Saturday 8 December 2012

Christmas Themed Reads


Get in the festive mood - with these great Christmas Reads..Click on the book images to reserve a copy. All you need is your library card & pin number!

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham


The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder
 

A Perfect Christmas by Lynda Page


Comfort and Joy by India Knight



A Merry Little Christmas by Debbie Macomber


December's Read - Cavan Reading Group

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa



Click on the Book Image to reserve a copy on our catalogue
Palestine, 1948. A mother clutches her six-month old son as Israeli soldiers march through the village of Ein Hod. In a split second, her son is snatched from her arms and the fate of the Abulheja family is changed forever. Forced into a refugee camp in Jenin and exiled from the ancient village that is their lifeblood, the family struggles to rebuild their world. Their stories unfold through the eyes of the youngest sibling, Amal, the daughter born in the camp who will eventually find herself alone in the United States: the eldest son who loses everything in the struggle for freedom and the stole son who grows up as an Israeli, becoming an enemy soldier to his own brother.

Recommended Read of the Week


The hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Click on the book image to reserve a copy on our catalogue
It all starts on the one-hundredth birthday of Allan Karlsson. Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, he is waiting for the party he-never-wanted-anyway to begin. The mayor is going to be there. The press is going to be there. But, as it turns out, Allan is not...Slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, we learn something of Allan's earlier life in which - remarkably - he helped to make the atom bomb, became friends with American presidents, Russian tyrants, and Chinese leaders, and was a participant behind the scenes in many key events of the twentieth century. Already a huge bestseller across Europe, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a fun, feel-good book for all ages. Translated from Swedish.

Saturday 24 November 2012

November Read - Bailieborough Reading Group


The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
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In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country’s violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the “bastard” of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul: Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister who runs a tattoo parlor and is Asya’s mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one estranged brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres. Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale that will confirm Shafak as a rising star of international fiction.

November Read: Cootehill Reading Group

The Speckled People By Hugo Hamilton


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Awarded 4 stars by our Bailieborough Reading Group but what will our Cootehill Group think?


The childhood world of Hugo Hamilton is a confused place. His father, a brutal Irish nationalist, demands his children speak Gaelic at home whilst his mother, a softly spoken German emigrant who escaped Nazi Germany at the beginning of the war, encourages them to speak German. All Hugo wants to do is speak English. English is, after all, what the other children in Dublin speak. English is what they use when they hunt down Hugo (or "Eichmann" as they dub him) in the streets of Dublin, and English is what they use when they bring him to trial and execute him at a mock seaside court. Out of this fear and confusion Hugo tries to build a balanced view of the world, to turn the twisted logic of what he is told into truth.

Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2012


Over 50 Irish authors gathered with 350 guests to celebrate the best of Irish literature published in the last year. 

This year's Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards took place in the RDS and were hosted by RTE’s Claire Byrne.

Congratulations to esteemed novelist and playwright Jennifer Johnston who was presented with the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award. Having hosted an evening with Jennifer Johnston in Johnston Central Library in July this year, we fully appreciate and acknowledge her outstanding contribution to Irish literature.


Other winners announced in the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2012 were the ‘Atlas of the Irish Famine’ published by Cork University Press which won Best Irish-Published book, crime author Tana Frenchnewcomer Donal Ryancelebrity chef Catherine Fulvio and children’s authors Oliver Jeffers and Eoin ColferFind out more about all the winners here.

Check out our catalogue today and get your hands on the best of Irish fiction and non-fiction. See also the fabulous displays in our full-time libraries.


Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards Display in Bailieborough Library

Congratulations to all the 2012 winners from Cavan County Council's Library Service.

Monday 19 November 2012

This week's recommended read

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón



The third in the cycle of novels that began with THE SHADOW OF THE WIND and THE ANGEL'S GAME. THE PRISONER OF HEAVEN returns to the world of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and the Sempere & Sons bookshop. It begins just before Christmas in Barcelona in 1957, one year after Daniel and Bea from THE SHADOW OF THE WIND have married. They now have a son, Julian, and are living with Daniel's father at Sempere & Sons. Fermin still works with them and is busy preparing for his wedding to Bernarda in the New Year. However something appears to be bothering him. Daniel is alone in the shop one morning when a mysterious figure with a pronounced limp enters. He spots one of their most precious volumes that is kept locked in a glass cabinet, a beautiful and unique illustrated edition of The Count of Monte Cristo. Despite the fact that the stranger seems to care little for books, he wants to buy this expensive edition. Then, to Daniel's surprise, the man inscribes the book with the words 'To Fermin Romero de Torres, who came back from the dead and who holds the key to the future'. This visit leads back to a story of imprisonment, betrayal and the return of a deadly rival. Translated from the Spanish.

Thursday 8 November 2012

November Read: Cavan Reading Group

Two Reads for November


Map of love by Ahdaf Soueif

Click on the book image to reserve on our catalogue



After the lockout by Darren McCann

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Thursday 1 November 2012

Dialogues through Literature News


An Litríocht – ag sárú difríochtaí


Dialogues Through Literature, a cross border, cross community reading network, will host an historically interesting discussion forum on the book “Rún an Bhonnáin” by Proinsias Mac a Bhaird in Johnston Central Library on Saturday the 17th November.
Click on the Book Image to reserve a copy from our catalogue
                                                   
The Cavan ‘as gaeilge’ Reading Group will meet with ‘as gaeilge’ groups from Leitrim, Fermanagh and Tyrone on the day. Pádraig Ó Cuinneagáin, Glór Bhreifne, will also deliver a talk on the Irish Language in Co. Cavan. This is a wonderful opportunity to network and build bridges for the future!

For further information, please contact Johnston Central Library

Monday 22 October 2012

This week's recommended read!


The silver dark sea by Susan Fletcher
A profound tale of love, loss and the lore of the sea.
Click on the Book Image to reserve a copy on our catalogue

 The islanders of Parla are still mourning the loss of one of their own. Four years since that loss, and a man -- un-named, unclothed -- is washed onto their shores. Some say he is a mythical man from the sea -- potent, kind and beautiful; others suspect him. For the bereft Maggie, this stranger brings love back to the isle. But as the days pass he changes every one of them -- and the time comes for his story to be told! 

Tender, lyrical and redemptive, The Silver Dark Sea is the dazzling new novel from the author of Eve Green (winner of Whitbred First Novel award) and Witch Light. It is a story about what life can give and take from us, when we least expect it -- and how love, in all its forms, is the greatest gift of all.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Great New Titles - Check them out today!

Click on the Book Image to reserve a copy on our catalogue...

A trick I learned from dead men by Kitty Aldridge



The Dinner by Herman Kock




The Day you saved by life by Louise Candlish



Abdication by Juliet Nicolson



The hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson




Philida: A Novel by André Brink






This Week's Recommended Read!

Waiting for Sunrise / William Boyd.

Please click on the book image to reserve a copy from our catalogue
Vienna. 1913. It is a fine day in August when Lysander Rief, a young English actor, walks through the city to his first appointment with the eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Bensimon. Sitting in the waiting room he is anxiously pondering the nature of his problem when an extraordinary woman enters. She is clearly in distress, but Lysander is immediately drawn to her strange, hazel eyes and her unusual, intense beauty. Later the same day they meet again, and a more composed Hettie Bull introduces herself as an artist and sculptor, and invites Lysander to a party hosted by her lover, the famous painter Udo Hoff.

October Read: Cootehill Reading Group

Grace Williams says it loud by Emma Henderson


Click on the Book Image to reserve a copy on our catalogue

The doctors said no more could be done and advised Grace's parents to put her away. On her first day at the Briar Mental Institute, Grace, aged eleven, meets Daniel. Debonair Daniel, an epileptic who can type with his feet, sees a different Grace: someone to share secrets and canoodle with, someone to fight for. A deeply affecting, spirit-soaring story of love against the odds.

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction for 2011, The Times Bookclub choice for April, Nominated for The London Book Award 2011 in the London Awards for Art and Performance and The Author's Club First Book Award.



Friday 12 October 2012

October Read: Bailieborough Library

The Speckled People by Hugo Hamilton


Click on the image to reserve a copy on our catalogue

Shortlisted for the Bord Gais Irish Book Awards Book of the Decade.
The childhood world of Hugo Hamilton is a confused place. His father, a brutal Irish nationalist, demands his children speak Gaelic at home whilst his mother, a softly spoken German emigrant who escaped Nazi Germany at the beginning of the war, encourages them to speak German. All Hugo wants to do is speak English. English is, after all, what the other children in Dublin speak. English is what they use when they hunt down Hugo (or "Eichmann" as they dub him) in the streets of Dublin, and English is what they use when they bring him to trial and execute him at a mock seaside court. Out of this fear and confusion Hugo tries to build a balanced view of the world, to turn the twisted logic of what he is told into truth.

October Read: Cavan Reading Group

This month we are revisiting the works of acclaimed author Edna O'Brien in celebration of Country Girl: A memoir. Please visit our catalogue and reserve one of Edna's titles today!



Edna O'Brien

Friday 7 September 2012

MORE THAN A READING JOURNAL: A NOT SO ORDINARY EVENING IN BAILIEBOROUGH LIBRARY...

MORE THAN A READING JOURNAL: A NOT SO ORDINARY EVENING IN BAILIEBOROUGH LIBRARY...: CONOR BRADY: A READING IN BAILIEBOROUGH LIBRARY On Thursday September 6 Conor Brady visited Bailieborough library for a reading from h...

September Read: Bailieborough Reading Group

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue





After a separation of many years, Emily 'Fido' Faithfull bumps into her old friend Helen Codrington on the streets of Victorian London. Much has changed: Helen is more and more unhappy in her marriage to the older Vice-Admiral Codrington, while Fido has become a successful woman of business and a pioneer in the British Women's Movement.

But, for all her independence of mind, Fido is too trusting of her once-dear companion and finds herself drawn into aiding Helen's obsessive affair with a young army officer. Then, when the Vice-Admiral seizes the children and sues for divorce, the women's friendship unravels amid accusations of adultery and counter-accusations of cruelty and attempted rape, as well as a mysterious 'sealed letter' that could destroy more than one life ...Longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction for 2012.

Thursday 6 September 2012

September Read: Cootehill Library

One Day by David Nicholls



'I can imagine you at forty,' she said, a hint of malice in her voice. 'I can picture it right now.' He smiled without opening his eyes. 'Go on then.' 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, One Day. From the author of the massive bestseller STARTER FOR TEN. Award: Winner 2010 Galaxy Book of the Year.

September Read: Cavan Reading Group

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
Click on the Image to reserve this book on our catalogue

Set in the 1950s, in an England still recovering from the Second World War, this is the enchanting story of Penelope Wallace and her eccentric family at the start of the rock'n'roll era.

Penelope longs to be grown-up and to fall in love; but various rather inconvenient things keep getting in her way. Like her mother, a stunning but petulant beauty widowed at a tragically early age, her younger brother Inigo, currently incapable of concentrating on anything that isn't Elvis Presley, a vast but crumblng ancestral home, a severe shortage of cash, and her best friend Charlotte's sardonic cousin Harry...

Culture Night 2012




This year we are celebrating the 'Lure of Letters' with special guest speaker John Quinn. We will have readings of famous literary letters by professional actors and also we will be announcing the winners in our 'Many Letters' Competition. Join us for a fantastic evening exploring the art of letter writing. Find out more..

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Many Letters Competition: The Shortlist is announced!

We asked you to read any of Siobhan Dowds four novels and see if her work touches you in a personal way or inspires you to change your view of yourself or the world.

We asked you to write a personal letter to Siobhan, explaining how her work affected you!

You delivered!!

Close to 350 people of all ages and from every part of the county were inspired by Siobhan Dowd’s novels to participate in our One Cavan, One Writer, Many Letters Competition. The judges had the difficult job of selecting a shortlist of just eleven.

The overall winners will be announced at an Awards ceremony on Culture Night, 21st September at Johnston Central Library.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this competition and congratulation to all our shortlisted entries!
                     


Friday 17 August 2012

Gentleman & Scholar: Thomas J Barron 1903-1992


Local History enthusiasts will enjoy Gentleman & Scholar by our very own Jonathan A. Smyth...



Jonathan Smyth works in Johnston Central Library in Cavan. His writing's, mainly local histories, have been widely published. His most recent work has appeared in Breifne, the journal of Cumann Seanchais Bhreifne (Breifne Historical Society). He also contributes a regular column to http://www.contemporaryliving.ie/




New in .... a must read!

The Story of beautiful girl by Rachel Simon



On a stormy night in small-town America, a couple, desperate and soaked to the skin, knock on a stranger's door. When Martha, a retired schoolteacher, answers their knock, her world changes for ever. Her visitors are Lynnie and Homan, who have fled The School for the Incurable and Feebleminded with their newborn baby. But the police are closing in and their freedom is about to be snatched away. Moments before she is taken back to the School, bound and tied, Lynnie utters two words to Martha: 'Hide her.' And so begins the heart-rending story of Lynnie, Homan, Martha and baby Julia - lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love. 






August Read: Bailieborough Reading Group

This month, Bailieborough Reading Group will be reading December Bride by Sam Hanna Bell
Click on the book image to reserve a copy from our catalogue 

Sarah Gomartin, the servant girl on Andrew Echlin's farm, bears a child to one of Andrew's sons. But which one? Her steadfast refusal over many years to 'bend and contrive things' by choosing one of the brothers reverberates through the puritan Ulster community to which she belongs, alienating clergy and neighbours, hastening her mother's death and casting a cold shadow on the lives of her children.



Conor Brady visits Bailieborough Library

Date: 06 September 2012 
Time: 7pm

We are delighted to welcome journalist & author Conor Brady to Bailieborough Library
Conor will be reading from his new novel, “A June of Ordinary Murders”. He will also answer questions and sign copies of his books.
                                       
Conor Brady has worked for RTE, was editor of the Sunday Tribune, and also editor of the Irish Times from 1986-2002. Brady was a member of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission from 2006-2011. He has published two other non-fiction books.
A June of Ordinary Murders” is an historical mystery set in Dublin during the great heat-wave of 1887. The city is getting ready for a royal visit as part of the celebrations for Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee. Political unrest sweeps through the city and the police force is apprehensive about a possible assassination attempt. In the midst of all this activity the bodies of a man and young boy are found in The Phoenix Park and it is up to Detective Joe Swallow to investigate these ordinary (not politically motivated) murders.
                                             
Admission will be free and all are welcome. For further information please call the library at 042 9665779

Saturday 4 August 2012

Maeve Binchy's Classic Reads

Make sure and pick up a copy of one of Maeve's Classics in our libraries today.
Discover or re-discover the wonderful collection of stories and novels which has made Maeve one of Ireland's all time greats!

This week's recommended Read!

The Carpenters Pencil by Manuel Rivas


Click on the Book Cover to reserve a copy from our catalogue

Tuesday 31 July 2012

Cavan Library Book Sale Bonanza

Come to our Book Sale. And feed your need to read!

Amble around our stalls outside the library. Savour the atmosphere and what is on offer. Talk to us and find new reading treasures. 

Monday 30 July 2012

Farewell but thanks to the amazing Maeve Binchy!


Sad news this evening at the death of Ireland’s most well-known novelist. Maeve Binchy has passed away after a short illness. Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a hanam.




A favourite in households across Ireland, the prolific writer has published dozens of novels, novellas and collections of short stories, as well as non-fiction works. She sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Read More