Island Books: 261 books

Young Irelanders is an exciting anthology of short stories that will open your eyes and soul to a new and continually evolving Irish literary scene, featuring a selection of Ireland's most gifted and daring contemporary short-fiction writers: Rob Doyle, Sheila Armstrong, Alan McMonagle, Roisín O'Donnell,...

A sublime and vibrant new collection for one of Ireland's best known poets. In this exciting new collection, veteran poet Anthony Cronin draws on his years of writing experience to create mesmerising poetry. Resonating with history and memory, Cronin's elegant writing and consumate poetic skill shine through in the poems in Body and Soul.

Did you ever hear that telling a nightmare makes it fade away? It doesn’t. Not here anyway. Welcome to the Nightmare Club’s Halloween Sleepover. You might not last till morning. This is the story Jack told. His older brother Stephen was a great friend … until he started to change. His smell. His face. His friends. His diet.

Stylish historical fiction from a major name in Irish children's literature Life is not easy for children in 1811. Annie Spears is a maid at Dinham house where Lucien Bonaparte is on parole. Her brother William makes silk top-hats for the mad hatter, while her little sister works as a glove-maker...

Every trouble on this earth is caused by a man's ability to stay quietly at home...' Willy Regan, son and carer of his blind mother, Moll, is the questionable narrator of this tale of petty doing, coming of age and falls from grace. Freed from the drudgery of his humdrum life, following Moll's death,...

‘This world is a bad dream.’ Seven men wait in Mervyn’s Mountain Bar, awaiting the arrival of Tony Begley and his six-inch boning knife, *Sweety. *Ray ‘Ringo’ Wade hides above them in the rafters, silent and consumed by shame as Jody, the only friend he’s ever known, lies beaten...

In Mother America and other stories mothers tattoo their children and abduct them; they act as surrogates and they use charms to cure childhood illnesses. The story ‘Letters’ sees an Irish mother cling to love of her son, though he abandoned her in New York, where loneliness is alleviated only...

An essay on aesthetics by the Japanese novelist, this book explores architecture, jade, food, and even toilets, combining an acute sense of the use of space in buildings. The book also includes descriptions of laquerware under candlelight and women in the darkness of the house of pleasure.

See, the thing is, new babies are empty-headed. Total smushfaces, nothing in their brains, and they can't do anything. So, how come Barry's baby sister can draw pyramids? This baby is draining all the knowledge out of Barry's brain - wom, wom, WOM - and his mum's and dad's too. If Barry can't find...

Ruán, Emma, and Colm are from different worlds despite living in the same city: their schools, houses, and groups of friends mark them as snobs or scobies in each other's eyes. When a terrible accident devastates Ruan's family, he must find a way of coping, with help from Emma. Meanwhile Colm goes...

Dervla is the babysitter from hell – literally. She's very strict, she eats spiders, and ... are those horns? No wonder Becky is everybody's hero when she manages to rid the neighbourhood of the demon babysitter. Don't ask how, but hey, pssst, there are vomit-coloured stink bombs, there is an abandoned...

Previously published in 1997, the themes of identity and truth skillfully explored in White Lies are more relevant than ever Nance, a young black gir in small-town Ireland, is trying to piece together the true story of her adoption, beginning with a newly-discovered photograph of herself as...

It’s New Year’s Eve, and Beth plans to spend a whole year alone, in her snug, safe house. But she has reckoned without floppy-eared, tail-wagging Mouse, who comes nosing to her window. Followed shortly by his owner, Alice. As Beth’s year of solitude rolls out, Alice gently steals her way first...

Bumpfizzle is an alien, sent to Earth from Planet Plonk on a research mission. Or is he really just a ten-year-old boy who is feeling a bit disgruntled at all the attention his parents are lavishing on The Baby? It is up to readers to make up their own minds. Either way, Bumpfizzle’s confusion at...