B'gosh and Begorrah!

Dublin's Independent newspaper recently talked to Maria Dickenson, who buys books for that city's branch of the Easons chain of bookstores, and asked her picks for the Christmas season's big sellers. Among her picks are some that you can expect to see flying off our shelves here in the states--Man Booker Prize-winner The Gathering by Anne Enright, Per Petersson's much-feted Out Stealing Horses, Eric Clapton: The Autobiography, and The Golden Compass. But there are also some uniquely Irish choices on the list:

• The Guinness World Records 2008 is no surprise, really.
• Great Irish Speaches would be harder sell in this country; even the Independent says it's "perfect for bedtime reading." No comment.
• The Ballydung Bible by the comic duo Podge and Rodge sounds like an emerald Lake Woebegone book and promises "sexy secrets of the Farmer Sutra."

Grab a pint of Harp and get reading.--David E