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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FeaturesThe Handmaid's Tale, Dystopia & Life Imitating Art
As The Handmaid's Tale reaches our screens and the book tops bestseller lists, we look at why dystopias such as this and 1984 are connecting so strongly in t... Read more »| 23 May 2017 -
Book ReviewsSorry to Disrupt the Peace by Patty Yumi Cottrell
Patty Yumi Cottrell’s stand-out debut novel opens with our protagonist, Helen, receiving a new IKEA sofa alongside the news that her adoptive brother h... Read more »| 23 May 2017 -
Book Reviews
Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Gravel Heart, Abdulrazak Gurnah’s ninth novel, fits neatly into the author’s established oeuvre, as he returns to familiar themes of immigration,... Read more »| 16 May 2017 -
FeaturesDark Fantasy: Ever Dundas on debut novel Goblin
Goblin, the debut novel from Ever Dundas, blurs the lines between fantasy and reality but also between genders, questioning the roles imposed upon us from bi... Read more »| 10 May 2017 -
Features
Emma Cline on The Girls
Emma Cline's debut novel The Girls, in which teenager Evie Boyd becomes drawn into a Manson-like cult, was published to much acclaim last year. As the paperback hits shelves, we asked Cline about the book's origins and her future plans Read more »| 05 May 2017 -
Features
Scottish Poetry News – May 2017
Our columnist updates you on all things poetry for May, including a chat with Ted Hughes Prize winner Hollie McNish and the best words being offered on page and stage around Scotland Read more »| 03 May 2017
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Features
Librarians v Comics: Glasgow Libraries
Everybody knows you’d be hard pushed to find a librarian who couldn’t tell their Austen from their Elbow, but we wanted to find out how well thes... Read more »| 03 May 2017 -
Book Reviews
Strange Heart Beating by Eli Goldstone
Recently bereaved English academic Seb is struggling with the loss of his wife Leda, so visits her native country to learn more about her and divert his encr... Read more »| 28 Apr 2017 -
Features
Ever Dundas: The Problems with Gender and Language
In her debut novel Goblin, Ever Dundas takes on the preset gender narratives society imposes on us. Here she discusses the problems language throws up when w... Read more »| 28 Apr 2017 -
Book Reviews
Compass by Mathias Enard
On a single sleepless night in Vienna, musicologist Franz Ritter revisits moments from a life spent studying and exploring the Middle East, winding through m... Read more »| 26 Apr 2017 -
Book Reviews
The Things I Would Tell You edited by Sabrina Mahfouz
‘Woman like no one is ever going to read you. Woman like you have everything to say.’ In The Things I Would Tell You, edited by Sabrina Mahfouz,... Read more »| 26 Apr 2017 -
Book ReviewsUniversal Harvester by John Darnielle
Jeremy works in a video rental store in the small Iowan town he’s lived in all his life when one day his routine is interrupted by the discovery of som... Read more »| 25 Apr 2017 -
Features
César Aira's Literary Toys for Adults
Argentine author César Aira is like nothing you've read before. As a light is shone on a small corner of his work – translations of The Proof an... Read more »| 18 Apr 2017 -
Book Reviews
Void Star by Zachary Mason
At an unspecified time in the near future, the oceans have risen, implanted chips make infinite memory a possibility and anti-aging clinics offer eternal you... Read more »| 18 Apr 2017 -
Book Reviews
Flesh of the Peach by Helen McClory
Helen McClory’s debut novel is an invigorating follow-up to her much-lauded debut: the Saltire Scottish First Book of the Year award-winning On the Edg... Read more »| 17 Apr 2017