Those clever folks at Children’s Books Ireland are opening Book Clinics during the Children’s Book Festival (the month formerly known as October).
Kim Harte or I will be stationed every Saturday manning the clinics and prescribing books, feeding you juicy tidbits about your favourite authors and making sure there are lots of goodies given away.
Check out here for more details!!
I was let loose on national airwaves again… this time with Orla Barry of Newstalk’s Green Room fame. Talking summer reads and general book babbling… where I admit to having read Fifty Shades of Grey.
Don’t judge me, someone has to do the dirty work.
The Irish Independent asks a heap of very smart people for their book choices of the Summer… and then they asked me.
My inner teenage-reader is craving more in the wake of John Green’s The Fault in our Stars (Puffin, €16.60) and RJ Palacio’s Wonder (Bodley Head, €16.60), two excellent teen novels from earlier this year, and I’m hoping that Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman’s beautifully illustrated break-up tome, Why We Broke Up (Electric Monkey, €11.50) will fill that hankering. For the rest of the summer I’m re-reading Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series — ending with a bang in The Last Guardian (Puffin, €16.60) — and having kept up with Artemis, Holly, Mulch and Butler I don’t want to miss a thing.
Check out some pretty mixed recommendations!
Dave O’Callaghan of Easons fame talks History Keepers, adventures and more on TV3’s Ireland AM.
Something to get your week started - click to watch!
The last two weeks have been spent recovering from Tales on Moon Lane and catching up on projects - namely summer reading features for the Irish Independent and Newstalk.
So… what should you be reading this Summer?
We’re losing THREE big series this summer… Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl adventure ends in The last Guardian, Michael Scott’s Flamel series finishes up with The Enchantress and Lauren Kate’s Fallen series ends in Rapture.
But don’t fret! There’s is still more of Derek Landy’s Skullduggery Pleasant, Anna Carey’s Rebecca, Judi Curtin’s Eva and Alan Early’s Arthur Quinn to come. You’ll not be left wanting!
There are some amazing picturebooks - some I’m most excited about - are the new Oliver Jeffers (This Moose Belongs to Me), the Walker Eireann new releases as gaelige (Owl Babies and Ravenous Beast!) and Jon Klassen’s This is not my Hat (I know these are a little early but trust me, they’re amazing!)
For teen readers, if you haven’t already you should pick up a copy of John Green’s The Fault in our Stars, Daniel Handler’s Why We Broke Up and RJ Palacio’s Wonder. Sara Zarr’s How to Save a Life is out in the UK later this year but the US edition has been out a while - if you can’t wait, get yourself to Amazon! And to scare the pants off yourself… pick up Libba Bray’s absolutely creepy The Diviners.
And there are two books that have me salivating at the mouth and desperately waiting for their release… check out Kate DiCamillo, Alison McGhee and Tony Fucile’s new Bink and Gollie and David Almond’s The Boy Who swam with Piranhas (with Oliver Jeffers on hand for some great interior pics!)
Written a kids book and wondering what to do next? Want to write a kids book? Want to get read by one of the best kids book agents in London? Want me to stop asking questions?
Check out the The Greenhouse Funny Prize - the chance to nab Julia Churchill as an agent and be read by some of the best editors in publishing.
What are you waiting for?