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.
-
Book Reviews
Radical: A Life of My Own by Xiaolu Guo
Xiaolu Guo's memoir Radical is the story of a search for selfhood and a language that connects her past and present Read more »| 13 Apr 2023 -
Book Reviews
Shy by Max Porter
Max Porter's highly anticipated fourth novel Shy is a hallucinatory, fragmentary journey through its eponymous character's internal landscape Read more »| 04 Apr 2023 -
Book Reviews
Linghun by Ai Jiang
The debut novella from speculative short story author Ai Jiang, Linghun is a haunting investigation into home and grief Read more »| 03 Apr 2023 -
Events
Scottish Books Events: April 2023
Lots of bookish treats this month, including open mics, queer storytelling, and a magical conversation between Max Porter and Heather Parry Read more »| 28 Mar 2023 -
Book Reviews
Never Was by H. Gareth Gavin
H. Gareth Gavin's experimental novel defies categorisation, exploring the common, queered experience of depersonalisation Read more »| 27 Mar 2023 -
Book Reviews
Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa
Sophie K Rosa's groundbreaking manifesto Radical Intimacy invites us into a politically emancipatory conceptualisation of intimacy beyond capitalism and heteronormativity Read more »| 20 Mar 2023
-
Intersections
Lucky (& Radical) in Love: A first read of Anahit Behrooz's BFFs
There's something truly powerful about female friendships – the intimacy, the joy, the romance. 404 Ink's BFFs by our very own Anahit Behrooz explores all this and more Read more »| 08 Mar 2023 -
Features
Leila Aboulela on her latest novel River Spirit
We chat with Cairo-born, Sudan-raised and Aberdeen-resident Leila Aboulela about her latest novel River Spirit, and the importance of re-examining the histories we are handed Read more »| 02 Mar 2023 -
Book Reviews
Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks
Jacqueline Crooks' debut Fire Rush is a vibrant journey into clubs, music and culture, set in the late 70s and early 80s between England and Jamaica Read more »| 02 Mar 2023 -
Book Reviews
Couplets: A Love Story by Maggie Millner
A poet takes the intimate form of the couplet to tell a tale of breaking apart and new passion in Maggie Millner's lyrical novel Read more »| 28 Feb 2023 -
Events
Scottish Books Events: March 2023
Scotland's international poetry festival StAnza returns, Loud Poets are back, and not one but two members of The Skinny books team launch new work Read more »| 28 Feb 2023 -
Book Reviews
Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns
Priya Guns’ debut is a five-star ride, dripping in vivid sensuality: a Taxi Driver for the Uber generation and a heart-rending tale of queer lust across social strata Read more »| 27 Feb 2023 -
Book Reviews
Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin
Cecile Pin's timely debut novel explores the long history of refugee narratives through the story of three Vietnamese siblings in Thatcherite Britain Read more »| 27 Feb 2023 -
Book Reviews
Owlish by Dorothy Tse
Dorothy Tse's Owlish is a surreal fairytale that tackles the political reality of Hong Kong through a shifting dreamspace Read more »| 21 Feb 2023 -
Features
Home Country: Orsola Casagrande on Kurdistan + 100
Orsola Casagrande introduces Kurdistan + 100, an anthology of speculative fiction which seeks to embed the Kurdish identity in the historical record Read more »| 20 Feb 2023