Órla

12: May All Your Skies Be Blue. Another heartbreaker. A group of friends across 2 timelines - teenager & early 40s. It combines coming of age with wrong place, wrong time really effectively. Love, loss, regret, family, obligations are all explored. Very good read.

11: Nesting. A truly difficult read about a woman who is homeless & ends up in emergency hotel accommodation because of an emotionally abusive, controlling husband. It was difficult because although the book is fiction, its the reality for thousands of people in ireland. 💔

10: Same as it Ever Was. A multi generational sage that focuses on motherhood, friendship and relationships. A key theme is finding what binds us together. Not gonna lie, I found this quite boring and at 500 pages - a slog

9: She’s Always Hungry. The weirdest, intense & sometimes grotesque short story collection. Her writing is so visceral & other worldly. Loved

8. Brotherless Night. Set during the Sri Lankan Civil War, this book follows one young woman as she comes of age. The war rips her family apart & she struggles with the complexity of war, the role women play & how there is no simple good and bad. Such a good book.

7: Real Americans. A really interesting take on the fragility of lives of immigrants in America. It follows three generations of Chinese Americans & explores the role of luck & genetics on success, prosperity, permanence & legacy. Loved it.

6: Mornings in Jenin. As the authors note says, the characters are fictitious but Palestine & the horrors it has endured are not. This book is heartbreaking. Entire generations of Palestines, their land, their history & culture continuously destroyed by Israel over decades. An excellent read.

5: Greta & Valdin. I am fully obsessed with this book. A Russian Māori brother sister duo navigate their queer love lives & mad, complicated family in the most enjoyable way. As a former Auckland dweller, I loved all the local, Kiwi references. A true joy of a book.

4: Wild Houses. Set in rural Mayo, the Ferdia’s kidnap Doll English to get a drug debt paid by his brother. Although the book is a caper with lots of humour, it’s serious rather than silly and I LOVED the writing. A great book.

I think about it every time I am in a queue, which less face it, is often! Such a brilliant concept. I absolutely loved it. Biased, but correct!

3: The Truth About Melody Browne. Melody Browne has no memories from before she was 9 but then a night out at a hypnotist changes all that. And it turns out her life was pretty dramatic. We slowly uncover the truth about her complicated life. A decent read but a bit drawn out.

I think you’re right. Its like he wanted the break up, the valuable art pieces etc but the build up wasn’t super believable.

2: Frankie. The story of a life well lived. How Frankie went from an orphan in West Cork to an old lady in London via New York. A gorgeous story with lots of love and heartache. Another lovely read.

1. I Hope This Finds You Well. A very fun easy read. Jolene gets secret access to all her colleagues emails & chat messages& uses it to her advantage to navigate the social complexities of the modern workplace. It was dark, funny but also very sweet.

a cartoon character wearing a wizard hat is reading a book in front of a stack of books ALT: a cartoon character wearing a wizard hat is reading a book in front of a stack of books

📚 2025 Book Thread 📚

I have kept an annual book thread on the hell site since 2019 so gonna try it over here instead/alongside.

I am gonna keep using the library & try to read outside my comfort zone more regularly. ✌🏼

My favourite books of 2024.

My mum used to put all our presents in boxes for easy wrapping. she put a blank label over the brand if you weren’t actually getting what was on the box. I dont think I sufficiently recognised her genius at the time!

I know you’re all on tenterhooks…. Excellent dates. And last trip to Tesco was done this morning. I. Am. Ready.

Highly likely that the worst bit of hosting Christmas will change as the week progresses.

So far, the worst bit of hosting Christmas is having to clean and tidy my house before they arrive.
My dining table is more of a storage surface than an eating surface and I *suspect* my mum is not planning on eating her Christmas dinner on a lap tray… 🤔

Operational planning on Christmas holidays is not the one.

Im hosting Christmas for family & at the starting to throw money at the problem stage. They arrive on 23rd and leave on 27th so trying to stockpile.

this show continues to bring me joy. A commentator says, ‘I think they might use a special tactic here. Its called the maul push’.

Yes, yes, I did place an emergency Dunnes grocery order for delivery tomorrow to save me the hassle of going to Cornelscourt. Fingers crossed for good expiry dates.

Decided to make a stash of cookie dough for the freezer to have over Christmas. My weighing scales broke, so had to go to Tesco to get a new one. Mid mix, my stand mixer broke so had to use the hand held mixer instead. 90 mins after I started… Merry Christmas.. 💆🏼

Fully obsessed that during a try scoring challenge with very few rules, after 2 rounds, they announced they are implementing the rules of rugby. 💀

Anyone else watching Rugged Rugby Conquer or Die on Netflix? A South Korean rugby squid games of sorts. Its entirely bonkers with very salty, sarcastic captions of dramatic moments that is weirdly engaging.

I'd happily pay higher Local Property Tax if the money offset rates and other costs for enterprises of cultural value like bookshops, cinemas, heritage (non-franchise) cafes and youth clubs.

I think many homeowners would, but politicians seem to think we want tiny tax cuts.

My mum just told me what my siblings are getting for Christmas,
My sister asked for a lawnmower.
My brother asked for an airfryer.
I asked for a voucher to a Michelin star restaurant….

Peak. Notions.

#BookSky
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers

Book 20: Babel by RF Kuang