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young love, and life-changing decisions and missteps that shape the lives of her characters in 2010s Ireland I loved The Rachel Incident--the story, the characters, and the vivid setting of 2010s Ireland.

Keegan's slim book may seem cozy and quiet at first, but she beautifully illuminates tiny moments alongside momentous decisions and explores how together, they form a person and make up a whole life. It seemed both proper and at the same time deeply unfair that so much of life was left to chance. What is it about stories set in an Irish village and how much I love them? I've had Small Things Like These on my to-read list for a while, but after recently talking to my friend Jamie about it I moved it way up. Keegan's Small Things Like These is a slim novel about a small Irish town in the weeks leading up to Christmas 1985. When Bill, a good-hearted coal merchant, discovers something shocking while making his regular delivery to the local convent, he must decide whether to carry on his way or to consider the uncomfortable implications of the Catholic church's deep influence on the community. Similarly, when he stumbles onto a truth about his own mysterious heritage--a mystery he felt he had made peace with--he must decide whether it changes his feelings about his childhood and his identity. The two issues are intertwined, and it's a joy to watch the manner in which Bill copes with both instances. The story comes alive through the little moments Keegan highlights; while she explores decisions often determined by instinctual black-and-white, right-and-wrong judgments, she also digs into the intense struggle involved in reaching out from comfortable safety and taking a risk in order to do what feels right. Small Things Like These illustrates how a series of what may seem like largely inconsequential moments and one's reactions to them can together form the framework that makes up a person's sense of self. Keegan takes the small moments, impulses, generosities, omissions, and aversions that make up a day, a week, and a month and lays them alongside Big Moments of Realization--which often require grace and forgiveness, other times action and defiance--and with all of this in hand, she paints a picture full of the nuances choices, self-reflection, and possibilities that form the basis of a life. The worst was yet to come, he knew. Already he could feel a world of trouble waiting for him behind the next door, but the worst that could have happened was also already behind him; the thing not done, which could have been--which he would have had to live with for the rest of his life. The quiet main protagonist Bill is a hero; he musters forgiveness for painful events in his past while developing a mounting unwillingness to look the other way in the face of injustice. His grace and empathy guide him in all, and his story is beautiful to read. I listened to Small Things Like These as an audiobook. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Claire Keegan is also the author of Foster, Antarctica, Walk the Blue Fields, The Forester's Daughter, and So Late in the Day.

Rooney plunges the reader into uncomfortably claustrophobic and microscopically examined moments in Conversations with Friends I listened to the audiobook of Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, read by Aoife McMahon (she also reads the audiobook versions of Rooney's books Normal People and Beautiful World, Where Are You). Frances is a college student studying and writing poetry and regularly performing spoken-word pieces with her longtime friend and former flame Bobbi. Frances and Bobbi fall in socially with a somewhat famous photographer Melissa (Bobbi has a crush on her) and her actor husband Nick, and fascinations, jealousies, hypersensitive reactions, and loaded conversations ensue. Frances spends most of her page time in self-obsessed analysis and introspection or making sweeping, oversimplified declarations about life and society, like the exploring college student she is. She pursues a reckless dalliance with the handsome (this characteristic of his is repeatedly emphasized), married Nick, who repeatedly demonstrates his low self-esteem. Most of Rooney's characters achieve little, but spin their wheels, spouting criticism at dinner parties, staying in lavish homes owned by detestable people, and adolescently and emotionally reacting to others. Frances's behavior around Nick frequently felt juvenile--she employed junior-high hard-to-get, passive-aggressive challenges as well as attempted-mysteriousness strategies. I wasn't clear on why thirtysomething Nick would be captivated by Frances's seemingly exhausting approaches, but Rooney presented him as so. While Frances detests her willingness to settle for having only part of him--he still loves his wife Melissa--she indicates that she's ready to go back to him in the end. Rooney's exacting descriptions of characters' speech, emotions, and actions pushed into tedium and uncomfortably entrenched me in Frances's endless mental spin. The detail with which Frances picks apart and analyzes each nuance, each look, and each word of every encounter--and the energy with which she reflects on each of these elements after the fact--was often excruciating to read. Rooney's microscopic attention to detail isn't always pleasant to dive into, but it is uniquely her own. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Rooney is also the author of Normal People and the more recent book Beautiful World, Where Are You.

had since childhood (one of whom was the inspiration for the song "Bad"), to exploring "growing up in Ireland

I was entertained by the dichotomies of various characters' experiences in Talamh versus in Ireland.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney's book about a young poet hyper-focused on her interactions and romantic encounters; The Project, Courtney Summers's suspenseful young adult book about a journalist searching for her sister and trying to uncover the dark side of a cult; and So Long, See You Tomorrow, William Maxwell's story of mining youthful, sometimes difficult memories while searching for the truth of a long-ago shooting. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney I'm listening to Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, author of Normal People and the more recent book Beautiful World, Where Are You. It's read by Aoife McMahon. Frances is studying and writing poetry and regularly performing spoken-word pieces with her longtime friend and former flame Bobbi. When Frances and Bobbi fall in with a famous photographer and her actor husband, fascinations, jealousies, hypersensitive reactions, and loaded conversations ensue. The detail with which Frances picks apart and analyzes each nuance, each look, and each word she notices in others is often excruciating but I'm interested in Rooney's microscopic descriptions of speech and emotion. It's tough for me to feel a connection to Frances so far as she pursues a reckless dalliance with a married man. 02 The Project by Courtney Summers My book club is reading this suspenseful young adult book by Courtney Summers. In The Project, Lo and Bea are young sisters whose parents die in a car accident. They drift apart. Younger sister Lo gravitates toward a career of seeking and exposing the truth around her as a journalist, while Bea retreats into a reclusive, mysterious community. Lo tries to find and reunite with her sister, but she can't make contact with her, and she suspects the worst. When mysterious events come to light that seem linked to the publicly harmless, seemingly benevolent group The Unity Project, Lo digs a little deeper into the founder and into the group's activities. She suspects that its members are part of a cult. Lo just knows The Unity Project is dangerous--and she thinks her sister may be involved. 03 So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell My friend James mentioned this one as a favorite of his while we talked about reading and books on his Maybe I'm Amazed podcast last summer, and I'm finally starting to read So Long, See You Tomorrow. In Maxwell's slim story, a man is trying to piece together the events surrounding the shooting of a man named Lloyd Wilson in 1920s rural Illinois fifty years earlier. In doing so, he traces memories and tracks down details from his childhood, reliving moments and bringing to light information long forgotten. The story promises to explore loss, the state of seeking, the power of youthful memory, and the irresistible, ongoing contemplation of the past.

complicated career, his terrible divorce, and everything he knows, to the peace and quiet of rural Ireland

The most fascinating parts for me were the late-in-life reflections from those who had been involved in the IRA's brutal and unrelenting violence. Patrick Radden Keefe, a journalist with an Irish name but without a dog in the fight, fantastically shapes the endless trails and tales from the Irish Troubles into a narrative, and he lays out the web of motivations and passionate beliefs behind the conflicts so that an outsider can begin to comprehend what occurred and why. Toward the end of the book, says, in an accurate reflection of his book: “...I saw an opportunity to tell a story about how people become radicalized in their uncompromising devotion to a cause, and about how individuals—and a whole society—make sense of political violence once they have passed through the crucible and finally have time to reflect.” The most fascinating parts of this book for me were the late-in-life reflections and in some cases regrets from those who had been involved in brutal and unrelenting violence. Many began as steadfast and unrelenting IRA paramilitary members but ended up emotionally and sometimes physically broken after time in prison, hunger strikes, and feeling haunted by the deaths they were responsible for. It was incredible to read how former IRA top man Gerry Adams managed to create his own fact-defying narrative, practically erasing his history of violence and masterminding, essentially by sheer will. The disturbing facts were ignored (by everyone besides the disgruntled but powerless former IRA members who had once surrounded him and who had done his often murderous bidding) and his violent associations of the past shed so successfully that he could become a respected and effective politician. What did you think? For me, this was nonfiction that was so compelling it read like fiction. It was the human interest story behind the politics of the many events I remember from the news when I was young, and I thought it was fascinating. #politics, #nonfiction, #fourstarbookreview

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Molly Aitken's historical fiction novel set in 13th-century Ireland Aitken Molly Aitken's historical fiction Bright I Burn is based on the true story of the first woman in Ireland In 13th-century Ireland, Alice witnesses her mother's difficult domestic life and lack of autonomy, and

The settings range from the South to rural Ireland, and characters face temptation, betrayal, crushing Keegan's settings span from the South to rural Ireland; her characters sometimes face crushing loss or

Elif Shafak's The Island of Missing Trees explores past Turkish-Greek conflicts in a small island community I listened to The Island of Missing Trees as an audiobook.

reading Sally Hanan's My Heart Went Walking, upcoming fiction with plenty of family drama set in 1980s Ireland Set in 1980s Ireland, between Donegal and Dublin, My Heart Went Walking follows the sisters and Cullen of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Fire Drinkers Publishing. 02 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Ryland Adrienne Young A letter from her uncle Henrik on her eighteenth birthday calls orphan Bryn back to the island

The Icelandic landscape is vividly evoked, the characters feel faulted and real, and the story is compelling a beautiful, haunting story inspired by the true events surrounding the last person put to death in Iceland Kent has also written a book based on true events in 1825 County Kerry, Ireland, called The Good People

Set in 1980s Ireland between Donegal and Dublin, My Heart Went Walking follows the sisters and Cullen If you love books set in Ireland, you might try Patrick Radden Keefe's powerful nonfiction Say Anything

In Claire Keegan's slim novel Foster, a young girl in Ireland is taken by her unreliable, frequently

His book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland was one of my Six of the

01 Foster by Claire Keegan In Claire Keegan's slim novel Foster, a young girl in Ireland is taken by Harding Back in 1792, a formerly enslaved man Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife found a safe haven on an island neighbors make up a hardscrabble community that must scratch and claw to subsist--yet they remain on their island When a schoolteacher-turned-missionary arrives to educate the island's children, he draws the attention of eugenics-focused authorities, who set out to forcibly evacuate the island.

off the year, I'm listening to Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan's slim novel about small-town Ireland

young love, and life-changing decisions and missteps that shape the lives of her characters in 2010s Ireland I loved The Rachel Incident--the story, the characters, and the vivid setting of 2010s Ireland.

young love, and life-changing decisions and missteps that shape the lives of her characters in 2010s Ireland I loved The Rachel Incident--the story, the characters, and the vivid setting of 2010s Ireland.

had since childhood (one of whom was the inspiration to the song "Bad"), to exploring "growing up in Ireland

young love, and life-changing decisions and missteps that shape the lives of her characters in 2010s Ireland I loved The Rachel Incident--the story, the characters, and the vivid setting of 2010s Ireland. In Claire Keegan's slim novel Foster, a young girl in Ireland is taken by her unreliable, frequently

and Connell, a popular athlete whose mother cleans Marianne's house, grew up together in small-town Ireland

01 The Pull of the Stars Set in Ireland in 1918, The Pull of the Stars follows a nurse, Julia, doctor

and Connell, a popular athlete whose mother cleans Marianne's house, grew up together in small-town Ireland

Set in Ireland in 1918, The Pull of the Stars follows a nurse, Julia; a doctor, Kathleen; and a young

beyond, or death; Normal People, Sally Rooney's popular book (now a TV show) about two young people in Ireland and Connell, a popular athlete whose mother cleans Marianne's house, grew up together in small-town Ireland

complicated career, his terrible divorce, and everything he knows, to the peace and quiet of rural Ireland

Set in Ireland in 1918, The Pull of the Stars follows a nurse, Julia; a doctor, Kathleen; and a young

For my full review, see Call Your Daughter Home. 06 The Pull of the Stars ​ Set in Ireland in 1918, The

His book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland was one of my Six of the

His book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland was one of my Six of the In Kristen Miller's novel The Change, set in Mattauk, Long Island, three women cope with various challenges

had since childhood (one of whom was the inspiration for the song "Bad"), to exploring "growing up in Ireland

coast of Australia, and Gil, an eccentric Australian boy living three hundred years later on the same island In Claire Keegan's slim novel Foster, a young girl in Ireland is taken by her unreliable, frequently

had since childhood (one of whom was the inspiration for the song "Bad"), to exploring "growing up in Ireland

and Connell, a popular athlete whose mother cleans Marianne's house, grew up together in small-town Ireland

and Connell, a popular athlete whose mother cleans Marianne's house, grew up together in small-town Ireland

01 Inland by Téa Obreht Much of Téa Obreht's Inland is centered around Nora, an impulsive, hot-tempered For my full review of Inland, please click here. 02 Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison In 1885, Jessilyn

book, please see The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. 11 The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue ​ Set in Ireland

book, please see The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. 11 The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue ​ Set in Ireland

a beautiful, haunting story inspired by the true events surrounding the last person put to death in Iceland