In 1956 Boris Pasternak, who had a recognised place in modern Russian literature as a poet, but was not otherwise widely known, passed to Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, the Marxist publisher in Milan, the manuscript of a novel on which he had been working for many years, and which it had proved impossible to publish within the…

An entertaining collection of dishes, many suited to outdoor cooking, which will enliven the summer season. Not all Asia cooking is red hot curry or over chillied Thai food. Many cultures provide subtle flavour food, largely distinguished by its use of fresh fish and vegetables. While trailing round the roads of Asia by motorcycle may…

Teenagers Translated: How to Raise Happy Teens by Nancy and Naella Grew (Vermillion, €15.00 / £11.99)

Surplus People: from Wicklow to Canada by Jim Rees (Collins Press, €12.99 / £11.99)

Meeting God: Carmelite Reflections and Prayers ed. by the Irish Carmelites (Columba Press, €16.99 hb / £12.50 hb)

Christopher Moriarty The North Bull Island is one of the most remarkable and most treasured of all the landforms in Dublin Bay. That is quite an achievement because the bay contains in a small space a truly amazing abundance and variety of natural and man-made habitats which serve both wild plants and animals and not…

Mary Litton Here is a book which anyone interested in flowers and plants will enjoy and learn from. But it is a large scholarly work, and though written in an attractive and lively style, it still runs to nearly 800 pages and its price is commensurately high. Peter Wyse Jackson was formerly the director of…

One of the great benefits of modern printing technology is that it allows ordinary citizens to put out their own books in a way that was not really possible before. They may even manage to get some readers. Author Dermot Layden is ensuring this in his own case by sending a copy to everyone in…

This book is aimed at the business community, but other readers may feel they might profit from it. The author suggests there are three simple rules governing thinking: eliminate information overload, transform negative thinking into postive action, and think clearly in the moment. Yet these rules, clear as they are, run counter those which apply…

A further tranche of the later writing of  Old IRA commander Ernie O'Malley, famed author of On Another Man's Wound, that classic of the troubled times in 1920s Ireland. In this project, however, his aim was to preserve the experiences of as wide a range of those involved in the war of independence and the…