pickCushla is tying to juggle so much from her alcoholic mother,to assisting the family of a student when his father is severely beaten while living near Belfast during the Troubles. Adding an affair with an older, married man creates even more stress. The affair is more icky than romantic and I‘d have preferred it have less of a focus but I felt such a sense of dread wondering which of the balls she was juggling would drop first. #14books14weeks 10
pickThe first in the Sean Duffy series (#SeriesLove2025). Duffy is a Catholic detective in Protestant N. Ireland during The Troubles. This was a great start to the series and Duffy is a complex character. I look forward to more in the series. Gerald Doyle was a fabulous narrator of the audiobook.
My first finish for #14Books14Weeks2025
pickSp good! Was worried it was gonna be super dry history but absolutely loved. Has great pacing and follows characters in a really readable way. Fascinating history and comes right up into the 2010s, demonstrating how this history is still reverberating.
pickIn a small town near Belfast, during the Troubles, Cushla juggles her teaching job, bar keeping at the family bar at night, a perpetually drunk mother, the man she‘s having an affair with, and giving her heart to a young student whose poor Protestant family is barely making ends meet when the father is beaten so badly he can no longer function. There‘s a lot going on yet this short book moves at a snail‘s pace. We are given intimate details ⬇️
I love how Cushla is reading out loud the misspellings on the menu!
#Ireland #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
pickI‘ve had this book on my wishlist for a while. “Killing Thatcher” is a very exciting, but still impeccable researched political thriller about the very long plot of killing Prime Minister Thatcher, by the IRA. I highly recommend it if you‘ve ever been to Ireland and/or are interested in Irish history.
I‘m way behind reading this book for #Ireland #foodandlit. But geez when I started this chapter, I decided NOT to try this allegedly Irish meal: “a fish-finger sandwich soggy with melted butter and malt vinegar”
No thanks.
Very fun using one of my bookmarks from #Ireland (from our trip there last summer) for my #foodandlit books this month! @Catsandbooks
