Book Review | Business Post

Book review: Poor is no rags to riches fairytale

Academic Katriona O’Sullivan escaped a life of chaos, stigma and abuse, and her story presents a rare chance to read a personal account of the issue

Stories in the sun: the best of children’s summer reading

School’s out shortly and there will be young minds looking for entertainment and distraction through those long sunny afternoons. Here is our selection books to keep all ages enthralled over the holidays

Book review: Why Hotel 21 merits a holiday check-in

The debut novel from screenwriter Senta Rich has plenty of perks to recommend it, with lively dialogue that jumps off the page

Book review: Death in the Fields examines a vicious corner of an embattled North

Jonathan Trigg, historian and former British soldier, focuses on Tyrone’s role in the conflict in this painstakingly even-handed and insightful study

Book review: In Killing Moon, Jo Nesbo breathes new life into the tired trope of the renegade cop

If you’re not familiar with the multimillion bestselling crime writer Jo Nesbo, you’re in for a treat as he takes the hard-drinking, suicidal Harry Hole for his latest outing

Book review: Yellowface is a biting satire on the social media-obsessed literary world

Rebecca F Kuang’s hotly anticipated foray into non-fantasy works better as lampoon than thriller, for the main reason that her narrator is so unlikeable

Book review: There’s a germ of truth in saying the real rulers of the world are bacteria

In Pathogenesis, Jonathan Kennedy gives a gripping and accessible account of how pathogens have shaped our entire history, and all life on this planet, pointing out that we ‘are just squatters here’

Book review: The Guest invites us to see the world through the eyes of a female grifter

American writer Emma Cline tells a compelling story of an ex-call girl and emotional manipulator, who uses and abuses her rich prey mercilessly

Book review: In Broken Light, Joanne Harris takes a justifiably enraged swipe at the patriarchy

The author may be better known for more nostalgic fare, but her latest work could not be more current

Book review: Brilliant account of Macarthur case even has an interview with the Gubu man

A vividly written exploration of the bizarre murders that caused a major political crisis in 1980s Ireland is Gubu in its own right; gripping, unpretentious, brilliant and unputdownable

Book review: Annie Mac’s The Mess We’re In is a visceral account of the reality of the music business

The DJ-turned-author’s second novel is a coming of age story about a young Irish woman trying to make it in London’s record industry

Book review: Why Politics Fails offers a rare chance to avoid traps of our own making

Oxford professor Ben Ansell’s fascinating, thought-provoking book forces us to look at how human self-interest scuppers our collective wellbeing

Book review: Wealth of possibility unrealised in Poverty, By America

Pulitzer prize winner Matthew Desmond uses powerful personal experiences to help us grasp a critical topic, but his argument then sadly tapers off into statistics

Book review: My Hot Friend tackles cruelty and kindness of modern female friendship

The dark and light sides of Sophie White’s work meet in this refreshing take on the particular challenges of being a thirtysomething woman in the 2020s

Book review: Sarah Gilmartin dishes up a darkly addictive tale of food, celebrity and rape

Service begins as a delicious, scandalous glimpse behind the veil of a famous chef’s ego and talent, but becomes something much more sinister

Book review: How Boris Johnson made history for all the wrong reasons

A damning indictment of how the former British prime minister failed his office, his people and his own potential, Johnson at 10 is a cautionary tale, told with great authority and skill, if not a lot of flair

Book review: Hanks pens a fascinating love letter to the industry that has served him so well

Beautifully written debut novel from the Hollywood icon conjures up a cast of fully drawn characters as we’re taken through the movie-making process from very early inspiration to a screening of the final product

Book review: An enormity of suffering endured and eloquently expressed

Magdalene laundry survivor Maureen Sullivan’s bleak account of cruelty and torment is a starkly painful but memorable read

Book review: Beautifully told twin tales of discovery rooted in real life

Skilled storyteller Billy O’Callaghan brings both history and fiction to life in this novel connecting the Jewish communities of Cork and Vienna

Book review: Saga of one girl’s wartime journey is strangely bloodless and fails to ignite

The central character in A Complicated Matter is a little dull while the novel is likely to prove way too cosy a read for audiences raised on stronger meat