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UCD Library Collection Spotlight: UCD Library Staff Picks
A monthly online and print display highlighting our collections
Library Staff Selections
UCD Library staff pick some personal reading that is quietening, engages the reader's internal voice and
is more for reading pleasure than academic advancement.
Deirdre Ohle
Woodbrook by ISBN: 0140041338Publication Date: 1981"An autobiographical love story of a young teacher who comes from England to act as tutor in an Anglo- Irish family. The memory of the story will linger with you forever !!"
Josh Clark
The Swerve: how the Renaissance began by ISBN: 9780099572442Publication Date: 2012"A great read about a 15th century medieval Italian monk who was key in saving obscure classical texts, namely the Roman Lucretius' On the Nature of Things, and thus helped pave the way for the Renaissance."
Laura Zaliene
East of Eden by ISBN: 0141185074Publication Date: 1970“An utterly absorbing masterpiece. This is my favourite book because it is so beautifully written, a perfection in its depth and breadth. Unforgettable characters will haunt you long after you've closed the book."
Andrew Slattery
Black Swan Green by ISBN: 0340822805Publication Date: 2006"A rites-of-passage tale, set in a small English village the early 1980s. Mitchell's most personal novel is also his most accessible, akin to following up the triple concept album that was his Booker-nominated epic, Cloud Atlas with a brief, acoustic LP. Told over the course of thirteen episodic chapters, the observations of thirteen year-old Jason Taylor are funny, moving and evocative."
Ros Pan
Collected Poems by ISBN: 0571228747Publication Date: 1955"The British Library sell a CD of American Poets reading their work (http://amzn.eu/fCKesof), this includes Wallace Stevens reading Credences of Summer. I listened to that repeatedly on my car CD, time and time again I was so taken with it, and moved on to the collected poems. Looking forward to having more time to spend on in-depth reading of the longer poems. Beautiful - if tricky"
James Molloy
The Bees by ISBN: 0062331175Publication Date: 2015"Immerse yourself in the world of the hive as you follow the journey of one little bee through the caste system with all the perils in the life of the hive. "
Etain Deenihan
An Unsung Hero by Call Number: 919.89 CREISBN: 9781905172863Publication Date: 2009-12-31"His story is fascinating, almost hard to believe that someone could survive what he went through all those years ago. It is definitely a page turner!"
Kate Manning
The Land of Spices by ISBN: 9781844083169Publication Date: 2008'She heard a storm break in her hollow heart'
"O’Brien’s prose is luminous, full of subtlety and grace. The reader is fully engaged in these women’s stories. The entire act of reading this novel is a pleasure."
Marta Bustillo
A change of light : and other stories by ISBN: 0002711109Publication Date: 1984"Short stories with a touch of 'magical realism', with plenty of twists and unexpected turns. Each story can be read in one sitting, and their sense of strangeness [and sometimes even menace] stays with you, despite the fact that they aren't exactly horror stories. If you enjoy experimental literature, this is for you."
Meadhbh Murphy
The Picture of Dorian Gray by ISBN: 0141439572Publication Date: 2003 edition"The terrifying face of vanity. Wilde's beautifully descriptive language easily transports you into the fascinating and sensuous world of the wealthy in 19th century London. You can almost feel the breeze on your face:
'The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.' "
Anonymous
A Wizard of Earthsea by ISBN: 0140364609Publication Date: 1994"A novel about good and evil, self-discovery, and choosing the path you take in life. The story follows Ged, a young mage who, out of pride and arrogance, inadvertently releases a shadow on the world and spends much of his youth on a journey, running from the shadow and trying to free himself of it. It is a story about discovering ourselves, turning around to face and accept the darkness that lies within us, and choosing the path we want to take rather than letting the darkness chose it for us. Also has dragons!"
Joe Nankivell
Fire and Hemlock by ISBN: 9780142420140Publication Date: 2012A fantastic tale by the legendary Diana Wynne Jones--with an introduction by Garth Nix. Polly Whittacker has two sets of memories. In the first, things are boringly normal; in the second, her life is entangled with the mysterious, complicated cellist Thomas Lynn.
Maolsheachleann O’ Ceallaigh
Orthodoxy by ISBN: 1544946511Publication Date: 1915 first edition"A spiritual classic! G.K. Chesterton's robust defence of the Christian faith was written a hundred years ago and has never lost its popularity. The portly, cigar-smoking, eccentric legend of Fleet Street may seem an unlikely spiritual guide, but that hasn't stopped thousands of readers, decade after decade, from having their whole outlook changed by this slim volume. It's also very funny."
Frank Bouchier-Hayes
The Pickwick Papers by ISBN: 019812631XPublication Date: 1986"A timeless classic full of wonderful characters and stories. The Pickwick Papers is the first novel to be published by Charles Dickens. It is beloved by many, be they famous or ordinary readers, and was a runaway success in its day. The novel was made into a film in 1952 but I much prefer the 1985 TV adaptation."
Currently, there is a read along of the novel to coincide with the manner in which it was initially published in monthly instalments from March 1836 until November 1837:
http://onbookes.blogspot.ie/search/label/Charles%20Dickens
Clare Murnane
The Handmaid's Tale by ISBN: 0099740915Publication Date: 1996"I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light"
"Written in 1985, Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel tells the story of Offred, a woman living in a theocratic dictatorship in New England. Often interpreted as a cautionary tale, The Handmaid's tale still resonates with modern audiences. Reading The Handmaid's Tale is not exactly pleasurable but it is certainly gripping. It is all at once terrifying and captivating. While Atwood's work is primarily categorised as science fiction, the realism of the world-building of the Republic of Gilead is breathtaking and horrifying. Atwood draws the reader in from the first page, so don't be surprised if you wind up read this book in one sitting."
A tv adaptation created by Bruce Miller is currently airing on Hulu starring Elisabeth Moss, the trailer is available here.
There is a wonderful profile of Margaret Atwood in the New Yorker here.
Mark Tynan
"Robert Harris's historical thrillers are usually great reads and his Cicero trilogy will probably be remembered in time as his masterpiece. Shortly to be adapted for the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company and for television by the BBC, the trilogy brings to life the last years of the republic of Ancient Rome, seen through the eyes of the great orator and writer Cicero, and his loyal assistant Tiro. The trilogy shows the frailty of democratic institutions when set against ego, ambition and populism. "
Diarmuid Stokes
The poor mouth = An béal bocht : a bad story about the hard life by ISBN: 0586087486Publication Date: 1973 first edition"If you had to do Peig as part of your leaving cert then you should read this. It is a hilarious riposte to the Peig style of Irish novel, which were always set in the Gaeltacht and life was always hard. O'Brien takes great fun in attacking all the cliches of this type of novel with such effect that you can't take them seriously afterwards. People can read it in the language of their choice. A genuine classic Irish novel in either language."
Susan Boyle
The Tipping Point by ISBN: 1587243938Publication Date: 2003"The spread of ideas and how some take off and others don't…"
Dracula by ISBN: 9780393064506Publication Date: 2008"A classic old-school horror, it really paints a picture for the imagination and it’s Irish too."
