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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FeaturesCamilla Grudova on Children of Paradise and The Coiled Serpent
We chat to Camilla Grudova, author of the creepy Children of Paradise and upcoming short story collection The Coiled Serpent, about capitalist horror, British class politics, and why people can't flush the toilet Read more »| 03 Aug 2023 -
Book ReviewsI Will Greet the Sun Again by Khashayar J. Khabushani
In Khashayar J. Khabushani's debut, a young boy navigates a queer coming-of-age against the backdrop of pre-9/11 America and post-revolution Iran Read more »| 31 Jul 2023 -
EventsScottish Books Events: August 2023
Edinburgh Book Festival returns, as does Book Fringe, while in not-Edinburgh there are chances to hear from William Keohane, Jenni Fagan and John Niven Read more »| 28 Jul 2023 -
Book ReviewsTrouble by Lex Croucher
Lex Croucher's new queer Regency rom-com continues to break the rules of both propriety and gender norms Read more »| 26 Jul 2023 -
Book ReviewsA Little Luck by Claudia Piñeiro
An investigation into the limits of narrative, Claudia Piñeiro's latest cements the writer as a giant of Argentine literature Read more »| 11 Jul 2023 -
Book ReviewsYou, Bleeding Childhood by Michele Mari
You, Bleeding Childhood is the first English translation of Italian novelist Michele Mari, and a love letter to a childhood told through literature Read more »| 11 Jul 2023
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Book ReviewsRental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto
Shoji Morimoto's unique memoir tracks the author's life as he refuses work and rents himself out as a passive companion Read more »| 06 Jul 2023 -
FeaturesSarah Bernstein on new novel Study for Obedience
Canadian-born, Highlands-based author Sarah Bernstein unpacks her second novel Study for Obedience, a gothic tale of power and complicity Read more »| 03 Jul 2023 -
Book ReviewsBellies by Nicola Dinan
Nicola Dinan's powerful and vulnerable debut Bellies marks a watershed moment in British trans fiction Read more »| 29 Jun 2023 -
FestivalsEdinburgh International Book Festival 2023: The programme
The Edinburgh Book Festival returns to the Edinburgh College of Art this August for its 40th year – here's a look at the 2023 programme Read more »| 14 Jun 2023 -
Book ReviewsBread and Circus by Airea D. Matthews
Philadelphia Poet Laureate Airea D. Matthews' new poetry collection is a formally and politically ambitious reckoning with racial poverty in the US Read more »| 07 Jun 2023 -
Book ReviewsRural by Rebecca Smith
In her nonfiction debut, Rebecca Smith charts working class histories through stories of land and rural life Read more »| 06 Jun 2023 -
Book ReviewsDisturbance by Jenna Clake
A woman escaping an abusive relationship finds herself caught between reality and the supernatural in this atmospheric debut from Jenna Clake Read more »| 06 Jun 2023 -
EventsScottish Books Events: June 2023
It's a poetry heavy month, with the launch of two new poetry nights in Glasgow and plenty of spoken word at Hidden Door and Spit It Out Festival Read more »| 31 May 2023 -
FeaturesYan Ge on her debut English-language collection Elsewhere
Yan Ge introduces her debut English-language collection Elsewhere, a group of short stories hopping from Dublin to colonial-era Burma to ancient China Read more »| 29 May 2023