Books and Round-up

Crime books round-up – March 2012

Doug Johnstone, Alex Gray and Mari Jungstedt deliver new crime novels this month

17 Feb 2012

As if to show that fiction readers love a good bit of murder and mystery, death and deceit, blood and booze, there’s acres of it about to be scattered around the nation’s book shelves. Doug Johnstone (of this parish) parks his Hit and Run (Faber) at our…

Glasgow homegrown events round-up

23 Jul 2009

So, apparently there’s this … festival thing, happening in Edinburgh? Whatever. While the gallons of international acts pouring into the Capital at the beginning of August do traditionally tend to hog the headlines at this time of year, with loads of…

Film Books Round-up

17 Jul 2008

In terms of wealth of research and weightiness of tome Richard Brody’s biography of Jean-Luc Godard, Everything is Cinema (Faber) ••••, should be a masterpiece. Yet for all its detail Godard remains an enigma, and this seems neither for want of research…

New historical books round-up

Kate Summerscale, Paul French, Andrew Martin, Sarah Fraser and John Romer all to release new works

24 Apr 2012

How do you follow up a mind-blowing success like The Suspicions of Mr Whicher? Well, if you’re Kate Summerscale, you understandably get right back onto that period saddle with Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady (Bloomsbury).

Rules of Civility, Queen of Kings, Spartan, The Submission and America Pacifica

Debut novels round-up

21 Jul 2011

Described by David Nicholls as ‘a smart, witty, charming Dry Martini of a novel’, Rules of Civility (Sceptre) veers from a photographic exhibit in 1966 to a jazz bar on the last night of 1937. In this fizzing debut by Amor Towles (pictured), both places…

New music books: Luke Haines - Post Everything, Andy Kershaw - No Off Switch,

Simon Reynold - Retromania, Scott Weiland - Not Dead & Not for Sale

23 May 2011

Semi-absent fans of former Auteur and Black Box Recorder man Luke Haines might have received something of a jolt on suddenly Googling him. The words on the second entry would have immediately caught the eye: ‘It is with deep regret that we have to…

Books from Mark Thomas, Emma Kennedy, Jon Richardson, Andy Riley and Paul Barker

Comedy books round-up March 2011

15 Mar 2011

With the annual Glasgow comedy beanfeast having its last laughs, there are a bunch of opportunities to seek solace in book form. Extreme Rambling (Ebury) by Mark Thomas is the paper version of his current touring show in which he walks the entire length…

TV personalities make their way to the Book Festival

A set of small screen heroes gather up to chew some telly fat

17 Aug 2010

Stephen Poliakoff, Nicholas Parsons, Elaine C Smith, Niall Ferguson, and John Simpson are coming to the Edinburgh Book Festival to talk about their life experiences in the world of television.

Festival Briefing 2010

Some things we think might help you at this year's festivals

30 Jul 2010

Here's a short briefing about some things to look forward to during the Book Festival, the Fringe, in Music events, and Shopping opportunities in Edinburgh

5 Debut Novels for July 2010

24 Jun 2010

Deborah Kay Davies - True Things About Me Welsh poet and short story writer with a debut novel about an unnamed woman whose life is unravelling through a tale of lust, obsession and violence. (Canongate) Jean Kwok - Girl in Translation Based…

Five paperback memoirs published in July 2010

10 Jun 2010

Buzz Aldrin Magnificent Desolation The never-dull story of the moon landing and Buzz’s subsequent struggle to cope. Bloomsbury. Alex Marsh Sex & Bowls & Rock and Roll A terribly witty blog-to-book affair about a disillusioned househusband who…

Also Published: Short-story paperbacks

Keeping it brief

2 Oct 2009

Janice Galloway - Collected Stories, Sarah Waters - Dancing With Mr Darcy, Annie Proulx - Fine Just the Way It Is, Catherine O'Flynn - Roads Ahead, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - The Thing Around Your Neck

Also published: Books

It'd be criminal to miss out on these

17 Sep 2009

Stieg Larsson The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest The third volume of the bestselling Millenium Trilogy has Lisbeth Salander fighting corruption as she is set to face trial for three murders. Maclehose Press. Ruth Rendell The Monster in the…

Also published: 5 Unit-Shifters

26 Aug 2009

Dan Brown The Lost Symbol You may have heard of his last book, The Finchley Coat or something. Bob Langdon is back with more ‘history, codes and intrigue’. Some copies are expected to be sold. Bantam Press. James Patterson Alex Cross’s Trial…

5 paperback thrillers

12 Aug 2009

Burial by Neil Cross, Geezer Girls by Dreda Say Mitchell, Death Trip by Lee Weeks, Hit and Run by Lawrence Block, The Clayton Account by Bill Vidal.

Scottish Books - Scottish Summer reads

9 Jul 2009

Craig Russell: Lennox In the first of a new crime series, Russell combines atmosphere, action and a pleasing pitch-black sense of humour in 1950s Glasgow. Dodgy PI Lennox has just lived through one war but is being flung into another, more local one.

Film Book round up

25 Jun 2009

Former stand-up comedian Robert Sellers hops across the pond to detail wild and fast times of Hollywood’s original bad boys with Bad Boy Drive (Preface) ●●●. Following on from his previous opus Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard…

Also Published: 5 Upcoming Novels

28 May 2009

David Peace Occupied City Back home in his native Yorkshire, the Damned United author delivers the second of his Tokyo stories with Japan now in its third year of US occupation. Faber, 6 Aug. Thomas Pynchon Inherent Vice The reclusive scribe…

Various: Khaki Shorts

28 May 2009

More underground comics action pierces your mind as Khaki Shorts returns after a two-year hiatus. It’s a distinctly Glaswegian title (with just a dash of Edinburgh wit) packed with acidic humour ranging from sci-fi pastiche to police action with…

Also Published: 5 Paperback Biographys

14 May 2009

John Peel The Olivetti Chronicles Chosen by Peely’s wife and kids, this mix of early journalism, diaries, letters and odds ‘n’ sods pretty much amounts to a second memoir. Corgi. Richard Madeley Father and Sons Judy’s fella turned to a distinctly…

Also Released - 5 History Books

16 Apr 2009

Robert Wallace & H Keith Melton with Henry Robert Schlesinger Spycraft One of these guys is a former director of the CIA, so this look at the organisation’s top gadgets should be on the money. Bantam. Max Arthur The Real Band of Brothers Subtitled…

Also Published - 5 True Crime Paperbacks

2 Apr 2009

Peter Woolf - The Damage Done Woolf grew up as a kid in London’s criminal underworld and is now dedicated to helping others avoid the deadly pitfalls. Bantam. Mazher Mahmood - Confessions of a Fake Sheik This investigative journo has helped expose…

Aye Write! - Highlights

5 Mar 2009

Alan Bennett Everyone’s favourite northern talking head chats about The Uncommon Reader which speculates on the daring books HRH might flick through. Fri 6 Mar, 6pm. Willy Maley on Muriel Spark The man who co-edited the 100 Best Scottish Books Of…

Hitlist - Books

19 Feb 2009

● Jason Donald Born in Dundee and raised in South Africa, Donald came back to Scotland to study creative writing at Glasgow. See the spectacular results at the launch of his debut novel, Choke Chain, a gripping tale of growing up in the threatening…

Books - Also Published

19 Feb 2009

5 CRIME NOVELS Alex Gray Glasgow Kiss DCI Lorimer opens the file on a schoolteacher accused of rape who then goes missing. ‘The most dynamic Scottish detective since Rebus’ we’re told. Sphere. Natasha Cooper Life on the Edge Psychologist…

Film books round-Up

11 Dec 2008

‘Tis the season to settle down with a good old-fashioned film book. Having a stack of cinema related tomes on your bedside table is essential for any aspiring cineaste at this time of year. So after many hours of sifting through recent releases this is…

Also released - 5 Poetry Books

13 Nov 2008

● Vera Brittain Because You Died A collection of poems and prose from the author of Testament of Youth, all about the men she loved who perished in the First World War. Virago. ● Dennis O’Donnell Stepping Stones This one features interviews with…

5 Travel Books

17 Jul 2008

Ellie Nielsen Our Own Piece of Paris Subtitled ‘How We Fell in Love with the City of Light’, this follows one woman’s quest to find an apartment that oozes Parisian chic. Atlantic. Kapka Kassabova Street Without a Name Subtitled ‘Childhood and Other…

Film Books Round-Up

10 Apr 2008

The debate about US cinema from the late 1960s continues with Yale graduate Mark Harris’ Scenes from a Revolution (Canongate ••••). It starts with the fairly flaky premise that the 1967 Academy Award ceremony was the night that the new Hollywood was…

Also Published - 5 Unit Shifters

17 Jan 2008

Cathy Kelly - Lessons in Heartbreak Izzie has broken her own rules about having affairs with married men while her ageing aunt has just discovered her husband’s infidelity. HarperCollins. Monty Don - Around the World in 80 Gardens The presenter…

Also Published - 5 US Crime Dramas

29 Nov 2007

Otto Penzler (ed) Dead Man’s Hand A collection of newly written poker-based tales from crime writers such as Jeffrey Deaver, Michael Connelly and Walter Mosley. Quercus. James Lee Burke The Tin Roof Blowdown A cache of stolen diamonds has floated…

Also Published - 5 Unit Shifters

18 Oct 2007

• Jackie Collins Drop Dead Beautiful A psycho on the internet stalks Lucky Santangelo after she opens a flashy hotel complex in Las Vegas. Simon & Schuster. • Patricia Cornwell Book of the Dead Kay Scarpetta opens a private forensic pathology…

Also Published - 5 Travel Paperbacks

6 Sep 2007

• Robert Carver - Paradise with Serpents The author follows in the footsteps of his great uncle as he finds adventure and intrigue in the lost world of Paraguay. Perennial. • Felipe Fernandez-Armesto - Pathfinders This one is a 'history of…

Also Published

16 Aug 2007

• Marie Phillips - Gods Behaving Badly Aphrodite is a phone sex operator while Apollo peddles a living as a TV psychic. Only their cleaner Alice can help save these fallen Greek gods. Jonathan Cape. • Adrian Hyland - Diamond Dove Set in central…

Top 5 - Fiction Finales

9 Aug 2007

With rumours that the next Inspector Rebus adventure may be the very last one, we look at books which waved a fond farewell to some legendary creations Jeeves & Wooster In 1974, PG Wodehouse gave us Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen (a title which requires…

Kids Events

9 Aug 2007

When you say ‘comic’ to a kid they might think of the Beano or Roy of the Rovers (if you’re a kid over 35) but the event with Alan Grant & Cam Kennedy will open up the eyes of teenagers and any young at heart adults in tow. Graphic novels are something…

Also Published - 5 Food Books

9 Aug 2007

Sid Owen - Life on a Plate Ricky from EastEnders shows off yet another of his many talents with this tome, subtitled ‘The Journey of an Unexpected Chef’. I’ll say. Century. John Dickie! - Delizia The author of Cosa Nostra brings us a book which…

Also Published

5 AUDIOBOOKS

23 Apr 2007

Stef Penney The Tenderness of Wolves Set in the wilds of Canada during the 1860s, a man has been brutally murdered while a 17-year-old boy disappears. Siobhan Redmond reads this romance/thriller. Quercus.

Also Published

5 Historical Fictions

9 Apr 2007

Isabel Allende Inés of My Soul Based on true events, this is the story of the first Spanish woman to arrive in Chile with the Conquistadors of the 1500s. Fourth Estate.

Records - Also Released

Also Released

27 Mar 2007

Tony Visconti The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy (HarperCollins) Here’s a cat who lived his and a few others’ nine lives, having produced and played on some of the greatest rock’n’roll records in history and lived to tell the tale.

Health books

19 Dec 2006

Jo Wood Naturally Gorgeous By the wife of Rolling Stone Ronnie, this is subtitled ‘How to Look and Feel Healthy, Energetic and Radiant the Organic Way.’ You’ll need a sit-down after reading the title alone. Sidgwick & Jackson.

Books of the Year

Books editor Brian Donaldson selects his favourite

7 Dec 2006

Alan Warner The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven One of his less ‘difficult’ books, the Oban-born, Dublin-based writer’s return was a metaphysical lurch into desperation with a Spanish protagonist living in the shadow of HIV. A typical gallery of Warnerian…

Film Books for Christmas

27 Nov 2006

The Films of Tod Browning Bernd Herzogenrath (Black Dog Publishing) Stimulating and fascinating collection of essays about, and stills from, the films of the ‘Edgar Allan Poe of cinema’. Browning’s films, from Freaks, Dracula, The Unholy Three to Devil…

Film books

Screen Stories

26 Oct 2006

David Bordwell’s The Way Hollywood Tells It (University of California Press - 4 stars) is a very impressive look at recent American cinema’s fascination with ‘impact aesthetics’ and intensified continuity. Bordwell, the author of classic film…