DCU Library's Sizzling Summer Reads

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the Women's Book Prize in 2023. Inspired by Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, it follows Damon as he braves foster care, child labour, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, doomed loves, and crushing losses. It's a gripping story that will have you racing to the end to find out how this troubled hero's story ends. 

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My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh follows the narrator's quest to escape from the world and sleep for a year. Pretty and privileged but with a vacuous hole in her heart she takes refuge from the world with interesting, sometimes hilarious results. This novel manages to be repetitious and exciting, tender and darkly funny, merciless and compassionate - in short it's a must-read.

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Prophet Song by Paul Lynch depicts the transformation of modern Ireland into a dystopian world, viewed through the eyes of scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack. Her family is thrown into turmoil as the newly formed secret police take her husband in for questioning and her eldest son disappears. Not for the faint hearted, this novel is original, terrifying and devastating.

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Snowflake by Louise Nealon isn't what it appears to be at first. Initially it's a coming-of-age novel about a young woman from rural Ireland who is overwhelmed by her introduction to student and city life in Dublin. Yet it combines this story with elements of the supernatural, exploring family trauma, mental health and friendship in ways that are fresh and often surprising. It's a beautifully written novel that is an inspired choice for this year's One Dublin One Book initiative.

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Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin tells the story of Sam and Sadie in a story that spans thirty years. Together the friends innovate the world of video game design and their success brings them fame, happiness and tragedy. Their legendary collaboration is the stuff of legends but their ambition and personal desires pull them apart and draw them together again in this dazzling and intricately imagined novel.

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In Yellowface R.F. Kuang illustrates the prevalence of racism in North America's publishing industry. After witnessing the death of author Athena Liu, June Hayward, a white author, steals Athena's newest novel and publishes it as her own. As June's lies continue to dig her into deeper and deeper holes, the reader is left wondering when it will all come crashing down. While giving us insight into the publishing world, the book simultaneously forces us to reflect on the part we play in the bookish community. 

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Kala by Colin Walsh is set in Kinlough, Ireland. This book seamlessly switches between three different points of view as a group of friends navigate life before and after the disappearance of their friend Kala. With lyrical writing and an intense attention to characterisation, this book will keep you at the edge of your seat and questioning what really happened to Kala all the way to the very end. 

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In Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, Sally Mitz is a writer for a late night comedy show. With no luck in the romance department herself, she can't help but notice that gorgeous celebrity women who come on the show end up falling for her average looking coworkers. When she argues that this would never happen the other way around, musical guest star Noah Brewster enters centre stage. Sittenfeld keeps her readers hoping that her characters finally get their happy ending. After all, it is a romantic comedy. 

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