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 ReviewsPepita by Vita Sackville-West
It was recently announced that Virginia Woolf's scandalous love affair with Vita Sackville-West will soon be immortalised in celluloid. Despite having since ... Read more »| 05 Aug 2016 -
Book ReviewsThe Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss
'If I had dared, I would have reached out to put my arm around my sad, cold daughter.' At the core of Moss’s fifth novel is a parent-child relationship... Read more »| 04 Aug 2016 -
Book Reviews
Beast by Paul Kingsnorth
A man alone in a barn on a moor. Outside is whiteness and emptiness and heat then rain. The man isn’t sleeping much. He’s come out here to escape... Read more »| 03 Aug 2016 -
Festivals
Edinburgh International Book Festival: A guide
Our Books Editor struggles to work logically through a recommended list for Edinburgh International Book Festival – such is the volume and quality of events on offer. Finally, through the power of cheap and ambiguous links, there forms a path Read more »| 29 Jul 2016 -
Book ReviewsThe GFG: The BFG in Scots Translatit by Susan Rennie
Getting up to look out of the window one eerily silent night, a wee girl called Sophy spots an extraordinary figure across the street.Something with twa bric... Read more »| 22 Jul 2016 -
Festivals
Immigrant Song: James Kelman on Dirt Road
James Kelman's important new novel plays a soundtrack to America's immigrant heritage, pulsing to a Zydeco rhythm and a Scottish beat. While being termed as among his most accessible works, it's nice to find that the great author has not yet mellowed Read more »| 22 Jul 2016
-
FestivalsManchester Literature Festival programme announced
Margaret Atwood will open this year's Manchester Literature Festival, leading a programme that also welcomes Vivienne Westwood, Ben Okri, Anne Enright and Olivia Laing. Read more »| 12 Jul 2016 -
Book Reviews
Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash
If Tommy Lee Jones’ character in No Country for Old Men had been able to see out his final days on the force without the interruption of a bowl-cut-wea... Read more »| 08 Jul 2016 -
Festivals
Ian McEwan at Leggendo Metropolitano
Ahead of the publication of his latest book this autumn, Ian McEwan offers his take on the role of virtue and fortune in literature. His novels teem with qu... Read more »| 29 Jun 2016 -
Features
12 books to read this summer
Looking for a good new book or three to take away with you this summer? The Skinny boards the #summerreads bandwagon... Read more »| 29 Jun 2016 -
Theatre
Joyce McMillan: Theatre and reflecting a nation
For the launch of her book, Theatre in Scotland: A Field of Dreams, we asked Joyce McMillan to choose key moments from her three decades as our most essential voice on the artform and its relationship to our social and political landscape Read more »| 29 Jun 2016 -
Book Reviews
The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker
Popular fiction’s current dual fixations continue apace. Characters negotiate the dismal misogyny of elaborately plotted murder/abduction fantasies or ... Read more »| 29 Jun 2016 -
Book Reviews
Nemesis by Misha Glenny
Rocinha, a sprawling favela in Rio De Janeiro, compresses the population of a medium-sized city densely into a small town. Its weaving streets break off into... Read more »| 29 Jun 2016 -
Features
Dodos and daemons: Our favourite children's books
From wizards to The Wind in the Willows, The Skinny’s Books team considers the enduring appeal of children’s literature. As the literary world c... Read more »| 28 Jun 2016 -
Festivals
Unbound 2016: What's on
All events start at 9pm (7pm on Monday 29 August) in the Spiegeltent, Charlotte Square Gardens. And they're free! Just drop in, no need for a ticket THE PHO... Read more »| 28 Jun 2016