Books

Jay McInerney's latest offering fails to fully utilise the horrors of 9/11 to inject some much needed bite into the novel's real subject.

Steve Heighton has drawn on the Polaris Expedition to create a novel of big ideas and beautiful language,

Poet Nick Laird's first novel is a comic tale of an Ulsterman's escapades in a sharply-observed London,

Those proud to live and work within the grasp of the Celtic Tiger; those who think their success is based on talent and innovation, and has nothing to do with dumb luck and happenstance – prepare to see the ugly truth. Seán Harnett's debut novel, Aisling Ltd, shows us all how we really are.

When you spend your weeks reading new novels it gets hard to even look at books that are dog-eared or even thumbed once. Book Notes made an exception this week as news of Avian Flu in Nigeria and dying swans in Europe made the world feel a little bit smaller and deadly disease just a little closer.

This year's 1916 commemoration will not be the first time Fianna Fáil have used the anniversary of the Rising to build party support. A new book by James Moran takes a critical look at the commemoration of 1935. Colin Murphy reports

Something Invisible is Siobhan Parkinson's second book for Puffin and what a well-produced book it is. Excellent paper that increases the pleasure of the reader and a great eye-catching cover by Photolibrary.com.

The world of Jackie Collins's Lovers & Players may, at first glance, seem superficial and sordid, but there lies beneath a beautiful idealism, says Alexandra Jacobs

A beautiful novel by Kiran Desai where East meets West without understanding. By Pankaj Mishra

Noah Feldman reviews bin Laden's messages to the world; he may be 'a Muslim out of the mainstream, distorting the faith to justify murder', but his words are nonetheless worth reading