Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales
by P. D. James
(Faber & Faber, £10.00)
There are critics who think that a tale of crime is often better told as a short story, with the models of Conan Doyle, and many writers of the golden age in the interwar years when there were magazine outlets.
Now publishers prefer novels, but a few traditional minded writers still like the short effective form. One of these was the late P. D. James. This volume presents half a dozen of her stories, all well crafted in her usual careful and deeply insightful form. Her world was one with a moral vision too. Great seasonal entertainment.
A Legacy of Spies
by John Le Carré
(Viking, £20.00)
Le Carre’s career runs back in time to the 1950s, the days of the coldest hours of the Cold War. He has moved from being a thriller writer into something far more profound, a chronicler of a Britain in decline.
In this book he revisits his own fictionalised past, as deeds done for the state in a perceived time of peril are now brought into question, at a time when perhaps different views and standards prevail than in the past. Echoes here of many real events of the present and the past, but also excellent entertainment.
Wikibeaks
by Dustin the Turkey
(Transworld Ireland, €10.99)
The fella who knows it all opens his beak at long last about the truth of what was going on in recent times.
This is as good as an old fashioned panto, and seeing as the new pantos are rubbish compared with the old ones, better to buy this and have a good laugh all round, warm indoors this Christmas. Not perhaps to everyone taste, but then Dustin’s beak has long been known for having given many a celebrity a nasty nip.
It is weird, given his taste for sounding off, that this is the feathered one’s first book. With a ready supply of quills to hand we suspect it won’t be the last.
Our Great Canal Journeys: A Lifetime of Memories on Britain’s Most Beautiful Waterways
by Timothy West
(John Blake, £20.00)
Since the spring of 2014 there have been some eight series of television programmes featuring actor Timothy West and his wife Prunella Scales. Both had long and distinguished careers on TV, film, and stage.
But these films revealed a very different side of the couple. In recent years Prunella has been losing her memory, but she has by no means allowed it to limit the life that they lead together and with their family. When their family was young the holidays with their boys were taken afloat.
In each series they, from time to time, looked back over those yesteryears while they sailed around these islands, across Europe, and even as far as India. One very memorable trip was on Shannon-Erne system in the autumn of 2015 which was of special interest as it involved a visit to West’s ancestral home. The current book puts all this together.
Their vitality and sense of humour, their sheer humanity, are to be treasured.
The Art of Hurling: Insights into Success from the Managers
by Daire Whelan
(€13.99)
This is less about sporting achievements than it is about man management and driving a business, any kind of business forward in times of great change and economic difficulty.
Whether the skills of team managers can be transferred to one’s own business will be for readers to discover. But there is always great interest in reading how the more celebrated of the country’s managers have succeeded. For the sports fanatic in the house, there’s definitely some lessons for one’s own life.
Half Hour Hero
by Roz Purcell
(Penguin Ireland, €28.00)
The hero is, of course, the cook at home. The idea of quick, simple recipes for the just-home from work couple is an excellent one. But the author does not quite escape the trap of exotic and expensive ingredients.
Celebrity chefs still see themselves in the business of the fancy dish for instagraming, rather than the real world problem of feeding a family on a limited budget with ordinary kitchen cupboard ingredients. A bit more of the old-fashioned domestic economy is called for.
5 Ingredients: Quick and Easy Food
by Jamie Oliver
(Michael Joseph, £26.00)
Limited ingred-ients mostly out of the cupboard or an ordinary week’s shop. Having tried them at home, readers can be assured that some of the ideas in this book are real finds, and there is sufficient variety for there to be at least five of them to appeal to every kind of taste.
Rick Stein: the Road to Mexico
by Rick Stein
(BBC Books, £26.00)
Every book Rick Stein does is to be treasured. Here, albeit starting high up in California, he explores the culinary experiences of Mexico proper. Hot stuff galore, but Stein always takes a real interest in the people he is travelling among, their history, and their culture.
What made the trips through the Near East and Asia so memorable is continued here. Given the choice add this to Jamie Oliver. But remember too many books spoil the broth too.
The Little Book of Lykke: Secret of the World’s Happiest People
by Miek Wiking
(Penguin Life, £9.99)
The continuing saga of how to be happy the Danish way. Denmark is certainly an agreeable country, though Irish visitors will be struck by the contrast between the delights of the capital and the somewhat more brooding nature of the countryside.
This book is the companion to Hygge, which scored a huge success. But back in the early 20th Century, Ireland was constantly encouraged to learn to live like the Danes. We never managed it then. But perhaps now that we see ourselves as more truly European we might well be ready for Scandinavians designs for living as a whole. Just the book to put out on your newly bought Ikea coffee table, among your French cups filled with Italian coffee.
Brexit and Ireland: The Dangers, the Opportunities, and the Inside Story of the Irish Response
by Tony Connelly
(Penguin Ireland, 14.99)
Given what happened in the first week of December, this will have to be the stocking filler for the those obsessed with current affairs, and what the New Year will bring.
The Brexit madness affects everyone in Ireland, yet quite how it will evolve is clearly a mystery.
It has shown up the grim deficiencies of the elites who run Great Britain, but also perhaps the skills and virtues of the Republic’s leaders. But the process has been and will continue to be full of surprises if not traps for boobies.
Author Connelly wrote this book during the summer but the kinds of information and views it contains will retain their value as we go forward, or at least try to go forward, all the while fearing we may slip back. Not a happy book perhaps, but still seasonal.
Fair Faces
by John Hall
(Mercier Press, €24.99)
John Hall is a professional photographer, but this book is a labour of love. Across a range of events in rural life, including Puck Fair, he photographed hundreds of faces, the faces of people who have lived life to the full on the land, in the shop, and at the games.
This is not an exercise in nostalgia, but a study of the Irish nation. It is all the more powerful, many will be surprised to see, because the images are all in monochrome. Sometimes black and white seems to tell more of the truth about people than colour does.
The 50 Francis Street Photographer
by Susanne Behan
(Hachette Books Ireland, €19.99)
From the 1950s to the 1990s, John Walsh ran his photography business from a small shop on Francis Street in inner city Dublin. During this time he took thousands of photos of all aspects of Dublin life: funerals, communions, weddings, christenings, concerts, and other events.
Here, for the first time ever, the images from the 50s and 60s are brought together with the words of his granddaughter Suzanne Behan to present a uniquely nostalgic look at a lively part of a changing city. From religious processions and Dublin traditions, to when women drank in the snug and the ‘good suit’ came in and out of the pawn shop when needed, it is all here.
The Secret Life of Cows
by Rosamund Young
(Faber & Faber, £9.99)
The role of cows in Ireland and Irish culture since the Neolithic – what Irish person (no matter how far from the land) could resist the title?
Our ancient roads were a cow-and-a-half wide, and one had to pay for a wife with just so many cows, depending on who her people were. But these days we know a great deal more about the beasts than ever before.
This is not a new book, but a welcome reissue written by an actual farmer. And though she perhaps over-humanises cows, that is only to catch your interest for the really important stuff that we need to know.
There is lots in these pages for our well-fed selves to ruminate on through the holiday weeks.
Whatever you think about cattle raising, and indeed steak eating (the real reason for keeping the beasts and their fates are glossed over), this is still an entertaining and informative book.
Ireland’s Own The 2017 Anthology of Winning Irish Short Stories
foreword by Bill Keane
(The Three Sisters Press, €14.99)
Amazingly, Ireland’s Own continues its happy way into its second century. Here some of the stories that are enjoyed in every issue – an almost unique feature in the Irish media these days – are collected.
As with all magazine publication, some stories will have been missed even by regular readers, all of whom will be happy to have them here.
The ideal book to send to those pining relatives in foreign parts.
The Mixing Bowl: Second Helpings, introduction
by Neven Maguire
(Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services, Harold’s Cross, €15.00)
This beautifully produced book contains over 70 recipes from patients and friends of the Harold’s Cross Hospice.
Attached to many of them are little glimpses of the person connected with them which give the text a very special feel, especially at this time of the year. There is nothing ultra-foodie here, this is all good life-sustaining stuff. Who could resist a cook book with two recipes for Dublin Coddle?
The second one sounds the most traditional, except that instead of the boiled bacon it should have the rashers from the first one.
However, as the editor says, there are hundreds of recipes for Coddle, but surely the real one should include milk and not stock, and it should be cooked over the lowest of heat for a morning, to eat at the traditional “dinnertime”.
A most enjoyable book, promising lots of delicious food, all in an excellent cause.
And finally . . .
Accepting the Mystery: Scriptural Reflections for Advent and Christmas
by Walter Kasper
(The Paulist Press, $16.95)
l These thoughts on the central mystery of Christianity, the incarnation of Christ, by the distinguished and thoughtful German Cardinal who has long been an influential figure in promoting Christian unity, may seem to be a book for only a part of the year. But this little book will be found to have truths for every week of the year, for every day is a sort of advent.
In his foreword Cardinal Kaspar says about the theme of these pages: “Against all wishes or temptations to restrict the horizon of human existence to what is feasible, manageable, consumable, the Christian celebration of Christmas gives language to the message of faith: ‘Human Being, acknowledge the mystery that you are.’”
