Books
The Skinny book guide – bringing you book reviews, features, events, reviews and author interviews. Find previews and on the ground reporting from festivals of literature and poetry in Scotland and beyond.
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FeaturesSamar Yazbek on Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life: Voices From Gaza
We speak to Syrian journalist Samar Yazbek about her latest book, a collection of testimonials from Gazans living under genocide Read more »| 12 May 2026 -
Book ReviewsThe Colony by Christiana Spens
A woman heads to a commune on a remote Scottish island in this skewering of the wellness industry and how we grapple with our past traumas Read more »| 07 May 2026 -
Book ReviewsOffseason by Avigayl Sharp
Avigayl Sharp explores the bleakly comic millennial urge to self-diagnose in this wickedly abrasive debut novel Read more »| 04 May 2026 -
EventsScottish Books Events: May 2026
Two big book festivals hit Scotland this month, while a bunch of launches and readings happen in bookshops across the country Read more »| 01 May 2026 -
Book ReviewsInto the Wreck by Susannah Dickey
Susannah Dickey's novel Into the Wreck explores the aftermath of a man's death through his remaining family members Read more »| 07 Apr 2026 -
Book ReviewsOn the Bus Without a Phone by Babak Ganjei
Visual artist Babak Ganjei brings out an idiosyncratic novella of everyday, low-level dread Read more »| 02 Apr 2026
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EventsScottish Books Events: April 2026
First Date, Edinburgh's romance book festival, returns at the end of the month. Elsewhere, Polly Barton launches her debut novel and there's a poetry open mic at Glasgow Zine Library Read more »| 31 Mar 2026 -
Book ReviewsOctober by Nur Turkmani
Across multiple Octobers, Lebanese poet Nur Turkmani explores ideas of memory, love and transformation Read more »| 30 Mar 2026 -
Book ReviewsMy Lover, The Rabbi by Wayne Koestenbaum
Cult gay poet and writer Wayne Koestenbaum finally gets a UK release with his latest book, My Lover, The Rabbi Read more »| 27 Mar 2026 -
Book ReviewsThe Delusions by Jenni Fagan
Jenni Fagan's intensely humanist novel explores the administrative structures of the afterlife Read more »| 13 Mar 2026 -
Book ReviewsMirrorstage by Peter Scalpello
Poet Peter Scalpello turns his hand to prose in this psychedelic exploration of queerness and addiction Read more »| 12 Mar 2026 -
Book ReviewsSpoiled Milk by Avery Curran
Something deadly is lurking in the background of Briarley School for Girls in this queer Gothic boarding school novel Read more »| 10 Mar 2026 -
Book ReviewsBody Double by Hanna Johansson
People disappear into others in this enigmatic Hitchcockian thriller Read more »| 10 Mar 2026 -
FeaturesBest Friends Forever?: Sarvat Hasin on new novel Strange Girls
In Sarvat Hasin's beautiful friendship break-up book Strange Girls, the intimacies, co-dependencies, and queernesses of female friendship prompt a crisis Read more »| 09 Mar 2026 -
EventsScottish Books Events: March 2026
StAnza, St Andrews' poetry festival, returns this month while elsewhere there are book launches from Isabel Waidner, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah Read more »| 03 Mar 2026