Competition: 12 days giveaway: Day 9 - Win great books by Irish authors / [closed]

12 Days Giveaway day nine - closes Tuesday December 11.

With thanks to Irish publishers Penguin Ireland and to O'Brien Press, we have some great book bundles to be won by avid readers of Irish Writing.

Our first bundle is one for all the family from Penguin Ireland:

For the ladies we’ve got Marian Keyes latest title The Mystery of Mercy Close:

'Helen Walsh doesn't believe in fear - it's just a thing invented by men to get all the money and good jobs - and yet she's sinking.

Her work as a Private Investigator has dried up, her flat has been repossessed and now some old demons have resurfaced. Not least in the form of her charming but dodgy ex-boyfriend Jay Parker, who shows up with a missing persons case.'

For those who like to keep up to date with the economy we have David McWilliams’ The Good Room:

'Ireland is deeply in debt, beholden to the IMF, the EU and the bond markets. Its economy is frozen, and years of austerity are ahead. It didn't have to be this way - and it doesn't have to be this way.

In The Good Room, David McWilliams - who spotted the Irish property bubble and warned of imbalances within the eurozone at a time when other commentators were cheerleading the boom - explains the bizarre economics and peculiar psychology behind Ireland's predicament.'

For something entirely at odds with the former we have funnyman Ross O’Carroll-Kelly’s latest offering The Shelbourne Ultimatum:

'Shrewsbury Road had become a ghost estate. Marks and Spencer were selling microwavable coddle. And a Euro discount store was about to open in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre. God, I was only unconscious for ten days.

Meanwhile, the Gords wanted to talk to me. They were obviously pretty interested in finding out who shot me. The problem was that I couldn't actually remember. The entire incident was a basic blank.'

Finally, for the kids we have Eoin Colfer’s last installation of the Artemis Fowl series with Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian:

'Opal Koboi, power-crazed pixie, is plotting to exterminate mankind and become fairy queen. If she succeeds, the spirits of long-dead fairy warriors will rise from the earth, inhabit the nearest available bodies and wreak mass destruction.

But what happens if those nearest bodies include crows, or deer, or badgers - or two curious little boys by the names of Myles and Beckett Fowl?'

The lovely people at O'Brien Press have submitted a book bundle of fantastic Irish treats to keep you interested until at least St. Patrick's Day!

Our first title is Murder, Mutiny and Mayhem by Joe O'Shea:

The Irish are celebrated at home and abroad as explorers, freedom fighters and great writers and artists, but for every Tom Crean, Bernardo O'Higgins or James Joyce, there is a Hugh Gough, Antoine Walsh or Luke Ryan. This book is about the Irish slavers, grave-robbers, duellists, conmen, drug-lords and killers who wreaked havoc around the world. 

Then we have an old favourite, a beautiful edition of James Joyce's Dubliners:

James Joyce is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important writers of the 20th century. His work continues to intrigue and challenge readers across the world yet there are many people who have yet to enjoy Joyce due to the perception that his work is too difficult to read. Dubliners is perhaps the most engaging and accessible book by Joyce: a collection of fantastic stories set in the Dublin of a bygone age. This accessibility and excellence has made it the perfect choice for Dublin's One City, One Book title for 2012. 

The 1950s - Ireland in Pictures gives us a wonderful window into the lives of the Irish people over half a century ago:

Ireland’s premier photographers, The Lensmen, captured the essence of life in Ireland during the 1950s in their stunning and thought provoking images. This collection offers a fascinating insight into the cultural and political events of the decade. Showcasing an era of change in Ireland, this book is a celebration of a time gone by. 

Set in post-famine Ireland, Boycott by Colin C. Murphy details the struggles of two brothers:

Two brothers, Owen and Thomas Joyce, barely survive the horror of the great famine that devastated Ireland in the 1840s. But it left a lasting effect on both of them. Three decades later they are thrown together during the Land War, when evictions and landlord cruelty reach an intolerable level. But Thomas places his trust in the gun, while Owen backs the passive resistance advocated by the Land League.

Captain Charles Boycott, an English land agent in Mayo, becomes the first to suffer this new form of revolt, when he and his family are ostracised. It is a David versus Goliath situation, with Boycott supported by the military, the police, the press, the British Government. How can peasants stand against an empire? And how will the two brothers reconcile their differences and confront their troubled past? 

Finally, Ireland's Coast is a beautifully created book that celebrates our fantastic coastline:

In Ireland you are never far away from the border between land and sea and the coast is an integral part of the country. It is a place of natural beauty and vibrant history.

Carsten Krieger takes the reader, chapter by chapter, through a virtual tour of each region of Ireland’s coastline, with photograph after photograph of Ireland’s hidden gems. 

Just comment below with which one you'd like to be in with a chance of winning.