Recommended Reading

2010 Bord Gáis Book Awards

The Shortlist Announcement on October 28th unveiled a typically eclectic range of wonderful titles nominated for the fifth annual Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards, including books by Colm Toibin, Joseph O’Connor, Sheila O’Flanagan, Cecelia Ahern, Ryan Tubridy, Shane Ross, Fintan O’Toole, Johnny Giles, Ruby Walsh, Derek Landy, John Boyne, newcomer Amy Huberman and children's author Sarah Webb.

At a thoroughly upbeat ceremony, held on November 25th, The Awards rewarded wonderful books by Emma Donoghue, Neil Richardson, Ross O’Carroll Kelly, Ryan Tubridy, Gene Kerrigan, Donal Skehan, Niamh Sharkey, Derek Landy, John Giles and Donal Óg Cusack. The great Maeve Binchy was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by President McAleese who delivered a dignified speech in praise of Maeve and the nation's literary heritage. The overwhelming sentiment expressed by the speechmakers was one of celebration at a time when it was never more necessary. If the spirit in the room could be injected into public affairs, then surely we'd be better able to face the challenging times ahead. Congratulations to all our winners. Most pleasing for us was this quote from the morning papers: "With almost 30,000 public votes cast to decide the outcome, the winners are a genuine reflection of what Irish people are reading and enjoying". Many thanks to each and every one of you who voted. Let's do it all over again in 2011. Meanwhile Merry Christmas to all our readers from The Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.

For full details of winners and shortlists in all categories please visit Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards

Orange Prize for Fiction 2010

Barbara Kingsolver wins with The Lacuna

"The Lacuna" is the heartbreaking story of a man's search for safety of a man torn between the warm heart of Mexico and the cold embrace of 1950s McCarthyite America. Born in the U.S. and reared in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd is a liability to his social-climbing flapper mother, Salome. Making himself useful in the household of the famed Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and exiled Bolshevik leader Lev Trotsky, young Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution. A violent upheaval sends him north to a nation newly caught up in World War II. In the mountain city of Asheville, North Carolina he remakes himself in America's hopeful image. But political winds continue to throw him between north and south, in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach - the lacuna - between truth and public presumption. A gripping story of identity, loyalty and the devastating power of accusations to destroy innocent people, "The Lacuna" is as deep and rich as the New World.

Orange Award for New Writers 2010

Irene Sabatini wins with The Boy Next Door

As Zimbabwe breaks free of British colonial rule, young Lindiwe Bishop encounters violence at close hand when her white neighbour is murdered. But this is a domestic crime, apparently committed by the woman's stepson, Ian, although he is released from prison surprisingly quickly. Intrigued, Lindiwe strikes up a covert friendship with the mysterious boy next door, until he abruptly departs for South Africa. Years later, Ian returns to find Lindiwe has been hiding her own secret. It is to bring them closer together, but also test a relationship already contending with racial prejudice and the hostility of Lindiwe's mother. And as their country slides towards chaos, the couple's grip on happiness becomes ever more precarious. Vividly evoking the traumatic history of a nation once brimming with promise, THE BOY NEXT DOOR tells an engrossing, unpredictable story of love against the odds, and of the shadows cast by the past.