Dubray Books

A two floor shop amid the hustle & bustle of Grafton Street, Dubray Books is an oasis of calm & a welcome escape for the readers among us. I’m reviewing as an American, so my nearest point of comparison is a small scale Barnes & Noble, but here you’ll find a bit more specialized collection (think Irish language books) than you might if you wound up at a Barnes & Noble in Idaho or someplace. A quick look at the shelves revealed a healthy supply of best-​sellers & other current releases for people who might want something new to read while on holiday & for the more local customers, there were plenty of deeper catalog items to choose from.
I had actually gone in looking for a book on the stories of Finn McCool & while they had had a few to choose from, I was disappointed. This is not a knock against the book store, but the current state of publishing. Finn McCool is an icon in the myths & history of Ireland. I had hoped that there would be a picture book detailing his exploits with art worthy the Emerald Isle, but what I found tended to be better suited for Mad Magazine. Utter rubbish. At any rate, you will find it difficult, as I did, to leave this store empty-​handed. I found a compelling pop-​up book detailing life on a famine ship & a silly children’s paperback on The Adventures of Shamrock Sean.
Staff was helpful — they assisted me in locating the famine book with only my vague description of «famine» «pop-​up» & while they couldn’t do much for me re: Finn McCool, at least they seemed to sympathize with me that I was SOL. I’d definitely recommend this shop if you’re looking for something to read.