Well-known Limerick people share the books they read and loved in 2023

From fiction to non-fiction, familiar faces share the books they loved reading the most over the past year.

Helena Close - Limerick author

“The book I loved this year is a book called The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah. I'm very involved with the Ireland Palestine solidarity campaign and obviously for the past few months, it's been very much to the fore in the news,” said Helena.

“I had made a commitment last year to read more diverse writers, particularly women.”

Speaking of her favourite read of 2023, she said: “This is written by a Palestinian woman and it's a fabulous story. It's almost kind of a thriller as well with brilliant, flawed characters. It tells the story of the Afaf, the protagonist, who's the principal of a Muslim school in Chicago.

"And it opens with her in a little closet, praying and there is a school shooter who has been radicalised through online far right groups. And the story then is the present, which is quite, you know, suspenseful, but also about her growing up in Chicago, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, but in a very fractured family setting.”

Once she started Sahar's novel, Helena couldn't put it down.

“It’s a wonderful book, it just gives you a great insight into other people's lives and other people's religions, and it's full of hope, which I kind of needed. That would be my absolute number one book this year.”

Elisa O'Donovan - Limerick councillor

This year, Elisa O'Donovan, the Social Democrats councillor for Limerick City West read two books she loved - both by Irish authors.

Speaking of her selected reads, she said: “It’s been a great year for Irish authors and my top picks from this year are from two Irish women I greatly admire. I love reading a mix of fiction and non-fiction books.”

The first book she loved is The Long Game by Aoife Moore.

“I found Aoife Moore’s The long game a really interesting read in 2023. I am a huge fan of Aoife Moore. She is a breath of fresh air within what can be a very male-dominated world of political journalism. This book is a very insightful read into the inner workings of Sinn Fein. I never studied politics so I like reading books like this to give me a better understanding of how Irish political parties operate.”

Even though she loves being a politician, sometimes she needs to switch off. “I do find that I need to switch off completely from politics sometimes!

"For me, nothing relaxes me more than curling up on the sofa with a good book. I have been loving Roisin Meaney’s, A Winter to Remember, over Christmas.

"Roisin’s books are always just so heart-warming to read. The characters are so relatable and always have a good dose of Irish humour in them too. I would recommend you read Roisin’s, The Restaurant, before this book as it’s many of the same characters,” she added.

Marty Ryan - Singer-songwriter

For Marty Ryan of Anna's Anchor, the best book he read in 2023 is one by his favourite author, John B Keane.

"The best book I read in 2023 was The Contractor by John B Keane. The Listowel man has been my favourite Irish writer for quite some time and was a huge influence on the new Anna’s Anchor album,” said Marty.

He continued: “Keane’s ability to tell a story is unmatched and it really shines through in this book about the Irish diaspora in London in the 1950’s. This novel follows the story of Dan Murray, a young Kerryman that emigrates to London with a hope for a better life. Murray achieves success on foreign soil but it doesn’t come without sacrifice.

“As someone who is spending a lot of time abroad in a place where Irish emigrants played a huge role in building up the area around me, I couldn’t help but feel a personal connection with this book. Keane has a way of adding charm and personality to characters with his wry sense of humour that always leaves me with a smile on my face. I can't wait to work through the rest of this prolific writer's work over the next few years.”

JaYne - Singer-songwriter

As a musician, the book that JaYne loved the most last year was one written by a jazz pianist.

“I've read Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner. He is a jazz pianist and it’s about the kind of psychology behind what can be applied to pretty much anything at all. It's about how to approach practicing and performing and playing, from a place when you're in your flow state,” she explained.

“There's a couple of meditations then that like accompany the book that I was doing and you can do them on YouTube. It's just about visualising music kind of flowing through you, like golden light.”

When she is on stage, she finds it helpful to use what Effortless Mastery taught her.

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“What kind of thoughts and stuff to kind of channel through your mind when you're on stage. I just thought it was really good because he starts out by telling you how he became a musician and how all the mistakes that he made at the start and so many of the things I could totally identify with like just.

"Not wanting to practice, or feeling frustrated when you're practicing that you’re not making enough progress. He takes the whole process apart and approaches it from like a really nice, calm space,” she added.

“I really enjoyed that book for that reason. Even in the book he says that he had people doing all sorts of different things. Sports people, a soldier contacted him and said it really helped him, just to focus his mind and feel calm in his mind when he was speaking. I would recommend it to anybody, I think it's a great thing to read.”

William Keohane - Author

In 2023, William Keohane’s favourite read was a gripping literary page-turner from a rising Irish talent in which former friends, estranged for 20 years, reckon with the terrifying events of a summer that changed their lives.

The Castletroy author who released his essay, Son, last year, tells us about his favourite read.

“One of my favourite reads this year was Colin Walsh's 'Kala'. It was also my most recent read - I read it over the holidays. It tells the story of a teenage girl's disappearance and meditates on teenage friendship, time, abuse of power,” said William.

Speaking of the novel, he added: “It’s a vivid portrait of teenhood in Ireland. I read 300 pages in the one sitting, it was gripping. Walsh writes brilliant prose and dialogue.”

Set in the seaside village of Kinlough on Ireland’s west coast, Kala tells the story of three old friends meeting for the first time in years.

They were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann at its white-hot centre. But later that year, Kala disappeared without a trace. Now remains have been discovered in the woods...

Sarah Gilmartin - Author

Over the past year, Limerick's own Sarah Gilmartin discovered three great reads which stayed with her for quite some time.

“The book that has stayed with me most this year is Darragh McKeon’s, Remembrance Sunday, for its artful story on the long reach of trauma,” she said.

Speaking of the novel, she added: “It's a beautifully written second novel, it is a reminder, in the anniversary year of the Good Friday Agreement, not just of the lives that were lost during The Troubles, but of those that were stunted or derailed.”

The author, who released her own new novel titled Service last year, couldn't help but mention two other books which she loved reading in 2023.

“Two highly-original and finely-crafted debuts I read this year were Aoife Fitzpatrick's historical novel The Red Bird Sings and Brendan Casey's She That Lay Silent-Like Upon Our Shore,” Sarah said.