Catchy, endearing and makes want to visit Ireland
348704
Ramblings in Ireland was probably the book I read fastest this year which says a lot of how I enjoyed it: a lot. Catchy, funny, flowing and mainly obviously written with heart, soul and guts, which makes it a very special book. I happened to have read "A Catcher in the Rye" from Salinger just before this and I couldn't help thinking of the narrator's way of judging if a book is good: a good book is when you want to meet the author. After reading Ramblings in Ireland, you feel like meeting the author, her husband, her friends and visiting Ireland of course !
954594
This CD makes me wish I was Irish each time I hear it.  I have listened to it many, many times; it always brings a fresh smile to my face.  I don't know what it is about this Irish music...there is something magical about this CD.  The songs are simply beautiful.  The melodies are equally suitable for humming to your infant as you soothe her at sunrise or blasting as your driving down a snow-covered country road (and I did both this morning.) This is a CD to give as a gift to any music lover.
1774789
For years now I have had a yearning to visit Ireland, but have not had the chance. My recent Ancestry DNA test came back that I am primarily Irish! Something (the Universe?) told me to look up a romance about a cottage and I came across this charming story. I read it this afternoon and will buy the next two books next...Thank you, Jules, for this treat! ~ Julz (also a Juliet)
839576
I have never been to Ireland but this beautiful book has made me feel like I am right there the entire way through the book. I will read this over and over again! Felicity Hayes-McCoy has helped me take a step to my dream of going to Ireland!
2500431
Britain. Wow, what a place. End to end it's colorful (hence the gray thing in the title, little reference to the weather, you know) it's weird, and it's not afraid to celebrate its peccadilloes. It's so interesting there it makes me wonder, as I always do, why the locals ever felt the need to leave and, oh, I dunno, bug the Irish so much. That said (hey, it was my sworn duty) this seriously is a neat book and I enjoyed it a lot. It's full of stories almost too odd to be real and places that call out to you to visit. From cursed chairs in innocuous pubs, to aliens and crop circles, to festivals that merrily commemorate the droolingly insane side to life---shin-kicking contests and Guy Fawke's Day---this island has it all and this book tells you about it. When and if I go next summer for the first time in nine years, I'm going to check out as many as I can of the freakish locales Benedict le Vay (any relation to Morgan le Fay, I wonder?) writes about. Read this book and come away with more respect than ever for the eccentric-loving people who gave us Eastenders, "classic" literature, and one darn cool flag (quite honestly worn over there as underwear) the Union Jack.
1494077
If you yearn for a trip to Ireland but can't quite make it happen this year, despair not. Pour yourself a Guinness, sit back in your favorite reading chair, and open Far from the Land, an Irish memoir, by Thomas Rice.  You'll be in Ireland, circa 1950, where you'll be entertained and educated, enjoy an intimate look at the growing up years of a gutsy Irish lad, meet an array of Irish that rival the cast of Canterbury Tales, see the effects of poverty and sisters and an absent, alcoholic father, dogs and sheep and Arabian horses, Irish tenors and testosterone, the rain, the dark sky and the land, always the land. And then there's the mother, who raises the bar on the meaning of love, sacrifice and control, whose spirit permeates this book the way a powerful river defines it's valley.
Far from the Land is a delightful, passionate, honest, inspirational book. It is a wonderful coming of age story, a study of a society rooted in the religion and customs of a bygone era, a family saga, and a tale of courage, hard work, and determination. It is a good book to read if you are down, and want to hear the story of a boy who persevered to overcome obstacles far beyond what most Americans will confront in their life times. It is a good book to read if you are up, and want to hear the story of a lad who took the good with the bad, assimilated life's lessons, and courageously moved on to the next challenge. The story is superb. The characters pop off the page. The prose is lively. The history is thought provoking and radical. In a long line of splendid literature bequethed to us from Ireland, this memoir stands with the best. If you like memoirs, if you're interested in Ireland, or if you want a good read to accompany your pint or your tea, you can't do better than Far From the Land.
308734
This is a wonderful and evocative novel set mostly in Ireland and the UK and should be very satisfying for those women (and men) who very much prefer substance over fluff. Although the author here serves up a "first" novel, she describes herself as having been a storyteller from childhood, and it shows. She's not afraid to tackle "deep" subjects, loss and grief, grave illness, and some few of the larger problems of society as a whole. Her heroine is... complicated... by turns cynical, romantic, naive, believably competent, a crusader for social causes, tough as nails, vulnerable, and very much distinguishable from a doormat.

The transition in diction from Received English to West Country Irish seems accurate, to my untutored ear at least, since I have not the Gaelic and my only words of it seem to be but one, "Slinte", and that sometimes unsteadily, so the distinctive Irish culture adds yet another dimension to an already multifaceted novel.

I highly recommend it.

Cheers,

Lee-Anne
1736535
A girl, a horse and the magical Irish countryside; what more do you need for a great story? CHESCA AND THE SPIRIT OF GRACE grabs our affection immediately and whisks us off to Howth harbour on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. Chesca O'Brien has learned to understand what her animal friends say - so much so, that she doesn't want human pals.

Malley the lead stallion is fond of Chesca but her dairy-farming father won't let the girl ride such a strong spirited horse. Chesca's favourite spot is "surrounded by old stone walls and steeped in history. An old ruin of a cottage... the fields and meadows all fell away to the cliffs and down to the beach, cove, village and harbour."  The excellent scene-setting puts us in the mood for excitement. Chesca enjoys trick-riding on her mare Star but Malley is a superb storyteller. He tells the girl that he is descended from a horse owned by the pirate queen Grace O'Malley.

Life has hard realities. The O'Briens run pony-trekking and between costs, insurance and loans, the banker puts them on notice. This is clearly a matter for the adults; what could a girl of nearly twelve, who's away with the fairies half the time, possibly do to save her home?  Then the unthinkable happens and Chesca's mother is taken ill, so that cultured, unfeeling Aunt Dena arrives, promptly kicking the dog which came to greet her and doubting that her sister ever had a manicure.  How much worse can it get?

The contrasts are nicely placed - a sudden acrid smell of nail-polish remover in the farm kitchen, a farmer wearing a suit to visit the hospital. Chesca is made to feel guilty for getting her own way; seeing her venerable home from her aunt's point of view, she realises that yes it is old, draughty and hard to keep.  But what does Dena mean about calling in pest control? Chesca and her pet mouse haven't a clue. "I bet she was dropped on her head as a baby," mutters the rebellious girl.

I laughed aloud and loved this story. Young adults, especially girls, will relate to Chesca and her need to save her home and family. She discovers that human friends are great to have in a pinch, and that people do strange things in difficult times. Courage counts for as much as inventiveness in Lara O'Brien's CHESCA AND THE SPIRIT OF GRACE.  The author grew up at Howth Riding Stables and now lives in Martha's Vineyard. I also highly recommend her work for adults who want a break from the dreary economic news.
2964371
Having just returned from a wonderful trip to England and Scotland, and planning another to Scotland and Ireland, I was very excited to get a message from Laura Sullivan asking if I would be willing to review her Celtic music CD Close to Home. My grandma and I share a love of calm instrumental music, so we listened to it together over the holiday break.

My first impression was that this CD sounds like music you'd hear in a high-end spa. It's calm and beautiful and it's the kind of music that can stimulate a lot of thoughts and memories or fall into the background and just set a mood. The songs are mostly familiar, but Laura brings a new sound to all of them. I've never heard Shenandoah quite like this, and my mom (who nearly always hates "this type" of music) quite liked it. She said it reminded her of her visit to Gettysburg - very serene and otherworldly.

My personal favorite was Spancil Hill, so much that I looked it up and learned that it's a song written about the plight of Irish immigrants who miss their homeland. You can really hear that sort of longing in the song. I also loved how the notes just seemed to flow effortlessly from the piano, even though years of piano-playing have taught me it takes great skill and effort to actually make it sound that way.

My grandma so loved the album that she's claimed it as her own. I can live with that, but I'll definitely be loading this album up on my Spotify account when I head over to Scotland and Ireland next summer. I suspect it will make great walking music when we explore some of the less populated areas.
66495
Starry-eyed and with a deep-seated love of the history of the place even before I had set foot there, I travelled to Paris after graduating university, armed not only with the obligatory budget guide to hostels and el-cheapo cafes, but with a last-minute find: "A Traveller's History of Paris". It was fabulous. Not only could I bore my travelling companion to tears photographing every angle of every building, but I could also talk her ear off from Notre Dame to the Louvre, recounting the historical anecdotes and trivia that went with each site.
I was looking forward to much the same when I ordered "A Traveller's History of Ireland". And from the point of view of history, this book certainly strives for thoroughness. However, in the end I left this one at home because it told me very little about specific histories of specific sites that I intended to visit throughout Ireland. Certainly it makes an effort, with the historical gazetteer at the back, to link the history to the geography; however, as a traveller, I much prefer to have the *places* enumerated and detailed than the periods.
As a history of Ireland, this book is not even that inspiring. Rather dry and sometimes pedantic, it lacks the lyrical energy that so informs the Irish love-affair with the written and spoken word. To get a sense of the flavour of Ireland's history, you'd do far better to read such personal accounts as Frank McCourt's deservedly popular memoirs, or the alternately funny and heart-rending novels of Roddy Doyle. For the romantic, browse Yeats' poems; for the ancient, explore the rich Irish folklore and mythology. Any of these will give you a better feel for the country and its spirit than this book, detailed and scholarly as it is.
I recommend this book mostly for that detail and scholarly approach. The title is misleading, though - this is not a book written with the traveller in mind.
3841028
Daniel O'Donnell probably became familiar with most of these songs from a very early age, but he clearly enjoyed recording these songs, mostly between 1985 and 1990, but with some more recent including eight dated 2001 or 2002. The vast majority of the songs feature Irish place names from (it seems) every part of the island disregarding the political border. I'm not sure about the origin of These are my mountains, which doesn't mention place names but always makes me think of Scotland, and which is a popular song there too. Whether it is originally Scottish or Irish, it can be interpreted as being about either, so I'm not complaining about its inclusion here. One of the most famous songs here, Forty shades of green, is definitely not Irish in origin, being from the pen of Johnny Cash, but it most certainly belongs here as it is all about Ireland. Clearly, Johnny was most impressed by what he found on one of his visits to Ireland.

Generally, I prefer to hear Daniel singing ballads, but there is a mix of tempos here and I cannot fault any of Daniel's performances. The most famous song here is Danny boy, which I've heard performed by many different singers, not all of them Irish. Of course, I didn't buy this collection for that song, but it had to be included. I am much more interested in the songs that I don't remember hearing elsewhere, especially those with delightful titles like Come back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff, Cutting the corn in Creeslough, The banks of my own lovely Lee, Pat Murphy's meadow and Lough Melvin's rocky shore. I love those songs about rural Ireland, and this collection contains plenty of them.

Many Irish singers record their share of Irish songs, so there are plenty of similar albums to choose from, but this certainly one of the best. If you love Irish songs, you might consider Susan McCann's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Sentimental-Journey/dp/B000RQQJUC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Sentimental Journey</a>, which also contains 40 tracks and only four of the songs are the same as on Daniel's collection here. Between the 76 different songs, five of them have Galway in the title. Daniel sings Galway bay, Heaven around Galway bay and Dear old Galway town, while Susan's collection contains Galway races and My own dear Galway bay. Never having been there, I can but wonder as to why Galway in particular is such an inspiration for songs.
439896
Readers will find themselves whisked away to the Emerald Isle in this well written romance.  Author Josie Riviera's vivid descriptions made me feel as if I had indeed been transported across the Atlantic to Ireland.

The people portrayed are very real and I felt as if I knew them.  Ms. Riviera knows how to keep her readers emotionally involved in the story and moves us seamlessly between the high and low points in her main characters lives.  The book focuses on Clara and Danny, who on the surface appear to have little on which to base a relationship, but upon digging deeper have more in common than not. I not only became interested in Clara and Danny, but also in the supporting characters who have their own sub-stories that impact their relationship.

Josie Riviera is a fairly new to me author, but Im quickly becoming one of her biggest fans.

I received an e-copy of this book from the author.  The opinions here, however, are strictly my own.
4136939
Michael and Branna were so great together. Tons of chemistry, handsome, strong, family man and an intelligent, strong woman who can hold her own.

I picked this book because I'm getting ready to go to Ireland and I'm so glad I stumbled across it!! It was perfect for getting me in the spirit of Ireland and just a great book even if I wasn't going there.

I'm going straight on to Aiden's story and cannot wait to get in to it.
3914632
As a Dubliner, long since dispatched to the shores of the US, I confess little objectivity in reviewing Mary Black's Down The Crooked Road. Sitting down with the book was like having a steaming hot mug of tea and a warm buttered scone on a cold, damp Dublin afternoon. It was pure joy to read about Mary's professional and personal journey and, if there were any regrets at all, it was that I didn't get to see more of her live performances when I was still living in Dublin. If you're an ex-Pat, like me, take a trip down memory lane and savor this book. If you've never been to Ireland, this wonderful book will take you gently there and give you a lovely sense for the color of her music, her people and the laughter. Peter Smith, Author, Hiring Squirrels
4611799
As an Irishwoman myself, more than used to typical 'Oirish' stereotyping, this book is a real - and most welcome - gem. Laugh-out-loud funny, thoughtful and clever it offers a real look at Irish life 'down the country'. Pete McCarthy has now become my number one dinner guest. A great little book.
428085
Research librarian Nan Galvin discovers a box of letters in her mother's things and learns the woman had corresponded with a person called Corey. Since losing both her parents, she has an overwhelming desire to learn more about her mother and so she embarks on a ten-day visit to the County Cork village where her mother stayed twenty-seven years earlier.

Arriving at Shannon, she's met by Riley Quinn, a songwriter, helper in the family pub and the owner of the cottage where she's going to stay. It's instant attraction for both of them, but Nan isn't about to let a flirtation with a drop-dead gorgeous Irishman get in the way of her mission of discovery. And Riley has no plans to settle down and isn't about to fall for an American who'll soon be gone. Or will he?

This latest Quinn adventure by Kate Hoffman combines delightful characterization with stunning Irish scenery and enough hot sex to steam your glasses. It's obvious Ms. Hoffman also loves Ireland and has traveled there or read some pretty thorough travel books. I run an Irish travel website and have visited County Cork numerous times and felt the realism, right down to the Guinness and Clancy Brothers songs.

The Mighty Quinns: Riley is well written and a delight to read. I will be looking forward to Ms. Hoffman's next Quinn story.
530753
Beautiful story, it makes me want to visit Ireland. I loved the story line a two souls being connected together and finding each other after 200 years of being a part. The way Jessica writes the story makes you feel like you are there with them experiencing it with the characters. I can't wait to read the next book.