And the nominees are (with occasional snarks):
The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor. If only one of the characters had bought a mobile phone
Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor
Winterwood by Patrick McCabe. Can do better.
Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle. Grinding poverty from the pen of Roddy Doyle: marvel at how Paula gets by on €600 a week, living rent free with no dependents. I never knew Corn Flakes could be so expensive
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
Tenderwire by Claire Kilroy
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry.
Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden
Stepping Stones by Dennis O’Driscoll and Seamus Heaney
Let The Great World Spin by Colm McCann. Read Speedboat instead. Also set in 1970s NY but neither derivative nor opportunistic
The Builders by Frank McDonald and Kathy Sheridan
This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
The Speckled People by Hugo Hamilton
The New Policeman by Kate Thompson. I preferred the Third
Memoir by John McGahern
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
The Pope’s Children by David McWilliams. Catechism of cliche.
Back From The Brink by Paul McGrath
The Gathering by Anne Enright. Irish familial misery = Booker
Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan
Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade by Ross O’Carroll Kelly. The laureate of the noughties, we salute you
The Truth Commissioner by David Parks
The Parish by Alice Taylor
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
Lessons in Heartbreak by Cathy Kelly. Certainly not lessons in writing.
Forgive and Forget by Patricia Scanlan. I will.
The Lovers by John Connolly
It’s a Long Way from Penny Apples by Bill Cullen
The Stolen Village by Des Ekin
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Yours, Faithfully by Sheila O’Flanagan
The Sea by John Banville. Or how to keep writing the same book over and again until you get a Booker for it.
With My Lazy Eye by Julia Kelly
Connemara: Listening to the Wind by Tim Robinson
In the Woods by Tana French
Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey
A Secret History of the IRA by Ed Moloney
The Master by Colm Tóibín
There Are Little Kingdoms by Kevin Barry. A true poet of the pint.
In the Forest by Edna O’Brien. A bit like In the Forest, except it’s crap…
Keane by Roy Keane. A book about an enigma that’s not in any way enigmatic. Ah well.
Havoc in Its Third Year by Ronan Bennett
Judging Dev by Diarmaid Ferriter
Netherland by Joseph O’Neill. Hmmm. Over there and definitely over-rated.
That They May Face The Rising Sun by John McGahern. A thin line between laconic anc catatonic.
PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. PS I can’t punctuate.
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Foolish Mortals by Jennifer Johnston.
