A rather excellent video featuring Jamie Byng, who’ll be appearing at Mountains To Sea in Dun Laoghaire in September

Upwardly mobile | moving in and what not
And he discusses new digs!
Read more…

Book Launch: Renegades: Irish Republican Women 1900-1922
Ann was on Pat Kenny yesterday, interesting book this one.
Read more…

Moving on
This really should be read, considered, parsed, filed and re-visited by publishers across the globe. It’s message, however unpalatable, is a vital one!
Read more…

Gollancz appoints Nash as digital publisher
On a very selfish level I admire Gollancz as a publisher, if only because they publish some of the finest sci-fi and fantasy.
Read more…

Miriam O’Callaghan and Mercier Press title
And why wouldn’t they? (I commissioned Moxie while working at Mercier Press)
Read more…

Sell, Socialise and Survive at the Frankfurt Book Fair
Good advice on Frankfurt. IPN will be there so don’t be afraid to send us your stories and releases!
Read more…

Edinburgh
Nice note on Edinburgh from Laura!
Read more…

Waterstone’s to open bar and restaurants
I think this makes sense, but don’t quote me on it!
Read more…

Samsung launches e-reader with W H Smith
When will the ebook and ereading bug bite home here? 
Read more…

PW Select: A Quarterly Service for Self-Published Authors to Launch in December
Publishers Weekly will launch a quarterly magazine in December focusing on announcements and reviews of self-published titles. However, listed self-published titles will come at a fee of $149 to the author and reviews will only be on selected titles.
Read more…

Publicity for Mercier Press titles
Three of Mercier Press titles were reviewed in national papers at the weekend.
Read more…

Reivew: Rules for a Perfect Life by Niamh Greene
IN Rules for a Perfect Life, each of the 27 chapters, like those in some self-help manuals, is headed by a maxim, which will, if followed, apparently change your life for the better.
Read more…

Tales of the Burren, and other places
A nice list of new local history titles
Read more…

Ireland’s desperadoes of the veld
Masked Raiders: Irish Banditry in Southern Africa, 1880-1899, By Charles van Onselen
Read more…

Book Club: Tenderwire by Claire Kilroy
An interesting move this!
Read more…

Review: Jumping in Puddles by Claire Allan
The Balamory lookalike seaside village of Rathinch may look postcard-perfect to summer visitors. But for locals who live there all year, it is a place of squinting windows, a hotbed of righteous gossip.
Read more…

It is an interesting selection of titles this month. September should see a rush and October a flood. Hopefully you will see something interesting in that too.

About The Book
Lansdowne Road has long been renowned as a sacred place for international rugby and soccer. In this affectionate history, the authors lift the lid on its greatest days and nights.
From the birth of the stadium in 1873 till it closed for rebuilding in 2006, they bring to life fascinating stories such as that of the Native American lacrosse team, the brilliant athletic stars of the 1940s and 1950s, and the American Football experiment.

The triple crowns, stirring victories and memorable goals and tries that brought the crowd worldwide fame as ‘The Lansdowne Roar’ are all here, as well as the moments of comedy and tragedy that marked the life of Ireland’s oldest stadium.

If I Trust In You
Deidre Eustace
9780956016355
€ 8.99 | PB | 364pp
Hawk Hill Publishing
Fiction | August 2010

About The Book
Addy O’Driscoll has it all. Life on the south east coast of Ireland with loving husband Barry couldn’t be more idyllic. For Addy’s best friend Louise, still recovering from the loss of her first love Tom, life has been very different but will a new job and the attentions of local teacher Jim Ryan bring her happiness once again?

About The Book
In 1828, the Mary Russell sailed into Cork Harbour from the West Indies. Seven crewmen lay in the main salon, brutally murdered by the captain. The trial was a sensation as survivors revealed a tale of danger and delusion. But what really happened? This bizarre tragedy and the dramatic court case are unravelled in this gripping account.

Green & Gold Ireland a Clean Energy World Leader?
John Travers
9781848890435
€ 14.99 | PB | 264pp
The Collins Press
Current Affairs | August 2010

About The Book
While many agree that Ireland can become a world leader in clean energy, there is little agreement on how. John Travers examines the challenge and opportunity facing Ireland. He assesses how alternatives will enable us to meet our needs, achieve energy independence, and provide an opportunity for Ireland to become a world leader and global beacon of clean energy.

The Wild Garden A new illustrated edition with photographs & notes by Charles Nelson
William Robinson
9781848890350
€ 29.99 | HB | 236pp
The Collins Press
Gardening/History | August 2010

About The Book
The Wild Garden, one of the most influential books published in the history of gardening, was first published in 1870. It challenged the prevailing formal bedding style, advocating the use of hardy perennials and annuals to provide long-lasting, self-perpetuating displays. The book has a special resonance for Irish gardens and gardeners, as Robinson is Irish and trained as a gardener in Ireland. This edition, the first published in Ireland, is augmented with captivating photographs and notes by Charles Nelson, whose introductory essay sets Robinson and his book in context.

Privilege & Poverty The Life and Times of Irish Painter & Naturalist Alexander Williams RHA 1846–1930
Gordon T. Ledbetter
9781848890343
€ 40.00 | hb | 376pp
The Collins Press
Art/Biography | August  2010

About The Book
Alexander Williams was the first artist to open the West of Ireland to a broad audience. His life was extraordinarily wide-ranging. A landscape painter, he was also an apprentice hatter, a taxidermist and a professional singer. Illustrated with a wide selection of his work, this biography illuminates the diversity of his life and times with material found nowhere else.

Missing in Action: The 50 Year Search for Ireland’s Missing Soldier
Ralph/John Riegel/O’Mahony
9781856356947
€ 14.99 | PB | 256pp
Mercier Press
Irish Military History  | August 2010

About The Book
On 15 September 1961, Trooper Patrick Mullins (18) was posted missing after a bloody ambush of an Irish UN convoy in a suburb of Elizabethville in the Katanga province of the Congo. Injured, out-gunned and out-numbered, Tpr Mullins fought with astonishing courage as he desperately tried to save his dying comrade and reach friendly lines. But after a fierce gun-fight from his crippled armoured car, Patrick Mullins was killed and his body taken as spoils of war by the tribal militia supporting the Katangan rebels. When Ireland finally ended its UN mission in the Congo and the last battalion shipped home, Tpr Mullins’ body remained buried in an unknown Congolese grave. With the 50th anniversary of his death fast approaching, the Mullins family remain caught in the terrible nightmare of maintaining an empty grave for him at the foothills of the Galtee Mountains.This fascinating book describes Tpr Mullins’ story, the struggle to find his body and the difficulties in bringing it home.

Renegades Irish Republican Women 1900-1922
Ann Matthews
9781856356848
€ 19.99 | PB | 352pp
Mercier Press
History  | August 2010

About The Book
Renegades details the tragedies, triumphs, politics and conflicts experienced by Irish women during the country’s War of Independence and Civil War. It will shock and possibly disturb any romanticised views of their role in this period of Irish history because the reality of the abuse of women within the general population by both sides in both Wars is absent in most histories of the period. But this ‘war on women’, which manifested itself in the form of physical and sexual assaults meant that many women suffered a terror that was not confined to armed conflict. The book also explores the separation of republican women during the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, into two distinct groups. Cumann na mBan members perceived their role to be purely military and so they did not engage in politics. On the other hand the political women, who by this time perceived themselves as the female political elite, were proactive in pursuit of a significant position in Irish politics, especially when the Sinn Fe?in party was reformed in October 1917.

IRA Jailbreaks 1918-1921
9781856356893
€19.99 | PB | 320pp
Mercier Press
Irish History  | August 2010

About The Book
IRA Jailbreaks 1918—1921 features the factual accounts of 25 daring rescues, rescue attempts and jailbreaks which raised the morale of nationalist Ireland and brought world-wide ridicule and discredit on the prison and internment camp systems in Britain and Ireland.  With stories of their resistence to the degrading criminal code by the political prisoners, the hunger strikes and jail riots, the savage beatings and punishments the prisoners suffered during their incarceration, their accounts offer a window on the world of the men who fought and were imprisoned during the struggle for Ireland’s independence. Here is history documented by the men who made it.

Oral and print cultures in Ireland, 1600-1900
Marc Caball/Andrew Carpenter, eds
9781846821950
€55.00 | HB | 160pp
Four Courts Press
Social History | August 2010

About The Book
In charting previously unexplored patterns of communicative practice, these essays by leading experts examine the interchange between written and verbal cultures in Ireland from the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century.

An English-Irish lexicon of scientific and technological space-related terminology
Susan McKenna Lawlor/Damien Ó Muirí
9781846822698
€24.95 | HB | 152pp
Four Courts Press
Reference | August 2010

About The Book
This unique lexicon features over 3,500 astronautical terms, listed alphabetically in English, with their Irish translation. It is a stand-alone edition based on a twenty-language lexicon prepared by the International Academy of Astronautics on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary in 2010. This book contains a comprehensive introductory essay, providing background information on the International Academy of Astronautics and its work to develop a multi-lingual lexicon of space-related terminology. The preface also discusses the astronomical heritage of Ireland; the Irish language; the method of translation adopted in preparing the present English-Irish lexicon; and some of the practical problems encountered in translating scientific and technical terms into Irish.

From the Viking word-hoard A dictionary of Scandinavian words in the languages of Britain and Ireland
Diarmaid Ó Muirithe
9781846821738
€50.00 | HB | 352pp
Four Courts Press
Reference | August 2010

About The Book
At the beginning of the 9th century the growing population of the three great branches of the Scandinavian race who people the countries abutting the Baltic – the Norsemen or Northmen, the Swedes and Danes – began a great outward movement which was caused both by political changes and their enterprising nature. Thus the 9th century came to be known as the Age of the Vikings, Víkinga-Öld. The Danish emigration directed its course to the north-east of England. The second migration was Norse, whose settlers gradually peopled the coasts of Ireland, northern Scotland and the Isle of Man. They left a lasting linguistic heritage. This book is a glossary of words in the various language of Britain and Ireland which owe their origin to the intrepid raiders and merchants of Scandinavia.

The Dublin region in the Middle Ages Settlement, land-use and economy
Margaret/Michael Murphy/Potterton
9781846822667
€50.00 | HB | 608pp
Four Courts Press
Geography | August 2010

About The Book
This is the first major publication of the Discovery Programme’s Medieval Rural Settlement Project. The book is a study of the medieval region that contained and was defined by the presence of Ireland’s largest nucleated settlement. Combining documentary and archaeological data this volume explores the primary settlement features of the hinterland area (all of Co. Dublin and large parts of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow), including defensive monuments, manors, the church and the Pale. It examines the way s in which resources of the region were managed and exploited to produce food, fuel and raw materials for both town and country, and investigates the processing of the raw materials for human consumption. Then as now, the city profoundly affected its surrounding area through its demands for resources and through the ownership of land by Dubliners and the control of trade by city merchants. In addition to presenting a timely examination of urban-rural interaction, the volume contributes to wider debates on topics such as settlement landscapes, the role of lordship and the productivity of agriculture.

Pieces of My Heart
Sinéad Moriarty
9781844881512
€ 15.99 | TPB | 448pp
Penguin Ireland
Fiction | August 2010

About The Book
Ava is a wife, lover, mother, daughter, friend, fixer, boss … so many different people, in fact, she no longer knows what it means to be herself …

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781844881512,00.html?strSrchSql=Pieces+of+My+Heart%2A/Pieces_of_My_Heart_Sinead_Moriarty

Mini Scientist in the Garden
Lisa Burke
9781405356190
€ 9.99 | HB | 24pp
DK
Children’s Non-Fiction | August 2010

About The Book
Fun experiments in the garden for mini scientists

Mini Scientist in the Kitchen
Lisa Burke
9781405356183
€ 9.99 | HB | 24pp
DK
Children’s Non-Fiction | August 2010

About The Book
Fun experiments in the kitchen for mini scientists

Collusion
Stuart Neville
9781846552809
£12.99 | TPB | 368pp
Harvil Secker
Fiction | August 2010

About The Book
A fast-paced thriller about duty and revenge, Collusion is the blistering sequel to The Twelve, one of the most highly acclaimed debuts of recent years.

Lansdowne Through The Years
Edward Newman
9781444711370
£13.99 | TPB | 320pp
Hachette Ireland
Sport | August 2010

About The Book
Accompanied by evocative photographs, these recollections provide the perfect record of Irish rugby’s greatest days and greatest deeds to commemorate the opening of the new Aviva Stadium.

Kicking On
Dave Hannigan
9781847171894
€ 7.99 | PB | 192pp
The O’Brien Press
Children’s Fiction | August 2010

About The Book
Latest in the hugely popular sports fiction series from O’Brien Press, with authentic GAA match action and adventures on and off the field, the first children’s book by well-known sports journalist Dave Hannigan, Age 9+

Vet among the Pigeons
Gillian Hick
9781847172082
€ 11.99 | PB | 256pp
The O’Brien Press
Memoir | August 2010

About The Book
More hilarious true-life tales from Wicklow vet Gillian Hick, following on from the success of Vet  the Loose.

One Thousand Casmurros from LiveAD on Vimeo.

This is, I think you will agree, pretty cool!

Amazon sells out of both Kindles days after launch
Quite a feat!
Read more…

Odyssey not commercial, says Makinson
Yes with a but!
Read more…

Amazon claims to have 70-80% of e-book market
Which in many ways demonstrates that the market is changing rapidly. Last year it would surely have been 90-95%.
Read more…

Want to choose your own adventure? There’s a books app for that
This is a nice development
Read more…

E-books to account for 10% of RH US sales, says Dohle
That’s a huge figure!
Read more…

The Checklist Manifesto
Nice note this from Raven Books
Read more…

Sunday Tribune Paperbacks Tom Widger
Read more…

Review: A Mobile Fortune: The Life and Times of Denis O’Brien by Siobhan Creaton
Read more…

Review: Dancing Prest by Aidan O’Connor
Read more…

Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin
Read more…

Review: Broken by Karin Slaughter
Read more…

Review: Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex bu Eoin Colfer
Read more…

Ten years of publishing worth its Salt
Read more…

Summer Fun at Scariff Library
Read more…

Dún Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures
They’ve used the cover for one of the first books I published!
Read more…

Sixties Fishing Guides
These are excellent
Read more…

Book launch: Executed for Ireland
Executed for Ireland: The Patrick Moran Story by May Moran was recently launched in King House, Boyle, Co Roscommon and in Kilmainham Jail.
Read more…

DLR LIBRARY BLOG
Two reviews from DLR Libraries today!
MAGIC UNIVERSE BY NIGEL CALDER.
Read more…

THE SLAP BY CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS
Read more…

Argosy Books will act as distributor for Mercier Press from 1 October 2010.

The move marks the company’s entry into the distribution business and follows Thursday’s announcement that CMD Booksource is to cease operations on 30 September 2010 after it’s parent company Booksource failed to stem losses in the Irish market.

Fergal Stanley, Managing Director of Argosy books said ‘Argosy is thrilled to be part of this new distribution arrangement. Argosy is looking forward to working with Mercier and their customers in providing them with the highest level of customer service.’

Managing Directior of Mercier Press, Clodagh Feehan, said that ‘the winding up of CMD Booksource is hugely regrettable and is unfortunately another casualty of the severe economic conditions that the Irish book trade is currently experiencing. However we are very excited about our new distribution arrangement with Argosy.’

Argosy is currently a book wholesaler and began business as a commercial library supplier in the 1930s. The decision to enter the market for distribution will bring them into competition with Gill & Macmillan distribution who are the largest player in the field.

Book distributor CMD Booksource is closing its Irish operations effective 30 September.

The company says that ‘the economic situation was such that … [it] … was not possible’ to operate the business in Ireland profitably.

Speaking about the news, Publishing Ireland President Jean Harrington said that she was terribly saddened and that the focus of Publishing Ireland would be working with their ‘affected members to help and support them in finding alternate distribution.’ She also said that it provided an example of how important it was for government to implement ‘polices to help businesses do business.’

Client publishers including Mercier Press, Columba Press, Liberties Press, UCD Press and The Stinging Fly Press will now need to seek alternative distribution from 1 October 2010.

Although the company will stop shipping and distributing books on 30 September, CMD Booksource says it will still ‘collect cash from customers and chase payment of outstanding debt, which will be paid to client publishers in the usual manner.’ This should mean that no client publisher incurs a loss because of the closure.

CMD Booksource was formed in April 2009 when Scottish-based Booksource, which is 90% owned by Publishing Scotland, took over Columba Mercier Distribution a joint venture between Columba Press and Mercier Press.

The Scottish operations will be unaffected.

A spokesperson for the company said that ‘CMD BookSource was set up as a completely separate company to BookSource, therefore [there] will be no impact on BookSource. Luckily for BookSource the downturn in the UK hasn’t been nearly as severe as that in Ireland.’

A very quiet month for Irish Publishers, but expect to see a renewed flow in August & a huge flow in September.

A Preparation for Death

Hello, Heartbreak
Amy Huberman
9780141044767
€ 8.99 | B | 336pp
Penguin
Fiction | July 2010

About The Book
You’d think twenty-seven years would be enough time to wise up to the rules of love and loss, especially Rule Number 1: Do not, at any time, let him see how much he has hurt you.

But no, Izzy Keegan was probably off doing sambuca shots when that lesson was taught. So, starting with public humiliation (that infamous blow-up with her Ex and his new woman … huge mistake), and taking in temporary insanity, rebound sex, and a night in a police cell along the way, Izzy has to make up her own rules for coping with heartbreak.

You’d think twenty-seven years would be enough time to wise up to the rules of love and loss. Make that twenty-seven and a bit ..

Artemis Fowl and The Atlantis Complex
Eoin Colfer
9780141328041
€ 14.99 | TPB | 336pp
Penguin
Fiction | July 2010

About The Book
Young Artemis has frequently used high-tech fairy magic to mastermind the most devious criminal activity of the new century. Now, at a conference in Iceland, Artemis has gathered the fairies to present his latest idea to save the world from global warming. But Artemis is behaving strangely – he seems different. Something terrible has happened to him . . .

Artemis Fowl has become nice.

Troubled Waters: A social and cultural history of Ireland’s sea fisheries
Jim Mac Laughlin
9781846822582
€55.00 | HB | 414pp; ills.pp
Four Courts Press
Social History | July 2010

About The Book
This is the most comprehensive study of the history of sea fishing in Ireland to date. It charts the evolution of fisheries from the earliest times, and discusses the historical importance of the coastal economy to the country’s maritime communities. Troubled Waters demonstrates the significant roles played by inshore and deep-sea fishing in the evolution of modern Irish society. The author argues that the general neglect of Ireland’s sea fisheries by historians and social commentators is matched only by political marginalisation of the country’s fishing industry. Topics examined include the archaeology of Irish fishing; cultural representations of coastal workers in Irish art and literature; the internationalisation of Irish waters in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; the organisation of fish shambles and markets in coastal Ireland; the social world and working lives of Irish fishing communities; and the ‘crowded shoreline’ of nineteenth-century Ireland.

Medieval Italy, medieval and early modern women essays in honour of Christine Meek
Conor Kostick Ed.
9781846822223
€55.00 | HB | 300pppp
Four Courts Press
Literary Critcism | July 2010

About The Book
This book pays tribute to Professor Christine Meek with sixteen essays that present the latest research in the evolution of Italian society towards the Renaissance and also provide fascinating and original studies of the actions of medieval women – in battle, as political leaders and as leaders of religious communities.

From the Viking Word-Hoard: A dictionary of Scandinavian words in the languages of Britain and Ireland
Diarmaid O Muirithe
9781846821738
€50.00 | HB | 240pppp
Four Courts Press
Archeaology | July 2010

About The Book
At the beginning of the 9th century the growing population of the three great branches of the Scandinavian race who people the countries abutting the Baltic – the Norsemen or Northmen, the Swedes and Danes – began a great outward movement which was caused both by political changes and their enterprising nature. Thus the 9th century came to be known as the Age of the Vikings, Víkinga-Öld. The Danish emigration directed its course to the north-east of England. The second migration was Norse, whose settlers gradually peopled the coasts of Ireland, northern Scotland and the Isle of Man. They left a lasting linguistic heritage. This book is a glossary of words in the various language of Britain and Ireland which owe their origin to the intrepid raiders and merchants of Scandinavia.

Suburban Affiliations Social Relations in the Greater Dublin Area
Mary P Corcoran
9781906359478
€ 28.00 | PB | 360pp
UCD Press
Social Sciences | July 2010

About The Book
“Suburban Affiliations” presents the reader with a thorough and engaging study of the everyday civic and social relations that are observed in suburban localities, in this case in Dublin, Ireland. It provides insight into the ways in which suburbs develop and consolidate across time, with the authors’ analysis presented against a backdrop of the extensive American and European literature on suburbs.

Military Aviation in Ireland, 1921-45
Michael C. O’Malley
9781906359485 | HB | € 60.00
9781906359492 | PB | € 28.00
360pp
UCD Press
History | July 2010

About The Book
Military Aviation in Ireland charts the history of the Air Corps from its early days as the Military Air Service established by Michael Collins in 1922 to the ineffective air operations conducted during the Second World War period.

Liffey Ships and Shipbuilding
Pat Sweeney
9781856356855
€19.99/£17.50 | PB | 384pppp
Mercier Press
History | July 2010

About The Book
This book provides a comprehensive history of the four shipbuilding yards that have operated along Dublin’s River Liffey since shipbuilding began there. It begins with the Walpole and Webb shipyard from the early 1830′s and documents the progression of the shipbuilding industry in Dublin throughout the First World War, the Great Depression, the Second World War and the vital part the shipyards played in keeping the neutral Irish merchant fleet operating in order to feed the country during the war – resulting in secret talks with the British navy about building ships in Dublin for the British during the Second World War. The narrative goes up to 1969 and the author then details the efforts that have been made to revive Dublin’s shipbuilding industry in more recent years.

Executed for Ireland: The Patrick Moran Story
May Moran
9781856356619
€16.99/£14.99 | PB | 256pppp
Mercier Press
Biography/Memoir | July 2010
About The Book
Born in Boyle, Co Roscommon, Patrick Moran lived most of his adult life in Dublin where he took an active part in the GAA, the Gaelic League, trade union and the Irish Volunteers. He was an active participant in the 1916 Rising and was deported to England after the surrender. On his return in August 1916 he renewed his interest in football and hurling, became a founder member of the Grocers, Vintners and Allied Trades Assistants Trade Union and he helped to reorganise the Volunteers in Dublin and in his native Roscommon. He was arrested following the assassinations of British Intelligence Officers in Dublin on Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920, and was finally charged and convicted by a court martial for the murder of Lieutenants Ames and Bennett. He was executed by hanging in March 1921 amid calls from civil and religious leaders for the king of England to exercise the Prerogative of Mercy in the upsurge of overwhelming belief that he was innocent.

Food blogger, pop singer and amateur chef, Donal Skehan has signed a two book deal with HarperCollins.

The first book, Kitchen Hero, will be released in March 2011.

‘It’s about other people becomeung kitchen heroes,’ said Skehan. He also said that he, ‘will be doing all photography this time!’

Skehan’s first book, Good Mood Food* was published by Mercier Press in 2009.

The commissioning Harper Collins was Editorial Director, Jenny Heller.

*Declaration of Interest: The editor of Irish Publishing News, Eoin Purcell, commissioned Donal’s first book while working at Mercier Press.

Publishing Ireland, the Irish book publishers association, is to hold a seminar on Getting the Most out of Frankfurt 2010. The seminar is targeted at those attending Frankfurt Book Fair this year, those who wish to explore the international market and those who want to learn more about how to apply for translation grants.

Clodagh Feehan, Mercier Press and Fergal Tobin, Gill & Macmillan, will speak about their experiences in Frankfurt and will give practical advice to publishers attending Frankfurt for the first time.

Rita McCann from Ireland Literature Exchange will brief publishers on the supports they offer in terms of translation grants.

The seminar takes place next Tuesday, 29th June, 2.30pm until 4.30pm in the Guinness Enterprise Centre. To book e-mail: info@publishingireland.com

It is a much smaller list of books published in June than previous months, not an enormous surprise given the time of year but also a number of publishers did not submit titles. Hopefully that will be address for July.

‘A terrific read, unsettling at times; filled with suspense, the intensity of teen relationships and soul music – at last teenagers can experience one of Ireland’s best writers’ - John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

This Ain’t No Video Game, Kid!
Kevin Stevens
9781848409477
€ 9.00 | Paperback | 190pp
Little Island
Children’s fiction | June 2010

About The Book
Jack Klements lives in Seattle with his parents and is doing just fine. But when his swaggering Irish cousin Finn turns up, Jack can tell this is not going to be a good summer. Finn is obsessed with a violent computer game, and when he meets a Latino gang in the inner city, he thinks he can have a slice of the action.
How can Jack reconcile the demands of his straight-laced parents, the pressure to be loyal to his wayward cousin, and his growing attraction to Carina, who hangs out with the gang? If only Finn would disappear! But then he does just that, and Jack is more torn than ever …
This Ain’t No Video Game, Kid! is Kevin Stevens’s debut as a writer for young adults. It is a tense and gritty story Set in Seattle, and tells of home values threatened by street culture, with the menace of gang violence never far away.

Mr Bawman Wants to Tango
Mogue Doyle
9781905483419
€12.99 | Paperback | 214 pp
Liberties Press
Fiction | June 2010

About The Book
Mr Bawman Wants to Tango intertwines the pleasures of adolescence with the overly regulated and sometimes even menacing environment of a Catholic boarding school, which one can face either by showing Hank Chinaski-like indifference or keeping a stiff upper lip. Sure to reverberate given the current scandals in the media in relation to the Catholic Church.

Dangerous Pity
Elizabeth Wassell
9781905483983
€12.99 | Hardback | 192pp
Liberties Press
Fiction | June 2010

About The Book
Dangerous Pity is an instantly engaging novel; the central characters mix desire, regret, grief and obsession in a heady cocktail, and the descriptions of Nice and its cultural landscape are beautifully intriguing.

Gardening With Peter Dowdall
Peter Dowdall
9781855942158
€ 25.00 | Hardback | 200pp
Cork University Press
Gardening | June 2010

About The Book
This book aims to share with readers the basic tools, techniques and principles of how to create and maintain a beautiful garden through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Straightforward, no-nonsense language and advice, along with simple photography showing the practicalities of gardening will advise budding gardeners on how to build their garden from a naked skeleton through to a beautifully garbed wonderland. The book will give people a greater understanding of the part that gardening and nature plays in their lives, in their health and in their general wellbeing.

Out of the Earth Ecocritical Readings of Irish Texts
Christine Cusick
9781859184547
€ 39.00 | Paperback | 200pp
Cork University Press
Literature | June 2010

About The Book
Within the current climate of both literary and environmental studies “Out of the Earth”:  Ecocritical Readings of Irish Texts is an unprecedented integration of Irish Studies and Ecocriticism that is both timely and necessary. The essays offer ecocritical readings of Irish literary and cultural texts of various genres, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, drama and the visual image.

Penny on Safari
Eileen O’Hely
9781856355728
€ 8.99 | Paperback | 224pp
Mercier Press
Children’s Fiction 8-12 | June 2010

About The Book
Ralph, Sarah and the rest of their class visit the zoo. Despite the fabulous attractions on offer they learn that the zookeeper may be forced to close his business and make way for a factory that creates TEXTA pens. With Black Texta doing everything in his power to make sure the zoo does close, Penny and her friends are forced to take action to try and stop him, but will they succeed and save the zoo? Find out in this wonderful new addition to the Penny the Pencil Series.

Blood & Thunder Inside an Ulster Protestant Band
Darach MacDonald
9781856356725
€ 14.99 | Paperback | 352pp
Mercier Press
History | June 2010

About The Book
There are 584 marching bands in Northern Ireland, yet their existence and activities are unreported apart from newsof flashpoint tensions and riots. This book reveals the inside story on the most dynamic Irish cultural phenomenon of the early twenty-first century. It argues that in many respects the ‘Blood and Thunder’ bands fulfil a role in northern Ireland similar to the GAA in the Republic, by espousing their culture, passing on traditional skills and instilling local pride in young participants who compete against each other over a season that extends from Marchto October.Woven around the diary of an outside observer with an ‘insider’s viewpoint’ during the 2009 Blood and Thunder and season, the book focuses on the prize-winning Castlederg Young Loyalist Flute Band and examines thecultural, historical, social and political nature of Blood and Thunder bands.

With the IRA in the Fight for Freedom 1919 to the Truce The Red Path of Glory
The Kerryman
9781856356879
£ 19.99 | Paperback | 480pp
Mercier Press
Irish History | June 2010

About The Book
With the IRA in the Fight for Freedom offers eyewitness and first hand accounts of Ireland’s struggle for independence in various parts of the country. It presents a representative picture of the fight by the IRA for
independence and of the reign of terror endured by the civilian population. Only idealism and courage on the part of the freedom fighters and the steadfast support of the Irish people could have carried such an unequal struggle through to the end.With barracks attacks, ambushes and shootings, it brings to life a conflict that is fading from the collective memory of county and country and offers a fascinating perspective on the struggle for independence, directly from the men who took part in the actions themselves.

Rules for a Perfect Life
Niamh Greene
9781844882014
€ 14.99 | Trade Paperback | 336pp
Penguin Ireland
Fiction | June 2010

About The Book
Rules for a perfect life . . .
Rule One: Do not ditch the man everyone says is perfect for you because he eats the last yellow jelly-baby in the bag.
Rule Two: Do not move to a shack in the country to ‘find yourself’ and inadvertently become an object of ridicule for the locals.
Rule Three: Do not fall for a man who has two children who hate you, a saintly dead wife you can never live up to and a mother who thinks you are the hired help.
Maggie wants the perfect life – but if she keeps breaking the rules can she ever have it?

Deep Deception, Ireland’s Swimming Scandals (New Updated Edition)
Justine McCarthy
9781847172044
€11.99 | Paperback |
The O’Brien Press
Current Affairs | June 2010

About The Book
A new and updated edition of the widely-praised examination of Ireland’s swimming scandals. In candid interviews, survivors outline the effects of the abuse – psychiatric illnesses, broken marriages, financial hardship, and alcohol and drug addiction. This book examines the structures of Irish swimming, looks at the reasons these men escaped justice for so long and assesses the measures that have been taken to protect children in the aftermath of the scandals.

The Bankers: How the Banks Brought Ireland to Its Knees
Shane Ross
9780141044446
€ 11.99 | Mass Market Paperback | 312pp
Penguin
Non-Fiction | June 2010

About The Book
Two years ago, the Irish economy was still booming and the state coffers overflowing; now, the country faces an unprecedented crisis. The story of how we got from there to here is a tawdry tale of collusion, back-scratching and denial among bankers, developers, regulators and politicians.

Rhino What You Did Last Summer
Ross O’Carroll-Kelly
9781844881772
€ 10.99 | Mass Market Paperback | 416pp
Penguin
Non-Fiction | June 2010

About The Book
Fame. Fortune. Screaming girls. The adoration of strangers. I’ve had it all before, yet nothing could have prepared this Horny Little Devil for his new life in the City of Angels. Sacked as the coach of the Andorra rugby team and on the run from the sister I never knew I had, I decided to head west, vowing to win back my wife and daughter from a risk assessor predicting economic doom for the world. Imagine my shock when I discovered that my old dear, on a nationwide book tour, was already busy charming America out of its collective elasticated pants.

We Need to Talk About Ross
Ross O’Carroll-Kelly
9781844881796
€ 10.99 | Mass Market Paperback | 264pp
Penguin
Non-Fiction | June 2010

About The Book
Now, for the first time, the lid is lifted on the enigma that is South Dublin’s most eligible married man. In more than a hundred interviews with his family and friends – those who’ve loved him, hated him and slept with him – the first ever composite portrait of the Celtic Tiger’s most famous cub emerges.

Showtime
Pat Leahy
9781844882250
€ 11.99 | Mass Market Paperback | 384pp
Penguin
Non-Fiction | June 2010

About The Book
In boom and in bust, Ireland has been led by Fianna Fáil. Showtime gets behind the party’s remarkable dominance of the political landscape and leading political writer Pat Leahy, tells the gripping story of how it won, kept and has used power since the mid-1990s.
Showtime is politics in the raw: the exciting, enlightening and sometimes disturbing story of a remarkable era that changed the face of modern Ireland.

Remembering Rachel A True Story of Betrayal and Murder
Rose Callaly
9781844882199
€ 11.99 | Mass Market Paperback | 336pp
Penguin
Non-Fiction | June 2010

About The Book
The day Rose Callaly found her daughter Rachel’s battered body was only the start of her nightmares.
Shortly afterwards Rose became certain that the person who had killed her beautiful daughter was Rachel’s husband, Joe O’Reilly. After what seemed like an eternity, O’Reilly was charged. But that was the start of another ordeal – the revelation of just how much he despised his wife and the unfolding of his ingenious plan to kill her, a plan that set Rose up to discover the murder scene.
Remembering Rachel is the shocking and heart-breaking story of Rachel Callaly’s short life and brutal death. It is also a remarkable account of what it is like to be at the heart of a sensational and tragic murder case. And finally, it is a touching portrait of motherly love and the bond that survives death.

The Annals of the Four Masters Irish history, kingship and society in the early seventeenth century
Bernadette Cunningham
9781846822032
€50.00 | Hardback | 384pp
Four Courts Press
Irish History | June 2010

About The Book
There was something about the form and substance of the Annals of the Four Masters, compiled in the 1630s, that allowed them to become accepted as an authentic, reliable and comprehensive record of Gaelic society. This study surveys the scholarly and political context, both Irish and European, that inspired the annalists, reconstructing the networks of professional expertise and patronage that contributed to the pursuit of scholarship about the Irish past. The original manuscripts of these annals are used to illuminate how the annalists collaborated in the production and revision of their magnum opus, while comparison with the extant source texts consulted by the annalists reveals their priorities and their understanding of the world in which they lived.

The Irish Church and the Tudor Reformations
Henry A. Jefferies
9781846820502
€55.00 | Hardback | 352pp
Four Courts Press
Irish History | June 2010

About The Book
This book presents a new interpretation of the state of the Irish Church before the Tudor reformations. Part I shows that the Irish Church, far from being in decline, enjoyed an upsurge in lay support before Henry VIII’s reformation. Part II shows how the Tudor reformations failed to address the pre-existing weaknesses of the Irish Church, and how the problems of the Irish Church were exacerbated as Tudor policy in Ireland became increasingly militarist and expansionist. In the face of the widespread continued attachment to Catholicism and the increasing political alienation from the Elizabethan regime, the established Church found its congregations haemorrhaging until by the early 17th century, the Church of Ireland was the custodian of ruined church buildings staffed by a skeleton-crew of mainly British-born pluralists.

The Irish Annals Their genesis, evolution and history
D.P. Mc Carthy
9781846820489
€60.00 | Hardback | 464pp
Four Courts Press
Irish History | June 2010

About The Book
This ambitious and wide-ranging book surveys the extant manuscripts of all the major annals known from medieval Ireland and offers challenging new interpretations of the methodologies of the chroniclers …. this is a book to be reckoned with. It is an exhilarating read for its entirely fresh approach to the evidence; for the way it debunks and revises so much of the pre-existing scholarship on the Irish annals; for the penetrating light it shines on the shortcomings of the methodologies of Irish manuscript scholarship over the past 200 years and not least for the courteous but devastating way in which it exposes the perils of past failures to re-examine at first hand the primary manuscript evidence, a practice which we all know must form the raw material of worthwhile scholarly research’, Dr Bernadette Cunningham, Irish Archives

Age of Atrocity violence and political conflict in early modern Ireland
David Edwards, Padraig Lenihan & Clodagh Tait, eds
9781846822674
€24.95 | Paperback | 320pp
Four Courts Press
Irish History | June 2010

About The Book
This book examines one of the bloodiest epochs in Irish history. Part one covers the 16th century, revealing how efforts by the Tudor monarchy to curb the powers of the autonomous Irish lords degenerated into a bitter cultural and sectarian conflict characterized by summary killings and massacres. The second part pays particular attention to the 1641 rebellion and the Confederate Wars.

Michael Davitt Freelance radical and frondeur
Laurence Marley
9781846822650
€29.95 | Paperback | 328pp
Four Courts Press
Irish Biography | June 2010

About The Book
This book certainly adds to our knowledge of this intriguing Irish historical figure … The book is in fact an Aladdin’s cave of information. From the very beginning, the author throws new light on Davitt and his family …  Laurence Marley’s Michael Davitt breaks extraordinary ground in our knowledge of Ireland’s first modern truly international statesman.’ Des Kenny, Verbal

Medieval Lough Cé History, archaeology, and landscape
Thomas Finan, ed.
9781846821042
€45.00 | Hardback | 192pp
Four Courts Press
Archeaology | June 2010

About The Book
The role of Lough Cé and its relationship to the various lordships of north Roscommon in the later Middle Ages is examined in this collection of essays. Lough Cé was a vital geographic feature in relation to the MacDermot and O’Conor dynasties of the 13th and 14th century, and was the scene of a number of military incursions on the part of English lordships in the mid-13th century. Yet, this lake, and the history and archaeology of the region surrounding the lake, has rarely been examined as a landscape feature in, and of, itself.

Joe Holmes – Here I Am Amongst You songs, music and traditions of an Ulsterman
Len Graham
9781846822513
€55.00 | Hardback | 328pp
€25.00 | Paperback | 328pp
Four Courts Press
Music | June 2010

About The Book
An account of the folklore and repertoire of one of the most influential singers and traditional fiddlers in Ireland – Joe Holmes (1906–78) of County Antrim. It journeys into the heart of a diverse traditional life in Ulster giving a detailed and comprehensive account of the world of a singer musician in the 20th century.

Visual, material & print culture in nineteenth-century Ireland
Ciara Breathnach & Catherine Lawless, eds
9781846822135
€55.00 | Hardback | 320pp
Four Courts Press
Art | June 2010

About The Book
Proceedings of the latest Conference on the study of Nineteenth-Century Ireland.

Rules of the Road, Official Edition
Road Safety Authority
9781847172228
€5.00 | Paperback | 232pp
The O’Brien Press
Reference | June 2010

About The Book
Following the rules of the road saves lives and prevents injury.
Written in straightforward language and aimed at all road users – drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and horse-riders – the Rules of the Road sets out the laws, and details best driving practice.official edition of the Rules of the Road from the Road Safety Authority, published by The O’Brien Press, June 2010

Flagging the Problem: A new approach to mental health
Dr Harry Barry
9781905483976
€14.99 | Paperback | 356pp
Liberties Press
Health | June 2010

About The Book
Paperback edition of bestselling book by Dr Harry Barry. Flagging the Problem uses a completely new way of identifying and dealing with mental-health problems. The system, which uses colour-coded flags for various mental states and problems, was developed a medical doctor following years of treating people with mental-health problems.

Patrick Ness & Sarah Rees Brennan | Question anyone?
Go on, suggest a question to David for Patrick Ness or Sarah Rees Brennan
Read more…

Launch of The Song the Oriole Sang by Philip McDonagh
Read more…

Launch of The Summer Campaign in Kerry
Read more…

Orion signs Walsh autobiography
The christmas biography market in Ireland is hotting up
Read more…

Review: The Fethard-On-Sea Boycott
A pretty fair review I think!
Read more…

President Mary McAleese “Books are the stepping stones to your best self.”
The president is a fine speaker.
Read more…

The iPad and iBookstore to arrive in UK on 28th May
We must wait until July of course!
Read more…

Is There a Digital Talent Emergency in Book Publishing?
Yes if, no but!
Read more…