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 ReviewsThe Outrun by Amy Liptrot
Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun is a beautifully written memoir about alcoholism, recovery and life at the extremes. Ten years after leaving Orkney’s re... Read more »| 03 Feb 2016 -
Book ReviewsThe Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage
Set in 1920s Montana, The Power of the Dog begins as a tale of two competitive brothers. Phil, educated and calculating; George, reliable... Read more »| 01 Feb 2016 -
Book Reviews
Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
In an understated author’s note sat quietly on a back page between the novel’s epilogue and its acknowledgements, Chinelo Okparanta states her am... Read more »| 01 Feb 2016 -
Book ReviewsThe High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
Three stories, three grieving men, three years: 1904, 1938, 1981. We begin in Lisbon in 1904, as Tomas sets off in search of an unlikely 17th century artefac... Read more »| 29 Jan 2016 -
Book ReviewsNobody Told Me by Hollie McNish
Nobody Told Me: Poetry and Parenthood chronicles three years and nine months of poet Hollie McNish’s life, from discovering she was pregnant – &l... Read more »| 29 Jan 2016 -
News
Scottish Book Trust name New Writers Award winners
The Scottish Book Trust have named the eleven winners of this year's New Writers Awards for unpublished fiction, non-fiction and poetry authors. Each of the... Read more »| 27 Jan 2016
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News
Dundee International Book Prize open for 2016
The Dundee International Book Prize, one of Scotland's leading prizes for unpublished authors, has invited entries for its 2016 edition. Read more »| 25 Jan 2016 -
Book ReviewsCockfosters by Helen Simpson
Losing your glasses. Drinking too much at a book group. Getting the fridge fixed. Forgetting the names of things. Helen Simpson’s latest collection of ... Read more »| 22 Jan 2016 -
Features
Tragedy & Triumph: Ali Eskandarian’s Golden Years
Oscar Van Gelderen – ‘the publisher with the golden nose’ – was also editor of Ali Eskandarian's modern beat novel Golden Y... Read more »| 15 Jan 2016 -
Book Reviews
And Yet... by Christopher Hitchens
And Yet... is Christopher Hitchens’ supposedly final collection of essays, most of which were written before the publication of his previous collection... Read more »| 14 Jan 2016 -
Features
Helen McClory discusses On the Edges of Vision
We begin a new year with a new author. Helen McClory's otherworldly short fiction recently won the Saltire Society First Book award, and she chats here about how her fiercely original collection On the Edges of Vision came to be born Read more »| 11 Jan 2016 -
Features
Hollie McNish: parents, poetry & the power of art
As she prepares to gig in Liverpool for the first time, poet and performer Hollie McNish discusses her new book of poetry about parenthood and the excitement of playing on mixed bills Read more »| 11 Jan 2016 -
Book Reviews
Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre
In Black Widow, Chris Brookmyre's latest installment in his Jack Parlabane series, the investigative journalist is tasked with unearthing the mysteries behin... Read more »| 08 Jan 2016 -
Features
Projecting pages: When books become films
Taking books to the screen has long made up much of the film industry's output. We look at the creative issues involved in the process, and then on to some of the most interesting recent and upcoming literary adaptations. Read more »| 06 Jan 2016 -
Events
Northwest Book Highlights – January 2016
The New Year brings literary events worth bracing the weather for, from Yorkshire’s emerging star poet Helen Mort to music writing giant Jon Savage Read more »| 06 Jan 2016