder mystery, expands into a family saga, and in the end might just follow Howard Elman into the spirit world. This is a novel for people who like fiction with humour, pathos, and just a touch of magical realism. Howard Elman's Farewell establishes Howard Elman – mill worker, trash man, town cop – as the most fully developed working class character in American fiction.

By Maliaraq Vebaek

A sad tale of cultural unity and oppression of women. The Story of Katrine tells the story of a young Greenlandic woman who falls in love with a Danish craftsman, who works in Greenland over a summer. When he returns to Denmark, Katrine follows him because she thinks they should get married, having had their child. It will be a big disappointment for her, but she stays in Denmark.

By Caroline Kim

Winner of the 2020 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Exploring what it means to be human through the Korean diaspora, Caroline Kim’s stories feature many voices. Language often acts as a barrier as characters try, fail, and momentarily succeed in connecting with each other. Ultimately, what unites these characters across time and distance is their longing for human connection and a search for the place – or people – that will feel like home.

The Birth of the Games By John A. Martino, Michael P. O'Kane and Alexis Lyras

The untold story of the founding of the Olympic Games. In ancient Greece and across the Mediterranean, kingdoms strive for dominance. At Olympia, the peace of the temple precinct is an island of calm in a sea of turmoil. There is one amongst the Greeks who sees light where others only perceive darkness. One who sees that there is another way to settle conflict – with honor and courage. One who will set aflame a torch that will burn for thousands of years, down through the ages.

Memoirs of a Roman Matrona By Joost Douma

The fall of the Roman Republic through the eyes of one of the Republic’s most politically influential women. In her final years, an aging Cornelia looks back on her life and that of her sons who tried to save the Republic, providing insight into the secret life of politically active women. The story is even more compelling for the parallels it offers with current superpower politics, the rise of strongmen, financial scandals, the shrinking of the middle class, and questions about the future of democracy.

A Novel By Sarah Patt

Follows the story of Dakota, who is determined not to be the messed-up, orphaned teenager with a wild imagination. After her father’s death, Dakota moves in with her much older brother in Texas where she embarks on a turbulent adventure of her own. From falling in love to being assaulted by a CEO in her own home to finding herself in the middle of a murder mystery, and an even bigger family secret, Dakota navigates her new life with her moral compass – reconciling the past and seeking answers while uncovering deep-rooted, long established lies.

Gettysburg By Morning

By Randall O'Brien

Based on real-life women, this is the story of a woman who fought for her country in the Civil War. Eloise Edwards is high-spirited and fiercely patriotic; when her brother refuses to join the army, she decides she will fight to honour her family and country. She joins the Massachusetts 20th and lives through several horrific battles, including Gettysburg. In the spirit of over 200 documented cases of women dressing as men to fight in the Civil War, this book places you on the battlefield with a patriotic young woman fighting arm-in-arm with her fellow soldiers.

they are safe.

By Rita Welty Bourke

A beautiful, tragic story of two families, separated by generations, living on Cumberland Island. Lucy Carnegie built an estate that encompassed nearly all of Cumberland Island to protect her children from the smoke and soot-filled skies over Pittsburgh. It was a perfect world, until the outside world intruded, and it all came tumbling down. A century later, another family comes to Cumberland to walk among the horses and to accept what the island has to offer: solitude, unspoiled wilderness, and wildlife free to roam. For now,

In Sweet Delusions and Datelines from Shrieking Hell By Donald Tate

Historical war novel casting a wide net over the Vietnam War. This novel covers the Vietnam War through flashbacks and live action, from the battlefield to the bedroom, politics and the military, to a his-her war of sweet, bitter, and brave love. Tales emerge of courage and puking-inthe-dust cowardice, of gritty-funny realism. Full of fury and fright, tortured rights and wrongs, Living Dangerously captures the essence of great war novels such as The Red Badge of Courage and Catch 22.

A Dutch Policeman Fighting the Nazi Occupation By Johanna Van Zanten

Set in the Netherlands during WWII, this novel follows the struggles of an informer for the Dutch resistance. Jacob van Noorden is a military policeman, just assigned his first job as crew chief in a rural town near the German border. When the Nazis invade and move through his town, Jacob and his crew have no defence. Joining the resistance as an informer and forced to deal with the disastrous events of the Nazi regime's occupation, he learns that in the end that every action he takes, no matter how well-intentioned, has enormous long-lasting consequences to those around him.

The Darkenstar By Joseph A Davis and Yulia Ryabtseva

Well-written young adult fantasy adventure exploring new cultures, aimed at 9 – 15 year olds. When the refugee boy Kasir appears in the little Swedish town of Klippsby, twelve-year-old Julia realises at once that something about her new classmate is a bit strange. But she doesn’t realise just how different he is until one fateful night when they are attacked by terrifying living shadows. Along with her little brother Edvin and an old vagrant called the Troubadour, they are forced to flee through a magical portal to Kasir's homeland.

By Rod Martinez

A fun fact/trivia book on U.S Presidents, written in a fun, witty style, to make learning entertaining and enjoyable. Whether you like American History or not, you will find a wealth of stories and facts to be shared that could spark conversation or debate at any party. This book covers a vast array of presidential trivia and facts, from George Washington to Donald Trump, making it a fun read for kids and adults alike. The book includes a never-before published timeline linking two presidents at the same time somewhere in history.

The Case of the Long Blonde Hair By Celia J. and created by Ed N. White

An exciting character-driven middle-grade mystery, filled with a compelling cast of heroes and villains. There's a new crime fighter in town. She's smart. She's fearless. She's thirteen years old and determined to be the world's greatest detective. Enter the brave world of Celia J., as she uses the skills learned at a CSI summer camp program to investigate an attempt to defraud her father. Miss Demeanor offers young readers a character they can identify with and enjoy, and the crime scene investigative techniques are detailed at a level of understanding for the middle-grade reader.

By Tomasz Małkowski and Joanna Rusinek

A witty introduction to the experience of disability with stylish illustrations by Joanna Rusinek. Kamil is a cheerful, lively five-year-old, who goes to kindergarten and loves to make silly jokes. Is he a boy like anyone else? Yes and no: he behaves normally but he is blind from birth. The book shows the daily life of a special child, without resorting to sentimentality but also without glossing over anything. Once they’ve read it, children should know how to behave when in the company of a blind person.

By Aurélie Derreumaux, Laurent Granier and José Mauduit

Illustrated children's book looking at the history behind the Bayeux Tapestry. Eva and Maxime are two young Normans who travel to Bayeux for a medieval fair. "Have you heard of William the Conqueror?" a lady asks. “He was the Duke of Normandy and he even became King of England! The tale of his conquest is told on an embroidery called the Bayeux Tapestry. Let me tell you his story…" This fascinating adventure story helps young readers discover how William the Conqueror became King of England.

By Nikky Finney

Breathing with life and vitality, Heartwood moves its readers to speak out and remind the world of the goodness it so easily forgets. The characters in this new book by poet Nikky Finney, written at a middle grade level for adults learning to read, are the heartwood of their small Kentucky communities. You'll meet Buck Jones and Mae Bennet, whose anger has twisted them up inside, Queenie Sims and Arizona Scott, who can see the good in people, and Trina Sims and Jenny Bryan, two young women who discover how much they are alike despite their different skin colour.