Conor McCarthy, a founding member of the Irish Palestianian Solidarity Campaign, finds a new book on Irish-Palestinian relations by Rory Miller's 'important at the documentary level, but flawed and even grossly biased at the interpretative level'
Tony Parsons' My Baby and Man and Wife , Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and papal book news and Richard and Judy's Book club choices including The Jane Austen Book Club, The Shadow of the Wind, Cloud Atlas
Ronan Browne sorts through the books on offer this summer, sorting the thrilling from the trite to ensure you get the holiday read you deserve
Dear Póilín,
Five Run Away Together by Enid Blyton from Hodder Children's Pressis is number three in a series of 21 books. It follows the same pattern as the others with absolutely no character development or plot variation.
The flimsy logic of Ridley Pearson's latest crime novel, Cut and Run, does not take away from its enjoyment, writes Michael Agger
You're booked. The 2005 Premier League Reading Stars campaign and Jamie Oliver on school dinners and Dan Brown with Angels & Demons
Until the late 19th century, any Joe Soap could be made a cardinal or pope. Leo XIII got a bit more stringent, and said that Joe Soap would at least have to be ordained Fr Joe Soap once he had been so appointed. Then John XXIII said that he'd have to be made a bishop as well – but this after he had been nominated as cardinal or pope.
First published in Irish under the title GAFA, this novel was a 1996 National Oireachtas Literary Award winner. This English language version, translated by the writer, was published by him in 1999.
February was a month of loss with the death of Cuban novelist C Gabriel Infante, the violent suicide of Hunter S Thompson and the well-eulogised passing of legendary American playwright Arthur Miller. Still alive but apparently as lost to the world of writing is British playwright Harold Pinter, who retired last week to concentrate on his political interests.