Team IMAGE share the best books they read this year

Megan Burns, Editor, IMAGE Interiors; Deputy Editor, IMAGE Magazine

It’s not a new book, but one of my favourite reads this year was Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker. Bosker is a journalist who dedicated herself to becoming immersed in the world of elite sommeliers. As someone who started off knowing very little about wine and is sceptical of the “notes” people claim to taste, she eventually works her way up to participating in competitions that involve blind tasting and meets a lot of compelling characters along the way. It’s an enjoyable look into the concept of taste and the world of wine. She speaks to both wine-obsessives and food scientists, and her own journey through this world is utterly compelling. This is a book that’s funny and fascinating in equal measure.

Sarah Finnan, Deputy Editor, IMAGE.ie

I really rediscovered my love for reading this year, thanks in no small part to the abundance of incredible Irish writers out there. I started the year with Kala by Colin Walsh. It tells the story of three old friends – Helen, Mush, and Joe – who reunite in their seaside town of Kinlough, on Ireland’s west coast. However, the discovery of a body in a nearby wood dredges up bad memories and the trio are confronted with harsh truths from their past. It’s a gripping read, though admittedly, I was a little disappointed by the ending.

Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo was another favourite. The novel alternates between three character’s points of view – each distinctly different – and touches on topics like love, grief and family. I loved the stream-of-consciousness style of writing and was really drawn to the dynamic between the two brothers, Peter and Ivan. Irish books aside, I also read Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang (infuriating at times but utterly brilliant) and Julia Fox’s memoir, Down The Drain which never ceased to shock and thrill in equal measure. Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors is next on my list.

Amber O’Shea, Social Media Manager

My favourite books this year have been Yellowface by R.F Kuang and The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. Both of these books kept me truly entertained and I couldn’t put them down. Both explored so many styles and themes, I truly recommend both of these reads. Yellowface was a really quick read, there were so many twists and turns and I was on the edge of my seat throughout. This novel spotlight’s the idea of who gets to tell what stories and what gets marketed as “authentic” literature. Kuang nails this in a really intriguing and unsettling way.

The Bee Sting was brilliant. I loved how creatively the writing style changed in each part of the book, to capture each character’s inner monologue — Paul Murray is a genius. He unravels all of the character’s previous life history in a truly creative way, with humour and poignancy.

Emily O’Neill, Marketing Account Executive

I can’t pick one favourite book of the year but I can pick two! Good Material by Dolly Alderton was the first book I read of the New Year and is still one of my favourites. It is closely followed by A Cigarette Lit Backwards by Tia Hacic Vlahovic. Both books are very different to each other but navigate relationships, friendships and heartache.

Sarah Gill, Features Editor, IMAGE.ie

I read Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna back in May, and the characters were so beautifully and thoroughly fleshed out that they continue to pop into my head, like old friends that I really must check in with. Home, family, belonging, and self-acceptance are the central tenets of the book. Set across one sun-soaked weekend, there’s a real sense of urgency to each character’s story, you will rip through it at paper-cut-inducing speed. It’s the Drogheda-born, London-based author’s debut novel, and it has made me so very excited to see what’s next for this emerging talent.

Yes, Constellations: Reflections from Life by Sinéad Gleeson was published back in 2019, but I think I came to it at the perfect time in my life. Rescuing it from my very tall and dangerously teetering to-be-read pile, it came away with me on a solo holiday to northeast Italy, and it was all the company I needed. It’s a collection of powerful, searingly honest, and soul-baring essays that connect the dots of a life through grief, illness, love, elation, ghosts, the cosmos, and more. I could read Sinéad Gleeson’s musings of life forever.

Shayna (Sappington) Healy, Branded Content Editor and Wedding Writer

I’ve read 40 books so far this year and it’s much too difficult to pick just one – so I’ve managed to narrow it down to three. First is Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan, a beautiful memoir of resilience following a young girl in Dublin, who grew up in poverty and chaos. She shares her inspiring journey from being a homeless teen mom to an award-winning academic whose work explores barriers to education for girls like her.

Second is Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka, which tells the story of a serial killer on death row but through the lens of the women in his life who survived him (I love how it turns the crime trope on its head by de-sensationalising the killer and placing the spotlight on the women instead). Then finally, Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman is a beautiful coming-of-age story that I just couldn’t put down – it’s labelled a thriller and while there is a suspicious death, this book is so much more than that.