In the latest print issue of Irish Country Living, our editor Amii McKeever wrote about her pre-COVID visit to the Kerry Museum in Tralee, where she visited the Tom Crean exhibit, and how she had since been reading Michael Smith’s book An Unsung Hero, which delves into Crean’s life and adventures.
As I read her editorial, I realised my husband has been reading the same book since our pre-Christmas visit to Listowel (there’s a really lovely independent book shop there called Woulfes).
While I (patiently?) wait for my slow-reading husband to finish Smith’s book, I’ve been thinking about some of the best books I’ve ever read.
Adventures
Social distancing has given us time to reflect on our own lives and adventures. A lot of my favourite books can be connected to a certain time of my life – learning about the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge in First They Killed My Father while backpacking in southeast Asia.
Getting lost in the life of bright and thoughtful Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as a socially-awkward teenager. Learning about the injustices of the world through To Kill a Mockingbird and The Joys of Motherhood.
The books I’ve read have shaped my life, in one way or another. As my children came along and life got busier, book reading has fallen by the wayside, but I am going to challenge myself to read at least three new books before quarantine is lifted.
Luckily, I work with other book-lovers who have some great suggestions. Here are just a few of the Irish Country Living team’s favourite reads.
I was travelling Africa at the time of reading, so I might be biased. This was written through the eyes of children from as young as five through to teenage years. I loved the colour in it, the harsh realities of living in Africa and the notions that foreigners (like missionaries) have when they arrive. This book brought me on an emotional journey: young, American girls in the Congo, watching as their family is torn apart. It’s joyful, sad and innocent, and it gives you a beautiful vision of what Africa is really like.
Think we have it rough, sometimes? I cried, gasped, despaired and despaired some more throughout this book; to the last page. I was willing for good things to happen, but it was a pilgrimage of endeavour. There’s positivity, hope and dignity on every page, but reality isn’t always so rosy. I will read it again, and no doubt I will still hold the same hope for the young protagonist… an excellent read and complete page-turner.
I don’t remember where I got them, but I have a collection of four James Herriot books printed in 1983. I was in my late teens when I first read them and I remember staying up until the small hours of the morning, snuggled under the covers, giggling at the ridiculous scenarios this vet in the Yorkshire Dales got himself into. From lambing ewes on freezing cold hillsides, to treating a bull for sunstroke, Herriot’s storytelling is pure genius. It’s funny, witty and very real at the same time. Good for every age group.
I love this author for her ability to tackle some of the most pressing issues of our times. This was the first Jodi Picoult book I read and for that reason it will stick with me. Change of Heart is the story of a mother with internal battles. Her child needs a heart transplant. A murderer on death row wants to donate his heart to the child, who is the sister of his victim.
I’m reading The Body at the moment. His A Short History of Almost Everything is brilliant. His travel books and collected newspaper columns have the great advantage of running to six or eight pages per chapter. It makes for perfect night-time reading, though you will laugh your head off. His books on the English language and Shakespeare are great, too. I'm nearly sure in his book about Shakespeare he said there are only seven known signatures by the great man and every one of them are spelled differently.
The last few paragraphs of this always make me cry. He talks about the death of his mother when he was a small child. She was full of love and joy, but was married to a brute; his life changed for the worst when she died. Here's an excerpt: "If we could walk together through those summer lanes with their banks of wild flowers that cast a spell, we probably would not be able to speak, though I would want to tell her all the local news. We would leave the lanes and I would take her by the beaten path the otter takes under the thick hedges between the lakes. I would want no shadow to fall on her joy and deep trust in God. As we retraced our steps I would pick for her the wild orchid and the wind flower.”
I love a generational story, how one generation feeds into the next. What I like in a book is for it to have a real story that spans time, but you also learn something of the culture of the country.
If you want to learn something about India, with a love story and a massive adventure, read this.
Literally, what is there not to love about this book? Which reminds me, I am going to start reading this one to my girls tonight!
Donal Ryan, Donal Ryan, Donal Ryan, all day! Start with The Spinning Heart and go from there. In my humble opinion, he’s the most significant rural Irish writer since Seamus Heaney. He's in a totally unique space in capturing modern rural Ireland - no one else is doing it like he is. Everyone else is writing stories set in rural Ireland, but he acutely captures the people of our generation and the places we inhabit. When I say rural Ireland, I mean those exploring life outside Dublin. He is from Nenagh after all, not Ballygobackwards!