First Flush is out for October with all new releases in fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books
First Flush is out! For those of you unfamiliar, it’s our database of all forthcoming books each month (and you can also search the archives back to January 2021).
The books arriving now are the Christmas publications—and October’s First Flush tells us that this will be a great year for giving books.
Fiction
Cosy Christmas titles are up first, with three books that will be perfect for romance lovers. On the First Day of Christmas by Faith Hogan (Aria) is described as ‘Sliding Doors meets One Day in December’, when a single phone call has the power to change the course of Liv’s life. Between Ally Bunbury’s All Wrapped Up and Roisin Meaney’s A Winter to Remember (Hachette Books Ireland), we’ll be spoiled for choice for amusing and heart-warming festive romances!
A work of astounding depth, intelligence, and beauty, Penelope Unbound by Mary Morrissy has already garnered dazzling reviews from John Banville and Carlo Gébler. Morrissy imagines James Joyce – not yet famous – arriving in Trieste by train with Norah Barnacle. Penniless, he goes to seek out a loan, leaving Norah sitting on a suitcase outside the train station for almost an entire day and night. In reality, Norah waited for him; they were reunited, and the rest is history…but what if she hadn’t?
Following the superlative Solar Bones comes Mike McCormack’s This Plague of Souls. Exploring judgement, penance, loss and recovery, it’s out this October with Tramp Press and Canongate.
There are fewer crime books out than usual this month, which is a little odd, as Halloween seems the perfect time for something thrilling and chilling. But Alice Bell offers up a book that will subvert your expectations. Grave Expectations (Corvus) will ‘have you laughing loudly enough to raise the dead’ in the first instalment in this genre-blending crime series.
Children’s Books
This month sees a landmark in children’s publishing, with the arrival of Black & Irish: Legends, Trailblazers & Everyday Heroes (Little Island), an important and necessary book which along with a mention on the Late Late Show, has been travelling on tour in the USA.
Heroes is a common theme in this month’s children’s books, with the publication of The Forgettables: Remarkable Irish People (and Animals) you’ve Never Heard of by Myles Dungan, illustrated by Alan Dunne (Gill Books).
With Sarah Webb’s #DiscoverIrishKidsBooks campaign going strong, there are lots of fabulous resources out there to help you to discover Irish children’s books this month, including a fantastic October campaign The Irish Children’s Books Challenge from our own children’s book reviewer, Ruth Ennis.
Ellen Ryan’s sequel to the award-winning Girls Who Slay Monsters is here, with Gods Don’t Cry: Unsung Stories of Ireland’s Forgotten Immortals, with stunning illustrations from Conor Merriman (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
In a wonderful collaboration between Lucinda Jacob, Sarah Webb and Ashwin Chacko comes another beautiful title from Little Island, I am the Wind: Irish Poems for Children Everywhere. A fully illustrated collection of Irish poems, ranging from medieval to modern and told in English and Irish, this is a beautiful collection.
Futa Fata presents the absolutely adorable Gealach agus Grian by Muireann Ni Chiobhain, illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald. Does your little one ever wonder just how the Sun and Moon came to live in the sky? Explore this story of two polar opposite best friends – who just need their own space sometimes.
GAA and rugby are taking centre stage with two collections, The Great Irish Book of Gaelic Games by Evanne Ni Chuilinn; Donough O Malley (Gill Books) and The Book of Irish Sporting Heroes by Adrian Russell; Graham Corcoran (Red Shed). Check out Ireland’s sporting greats from All-Ireland champions to Olympic gold medallists, Grand Slam greats to golfing Major champions and the highs and lows that made them.
Poetry
This month’s poetry list sees two Irish and translated works coming to bookshops. Pucaiocht: Shapeshifting by Maire Ni Bhriain (Boland Press), and the beautifully designed Solas Geimhridh by Laoighseach Ni Choistealbha (Barzaz).
Gallery Books also have two impressive volumes out this month, with Audrey Molloy’s The Blue Cocktail probing the idea of home across her native Ireland and Australia. One part memory, two parts love letter to the sea, with dashes of longing, sass, and a nip of melancholia, The Blue Cocktail is strange, sexy and intoxicating. Meanwhile, Peter Sirr’s The Swerve, his tenth collection, is confident in its risk taking, drawing on inspiration from and engaging in conversations with Buson and Borges.
Non fiction
This month sees the publication of the much-anticipated Dirty Linen, by Martin Doyle (Merrion Press), which is an intimate and deeply researched history of the Troubles seen through the lens of the parish where the author grew up.
Non-fiction for October tends toward the darker side of our history, with Face Down: The Disappearance of Thomas Niedermayer by David Blake Knox (New Island Books) and The Kidnapping by Tommy Conlon; Ronan McGreevy (Sandycove).
The third instalment of Old Ireland in Colour illuminates images of the past throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From the chaos of the Civil War to the simple beauty of the islands, the Merrion Press publication brings the people of the past to life. Resilience: Lessons from Sir William Wilde on Life after Covid also seeks to bring the past into the present, by exploring pandemics in the writings of Sir William Wilde and comparing how Covid-19 showed that we are more fragile than we thought, but also stronger, smarter, wiser, and kinder (Eastwood Books).
Rozanna Purcell has released a hiking guide for all those jealous of her stunningly scenic Instagram – The Hike Life: My 50 Favourite Hikes in Ireland and highlights some of Ireland’s most dramatic mountains and coastlines to explore the best of what the island has to offer (Black and White Publishing).
Sunday Miscellany: A Selection, 2018-2023 (New Island) collects some of the best broadcasts from the last five years of Sunday Miscellany on RTÉ Radio 1, an Irish institution. Full of new, established and household names, Sarah Binchy’s collection will move and delight.
Foodies will rejoice to see a new book in from Darina Allen, Grow, Cook, Nourish, which focuses on a more sustainable style of eating and gardening. Helping readers to make the most of their produce, Allen draws on more than 30 years of experience gardening at Ballymaloe to take you through an extensive list of vegetables, herbs and fruits (Octopus Publishing Group).
If you’re more of a cocktail connoisseur than a cook, then Irish Kitchen Cocktails: 60 Recipes You Can Make at Home with Everyday Equipment might be more your cup of tea. Using Irish spirits and items every kitchen will have, wow your guests at your next dinner party with these stunning concoctions (Nine Bean Rows Books).
Check out all new books in First Flush!
