5 excellent reasons to do your Christmas shopping at Dubray Books
Brought to you by Dubray Books.
There’s a festive feel in the air on St Patrick’s Street.
Newly glowing under the Christmas lights, Dubray Cork has just opened its doors on the city’s busiest thoroughfare, and now is the ideal time to pop in or peek through the Christmas window, while getting a head start on your seasonal shopping.
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This Christmas Dubray Cork has a wide range of excellent new books and will help you choose the very best book for everyone on your list – young and old, avid and occasional readers, in fact, they love a challenge!
Here are more five excellent reasons to do your Christmas shopping at Dubray Books:
1. They really do love books
The company, which has origins in Bray Co. Wicklow, has a policy hiring avid readers and lovers of books so the staff in Dubray Cork are passionate about reading and love to recommend books to their customers.
Covering two floors, the shop stocks a very wide range of books, toys and gifts including the Dubray Readers Year Book Subscription gift package and the Dubray Personal Shopper Experience, which offers a little something extra to the booklover in your life.
2. The shop boasts thoughtful gift ideas aplenty
For a very original gift that would delight readers of every level and interest is the Dubray Reader’s Year Book subscription: a package that delivers a hand-selected new book each month of the year, direct to their door.
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The gift comes in the form of a beautifully finished gift card and envelope, with a questionnaire to help the Dubray staff understand more about what books will suit the recipient’s tastes. Available both for adults and children, The Readers’ Year is a brilliant, personalised gift that brings pleasure throughout the year.
3. They offer personal shopping
For readers who love to chat about books, we recommend the Dubray Personal Shopper experience. The recipient receives a beautiful gift box containing a Dubray notebook made by Duffy Bookbinders together with an invitation to an indulgent dedicated appointment (in person, by phone, or on zoom) with one of the knowledgeable booksellers in Dubray Cork. Also available for younger readers.
4. Their children’s book collection is top notch
Here’s what the Dubray Books experts are recommending for young readers this year:
A Hug for You by David King, €12.99
Adam King stole the hearts of the nation when he appeared on the Late Late Toy Show in 2020. He introduced us to the Virtual Hug, a heart-shaped sign he carried during the COVID-19 pandemic to help him stay connected to his teacher while he was learning from home. He also took it to his regular hospital appointments to show his doctors, nurses, and care staff that he was still giving them a hug, just in a different way.
This book, inspired by true events, tells the story of one little boy with a big idea that came straight from the heart. Join Adam and his loyal friend and first teddy, Bubby, on the journey of the Virtual Hug.
Evie’s Christmas Wishes by Siobhán Parkinson, Shannon Bergin (Illus), €15.99
Christmas is coming, and Evie can hardly wait. As she rehearses for the school play, decorates the tree, wraps presents, writes to Santa, she is wishing, wishing … As she partakes in all the festive fun, she makes a series of wishes, which suddenly begin to come true: just not in the way she expects! “Captures the magnificence of the festive season perfectly. The illustrations by debut artist Sharon Bergin are fantastic.” – Elaina Ryan, The Irish Times Ages 2+
The Little Bee Charmer of Henrietta Street by Sarah Webb
When their father’s business fails, Eliza and Jonty Kane move to a tenement flat in Dublin city, number 16 Henrietta Street. From a crowded tenement to the dazzling world of the circus – can dreams really come true? A tale of bravery, adventure and bee charming! Ages 8+
Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan, €12.99
A brand-new adventure from global bestselling author, Rick Riordan. Inspired by Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, training centre for the best marine scientists and underwater explorers in the world. When Ana embarks on the sea trials that mark the end of her freshman year, her life as she knows it is blown out of the water. Ages 9+
The Upper World by Femi Fadugba, €10.50
Part and future collide in this action-packed, suspenseful thriller with a speculative twist. Will the universe recover after Esso and Rhia’s fates collide, or is time itself doomed? Age 15+
5. They have a tip for every reader, here’s a selection of new titles to look out for in both fiction and non-fiction for Christmas 2021:
FICTION
The Magician by Colm Tóibín, €14.99
‘Supportive of Germany’s ambitions in 1914, Thomas Mann’s vision of a progressive country soon turns to disillusionment. The most successful novelist of his time, conflict with his own selfhood also leaves Mann battling against his deepest, hidden emotions. Married to Katia and the father of six children, complicated family dynamics are captured brilliantly by Tóibín. Blending personal struggle with global events, this is an absorbing fictional account of Thomas Mann’s fascinating life.’ Recommended by Emma Shannon, Dubray Cork
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, €10.99
An exquisite winter tale of courage – and its cost, set in Catholic Ireland. This is the book that defines Ireland’s complex past – a perfectly formed masterpiece that will be treasured for years.
The Lincoln Highway (Dubray Exclusive Hardback edition), by Amor Towles, €14.99
The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America. This beautifully written story is full of heart and charm, with unforgettable characters vividly bringing 1950s America to life.
NON—FICTION
We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 by Fintan O’Toole €24.99
Fintan O’Toole – Ireland’s leading public intellectual and author of Heroic Failure – tells a history of Ireland in his own time – a brilliant interweaving of memoir and historical narrative.
In Kiltumper: A Year in an Irish Garden by Niall Williams & Christine Breen, €22.99
Since leaving their New York home in their twenties, Niall Williams and Christine Breen have dedicated themselves to writing, gardening and living a life that followed the rhythms of the earth. In 2019 they decided to document a year of living in their garden and in their small corner of a rapidly changing world.
Proceeding month-by-month through the year, this is the story of a garden in all its many splendours and a couple who have made their life observing its wonders.
Décor Galore by Laura de Barra, €16.99
From the NO.1 bestselling Irish author (De Barra hails from Cork) comes a new guide detailing how to restyle your homes on a budget. Her joyful passion for her work will inspire even the most hesitant tenant or homeowner to discover they really can do it for themselves.
A creative, stylish, and functional guide.
