Island Books: 261 books

A dippy photographer shoots talking donkeys and invisible strangers. A professor who in his youth vowed to kill Ian Paisley has so far failed to do so. A brash young journalist wants the local paper to save the world, but the editor prefers football. Only a thin veil separates the world we think we...

Vanessa’s dreams are haunted by cryptids, mysterious creatures that haven't been acknowledged by science. She longs to complete her mother’s search for Nessie, the most famous one of them all. Can she finally solve the mystery of Loch Ness? She gets her chance on a surprise trip to Scotland, but...

‘One of the finest short story writers of the twentieth century’ - Joyce Carol Oates Mary Lavin is ranked amongst the greatest short-story writers of the twentieth century, and remains a titan of Irish literature. First published in 1967, In the Middle of the Fields explores lives that are multi-layered...

Four short stories about the everyday life of a little girl—reminiscent of Shirley Hughes, from Ireland's first Children's Laureate Alexandra's adventures include changing her name, bedtime fears, and a plaster disaster. These stories by Ireland's first Children's Laureate were originally...

Comprised of four short stories – ‘The Becker Wives’, ‘The Joy Ride’, ‘A Happy Death’ and ‘Magenta’ – this collection is one of Lavin’s most celebrated. Together, these stories capture the frustrations and grace of characters struggling to free themselves in places that are...

So, that's how it was with us after the Captain's slaughter. Shock, then panic, then hope, then self-preservation. The killing was the easy part, all done and dusted in short order, as clean as these things can be...' These wide-ranging stories follow the disparate disciples of the Captain – a mysterious,...

In Autumn 2011 Fishamble: The New Play Company, in partnership with The Irish Times, launched Tiny Plays for Ireland, commissioning short works by some of Ireland's best-loved writers and calling for submissions of tiny dramas from the public. There was an overwhelming response, with over 1,700 submissions...

CHRISTMAS, 1940 France is under German control, Britain is in danger and the United States has yet to join the war. Ireland has succeeded in staying neutral – so far. But rumours about a British troop build-up in the North stoke fears that Ireland is facing an invasion. And Germany’s bombing of...

Superbly funny and fast-moving novel full of adventure, hilarity and heroism, The Ministry of SUITs tells the story of a secret ministry hidden away in the far reaches of a museum. It deals with the strange, unusual and impossible things in the world: ancient monsters, wild animals, pirates and much more, and it needs the help of 12-year-old Jack

‘Ledwidge very deliberately chose not to bury his head in local sand and, as a consequence, faced the choices and moral challenges of his times with solitude, honesty and rare courage. This integrity, and its ultimately gratifying effects upon his poetry, should command the renewed interest and...

When eight-year-old Milena finds a rather large cow – a first class Ayrshire –splashing around in her bathtub, she really isn’t sure what to do. But this cow wants more than anything to be the most beautiful cow in the pageant, and she can’t do it alone. A wacky, funny story about friendship...

he Skipper & Her Mate is a book about the people, boats and wildlife on the Irish waterways. Told from the perspective of a woman with only a week’s hire-boat experience learning to skipper a vintage timber cruiser, it is a journey through rivers and canals, and an apprenticeship in the ways...

Written between 1994 and 2009, is a memoir of global travel and an unfulfilled college crush. The book follows the narrator out of school and across the Pacific. At only 23 he has command of a 68-foot Burmese-teak ketch built in Scotland thrust upon him. The owner is on a voyage home to his death,...

Bestselling author Julie Parsons (Mary, Mary, I Saw You, The Hourglass) is back with a powerful, compelling, and darkly chilling novel of violence, shame and deceit. On Sundays peace was restored. He would lie down, dream and remember. He would enjoy. And later on the bell would ring. He would get...