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 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 -
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
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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 -
Book ReviewsBored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella
Tony Santorella’s witty and sharp debut novel follows its titular bored gay werewolf as he navigates encountering his fellow beasts Read more »| 29 May 2023 -
Book ReviewsBecause I Don't Know What You Mean and What You Don't by Josie Long
At once soothing and painful, acclaimed comedian Josie Long’s short story collection comprises characters who struggle with the inequities of daily life Read more »| 17 May 2023 -
ComedyA Long Time Coming: Josie Long on her debut book
Award-winning comedian and mum of two Josie Long is now an author. She talks to us from halfway across the world about her debut book, Because I Don’t Know What You Mean and What You Don’t Read more »| 15 May 2023 -
Book ReviewsThis Is My Body, Given For You by Heather Parry
Fresh off her debut novel Orpheus Builds A Girl, Heather Parry returns with her gory, unsettling debut collection This Is My Body, Given For You Read more »| 09 May 2023 -
FeaturesMusicality, desire and Blackness in Caleb Azumah Nelson's Small Worlds
Caleb Azumah Nelson's remarkable sophomore novel Small Worlds is an investigation into music as a structuring force, and as a space where its characters can find security and expression Read more »| 09 May 2023