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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Book ReviewsLolito by Ben Brooks
Lolito, as the title suggests, is about a teenage boy who engages in inappropriate relations with an older woman. Ben Brooks’ novel is told from the po... Read more »| 12 Aug 2013 -
FestivalsSongs in the Key of Fife: Vic Galloway presents his love letter to the East Neuk
As he prepares to launch his insider's history of Fife's rich alternative musical history, we ask Vic Galloway why he wanted to tell this story, what makes The Fence Collective so special, and what he has planned for the Book Festival Read more »| 12 Aug 2013 -
Book Reviews
What the River Washed Away by Muriel Mharie Macleod
Life as a black woman in 1920s Louisiana, battling the double-barreled bigotry of race and gender, African-American, but without a true home in either, torn ... Read more »| 05 Aug 2013 -
Book ReviewsThe Gardener from Ochakov by Andrey Kurkov
The Gardener from Ochakov is the latest offering from Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov. The darkly comic novel centres on the misadventures of Igor Andreevna w... Read more »| 05 Aug 2013 -
FestivalsThe Good Word: Edinburgh International Book Festival 2013
Edinburgh International Book Festival has grown to gargantuan proportions, showcasing hundreds of authors over sixteen days. Having thoroughly digested what’s on offer, we present to you our pick of the bunch Read more »| 01 Aug 2013 -
FestivalsChris Ware: Building Worlds
Widely recognised as one of the most important voices in comics, Chris Ware will be at the Book Festival discussing his conceptually ambitious graphic novel Building Stories, as well as appearing in conversation with Joe Sacco Read more »| 01 Aug 2013
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Book Reviews
Snake Road by Sue Peebles
Snake Road is a family drama focusing on the lives of three women across three generations of the Copella family. In the top floor of the family home, grandm... Read more »| 31 Jul 2013 -
Book Reviews
Four New Words For Love by Michael Cannon
"Things don't cost what you give for them, they cost what you give up to get them." So says Gina, an intelligent and resourceful young Glaswegian, who has pu... Read more »| 23 Jul 2013 -
Book Reviews
The House of Journalists by Tim Finch
Located in a London terrace, the House of Journalists is a refuge for writers exiled from their home nations due to conflicts of interest with their oppressi... Read more »| 23 Jul 2013 -
Book Reviews
Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach
Leila is a socially isolated young woman who lives alone after the death of her mother. When the charismatic leader of an internet forum contacts her with a ... Read more »| 23 Jul 2013 -
Book Reviews
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman
A product of a post-feminist, politically-correct upbringing, Nathaniel Piven is conscientious, intellectual and successful. He is also self-absorbed, snobbi... Read more »| 23 Jul 2013 -
Book Reviews
Office Girl by Joe Meno
Joe Meno's sixth novel might act as an effective acid test for determining hipster tolerance: one protagonist spends his time recording the sounds made by sn... Read more »| 20 Jul 2013 -
Features
Canongate: Life Begins at 40
Not content to gaze lovingly at their last 40 years of success, Canongate are asking the nation's cultural heavyweights to help them discover the next generation of movers and shakers. True to form, it looks pretty spectacular Read more »| 15 Jul 2013 -
Book Reviews
Unstated: Scottish Writers on Independence
Unstated: Scottish Writers on Independence contains 27 essays by writers with varying attitudes towards the question of independence. Unfortunately upon publ... Read more »| 11 Jul 2013 -
Features
Natasha Smith: Where the Hidden Andalusia Trembles
Ahead of presenting her latest work at Manchester's Cervantes Institute this month, emerging writer Natasha Smith talks about her life in Spain, Andalusian culture, and studying under Jeanette Winterson Read more »| 10 Jul 2013