Services and Programmes

Recent Arrivals, Reviews and Recommendations

Select the appropriate link below to view some of our recent additions in fiction, non-fiction, and music stock, as well as titles reviewed and recommended by staff of Cork City Libraries.

Selected recent arrivals: fiction and feature films 
Selected recent arrivals: non-fiction
Selected recent arrivals: music 
Recommended non-fiction 
Book reviews by staff of Cork City Libraries

Best Reads in Bishopstown Library

Staff at Bishopstown Library haved compiled a list of books which have won major literary awards, such as the Booker, IMPAC or the Costa Whitbread award, as well all the best reads based on the Bord Gais reading list. It also includes staff picks.The books can be found in the Best Reads section in Bishopstown Library, or consult the library catalogue at http://libcat.corkcity.ie to check titles in your local library.

Bishopstown_Library_Best_Reads_Book_List (PDF file 217 KB)

Readers' Guides

Staff in the various branches of Cork City Libraries review titles or list new titles on their webpages. To view individual library pages visit the All Libraries page and follow the links on the left hand side.

Three libraries have recommended reading lists:

10 Books You Must Read

During World Book Fest 2011 Cork City Libraries invited Valerie Coogan and John MacMonagle to present their recommendations for 10 Books You Must Read. Valerie Coogan is known to many from working in the School of English UCC and as an amateur actress. John MacMonagle makes his living from graphic design and runs Raven Design. He reviews books relating to graphic design for the Irish Examiner. Both avid readers, they are founding members of the Index Book Club, set up in 1988, which was one of the first of the new wave of book clubs in the country. The books they chose are:

Valerie Coogan's choices:

1. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
2. The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath, edited by Ted Hughes
3. Dubliners, by James Joyce
4. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
5. The Accidental Tourist or Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler

John MacMonagles's choices:

1. David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens
2. The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy
3. Stoner, by John Williams
4. The Country Girls, by Edna O'Brien
5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon

Recommended Reading Lists from the Year of the Constant Reader 2009

During the Year of the Constant Reader 2009, Cork City Libraries produced recommended reading lists on various themes, each month between February and November. Click on the links to see the lists.

February - Popular Fiction
March - The Irish Diaspora
April - Romantic Fiction
May - Travel
June - Leabhair Gaeilge
July and August - Sports Books
September - Short Stories
October - Business Books
November - Biographies