When I win the Lotto, I'm going to spend my time reading books and talking books and going to book festivals and maybe, maybe even writing books. (I should probably start doing the Lotto.) This week I was delighted to host a panel at the Waterford Writers' Weekend, part of the Imagine Arts Festival, discussing the [...]
Fitness is one of those elusive concepts that means something different to everyone. To you it might be the ability to run a marathon or bench press your own weight. To me, it means feeling strong and having fewer aches and pains. The last post I wrote of this nature was entitled 'Two steps forward, one [...]
As a paid-up fan of the nanny state in most situations it’s not often I’m the first to shout ‘stop’ to public health measures, but they’ve finally hit me where it hurts. A proposal announced yesterday to stop hairdressers serving a glass of whatever takes your fancy stopped me in my tracks. https://www.instagram.com/p/BVmvTpXh7AE/?taken-by=deshocks Is there [...]
Twenty years ago this week, something magical happened. With the publication of one book about a seemingly unremarkable bespectacled boy, reading suddenly mattered again. For a generation - two, by now - Harry Potter was the boy who lived, in our hearts and in our minds. His creator, Joanne Rowling (known as JK, because it was [...]
I never understood the appeal of 'going to look at the planes'. My mother, who grew up in Ennis, talks fondly of Sunday drives to Shannon, where she and her siblings would be encouraged to watch the planes landing and taking off from Co Clare's most cosmopolitan location. It's always seemed to me like a poor [...]
I love nothing more than a good story. If you're looking for someone who appreciates beautiful prose or elaborate explorations of characters, you're probably on the wrong blog, because what I want from a book is to be engaged by the story. Good prose and solid characterisations help along the way, but it's a good [...]
I first came across Anna McPartlin last year when I read her book The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes, and I was thrilled to see she has another just out, Somewhere Inside of Happy. I've got a sneak peek at the new release and, like Rabbit Hayes, it's a cracker. McPartlin's own complicated background really informs [...]
My Tuesdays have been made complete in recent months by the addition of the Irish Times Women's Podcast. Ireland has been crying out for its own 'Women's Hour' and this really hits the spot for me. Usually presented by Kathy Sheridan, it's just the right mix of politics philosophy and fun that I'd expect from chat [...]
The beach next to Martinhal Resort If you’re looking for a holiday incorporating good food, better wine and lots of activities to put the colour back in your cheeks, but you’re a five star traveller, you need look no further than Martinhal Resort in Sagres, Portugal. The family resort is a [...]
I wrote these two pieces last July, after travelling to Kusadasi with Sunway Holidays. They never made it to the blog, for some reason - but in this weather they're a nice reminder the sun exists! "It’s a bit like being on the slab below at Kay O’Connell’s, but it’s lovely, like.” Kusadasi has been a [...]
