Nicola Coughlan, Muireann O’Connell & Other Irish Stars Share Their Summer Reading Lists

Looking for your next read?

We asked Irish celebrities for their book recommendations.

Kathryn Thomas

I recently interviewed Harlan Coben and his new book Think Twice is unreal. Love his detective series with Myron Bolitar too. Lessons in Chemistry I also loved.

Sheila O’Flanagan

I watched this on Disney+ recently and read the book in my teens which has obviously been re-released. Called Shogun, it’s by James Clavell and it’s set in Japan in the 1500s. It’s a big tomb of a book so if you just want to take one book away on your holidays this might be it.

Also, Costanza which is not out until August, it’s by Rachel Blackmore and it’s an unputdownable historical fiction page-turner. Another one is a sequel to The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh. Set in Victorian London, it’s a kind of murder-mystery thing, really well-written, really evocative, really enjoyable.

Vicki Notaro

My holiday faves are Summer Sisters by Judy Blume; Thrill! by Jackie Collins, anything by Elin Hilderbran and Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Obviously Reality Check, too!

Maura Derrane

A book that I recently read is Mouthing by Orla Mackey. It’s her debut novel and it’s brilliant. It’s set in rural Ireland and spans over generations of characters and families from the 1960s to the 2000s. It deals with very serious topics but with loads of dark humour.

Being from the country myself, I really related to it and the ways of country life. I would highly recommend.

Lucy Kennedy

Loved The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, a brilliant thriller. No One Saw A Thing by Andrea Marr also; I’m going to buy her new book Someone In The Attic for my hols.

The Lexie Byrne books by Caroline Grace Cassidy are hilarious. Loved Sisterhood by Cathy Kelly.

For the kids? All 5 Friendship Fairy books for children aged 6 – 10, written by me!

Nicola Coughlan

I just read My Mess is a Bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett, who worked on Succession – brilliant. And, I’m about to start reading The Magic Faraway Tree because I’m going to be shooting that movie soon. I’m really excited!

Muireann O’Connell

I brought Somebody Knows by Michelle McDonagh away with me on the holidays – riveting. Also, All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker and The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry.

This story originally appeared in the August 2024 issue of VIP magazine. 

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