Books we’ve loved reading

APRIL BOOK OF THE MONTH

A Family Matter
Clair Lynch

A mother following her heart. A father with the law on his side. A child caught in the middle.

1982 Dawn is a young wife and mother hemmed in by village life. Then Hazel appears like a torch in the dark. Their attraction is instant and suddenly Dawn’s world is more joyful, and more complicated, than she ever expected.

2022 Maggie has always lived with an absence where her mother should be. Her father never speaks of her and it feels impossible to ask. Then an official letter arrives with news from the past, and Maggie must face a truth far bigger than just her family’s secret.

WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARDS GOLD PRIZE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025

Station Eleven
By Emily St. John Mandel

This is a strong contender for my favourite book. It’s a beautiful glimpse into a broken world which still has space for human creativity. A little scarily prescient, as it was written before COVID, it lays out the aftermath of a near-apocalyptic flu, and follows the survivors as they try to find a new rhythm as a band of travelling actors and musicians.

I understand that dystopian fiction is not for everyone, but even if you’re not usually a fan, I’d still highly recommend this – despite the premise, this is a remarkably hopeful and uplifting read; it tackles a lot of darkness, but never gets lost in it.

Henry

Death Of An Ordinary Man
By Sarah Perry

I’ve enjoyed reading Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent and the Booker listed Enlightenment, so when I saw this account of the death of her father-in-law, ‘an ordinary man’ I was intrigued.

I must say it was an excellent read - challenging and life affirming and a bit of an emotional rollercoaster as indeed it was for the author, her husband and father-in-law. I found it very emotional and yet not at all depressing. It made me reassess my own life and values.

Highly recommended.

Maurice

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The Nights Are Quiet In Tehran
By Shida Bazaar
Perhaps a strange title given the current situation, but I found this a fascinating read, both enjoyable and informative.

It is a powerful, multi-voiced novel tracing an Iranian family across revolution, exile, and return. Moving between generations, it reveals how political upheaval shapes intimate lives and impacts on love, identity, and a sense of belonging.

Bazyar balances historical sweep with domestic detail, capturing both fear and resilience. I found it quite sad yet somehow hopeful, as it explored memory, displacement, and the enduring pull of home.

Maurice

Hamnet
By Maggie O’Farrell

Beautifully written and constructed, often heartbreaking, this is an incredible portrait of motherhood and grief, wonderfully woven into Shakespeare’s England. It’s a very close contender for my favourite book I’ve read this year, and it’s also a great starting point if you haven’t read any Maggie O’Farrell before.

Obviously, Chloe Zhao’s recent film has done a wonderful job of adapting this, but even if you’ve already seen it, I’d highly recommend reading the book. And if you haven’t seen the film… read the book first! It’s worth it.

Henry

Tom Lake
By Ann Patchett

A mother, somewhat reluctantly, recounts a youthful romance to her fascinated daughters. I found this a warm and reflective novel about storytelling, memory, family and love.

The writing is gentle, kind and beautifully paced, celebrating everyday happiness and hard-won contentment. The cherry farm setting somehow grounds the narrative in seasonal rhythms, while the emotional core lies in family intimacy. A deeply comforting, quietly wise read that lingered long in my thoughts.

Maurice

Featured author
Elizabeth Strout

I first came across Elizabeth Strout while in Dublin visiting some of the 70 bookshops as I celebrated reaching my 70th year. The book was My Name is Lucy Barton and I enjoyed it so much I sought out other titles by this author. I think Olive Kitteridge was next - a fictional character I SO want to meet:) Mostly I enjoyed how Strout wrote about ordinary people living ordinary lives in quite ordinary places, while bringing out the extraordinary - in a sense reminding me that there is something extraordinary in every human life

I have now read every Stout novel, and have enjoyed how characters reappear, and develop, in future novels and indeed pop up in each others stories. In addition to Lucy Barton & Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess is another recurring character and in her most recent novel Tell Me Everything all three feature.

Strout has built a quietly formidable body of work that explores the inner lives of ordinary people with rare precision and compassion. Born in Maine in 1956 and raised in small-town New England, Strout draws deeply on these landscapes—both physical and emotional—creating fiction that feels at once intimate and expansive.

She came to international prominence with Olive Kitteridge (2008), a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel-in-stories centred on a prickly, perceptive retired schoolteacher. Olive is not conventionally likeable, yet Strout renders her with such honesty and empathy that she becomes unforgettable. This gift—illuminating difficult, flawed characters without judgment—runs throughout Strout’s work.

Lucy Barton, introduced in My Name Is Lucy Barton (2016), deepens Strout’s exploration of memory, class, and the complicated bonds of family as Lucy reflects on her childhood poverty and her uneasy relationship with her mother, revealing how silence can shape a life as profoundly as speech.

If you are completely new to Elizabeth Strout you could start at the beginning with Amy & Isobel, but in my opinion it doesn’t really matter. I started with My Name is Lucy Barton and finished with Amy and Isobel. However reading the Lucy novels in order probably makes sense, while the same applies to Olive Kitteridge. Finishing with Tell Me Everything could be last although I know someone started there and then went back to discover more.

Very exciting is a new novel arriving next month, Tell Me Everything. I’m particularly excited to hear her say she is “introducing a whole new set of characters” so hopefully there will be more books in the pipeline. You can pre-order Tell Me Everything in store or online here

Maurice

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There are literally thousands of books available to order but we have also highlighted a number of books we recommend, including all those mentioned above - check them out here.