I’m participating in Reading Ireland Month 2019 this year and have put together a list of the books I’ll be reviewing along with an author interview.
The books may be about Ireland, have an Irish protagonist, or be written either by an Irish author or author with Irish roots. Thanks to my grandfather (author Stanley McShane), I can claim a very small portion of the Irish roots. We in the colonies celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with parades, pub specials, and corned beef and cabbage. In “Chicago-land”, they literally turn the Chicago River green.
Cathy at 746 Books is theming her posts this year, and you may want to check her website to see how she’ll break that down. Additionally, she’ll be hosting a giveaway each week and sharing posts on her Facebook page. She has a monster list of 100 books you can peruse and a collection of recommendations of which I’ve found several in my local library. I chose one and my associate reviewer also chose one. They both exceed 450 pages. (I’ve been reading cozy mysteries at an average of 345 pages each! Gulp!)
So here is my schedule so far:
1 Murder in an Irish Pub – Carlene O’Connor – #cozy mystery read and reviewed on March 3 here.
2 Reinventing Hillwilla – Melanie Forde – #literary fiction read and reviewed on March 8 here.
3 Return to Robinswood – Jean Grainger – March 12 – Irish #histfic
4 Treading the Uneven Road – Lorna Brown – March 15 – short stories
5 Amanda Hughes – Interview – March 17 – #histfic-Bold Women series
6 Dark Hollow by John Donnelly – March 19 – #crime
7 The Secret Place – Tana French – March 22 – Police procedural
8 Cocos Island Treasure – Stanley McShane – March 24 – Action/sea adventure
My eyes are crossing in anticipation, but I know these will be some great reads and worth it! Cocos Island Treasure is one me dear ole grandfather wrote, don’t ye know. From County Cork, he claimed to kiss the Blarney Stone and judging from some of his stories, I’d guess maybe more than once! Thinking I may revisit Cocos Island and up-to-date just a bit. Or not. He wrote it over 90 years ago. What do you think? Leave it alone and authentic or smooth the edges (wink wink).
Have you read any of the above? Which ones? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
©2019 V Williams 
Rosepoint Publishing 
I am going to give Reading Ireland a go and have read my first book so far. I am also planning on reading Murder in an Irish Pub and might just give Cocos Island Treasure a go as well. I have been interested in it since I first saw you talk about it on your blog. The books you have selected all look really good. I need to do my post, but am on the road, so will put it up when I get home, after tomorrow.
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Alright! Go for it, Carla! I’d love to know what you think of Cocoa Island Treasure.
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Ginny, thanks a million for including me on your list and for interviewing me! It was so much fun. And looking at your Irish book selections, I have lots of new stuff to read. I’m thinking we are long-lost relatives because my ancestors are from Cork too–and that’s no blarney. Happy St. Pat’s Day!
Amanda
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Oh you are very welcome! we have a picture of him and on the back says when he was 10 years old in Cork. however we’ve never been able to prove that was where he actually came from. I do remember his beautiful Irish brogue tho and the way he said my name. Happy st pattys day to you as well.
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Awesome Virginia! When you jump into something, you jump with both feet. ♥
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Yeah, gotten me in trouble more than once! 😆
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Yeah it does tend to get me in trouble. 😉
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This sounds like fun! How cool that your grandfather wrote Coco’s Island Treasure. If it were me, I’d definitely be reading that one.
I have a friend in Ireland who recommend a book by an Irish author, but I have to go back and find the title. I hope you enjoy this! 😉
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Thank you and actually I published it and five others. He certainly wrote a lot of stories!
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I saw that this morning on Amazon when researching about the book. How interesting! How did I not know that?
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Ah! Well thank you for looking into it. It was definitely an adventure and taught me a lot. Obviously I’m still learning. 😉
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