It’s Christmas time again and what better way to celebrate it than with a book. The winter, with a warm fire for a companion, is a great time to get into a good book.

There’s a large selection at ‘Books on the Green’ in Sandymount and Brian O’Brien will be more than happy to help you choose. Ones to watch out for this Christmas are ‘Up with the Times’ by Conor Brady, ‘The Sea’ by John Banville, this year’s Booker Man prize winner, ‘Memoirs’ by John Mc Gahern and ‘Air Babylon’ by Imogen Edwards-Jones.

For the children ‘Body’ by Robert Winston and ‘The Children’s Encyclopedia’ are both good buys. For younger children the fantastic ‘Horrid Henrys’ by Francesca Simon are always very popular. There is a huge selection to choose from.

The shop may be compact but it has its fair share of celebrities and nights of fun, with Ruairí Quinn and his new book ‘Straight Left’ and our own Róisín Ingle with her new book ‘Pieces of Me’ due to pay visits to the shop. Keep an eye open and you might meet Seamus Heaney or Rose Doyle, who are both local residents.

The shop specialises in Irish and children’s books and also has a great range of gifts and cards. Don’t forget the ‘Irish Times Book of the Year’, it has been in stock for eleven years now and along with the ‘Hospice Book’ has proved to be a bestseller.