A recent break gave me chance to catch up on the reading pile, including Rooney, Téa Obreht and Claire Dederer Moving story: Sally Rooney. Photo: Erik Voake/Getty Images for Hulu Every time I visit another city, I find the most cavernous local second-hand bookshop with English language books I can. Last week I was on holiday in Amsterdam and left The Book Exchange on Kloveniersburgwal with a Studs Terkel book on the giants of jazz music, Paul Auster’s New York trilogy (due a reread after his recent death) and, amazingly, a 1970s novel by Saturday Night and Sunday Morning author Alan Sillitoe, set in a dystopian state founded on the principals of nihilism.
The previous week we had done little but hang around a remote house by a deserted beach in Ireland, walk the dogs and read books I’d been holding on to for just the occasion, including Sally Rooney’s latest. More on that later. Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news.