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2006 was the year of the interview. Paula B, host of The Writing Show, encouraged me to meet with some of the noteworthy talent here on the Irish scene, gargle a few pints and see if an hour's entertaining insight and advice could be edited from the effort. The results were a fantastic discussion with novelist and former editor Kevin Stevens, and then a free-ranging discussion encompassing what it's like to be a teacher/ journalist/ poet/ novelist/ biographer/ playwrite with Kildare's John MacKenna in March. At year’s close I had the opportunity to talk mysteries with Lake of Sorrows author Erin Hart. In between, talented up-and-coming authors like Alex Barclay, Michael Loyd Gray, and Eileen Casey were good enough to answer my pestering emails and submit to written interviews. I’m well pleased with the background, recommendations, and behind-the-scenes information these fine writers have provided about the crafting of their newly-reviewed books. I’m hoping to post more in 2007.
And 2006 brought a lotta reviewed books. Ultimately, there was need to split the list into a front page with the most recent ten and another page with the Full Index. (The main page remains slow to load, though... perhaps there will be a long-awaited redesign in 2007.) Delving through that full list, I’m glad to see 2006 brought the chance to be introduced to some quality titles from Yann Martel, Elizabeth Kostova, Jonathan Franzen and Ted L. Nancy. Other books (Confederate Nation: Special Appearance by Elvis Presley by Michael Loyd Gray for example) were just fun to read. A few, like Jon Smith's The Bloke's Guide to Pregnancy, touched me deeply. Man, did I connect with that one.
Tons of 2006's white hats and black hats hailed from Minnesotta, of all random places. Great stuff like Mind Prey by John Sandford, Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson, Want to Play? by P. J. Tracy, and of course the aforementioned Erin Hart. I asked her why all the excellent fiction. In a snippet that I was sorry to see hit the cutting room floor, she explained "You can hide a lot of things in all that snow." Watch your back, when in the North Star State! But watch what's coming out of there, too.
A little closer to home , I had the good fortune to attend the Voices in the Castle event in July and there meet several of the authors who contributed to County Lines: A Portrait of Life in South Dublin County. Am I the sad kind of bastard who will attend any opening, even the opening of an envelope? No. Nor do I consider myself Ireland's greatest undiscovered talent, hoping my genius will be at last recognized at wine and cheese events. I'm a book fan, period. I seek out what I like- in this case, sincerity. The mainstream can bite my ass.
Onto Irish Crime. Though I was delighted to be sent review copies of mysteries set in Arizona and New York, I really love crime with an Irish connection. Ken Bruen to DBC Pierre, Hugo Hamilton, Gene Kerrigan, Alex Barclay… all of these writers have impressed the hell out of me this year. In September I lured into one place all the Irish crime titles I’ve covered. They're banged up there with a short essay on True Crime, and a list of Recommended Flicks. One day I’ll finally nail the godawful criminal piece in my "articles in progress" folder about the reality of right and wrong, justice and junkies in Dublin. But every time I believe I have a understanding that's worth passing on, another headline makes me just want to give the whole freaking thing up.
Another feature new to the site…. Writers that I have reviewed get their revenge. Or pay their thanks, whichever they see fit. For feedback from Francine Biere, Jon Smith, Eric Wilder and more, check out the page on What Writers think of Critical Mick.
To put these new interviews, excerpts and other features in a spotlight, the front page of the site got a  "News" box in 2006. An archive of past "check this out!" items is linked right off it.
The year's big event, of course, was the September arrival of baby Conor. With the task of minding him, God only knows how often Critical Mick news and reviews will be updated in 2007. Real life comes first, made-up lives second.
While on the subject of unlikely resolutions, my goal for 2007 is to read and review one book per week. I also aim that all reviews posted should be 10% less tedious than in 2006, and contain a 10% more actual insight. The whole Critical Mick idea is to spin what's on the page in a way that that fellow book fans may not have seen these titles before. Hopefully giving readers something interesting to think about.
Failing that, I hope I get a laugh.
As 2007 begins, the stack on my nightstand totters dangerously high. Cool beans! Apologies to Mr. Trapp, Mr. Wilder, Mr. Fire and Mr. Mark Leslie for the delay in reading the review copies they kindly posted to me. Stay tooned! Also forthcoming are John MacKenna's memoir Things You Should Know and reviews of Irish crime titles like Cormac Millar's An Irish Solution and Christine Falls, which was written under the pseudonym of Benjamin Black by Booker-prize winner John Banville. I am working on a show about what makes books collectable for The Writing Show, and aim to provide a little coverage of the Dublin Writers Festival this June.
Somewhere in there, whether a household name or a complete unknown, will be the winner of Critical Mick's Best Book Read in 2007. Will that book be yours? Maybe. If you've put your heart, peeled eyes and coffee mug into something that you just had to say, then captured it between two covers and a dustjacket, drop me a line. If you've not, check back to see what mayhem my cracked head makes out of such books.
May 2007 be free of everything stale and artificial, fellow book fans! All the best for you and me both.
Peace
Yer Friend Mick Halpin
...click to see who's in the running for 
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Winners
