Kildare Library Service

What is Ireland Reads?

Ireland Reads is a new campaign to get the whole country reading this month in the lead up to a national day of reading on Thursday, February 25th. 

Irish libraries have teamed up with publishers, booksellers, authors and others for the campaign which is part of the government Keep Well initiative and aims to celebrate reading and all the benefits it can have for wellbeing and enjoyment. 

The campaign is asking everyone to ‘squeeze in a read’ on Thursday, February 25th , to help you do this we have a list of ebooks here that will be available to borrow without any wait time.

The Dover Cafe at War

By Ginny Bell

The first book in a brand-new World War II saga series. Perfect for readers of Ellie Dean and Annie Groves and for fans of the Home Fires series. 

Dover, 1939 

At the heart of Market Square lies Castle’s Café, run by the formidable Nellie Castle and her six children.

Since the scandalous birth of her son ten years ago, Marianne, Nellie’s eldest daughter, has preferred to stay in the kitchen, hidden away from the scrutiny of the town gossips. Overcome with shame, she has never revealed the identity of Donny’s father – not even to her own mother. 

But with World War II just around the corner, soon Marianne’s past catches up with her. And suddenly the lives of the Castle family become a lot more complicated. 

Will the secrets from her past destroy their future? Download the ebook here.

The Wreck

by Meg Keneally

• I will go with the men when they rise. Women hunger, and women die, so women must also fight.
  
  1820, London. 
  
  Sarah McCaffrey, fleeing arrest for her part in a failed rebellion, finds herself alone and on the run. She boards the Serpent, bound from London to the colony of New South Wales – and when the captain’s reckless actions lead the ship to be dashed onto Sydney’s notorious rocks, Sarah is the only survivor.
  
  Adopting a false identity, Sarah determines to make a new life for herself. She takes the first work she can find, under the formidable Molly Thistle, who runs a sprawling trade empire. Sarah begins to see that there is more than one way of changing the world, but her new life is thrown into chaos when her past follows her across the seas.
  
  The Wreck is a warm, intelligent and feminist novel, rich in history but deeply relevant to today’s world. Available to borrow from Bolinda Borrowbox here.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing

by Bob Mortimer & Paul Whitehouse

Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse have been friends for 30 years, but when life intervened, what was once a joyous and spontaneous friendship dwindled to the odd phone call or occasional catch up. Then, Glory Be! They were both diagnosed with heart disease and realised that time is short. They’d better spend it fishing…

So they dusted off their kits, chucked on their waders and ventured into the achingly beautiful British countryside to fish, rediscover the joys of their friendship and ruminate on some of life’s most profound questions, such as: How did we get so old? Where are all the fish? What are your favourite pocket meats? What should we do if we find a corpse?  

Following the success of the BBC’s Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing series, this wonderful book by two lifelong friends is a love letter to the joys of angling, the thrill of the catch and the virtue of having a right daft laff with your mates. On the fish, the equipment, the food, and the locations, Gone Fishing is the perfect book for fans of Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse and for anyone who wants to read a brilliantly written and endlessly funny joint memoir on life, friendship and joys of fishing.

Available to borrow from Bolinda Borrowbox here.

The Last Family In England

By Matt Haig

Meet the Hunter family: Adam, Kate, and their children Hal and Charlotte. And Prince, their black Labrador.

Prince is an earnest young dog, striving hard to live up to the tenets of the Labrador Pact (Remain Loyal to Your Human Masters, Serve and Protect Your Family at Any Cost). Other dogs, led by the Springer Spaniels, have revolted. As things in the Hunter family begin to go badly awry – marital breakdown, rowdy teenage parties, attempted suicide – Prince’s responsibilities threaten to overwhelm him and he is forced to break the Labrador Pact and take desperate action to save his Family.

Available to borrow from Bolinda Borrowbox here.

29 Seconds

by T.M. Logan

What if a single 29 second phonecall could change your life forever? ‘Give me one name. One person. And I will make them disappear . . .’

When Sarah rescues a young girl in trouble, she expects nothing in return. But her act of bravery puts a powerful and dangerous man in her debt. He lives by his own brutal code, and all debts must be repaid – in the only way he knows how.

He offers Sarah a way to solve a desperate situation with her intolerable boss. A once-in-a-lifetime deal that will make all her problems disappear.

No consequences. No comeback. No chance of being found out.

All it takes is a 29 second phone call.

BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS A NAME TO GIVE. DON’T THEY?

Available to borrow from Bolinda Borrowbox here.

The Familiars

By Stacey Halls

Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married, and pregnant for the fourth time. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband Richard is anxious for an heir. When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn’t supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy.

Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife. Alice promises to help her give birth to a healthy baby, and to prove the physician wrong. 

As Alice is drawn into the witchcraft accusations that are sweeping the north-west, Fleetwood risks everything by trying to help her. But is there more to Alice than meets the eye? 

Soon the two women’s lives will become inextricably bound together as the legendary trial at Lancaster approaches, and Fleetwood’s stomach continues to grow. Time is running out, and both their lives are at stake. 

Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.

Available to borrow from Bolinda Borrowbox here.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

By Heather Morris

For readers of Schindler’s List, The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas comes a heart-breaking story of the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances.

I tattooed a number on her arm. She tattooed her name on my heart.

In 1942, Lale Sokolov arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival – scratching numbers into his fellow victims’ arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust. 

Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a young girl. For Lale – a dandy, a jack-the-lad, a bit of a chancer – it was love at first sight. And he was determined not only to survive himself, but to ensure this woman, Gita, did, too.

So begins one of the most life-affirming, courageous, unforgettable and human stories of the Holocaust: the love story of the tattooist of Auschwitz.

Available to borrow from Bolinda Borrowbox here.