549 ratings | 362 reviews | avg rating:4.29

Ronan’s Year In Books

Ronan’s 2024 Year in Books

Take a look at Ronan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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Y C

447 books | 9 friends

Aerin

2,175 books | 362 friends

Caileigh (thebookpear)

934 books | 801 friends

Jacquelyn

2,310 books | 141 friends

Erin

1,376 books | 938 friends

Brian

2,010 books | 307 friends

Jennie

3,593 books | 120 friends

David Wilson

164 books | 4 friends

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2025 Reading Challenge

2025

READING

CHALLENGE

Ronan O'Driscoll has read 14 books of his goal of 1!

1400%

Ronan O'Driscoll

Goodreads Author

Born

in Southport, The United Kingdom

Website

https://ronanodriscoll.com/

Twitter

ronanodriscoll

Genre

Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Fiction

Member Since

January 2011

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Originally from the West of Ireland, Ronan O’Driscoll moved to Chicago as a teenager in the 1980s. He returned to Ireland to study at University College Dublin where he graduated with a Masters in English literature. Ronan has traveled a good deal: to Europe, America, Africa, Japan and Canada. His second book, Chief O'Neill, recounts the fascinating life story of Francis O'Neill (1848-1936)-- the Irish-American police chief who saved Irish music.

Ronan currently lives with his wife and family in Canada. His first novel, Poor Farm, describes the experience of an autistic boy on a 19th-century Nova Scotia poor farm. Both his works of historical fiction are carefully researched stories from the past, still relevant and compelling for today’s re ...more

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Ronan O'Driscoll’s books

Average rating: 3.97 · 35 ratings · 8 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Poor Farm 3.92 avg rating — 24 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chief O'Neill 4.29 avg rating — 7 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Porch to Porch: A Maritime Haiku Anthology by Blanca Baquero (Editor), Lindsey Harrington (Contributor), Rose Adams (Contributor) 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2024	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

69 posts
Ronan O'Driscoll's Blog

Interview with me!

If you want to find out how infectious the Cork accent is, here's an interview with myself and Maria Gillen! It was mighty craic!

https://ronanod.substack.com/p/interv...

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Published on July 02, 2025 04:57

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Ronan is Currently Reading

Ronan O'Driscoll is currently reading

The Watermark

by Sam Mills

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Aug 03, 2025 05:02AM

Ronan O'Driscoll is currently reading

Bel Canto

by Ann Patchett

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Jun 15, 2025 04:39AM

Ronan O'Driscoll is currently reading

Animal Person: Stories

by Alexander MacLeod

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Mar 16, 2025 03:34PM

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Ronan’s Recent Updates

Ronan O'Driscoll is currently reading The Watermark by Sam Mills	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 03, 2025 05:02AM · like
Ronan O'Driscoll rated a book it was amazing Strange Pictures by Uketsu	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Very clever and deft plotting with a neat device of puzzling the murder from hand-drawn pictures: a novel version of Sudoku. The Japanese reference is appropriate too as there is something indefinably Japanese about the stories. Small things like how ...more
Jun 29, 2025 04:47PM · like · see review
Ronan O'Driscoll is now following Dermot Bolger Author of Finbar's Hotel
Jun 22, 2025 04:09AM · like
Ronan O'Driscoll rated a book it was amazing Hide Away by Dermot Bolger	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
There is a real pleasure in reading a novel by a master like Dermot Bolger. The characterization, pacing and historical background is so deft. Here is work from a craftsperson honed by years of practice. The analogy of Ireland during "The Emergency" ...more
Jun 22, 2025 04:03AM · 1 like · like · see review
Ronan O'Driscoll is currently reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 15, 2025 04:39AM · 2 likes · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Bel Canto by Ann Patchett <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ronan O'Driscoll rated a book it was amazing If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Alert Dark Academia Fans! I thoroughly enjoyed this one. A very well done homage to Donna Tartt's The Secret History. As a lifelong Shakespeare nerd, this was a real treat. ...more
Jun 15, 2025 04:35AM · like · see review
Ronan O'Driscoll started reading Hide Away by Dermot Bolger	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 08, 2025 07:09PM · like
Ronan O'Driscoll rated a book it was amazing Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Donal Ryan is such a good writer, I gobbled up this one in a day. Steeped in the tragic beauty of the Tipperary countryside, it is a story told by a mosaic of intricate interlocking voices. In some ways a followup to The Spinning Heart but ten years ...more
Jun 08, 2025 03:15AM · 1 like · like · see review
Ronan O'Driscoll rated a book it was amazing 12 Bytes: How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next by Jeanette Winterson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A few years old now but still relevant due to JW's visionary approach. It's interesting to see how even though she is a techno optimist, she can still call BS on Musk and OpenAI as well as Zuck and his (then recent) switch to Meta. Wide-ranging in sc ...more
Jun 06, 2025 09:04AM · 1 like · like · see review
Ronan O'Driscoll wants to read Hide Away by Dermot Bolger	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 05, 2025 11:58PM · like

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Ronan’s Quotes

“Non est ad astra mollis e terris via" - "There is no easy way from the earth to the stars”
― Seneca

tags: latin, philosophy, stars

1145 likes

“Am I crazy?" she asked. "I feel like I am sometimes."
"Maybe," he said, rubbing her forehead. "But don't worry about it. You need to be a little bit crazy. Crazy is the price you pay for having an imagination. It's your superpower. Tapping into the dream. It's a good thing not a bad thing.”
― Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being

tags: imagination, mindfulness

234 likes

“She smiled. “Life is full of stories. Or maybe life is only stories. Good night, my dear Nao.”
― Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being

tags: life

116 likes

“Le vent se lève! . . . il faut tenter de vivre!
L'air immense ouvre et referme mon livre,
La vague en poudre ose jaillir des rocs!
Envolez-vous, pages tout éblouies!
Rompez, vagues! Rompez d'eaux réjouies
Ce toit tranquille où picoraient des focs!”
― Paul Valéry, Le cimetière marin / El cementerio marino

310 likes

“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?”
― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

4764 likes

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69 posts
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