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 French, newcomer Donal Ryan, celebrity chef Catherine Fulvio and children’s authors Oliver Jeffers and Eoin Colfer. Find 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.

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.

November Read: Cavan Reading Group

Two Reads for November

Map of love by Ahdaf Soueif

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After the lockout by Darren McCann

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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.

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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