Hey book-lovers! Ready for a little summertime reading? We've got got three fabulous books picked out for you this month, all now available in our July subscription box or as a one-off treat for yourself!

Local Voices: There's Been A Little Incident, by Alice Ryan

What's the craic?

Molly Black has disappeared. She's been flighty since her parents died, but this time - or so says her hastily written note - she's gone for good.

That's why the whole Black clan - from Granny perched on the printer to Killian on Zoom from Sydney - is huddled together in the Dublin suburbs, arguing over what to do. Former model Lady V presumes Molly's just off taking drugs and sleeping with strangers - which is fine by her. Cousin Anne, tired of living in Molly's shadow, is keeping quiet, and cousin Bobby is distracted by his own issues.

But Molly's disappearance is eerily familiar to Uncle John. He is determined never to lose anyone again. Especially not his niece, who is more like her mum than she realises. A story of family, grief, and the ways we come together when all seems lost.

Paperback Down says...

Alice Ryan's debut novel follows Molly Black as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her parents. Much of the novel is, however, told through the eyes of the various eccentric and well-meaning aunts, uncles and cousins that make up Molly's extended family, as they come together to find Molly and bring her home. Told with humour, empathy and compassion, it's a book about family, connection and the ties that bind and define us. A warm, funny and absorbing story of a family that we'd all love to be part of!  

Science Fiction & Fantasy: How High We Go In The Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu

What's the craic?

Dr. Cliff Miyashiro arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue his recently deceased daughter's research, only to discover a virus, newly unearthed from melting permafrost. The plague unleashed reshapes life on earth for generations. Yet even while struggling to counter this destructive force, humanity stubbornly persists in myriad moving and ever inventive ways.

Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects - a pig - develops human speech; a man who, after recovering from his own coma, plans a block party for his neighbours who have also woken up to find that they alone have survived their families; and a widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet.

From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. This is a story of unshakable hope that crosses literary lines to give us a world rebuilding itself through an endless capacity for love, resilience and reinvention.

Paperback Down says...

With comparisons to Station Eleven and Cloud Atlas, this is a wildly imaginative book examining how, both as a society and as individuals, we deal with grief and loss on a massive scale. With a timeline that starts in a not-too-distant future and ends over 6000 years ahead on a far distant planet, each chapter follows the story of a different character, all subtly connected in ways that only become apparent as the novel progresses. Largely written pre-Covid, there's a breath-taking prescience to the novel, a warning of an all-too-believable future and the way humanity reacts when faced with planetary-wide disaster. Inventive and thought-provoking!

Bucket List Books: The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

What's the craic?

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

Young, handsome and fabulously rich, Jay Gatsby is the bright star of the Jazz Age, but as writer Nick Carraway is drawn into the decadent orbit of his Long Island mansion, where the party never seems to end, he finds himself faced by the mystery of Gatsby's origins and desires. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life, Gatsby is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon, this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

Paperback Down says...

Often described as one of the great American novels, The Great Gatsby is a story about the extravagant and hedonistic excesses of 1920s America and a massive class divide which put any hope of achieving the American Dream far beyond the reach of most ordinary people. Highlighting the bigotry, misogyny and elitism of Fitzgerald's world in a way that often makes for uncomfortable reading, this is a book populated by flawed, or downright awful, characters - and yet it remains a poignant and significant commentary on class and society that has continued relevance even today. A definite must-read literary classic to tick off your bucket list.

Which will you choose?

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