Read Around Europe Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Europe.
Best books from Europe (2678)
1151.
Antarctica by Claire Keegan EN
IrelandDescription:
This prize-winning debut collection of 15 stories by the acclaimed Irish author are “among the finest contemporary stories written recently in English” (The Observer). The compassionate, witty, and unsettling short stories collected here announced Claire Keegan as one of Ireland’s most exciting and versatile new talents and earned comparison to the works of Joyce Carol Oates, Alison Lurie, Raymond Carver, and others. From the titular story about a married woman who takes a trip to the city with a single purpose in mind—to sleep with another man—Antarctica draws readers into a world of obsessio... continue
1152.
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy EN
Description:
Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course). Oh yeah. And dead. Then there's his sidekick, Stephanie. She's... well, she's a twelve-year-old girl. With a pair like this on the case, evil had better watch out... "So you won't keep anything from me again?" He put his hand to his chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die." "Okay then. Though you don't actually have a heart," she said. "I know." "And technically, you've already died." "I know that too." "Just so we're clear." Stephani... continue
1154.
Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession EN
Description:
A disarming novel that asks a simple question: Can gentle people change the world? In this charming and truly unique debut, popular Irish musician Ronan Hession tells the story of two single, thirty-something men who still live with their parents and who are . . . nice. They take care of their parents and play board games together. They like to read. They take satisfaction from their work. They are resolutely kind. And they realize that none of this is considered . . . normal. Leonard and Hungry Paul is the story of two friends struggling to protect their understanding of what’s meaningful in ... continue
1155.
Time Pieces : A Dublin Memoir by John Banville, Paul Joyce EN
Description:
'If you're interested in Dublin, or if you're interested in the novelist John Banville, or if you're interested in radiantly superb sentences about whatever - I'm all three - then Time Pieces: A Dublin Memoir is a book you'll not be able to put down' The Guardian 'A trove of arresting imagery, from the lushly poetic to the luridly absurd ... utterly delightful' Irish Times 'Delicious ... Banville's soarings, like a hawk's, are both wild and comprehensive, taking in everything and imagining more' New York Times For the young John Banville, Dublin was a place of enchantment and yearning. Each ye... continue
1156.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce EN
Description:
James Joyce's coming-of-age story, a tour de force of style and technique The first, shortest, and most approachable of James Joyce’s novels, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man portrays the Dublin upbringing of Stephen Dedalus, from his youthful days at Clongowes Wood College to his radical questioning of all convention. In doing so, it provides an oblique self-portrait of the young Joyce himself. At its center lie questions of origin and source, authority and authorship, and the relationship of an artist to his family, culture, and race. Exuberantly inventive in style, the novel subtly a... continue
1157.
The Lilac Bus by Maeve Binchy EN
Description:
The Journey... Every Friday night a lilac-colored minibus leaves Dublin for the Irish country town of Rathdoon with seven weekend commuters on board. All of them, from the joking bank porter to the rich doctor's daughter, have their reasons for making the journey. The Destination... Rathdoon is the kind of Irish village where family histories are shared and scandals don't stay secret for long. And this weekend, when the bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them... as each of their private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man's crime, and a chan... continue
1158.
So Late in the Day : Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan EN
Description:
From Booker Prize Finalist and bestselling author of "pitch perfect" (Boston Globe) Small Things Like These, comes a tryptic of stories about love, lust, betrayal, misogyny, and the ever-intriguing interchanges between women and men. Celebrated for her powerful short fiction, considered "among the form's most masterful practitioners" (New York Times), Claire Keegan now gifts us three exquisite stories, newly revised and expanded, together forming a brilliant examination of gender dynamics and an arc from Keegan's earliest to her most recent work. In "So Late in the Day," Cathal faces a long we... continue
1159.
Description:
'IF THERE WAS EVER A CRUCIAL BOOK FOR OUR CURRENT TIMES, IT'S PAUL LYNCH'S PROPHET SONG... BRILLIANTLY HAUNTING.' OBSERVER The explosive literary sensation: a mother faces a terrible choice as Ireland slides into totalitarianism On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland's newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist. Ireland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and when her husband disappears, Eilish... continue
1160.
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry EN
Description:
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE IRISH TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, BIG ISSUE, i, THE ATLANTIC and LITERARY HUB 'A true wonder' Max Porter 'Beautifully written’ Guardian It’s late one night at the Spanish port of Algeciras and two fading Irish gangsters are waiting on the boat from Tangier. A lover has been lost, a daughter has gone missing, their world has come asunder – can it be put together again?