Book Week Nine - when Irish eyes are smiling....

 

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

There's a tear in your eye,
And I'm wondering why,
For it never should be there at all.
With such pow'r in your smile,
Sure a stone you'd beguile,
So there's never a teardrop should fall.
When your sweet lilting laughter's
Like some fairy song,
And your eyes twinkle bright as can be;
You should laugh all the while
And all other times smile,
And now, smile a smile for me.


Chorus

When Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.

For your smile is a part
Of the love in your heart,
And it makes even sunshine more bright.
Like the linnet's sweet song,
Crooning all the day long,
Comes your laughter and light.
For the springtime of life
Is the sweetest of all
There is ne'er a real care or regret;
And while springtime is ours
Throughout all of youth's hours,
Let us smile each chance we get.

Céad Míle Fáilte!
"One hundred thousand welcomes!"

Yes, we're starting our St. Patrick's day celebration a couple weeks early here on the blog. Thanks to Carrie of Books and Movies,  I have discovered some great books and wanted to share them with you. She started an Ireland Reading Challenge and  I was the winner of An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor.   The challenge sparked my interest, since after all I am part Irish and my father's parent's parent's came from the county of Cork.   I started looking up some of the authors and fell in instant like with Frank Delaney and his book "Ireland:  A Novel."    The luck of the Irish was with me, because when I decided to read "Ireland", I was offered the chance to be a stop on one of his book blog tours for his latest novel "Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show."   

Another coincidence - I had been thinking of reading Dracula and while I was looking up information on Bram Stoker, I discovered he was Irish.  The first novel he wrote is called "Snake's Pass" and is set in Ireland. It about a traveler who arrives in a village that is haunted by the legend based on St. Patrick's battling the king of the snakes.   Sounds too good to pass up.    I joined in the challenge with a commitment to the Kiss The Blarney Stone level which is 6 books.  The challenge includes any books written by Irish authors, set in Ireland, has Irish characters or involves Irish history and can be fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or children's books and runs through the end of November. 

My challenge to you for the month of March is to read a book by an Irish author.   Here is a list of some interesting authors who are Irish which include a variety of classics and fiction authors such as Samuel Becket, Maeve Binchy, John Connolly, Frank Delaney, Tana French, C.S. Lewis,  Patrick Taylor and Oscar Wilde to name a few. 

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Link to your most current read:   Please include the name of the book in parenthesis after your name.