A new month means new books and we're so excited to share with you our top three books for August, all now available in our August subscription box or as a one-off treat for yourself!
Local Voices: Factory Girls, by Michelle Gallen
What's the craic?
It's the summer of 1994 and all Maeve Murray wants is some money and good exam results so she can escape her shitty wee town in Northern Ireland. Over the holidays, Maeve bags herself a job at the local shirt factory with her best friends Caroline and Aoife. It's set to be the summer of their lives, but first she's got to survive a tit-for-tat paramilitary campaign as brutal as her relationship with her mam, iron 800 shirts a day to keep her job and dodge the attentions of Handy Andy Strawbridge, her slimy English boss.
And when she starts to notice things aren't adding up at the factory, it seems like revealing the truth may just be her one-way ticket out of town.
Paperback Down says...
If you loved Derry Girls, this will be just your cup of tea! Riotously funny and winner of the Comedy Women in Print Award, this portrayal of 1990's Northern Ireland is the perfect summer reading choice. Michelle Gallen has such a unique voice, effortlessly bringing to life characters that are just full of wit, humour and authenticity. And yet amidst the many laugh-out-loud moments, real issues around classism and the struggle to break free from the expectations of others, are handled with warmth and empathy. Not to be missed!
Science Fiction & Fantasy: Summer Fishing in Lapland, by Juhani Karila
What's the craic?
A brilliantly weird literary fantasy set in a Lapland filled with mythical creatures.
When Elina makes her annual summer pilgrimage to the remote family farm in Lapland, she has three days to catch the pike in a local pond, or she and the love of her life will both die. This year her task is made even more difficult by a host of deadly supernatural creatures and the homicide detective on her trail. .
Can Elina catch the pike and lay to rest the curse that has been hanging over her head ever since a youthful love affair turned sour? Can Sergeant Janatuinen make it back to civilization in one piece? And just why is Lapland in summer so weird?
Summer Fishing in Lapland is an audacious, genre-defying blend of fantasy, folk tale and nature writing.
Paperback Down says...
Filled with Finnish folklore and fantastical beings, this unique book is part modern day fairy-tale, part detective noir and part nature diary. Elina's world is vividly bought to life - an insular small-town community and a landscape that becomes a character in itself. Juhani Karila writes about Lapland with so much detail, adding texture and vividness to a place that most of us are likely unfamiliar with. And yet there is a familiarity about it too - gossipy neighbours, bad break-ups, schoolyard bullying, small town intrigue, and an almost mundane acceptance that mythical creatures exist quite openly alongside humans that is reminiscent of Irish folklore. An utterly magical book.
Bucket List Books: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
What's the craic?
It's an ordinary Thursday lunchtime for Arthur Dent until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly afterwards to make way for a new hyperspace express route, and his best friend has just announced that he's an alien. At this moment, they're hurtling through space with nothing but their towels and an innocuous-looking book inscribed, in large friendly letters, with the words: DON'T PANIC.
The weekend has only just begun...
Paperback Down says...
There are few other books that are quite so embedded into popular culture as this iconic story from Douglas Adams. First published as a novel in 1979, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a book which almost always pops up on any compilation list of the best books of all time. Imaginatively bonkers and utterly engaging, this all-time classic simply has to be the next book you tick off that bucket list reading list this summer.
Which will you choose?
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