The 15-Minute Book Club

June 2024 - In Conversation With The Wonderful Mary O'Brien

Join my wonderful friend Mary and I in an extended conversation about all the incredible books she’s read over the years. She talks about Irish writers, old and new; reading obsessions, past and present; the miracle of the written word; and so much more!
Mary is one of my closest and dearest friends and I am so happy that you get to hear from her. She is an extremely avid reader who relishes in having complex intellectual and philosophical discussions. She’s someone who hasn’t lost the art of debate without extreme polarisation, and is always prepared to reflect, rethink and keep an open mind.
 
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Mentioned books:
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt
The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara
Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne
Time Pieces by John Banville
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Sinbad the Sailor
Arabian Knights
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Long Island by Colm Toibin
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
The Dialogues of Plato by Plato
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink 
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
Short story: Music at Annahullion by Eugene McCabe 
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Mills & Boon books: https://www.millsandboon.co.uk/
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
A Time to Kill by John Grisham
The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Cider House Rules by John Irving
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Foster by Claire Keegan
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
The Barracks by John Mcgahern
Death and Nightingales Eugene McCabe
Quirke by Benjamin Black (John Banville pseudonym)
Cormoran Strike by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling pseudonym)
The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Mythos by Stephen Fry
Heroes by Stephen Fry
Odyssey by Stephen Fry
The Odyssey by Homer
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
Notes From a Big Country by Bill Bryson
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Down Under by Bill Bryson
At Home by Bill Bryson
If Walls Could Talk by Lucy Worsley
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
 
Mentioned films/TV shows:
The Bridges of Madison County
The Remains of the Day
Never Let Me Go
Mystic River
A Time to Kill
Philomena
Michael Collins 
Wilde
Oppenheimer
HBO Mini Series on the American opioid epidemic: Dopesick
 
Other mentions:
MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland): https://moli.ie/
US meat industry lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SjV4vxnaY3U
University of Reading Mills & Boon archive and collection: https://collections.reading.ac.uk/special-collections/collections/mills-and-boon-archive-and-library/
Romance Author:  Barbara Cartland
Russian author: Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
The Art of Reading Book Club with Colm Toibin podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9nzyTicyDg&list=PLLWo1zNvgJVO-SU1g0K6CxucAq7cKQ1b7
Short story writer: William Trevor
Stephen Fry talks about God on The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suvkwNYSQo
QI (Quite Interesting) BBC Game Show

Week 15: On Beauty

On Beauty by Zadie Smith is an incredibly well crafted web of complexities. Its various sub plots tackle different conflicts of identity, such as race, gender, politics and socioeconomics. It's a philosophically thought-provoking narrative that is certainly worth the read.
 
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Week 14: A Heart That Works

In A Heart That Works, Rob Delaney recounts the short life of his son Henry, who died at the age of two after going in and out of hospital for a year with a brain tumour. In his narrative style, Delaney has an uncanny ability to balance between humour and heartbreak. He manages to weave in humour while describing the most gut wrenching events. The book is a kind of reflection of life itself; a never ending fluctuation between comedy and tragedy. 
 
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Week 13: The Buddha in the Attic

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka is a poetic narrative of the immigrant experience, written in first person plural from the perspective of Japanese picture brides in the early 20th century. Follow their journey to America, their false expectations of this new life, and the tragic mass incarceration of their community during WWII in the aftermath of Pearl Harbour. Based on historical events, this is a short read you don't want to miss. 
 
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Week 12: Nothing to Envy

Barbara Demick conducts extended interviews with six North Korean defectors. They describe their lives in North Korea before escaping, recounting the realities of a regime that puts its image at the cost of the lives and dignities of its own citizens. 
 
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Book mentioned: In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park.
Yeonmi Park interview with Joe Rogan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGJm4bjRaaE
Yeonmi Park interview with Jordan Peterson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yqa-SdJtT4 

Week 11: We Need to Talk About Kevin

A disturbing and eye opening novel by Lionel Shriver that raises difficult questions. What happens when a mother does not connect emotionally with her child? What if this child commits mass murder? Is the mother to blame? Has her lack of affection created a sociopathic killer?  
 
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Sue Klebold's TED Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXlnrFpCu0c&rco=1 

Hay Festival Adventures 2024

The Hay Festival is an annual literary festival in the town of books, Hay-on-Wye, in Wales. I spent 10 days at the festival this year taking in all the incredible energy. In total I attended about 20 events, each one packed with things to think about.
 
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Day 1 mentions:
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
For Ian Charleson by Ian McKellen
Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince
 
Day 2 mentions:
BBC Radio 4 Podcast You’re Dead to Me: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07mdbhg 
Eat Your Words - Oyster mushroom grow kits: https://superfungi.co.uk/store/p/mushroomgrowkit 
Shelterbox Book club: https://shelterbox.org/book-club/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu8uyBhC6ARIsAKwBGpRda82E9BICGEGd_p49goVogFYXUloiVdnU9VXmaEpv73U-7D6uWasaAhMfEALw_wcB 
Field & Found: https://www.fieldandfound.com/ 
Happy Maki: https://www.happymaki.co.uk/ 
Shepherds Ice Cream: https://www.shepherdsicecream.co.uk/
La Bonne Crepe: https://www.facebook.com/LaBonneCrepeBristol/?locale=en_GB
Day 3 mentions: 
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry
Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
The Morningside by Tea Obreht
Taste Tibet by Julie Kleeman and Yeshi Jampa
Taste Tibet: https://tastetibet.com/
Lauren Silver Boutique: https://www.laurensilverboutique.com/
Day 4 mentions: 
Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown by Anais Mitchell
Oakchurch Farm Shop: https://www.oakchurch.net/ 
Two Farmers Hand Cooked Crisps: https://twofarmers.co.uk/ 
Skittery Apple Juice: https://www.jusapples.co.uk/ 
Cradoc's Savoury Biscuits: https://cradocssavourybiscuits.co.uk/
Why We Build the Wal by Anais Mitchelll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBGUqMyyvnI
 
Day 5 mentions:
We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Mania by Lionel Shriver
Lionel Shriver talks to Stephanie Merritt: https://www.hayfestival.com/p-21851-lionel-shriver-talks-to-stephanie-merritt.aspx?skinid=16#:~:text=Hay%20Festival%202024%2C%20Tuesday%2028%20May%202024&text=What%20if%20calling%20someone%20stupid,qualification%20to%20be%20a%20doctor
The Self-Sufficiency Garden by Huw Richards and Sam Cooper
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben 
Our Little Farm by Peter and Miriam Wohlleben
 
Day 6 mentions:
Meat & Greek: http://www.meatandgreek.co.uk/ 
Coal Town Coffee: https://www.coaltowncoffee.co.uk 
 
Day 7 mentions: 
Killing for country by David Marr.
Hay Cinema Bookshop: https://www.haycinemabookshop.co.uk/
The Beefy Boys: https://thebeefyboys.com/
Day 8 mentions:
Eve by Cat Bohannon
Womb by Leah Hazard
What about Men? By Caitlin Moran
My Octopus Teacher documentary: https://www.netflix.com/watch/81045007?trackId=14277281&tctx=-97%2C-97%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C81045007%2CVideo%3A81045007%2C 
Amphibious Soul by Craig Foster
Lola’s Fish and Chips: https://modern-amusement.com/lolas-ethical-seafood-sustainable-fish-and-chips-at-music-festivals-and-events-across-the-uk
Day 9 mentions:
Matrescence by Lucy Jones
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer 
The Fritter Shack: https://thefrittershack.co.uk/ 
P&G Hats: https://www.pandghats.co.uk/ 
 
Day 10 mentions:
Less by Patrick Grant
Community Clothing: https://communityclothing.co.uk/ 
A Very Private School by Charles Spencer

Week 10: Lolita

This week I'm looking at the classic novel Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. A controversial tale of Humbert Humbert, a middle aged man who falls in love with a 12-year-old girl. 
 
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Week 9: Men in the Sun

This week I'm reviewing a short story by Ghassan Kanafani. Men in the Sun follows three Palestinian refugees in the early 1960s who are being smuggled across the border from Iraq to Kuwait in search of a better life. A gripping tale as old as old as time about what happens when we are excluded from every form of nationhood.
 
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Week 8: A Horse Walks into a Bar

This week's book is A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman, winner of the 2017 Man Booker International prize. Watch as Dovaleh slowly descends into madness while giving a stand-up comedy show at a comedy club in Netanya. Dovaleh's breakdown is perhaps a physical and emotional manifestation of the damaged psyche of a nation trying to live a normal existence, under extremely abnormal circumstances.
 
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Book mentioned in the episode: To the End of the Land by David Grossman
David Grossman’s interview with The Harvard Gazette: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/10/israels-grossman-reflects/ 
B'Tselem, NGO mentioned in the episode: https://www.btselem.org/