THE BEST PAPERBACKS

FICTION House Of Names Colm Tóibín Penguin €18.20

Before setting sail to begin the Trojan War, Agamemnon sacrificed his own daughter Iphigenia to ensure a favourable wind from the gods. The story is a mainstay of classical Greek literature, but it leaps from the page in this magnificent retelling with astonishing clarity. It’s also terrifically exciting. Tóibín is a master storyteller.

FICTION The Forensic Records Society Magnus Mills Bloomsbury €12.59

A group of friends with a passion for collecting and listening to old vinyl 45s start a club in a local pub where enthusiasts can meet every week and share their favourites. Innocent enough, you might think, but it doesn’t take long for the veneer of politeness to fall away and for obsession to take hold in this darkly witty novel.

NON-FICTION London’s Triumph Stephen Alford Penguin €28

In the year 1500, London was a small and undistinguished city on the margins of Europe. Just 100 years later it had transformed itself into a thriving metropolis that was the centre of a commercial empire stretching to the Americas, Russia and India. A gripping and scholarly account.

NON-FICTION Hamlet: Globe To Globe Dominic Dromgoole Canongate €23.79

Back in 2014, the then artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe, Dominic Dromgoole, had the idea of sending a troupe of actors to perform Hamlet in every country in the world. They didn’t make it to every one (North Korea was an unsurprising exception), but it was a remarkable tour and Dromgoole’s account is richly rewarding.