OMG, ROYSH: THE Oh My God Delusion, the latest in the series of the Ross O’Carroll Kelly books, has been crowned Ireland’s favourite book.

The Paul Howard book beat off stiff competition from Harper Lee’s classic To Kill A Mocking Bird and Book Thief by Markus Zusak to take the title.

Irish authors Emma Donoghue, John Boyne and Cecelia Ahern also made the top ten in the survey carried out by Eason’s.

Paul Howard, the writer of the Ross O’Carroll-Kelly series said it was “very gratifying that readers still find the books relevant and funny”.

Six of the top ten books were published in the last decade: The Oh My God Delusion, PS I Love You, Book Thief, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Kite Runner and Room.

Paul Howard said that the Ross O’Carroll Kelly books have changed since he wrote the first book 13 years ago:

“This book was the first recession era book, tracing the descent of Ross and his circle of friends from affluence to penury,” Howard told Newstalk’s Tom Dunne Show.

The survey, carried out to mark the 125th anniversary of Eason’s, asked people to choose their favourite book from a shortlist of 125 titles.

The top ten books in full:

Ross O’Carroll-Kelly: The Oh My God Delusion – Paul Howard
To Kill a Mocking Bird – Harper Lee
Book Thief – Markus Zusak
Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne
PS I Love You – Cecelia Ahern
Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Room – Emma Donoghue
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller

True to form, Ross O’Carroll Kelly tweeted that he was off to celebrate in an appropriate manner:

Over to you: What do you think? Worthy winner? And what’s your favourite book? Did it feature in the top 10? Let us know in the comments.

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More