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 ReviewsAye Write! The Road to War, 20 Apr
History made its presence felt in the Mitchell Library’s grand hall as two historians discussed the road to 1914. Charles Emmerson and Christopher Clar... Read more »| 23 Apr 2013 -
Book ReviewsDead Water by Ann Cleeves
Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope novels were dramatised for TV in 2011, and last year Detective Jimmy Perez, the patient, enigmatic investigator at the heart... Read more »| 22 Apr 2013 -
Book ReviewsAye Write! Best Scottish Poems Launch
Annually the Scottish Poetry Library releases an online publication entitled Best Scottish Poems. Now in its ninth year, Best Scottish Poems 2012 offers... Read more »| 22 Apr 2013 -
Book Reviews
Laidlaw by William McIlvanney
It has been said that there is not a single Scottish crime writer publishing today who does not owe William McIlvanney and his eponymous hero, Laidlaw, a sty... Read more »| 22 Apr 2013 -
FeaturesAye Write! Leveson Six Months On
The debate surrounding the Leveson report into media standards is more heated now than it was six months ago when the report was published. Leveson has made ... Read more »| 19 Apr 2013 -
Festivals
In Other Words, 23 Apr-19 May
Between World Book Night and the reopening of the city's Central Library, Liverpool celebrates all things literary with a new festival, In Other Words Read more »| 15 Apr 2013
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FeaturesWorld Book Night 2013
Now in its third year, World Book Night returns on 23 April with a whole host of nationwide events designed to celebrate reading and encourage those who do not regularly read to get involved Read more »| 12 Apr 2013 -
Festivals
Aye Write! Glasgow's Book Festival
This April sees Aye Write! return to the Mitchell Library for its eighth year, supplying Glasgow with a wealth of literary talent Read more »| 11 Apr 2013 -
Book Reviews
We're Flying by Peter Stamm
Following his celebrated novel Seven Years, We're Flying is a short story collection by Peter Stamm, brimming with insight into the psychological r... Read more »| 09 Apr 2013 -
Book Reviews
The Trade Secret by Robert Newman
Rob Newman's fourth novel is both an investigation into the pervasive forces of corporations, class and capitalism, as well as a swash-buckling adventure ... Read more »| 01 Apr 2013 -
Book Reviews
Love Sex Travel Musik by Rodge Glass
Sharing a theme of cheap air travel, these short stories reflect on a world lubricated by flights that cost less than lunch. Far from realising their dreams ... Read more »| 01 Apr 2013 -
Book Reviews
An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful by J. David Simons
J. David Simons’ new novel is primarily noteworthy for the ambition it shows in tackling difficult, often uncomfortable themes. Flitting between the yo... Read more »| 28 Mar 2013 -
Book Reviews
Book of the Month: The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim
Calling Hassan Blasim's second short story collection a ‘tour de force’ seems tactless – a tour by the Allied Western armies, involving dea... Read more »| 25 Mar 2013 -
Events
StAnza International Poetry Festival, St Andrews
StAnza poetry festival director Eleanor Livingstone tells us what attendees can expect this year, what not to miss, and how the recent closure of The Byre Theatre has impacted the programme Read more »| 12 Mar 2013 -
Book Reviews
The Investigation by Philippe Claudel
Philippe Claudel’s latest novel is an engrossing and often frustrating descent into the irritation and tyranny of the modern world. Frustrating becau... Read more »| 05 Mar 2013