The Glass Shore
Various Authors, Ed. Sinéad Gleeson

The Glass Shore is undoubtedly one of the finest books published this year. A collection of short stories by women writers from Northern Ireland, expertly edited by Sinead Gleeson, it is a luminous anthology. Writers from Northern Ireland are too often neglected, or pigeon-holed by the experiences of the North’s past. This collection shows the breadth of talent to be found in the women in the north of this island, serving as an expert rebuke to those that chose to overlook them. It is an essential addition to any bookshelf. Hannah Beresford

 

Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen

“Writing about stuff that was in the past, you just felt like you had a lot of freedom there.” Bruce Springsteen started writing Born to Run seven years ago after playing the Super Bowl halftime show, allowing his story to trickle out unhurried. The result is a clear, calm and cohesive account of a life that’s been anything but. Springsteen shies away from braggadocios accounts of living the fast life, eschewing such Rock tropes to devote time to themes genuinely central to who he is; depression, self-doubt and the joy and identity that can be found in work and music, all told in his own voice, as distinct as any of his studio albums. Michael Mullooly

 

Collected Poems: 1950–2012
Adrienne Rich

Credited as one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century, Adrienne Rich was one of the first poets to bring female, and lesbian, experience to the fore in her work. Bringing together her complete oeuvre in one volume for the first time, the Collected Poems trace her work’s development from early, formally precise poems to her later writing, which was radical in both form and content. Including prize winning collections like Diving into the Wreck and Atlas of the Difficult World, this book would be a wonderful addition to the bookshelves of die-hard fans and newcomers alike. Sarah Upton

 

Commonwealth
Ann Patchett

Commonwealth is an epic saga condensed into a series of pivotal moments in time, each as dense and powerful as a neutron star. Like Billy Pilgrim we fly backwards and forwards through the half-century of consequence that follows an affair between two beautiful people – sparked by a Christening gate-crasher carrying a bottle of gin. Commonwealth is about relationships and unity born from hardship. It’s a novel that elevates the mundane and only ever hints at the magnitude of emotion that lies just below all of our surfaces. Patchett proves yet again with this breathtakingly reserved work that she’s one of the strongest writers around today. Michael Mullooly

 

Swing Time
Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith’s Swing Time is about women, identity, and relationships. Through the unnamed narrator of the story and her childhood friend Tracey, Smith explores the way in which this friendship evolves and modulates as they grow from children to adults, demonstrating its effect on the narrator and the way in which her life develops. Smith seeks to interrogate the ways in which we classify an individual as a person. Of what significance is a name in comparison to a life lived, memories made, relationships with others, and personal thoughts? She builds our narrator’s identity in a mosaic-like way, charting her life through the lens of her interactions with three key female figures; her childhood friend, her boss, and her mother. Identity is something that never quite settles, it is always relative to something else and never absolute. Although not quite as good as some of Smith’s previous work, this is certainly a book worth reading. Bronach Rafferty

 

Hag-Seed
Margaret Atwood

Hag-Seed was one of the most anticipated books of 2016. Canadian writer Margaret Atwood’s contribution to the Hogarth Shakespeare project is a vibrant retelling of The Tempest, in which Felix, a despicable updated Prospero, is a deposed theatre director plotting revenge against his rival. Exiled to a life teaching in a theatre programme in a prison in Ontario, Felix plans an ambitious and elaborate staging of The Tempest. Though his play seems ready to descend into ridiculousness; “his Ariel”, for example, “would be played by a transvestite on stilts who’d transform into a giant firefly at significant moments”; the insidious nature of Felix’s revenge is soon revealed. Imbued with Atwood’s signature wit, Hag-Seed is at once profound and highly entertaining. Not to be missed! Sarah Upton

 

Nutshell
Ian McEwan

Loosely based on Hamlet, Nutshell is Ian McEwan at his best. The premise is this: a classic Shakespearean tale narrated by a hyper-aware, absurdly eloquent eight-month old foetus. The story should, by its very nature, feel limited and somewhat claustrophobic. Yet, as the narrator guides us through a web of family disloyalty (his mother and father have separated, his mother is having an affair with his father’s brother), culminating in a murder plot, it becomes clear that this book is anything but. The reader is neither observer nor participant but rather an involuntary third party to this crime. The plot is not without its weaknesses; the characters at times feel underdeveloped. However, McEwan creates a voice which breathes new life into a tale told hundreds of times before. He transfixes the reader with ease for a 200 page soliloquy. This book is unique and unlike anything you have read before. Aoibheann Durkin

The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead

The Underground Railroad was met with near-universal acclaim as one of Oprah’s book club picks and the recipient of the 2016 National Book Award. Fearing a new threat from her sadistic Georgia plantation owner, Cora, a young slave approaching womanhood, learns of the existence of an underground railway system from a newcomer, Caesar. Together they hatch a daring plot to escape, leading them on a stunning odyssey across antebellum America. Though some of the characters are a little underdeveloped, The Underground Railroad was one of the most riveting reads of 2016. Sarah Upton

 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany

The glorified fan fiction that is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child really requires two pieces. The West End play which opened in late July received rave reviews, with the acting, the set, and the evolved characters all praised. The story, starting with the ‘Nineteen Years Later’ chapter of the Deathly Hallows, was more divisive but generally well received. The script published alongside, however, is not nearly as magical. Let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. This is not a prose narrative, nor was it actually written by Rowling. Rather, this was a cheap attempt to profit from obsessive fans. Consequently, there ae a lot of problems with it. The dialogue is wooden. The set descriptions are detailed, but will not change your existing vision of Hogwarts and its world. Reading it brings the numerous plot holes and derivative premise to the fore; aspects which may be suspended by live theatre magic. If ‘The Cursed Child: Live’ is the Quidditch World Cup, this text is one of the dodgy trinkets vendors peddle in the Forest of Dean. For the love of magic, wait for a rerun. Cahal Sweeney

 

End of Watch
Stephen King

In 2014, King released Mr Mercedes, his first ever detective novel and finest work in several years. The novel’s strength lay almost solely in King’s ability to fully flesh out four main characters: Brady Hartsfield, the disturbed, genius serial killer; and the motley trio of unlikely heroes, Bill, Jerome and Holly. The final part of the trilogy, End of Watch, works so well because it brings these four together again once more, fleshing out their characters. While some critics and fans disliked the introduction of supernatural elements to the series’ plot, by broadening Brady’s powers, King could explore contemporary and underexplored horror themes such as cyberbullying and mass suicide. End of Watch brings a fantastic trilogy to a satisfying conclusion. Michael Mullooly