Get Booked For Christmas!

By Tom Deignan

NEED a last minute gift idea? Try one of these Irish books published this year.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IRELAND: Perhaps the most comprehensive book to date on Irish life, culture, and history, the Encyclopedia contains more than 5,000 essays written by nearly 1,000 contributors. It’s pricey, but packed with info ($65 / Yale University Press ).

THE KENNEDYS: AMERICA’S EMERALD KINGS: Thomas Maier actually has something new to say about the Kennedy family. No book has focused entirely on the Irish Catholic element of the family’s history until now. Reads like a metaphor for the Irish immigrant experience itself ($27.50 / Basic Books).

SAILING THE WINE-DARK SEA: Thomas Cahill has just published the fourth volume of his acclaimed “Hinges of History” series. First came the best-selling How the Irish Saved Civilization, then The Gifts of the Jews, then Desire of the Everlasting Hills. Now, Cahill brings us on an accessible, informative tour of ancient Greece. ($27.50 / Nan A. Talese-Doubleday)

THE ART OF BURNING BRIDGES: Geoffrey Woolf’s unusual new biography of acclaimed novelist John O’Hara still depicts the Pennsylvania native as an insufferable lout. Yet he could be tender and loving, as well. And Woolf makes it clear that being Irish Catholic was central to John O’Hara’s personality. “Of all the social complexities that spurred John O’Hara’s anger, pride, envy, squinting focus, truculence, and art, his Irishness led the charge,” writes Woolf. ($30 / Knopf)

THE CLADDAGH RING: Malachy McCourt has found himself yet another career deconstructing items cherished by the Irish. First came his insightful short book about the song “Danny Boy.” Now McCourt tells the story of the Claddagh Ring, that symbol of loyalty, friendship, and love worn by millions of Irish people the world over. ($16.95 / Running Press)

CAN YOU FEEL THE SILENCE: Author Clinton Heylin interviewed more than 100 people for his new biography of Belfast-born music man Van Mor-rison. The result? Morrison, as with so many artists, is very talented and very troubled. ($28 / Chicago Review Press)

THE WISH LIST: Eoin Colfer has made himself nice living on the basis of his character Artemis Fowl, often called the “Irish Harry Potter.” The books have been runaway best sellers, and a movie about the wily child anti-hero is expected soon. Colfer now introduces readers to a lovable but troubled heroine, Meg Finn. ($16.95 / Hyperion)