What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

Fann Linn · 09-01-2026 11:48AM

This is what I'm reading currently. Can fully recommend it for anyone interested in naval history.

brokenbad · 09-01-2026 01:34PM

Halfway through this book - excellent read on the power struggles and politics behind the Dunnes Stores brand.

Dial Hard · 11-01-2026 03:53PM

I got loads of books for Christmas. Currently reading Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley, which I already know is going to give me a crying headache.

Dial Hard · 12-01-2026 11:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124137988#Comment_124137988

Welp, I was right about this. I spent Friday evening and pretty much all of Saturday laid up with a migraine, and the crying headache this just gave me very nearly gave that a run for its money 😭

Tauriel · 13-01-2026 09:39AM

The Secret War: Codes And Guerrillas 1939-1945 by Max Hastings

Not his most engaging work if I'm honest. Some interesting stories on espionage but overall it was quite an effort to get through this, glad it's finished.

littlefeet · 13-01-2026 09:15PM

Re-reading Day of the Jackel, it's beyond brilliant

Roman Emperor · 14-01-2026 12:39AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124132515#Comment_124132515

Got the Dunnes book for Christmas - haven't got around to it yet.

Also got "The Israel Lobby" by Mearsheimer and Walt.

It's a killer on the eyes - 355 pages of very small print and another 200 pages of miniscule print of index and notes - the kind you'd get on the terms and conditions of an insurance policy !

Still, well worth a read.

NIMAN · 14-01-2026 10:05AM

Just finished One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. Excellent.

I had seen the film a couple of times in my life, but not recently. Of course I knew the route the book was going to go, but still a great read.

Think ill have another viewing of the film soon to reassess it again.

On to The Day of The Jackal next, prompted by an earlier post. Have it lying on my Kindle, will give it a spin.

Jack Daw · 14-01-2026 11:41AM

Finished reading The Wager by David Grann (the mentions here were why I bought it), outstanding book just a great story and showed how unbelievably tough the men of those eras were to be able to do any traveling by sea and survive it.

Thats 2 of his books I've read and loved, Killers of the Flower Moon was brilliant aswell.

Dial Hard · 15-01-2026 07:35PM

I've just started Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. It's an English translation (from the original Spanish, which you can probably guess from her name) which I'm always a bit wary of as so much depends on the skill (both literary and linguistic) of the translator, but so far, so good.

yagan · 16-01-2026 10:56AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124146194#Comment_124146194

I have the Wager on my bedside book pile so really looking forward to that, but I'm still savouring The Lost City of Z which I highly recommend. There was a movie made based off the book a decade ago which I haven't seen, but the book is a truly fascinating read about Amazonian exploration in the early 20th century and the craze created internationally when the first deep wilderness radio reports kept a global audience hooked for years.

It captured the imagination so much at the time that when the pioneer explorers went missing in the search for the lost city hundreds more perished in follow up attempts to find them!

Jack Daw · 16-01-2026 11:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124151823#Comment_124151823

I have lost city of Z aswell, looking forward to reading it at some stage, had it for a while just ever got round to it.

Necro · 16-01-2026 11:38AM

Got through Weep and Slack Jaw by Eoin Brady over Christmas. Enjoyable take on the usual zombie stuff with a novel Irish setting. Think I preferred Slack Jaw a bit more mainly as there was a bit more forward motion than Weep.

silliussoddius · 16-01-2026 06:22PM

Just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K Dick. I enjoyed it, it's about an android bounty hunter (what Blade Runner was based on) and looks at things like humanity, nature of life empathy etc.

I don't make enough time for reading these days so it took me ages to finish it. Had I read it more regularly I would probably have enjoyed it more.

Now I'm starting Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love. by David Talbot. This looks at the fallout of the summer of love and hippy movement in San Francisco.

Tauriel · 17-01-2026 01:28PM

Silent Voices by Patricia Gibney

Book 9 of the Detective Lottie Parker series and probably the best one so far. A number of young women start to show up dead around Dublin, having been killed with rat poison. Lottie needs to determine how these women are connected and unearths a dark secret from the past.

Dial Hard · 17-01-2026 02:16PM

I've started a Wager craze! I was planning to donate my copy, but if anyone wants it, they're welcome to it, just DM me your address.

Fann Linn · 17-01-2026 02:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124155570#Comment_124155570

Message sent, thanks.

Sgt Hartman · 17-01-2026 10:25PM

Irish Fairy Forts : Portals to the Past by Jo Kerrigan and Richard Mills. I love anything to do with Irish mythology and folklore.

eightieschewbaccy · 18-01-2026 12:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124151871#Comment_124151871

Madhouse at the End of the Earth is also probably up your street too.

Jack Daw · 18-01-2026 07:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158789#Comment_124158789

Just added it to my amazon basket.

bullpost · 19-01-2026 03:03PM

Mr. Palomar by Italo Calvino.

New author to me so hopefully good.

Cyclingtourist · 19-01-2026 05:58PM

Sophie's Choice by William Styron

Picked it up as it was one of the few english language books in the hotel library where I'm staying.

Saw the film, must have been the 1980s, but had forgotten the plot apart from the 'choice'.

Starts like an autobiography, on chapter 3 with over 500 pages to go.

Good read so far.

Tauriel · 19-01-2026 09:48PM

Little Bones by Patricia Gibney

Book 10 of the Detective Lottie Parker series and now that I've finally thought of cancelling my Kindle Unlimited subscription, I think I'll read a physical book next.

EmmetSpiceland · 20-01-2026 03:07PM

Just finished ‘The House by the Churchyard’ by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It’s billed as a gothic mystery and that is way off the mark. It’s closer to something by Thackeray than it is to Wilkie Collins or, even, MR James.

It’s an incredible read and laugh out loud funny at times. Admittedly, it can be a bit of a slog in parts but found it well worth sticking with it.

Starting ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ by Matt Dinniman next.

Arghus · 21-01-2026 04:13PM

Started listening to the Backlisted podcast recently, it's given me the impetus to seek out authors that I hadn't read yet, so, amongst others, what I've read, recently:

Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes - just okay.

Hour of The Star by Clarice Lispecter - singular stuff, would read more by her.

Angel by Elizabeth Taylor( the author, not the actress) - I struggled at first to get into it, but eventually I grew to appreciate how brilliantly written that book is, incredible really. Every sentence is a mini masterpiece. Immediately went out and bought two more of her novels.

Excellent Women by Babrya Pym - a very sharply observed comedy of manners. The plot is a bit repetitive, but I think, intentionally, that's kinda the limits of the world of the characters. Surprisingly funny.

Have started with Almost There by Nuala O'Faolain - I had read Are You Somebody years ago, but I'd never read this follow up, which, is relatively unheralded in comparison. Already, 30 pages in I'm sold. All the elements of AYS are present here too: her matter of factness, unsparing honesty and her incredibly rich but easily read writing style. Her depiction of what it feels to go through a break up and heartache - real heartache - in the first ten pages nearly had me in tears.

HalloweenJack · 25-01-2026 01:52PM

Cameo by Rob Doyle.

Reinventing the wheel. Another brash, amusing tale from him, very much one of the most interesting voices in contemporary literature.

Doctors room ghost · 25-01-2026 09:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124157819#Comment_124157819

Eddie Lenihan has some great books on mythology and folklore. You should look him up.
im currently reading Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. Enjoying it.

Dial Hard · 29-01-2026 02:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124150572#Comment_124150572

I've abandoned this about 4/5s of the way through. It was just endless cruelty, torture and violence. I'm not particularly squeamish and none of that would have bothered me had it been in service of the story, but it mostly just seemed for the sake of it. Plus it just wasn't particularly well-written. Not sure if that was an issue with the source material, the translation, or both. Either way, life's too short and I'm moving on to Joe Hill's King Sorrow.

eightieschewbaccy · 29-01-2026 03:16PM

The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, it's around GW Pabst and how easily one could become a Nazi collaborator. It's a great read and has an uncomfortably dark comedy aspect. Also easy to see parallels to the present tbh.

Sgt Hartman · 31-01-2026 01:52AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124180065#Comment_124180065

I have several of Eddie’s books, some signed personally by him :)

What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

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