Books

Mari Strachan - Blow on a Dead Man’s Embers

Historical between-the-wars family drama with an eye for detail

3 Aug 2011

(Canongate) Life, thinks Non Davies, a rural housewife in the mid-Wales of 1920, is like a tablecloth: ‘smooth and rough, worn thin so that it is almost a hole in places.’ It’s a prosaic description from a woman who presents a similarly functional…

Hari Kunzru - Gods Without Men

A centuries-spanning, multi-character masterpiece from Kunzru

3 Aug 2011

(Hamish Hamilton) Not many books start with a coyote smoking pot. But then Hari Kunzru is not your average novelist. His latest endeavour is a dazzling collection of snapshots taken at various points in time between 1775 and 2009, as we dip in and…

Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century – 1969

Groovy, psychedelic second entry into the League's Century series

3 Aug 2011

(Top Shelf/Knockabout) Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill take their science fiction and fantasy literature homage/parody into previously uncharted realms with their most contemporaneous jaunt yet. Part two of the Century trilogy takes the heroes into…

Robert Burns: Not In My Name reclaims Scottish bard from tourism

Kevin Williamson on Burns' radical poetry to Edinburgh Festival 2011

27 Jul 2011

So, you think you know Robert Burns, eh? Tartan-edged poetry for shortbread tins and corporate haggis suppers? Well, Kevin Williamson, founder of 90s publishing punks Rebel Inc (Children of Albion Rovers) has decided to change your mind. His new…

Sapphire

Author of "Push" among highlights of this years International Book Festival

22 Jul 2011

Now in its second year under new directorship, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is striding with yet more purpose across the August landscape. As well as the usual array of dazzling literary talent from around the globe and on our doorstep, the…

Interview: Joe Dunthorne - author of Submarine and Wild Abandon

Edinburgh shows with Unbound, Aisle16, Luke Wright and Tim Clare

21 Jul 2011

The day before our phone interview, Joe Dunthorne was on Radio 4, bantering with Tim Key about the perfect opening line. Chatting to him the next day, it appears the Welsh-born poet, short story writer and novelist has worked out a potential strategy.

Joe Simon: My Life in Comics

Interesting autobiography from one of the pioneers of superhero comics

21 Jul 2011

(Titan) This autobiography written by one of the founding fathers of the American comic books hits the bookshelves a fortnight ahead of the release of the latest Hollywood blockbuster adaptation of a superhero strip, Captain America, which…

Mark Waid & Jorge Molina - Captain America: Man Out of Time

Marvel's classic character needs to concentrate on plot over patriotism

21 Jul 2011

(Marvel UK) Another month and yet another big-screen movie adaptation. Captain America is a peculiarly old-fashioned character, the US embodied in a patriotic soldier who risked his life taking the ‘Super Soldier Serum’ to become the ultimate…

Glasgow's niche publications specialist GmbH ready to re-open its doors

Owners Jamie Kenyon and Neil McKie lay out the story so far

21 Jul 2011

A long time ago... Jamie: ‘Neil and I had been friends for a while. We regularly talked, often involving beer, about doing something, or several things – there have always been a lot of ideas floating around, and the publication shop was amongst them.

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…

Stefan Merrill Block - The Storm at the Door

Fictional biography of Block's grandparents' struggles with mental illness and institutionalisation

21 Jul 2011

(Faber) Based on the true story of Stefan Merrill Block’s grandparents, Katharine and Frederick, The Storm at the Door is the fictionalised account of the trauma which lay deep in the heart of their relationship. A veteran of World War II…

Jonathan Trigell - Genus

A dystopian thriller that falls short in its attempts to become something more literary

21 Jul 2011

(Corsair) After dealing with child murder in Boy A and a rapist in Cham, for his third novel Jonathan Trigell expands the violence to a massive scale. Set in a dystopian future London, society is segregated along genetic lines: the biologically…

Jason and Fabien Vehlmann - Isle of 100,000 Graves

Daft and deadpan humour make for hilarious read

20 Jul 2011

(Fantagraphics) Norway-born, South of France-based cartoonist Jason’s absurdist mix of daft and deadpan humour (a Nordic speciality perhaps) once again makes for hilarious reading in this tale of skulduggery in the South Seas. The discovery of a…

Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden & Ben Stenbeck - Baltimore: The Plague Ships

Disappointing supernatural horror from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola

20 Jul 2011

(Dark Horse) Hellboy creator Mike Mignola continues to expand his universe of supernatural horror inspired by 19th and 20th century pulp fictions with this his latest creation, Lord Henry Baltimore, vampire hunter. This first story arc, the first…

The Poetry Takeaway in residence at 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Made-to-order poems and rotating cast of the UK’s best performance poets

20 Jul 2011

The Poetry Takeaway is the world’s first purpose-built mobile poetry emporium. Housed in a real fast food trailer (bought off eBay), it’s staffed by a rotating cast of the UK’s best performance poets and specialises in the production of free…

Debut novelists at 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival

Rebecca Hunt, Adam Levin and Mary Horlock among visiting authors

8 Jul 2011

Charlotte Square Gardens will be teeming with quality first novels for the whole of August, one of which will receive the EIBF's Newton First Book Award. Brian Donaldson looks at the cream of this year's debutants

Highlights of the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011

Alasdair Gray's Fleck, Kristin Hersh and Heather Brooke among picks

8 Jul 2011

An event with the writer of landmark works such as Lanark and Poor Things is exciting enough, but the Book Festival has cranked up the fever to 11 with another excellent first. In 2007 Gray wrote Fleck, an adaptation of Goethe's Faust and the closing…

But what books do children actually like?

Never mind publishers and literary critics, what are the readers' favourites?

8 Jul 2011

Of course, stuffy literary critics shouldn't always have the final say. Kelly Apter finds out which authors actual children (including List critics' own) are getting excited about

John Hegarty - Hegarty on Advertising

'Turning Intelligence into Magic' with a history of the cut-throat industry

29 Jun 2011

(Thames & Hudson) As the man behind the iconic adverts for Levi 501s (Nick Kamen in his boxers), Audi (‘Vorsprung durch Technik’) and Barnardo’s (a baby jacking up on heroin), John Hegarty is better placed than most to discuss the perfect campaign.

The highs and lows of Harry Potter’s outrageous fortunes

An evaluation of each of the films from the Harry Potter series

28 Jun 2011

Having earned £6 billion worldwide, Harry Potter is the highest grossing film franchise of all time. And while the critical reception hasn’t always matched the commercial one (no Academy Awards yet), the films have been as successful as JK Rowling’s…

Alan Hollinghurst - The Stranger’s Child

Sprawling 1913 family epic leave reader underwhelmed

28 Jun 2011

(Picador) When it comes to keeping his fans waiting, Alan Hollinghurst has got it down to a very fine art. It’s seven itchy years since the London writer scooped the Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty and this resultant beefy doorstopper proves…

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 line up highlights

Grant Morrison, Will Self and Jo Nesbø among highlights

16 Jun 2011

A selection of international authors, a bunch of Scottish novelists, an array of top non-fiction scribes, a host of children’s writers and a series of exciting innovations: yes, it’s just another Edinburgh International Book Festival programme. A cliché…

Debut author Rebecca Makkai answers our questions

Brian Donaldson interviews the author of The Borrower

14 Jun 2011

Our debut author Q&As continue with Rebecca Makkai, whose first book is about an odd couple embarking on an improvised road trip Give us five words to describe The Borrower. Librarian, boy, kidnap each other. Name one author who should be more…

Yrsa Sigurdardottir - The Day is Dark

Yet another new Stieg Larsson-eque, nordic crime novel

14 Jun 2011

(Hodder & Stoughton) Just as Norwegian Jo Nesbø is busy being ‘the next Stieg Larsson’, Yrsa Sigurdardottir is apparently ‘Iceland’s answer to Stieg Larsson’. The late Swedish author could scarcely have predicted how posthumously helpful he would…

Daniel Clowes - Mister Wonderful: A Love Story

New York Times Magazine column story into bittersweet romcom

14 Jun 2011

(Jonathan Cape) Famed for titles like Ghost World and Art School Confidential (both adapted into films by director Terry Zwigoff), writer and artist Daniel Clowes’ real strength is the emotional realism he imbues his characters with. Mister Wonderful…

Helen Walsh - Go to Sleep

Melodramatic family drama about the stigma of post-natal depression

14 Jun 2011

(Canongate) Helen Walsh makes compelling reading of a complex issue in her third novel, Go to Sleep, which aims to explore, and explode, the taboos surrounding post-natal depression. Based on her own experience of PND – which is estimated to affect a…

Ross Raisin - Waterline

Unconvincing follow up social drama to God's Own Country

14 Jun 2011

(Viking) The strength of Ross Raisin’s debut novel, God’s Own Country, was the authenticity of the central character’s Yorkshire voice, but for this follow-up Raisin has moved proceedings to Glasgow, and it has to be said that his Scottish brogue is…

Joe Simon & Jack Kirby - Fighting American

Classic 50s action with satirical edge from famed writer and artist team

31 May 2011

(Titan) Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the greatest writer-artist team of the Golden Age of comics, created, among other colourful costumed crime-fighters, the star-spangled superhero Captain America. Conceived as the ultimate patriot in response to…

Mario & Gilbert Hernandez - Citizen Rex

Science fiction satire from the creators of Love & Rockets

31 May 2011

(Dark Horse) Co-creator Mario opens this hardcover collection of the six-issue comic originally published in 2009 with an amusing anecdote about meeting a geek at a science fiction convention who had the cheek to write off Los Bros Hernandez…

The best literary festivals in Scotland 2011

Wigtown, Borders, Inverness and Edinburgh host book festivals

30 May 2011

Borders Book Festival. Melrose’s delightfully titled Harmony Garden will open its gates to 65 events featuring an array of authors and personalities. Among the hotshot names appearing are Maureen Lipman, Michael Parkinson, Alexander McCall Smith, Kirsty…

Books on cinema - round-up

How the Movie Brats Took Over Edinburgh, Tough Without A Gun, The Faber Book of French Cinema

23 May 2011

As is always the way in Scotland, summer is kind of here, and now is the time to lie in the grass with that growing pile of tosh novels. But let’s face it, you are going to win a lot more kudos from your film-obsessed mates if you create a tower of…

Ali Smith - There but for the

The author's new novel deals wittily with the difficulties of modern communication

23 May 2011

(Hamish Hamilton) You rarely get bombs or tornados or motorway pile-ups in Ali Smith books, but the results of inner turmoils within her characters can often be just as devastating. In There but for the, nuances and shades and intricacies stack on…

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…

Christopher Brookmyre - Where the Bodies are Buried

Author introduces a new cast of characters for latest novel

23 May 2011

Crime fiction thrives on familiarity. The same detectives dashing through the same shady streets to track down the latest stick in their craw. Christopher Brookmyre has given us a few charismatic serial characters over the years – the maverick…

Interview - Alice Ozma

Author of The Reading Promise: 3218 Nights of Reading with My Father

23 May 2011

Give us five words to describe The Reading Promise? Books and love. Not sappy! Which book makes you cry? The Old Curiosity Shop is beat-you-over-the-head sad. I found American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld to be moving in a poignant, calm way. We fall…

Beryl Bainbridge - The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress

The author's final, unfinished novel is a masterclass in confident prose

23 May 2011

(Little, Brown) Beryl Bainbridge’s editor Brendan King called this final novel by the five-times Booker-shortlisted English author – who died of cancer in 2010 – a flawed masterpiece. And he should know, having remastered the nearly-finished…

Geoff Johns - Green Lantern: Secret Origin (review)

Modern twist on an old-school sci-fi hero

17 May 2011

(Titan) The Green Lantern might not seem the most likely candidate for a big-budget blockbuster. He’s certainly not your typical superhero, being based more in the world of retro sci-fi, his powers derived from a ‘power ring’ bestowed by the…

Jon Ronson - The Psychopath Test

An examination of craziness by the hapless humourist

17 May 2011

(Picador) About halfway through his new book, Jon Ronson has a revelation. Having spent time with the likes of ‘Tony’ (a violent offender who faked a bit of madness in order to get a lighter jail term but ended up being slung in Broadmoor among the…

Julie Myerson - Then (review)

Apocalypse-set novel offers no respite from its bleak subject matter

17 May 2011

(Jonathan Cape) The apocalypse is cool right now. It’s everywhere in popular culture – as a theme, as a backdrop and in widespread adjectival form – and it’s all over Julie Myerson’s eighth novel, Then. Set in a desperate, ice-covered wasteland that…

Winshluss - Pinocchio

3 May 2011

Winshluss, the multitalented French cartoonist, filmmaker and musician whose real name is Vincent Parronnaud, is best known for the Oscar-nominated animated feature film he made with Iranian author and illustrator Marjane Satrapi based on her memoir…

Alan Bennett - Smut

Short story collection undoubtably dirty, but disappointingly dry

28 Apr 2011

(Profile/Faber) In an interview last year, Alan Bennett (76), admitted that as he grew older he cares less and less what people think about him. He wasn’t referring to beastly reviewers and their beastly reviews, but to those who might be shocked at…

The List's top five alternative activities for the royal wedding day

25 Apr 2011

1 Off With Their Heads Susan Morrison hosts an afternoon of music and comedy at The Stand, Glasgow, with proceeds going to liberal publication Scottish Left Review. As if the title wasn’t anti enough. 2 Heart Buchanan The kindly folks at the Byres…

Celebrity memoirs: Rob Lowe, Barbara Sinatra, Stacey Solomon, Judy Golding and Bear Grylls to publish books

13 Apr 2011

While Charlie Sheen implodes in front of the world’s eyes, he could take comfort in the salutary tale of his old Brat Pack boozing buddy Rob Lowe. In 1988, grainy video footage of him having a wild time with two women became the first commercially…

First Writes: author Felix Riley discusses his 'Secret Service thriller' The Set Up

13 Apr 2011

This issue’s debut author is Felix Riley, whose novel features a man trying to save the US from a devastating attack. Unfortunately, he’s on the run from the NYPD having been framed for murder Give us five words to describe The Set Up? Break neck…

Mark Radcliffe to tour new book, Reelin’ in the Years: The Soundtrack of a Northern Life

13 Apr 2011

When David Bowie implores the public to indulge in thieving, you know it must be for a very good reason. His call to serious felony was raised on the publication of Mark Radcliffe’s Thank You for the Days: A Boy’s Own Adventure in Radio and Beyond, in…

Scenes from an Impending Marriage (A Prenuptial Memoir), by Adrian Tomine

A witty graphic novel with indie sensibilities

13 Apr 2011

(Faber) In February, Adrian Tomine launched the US publication of Scenes from an Impending Marriage (A Prenuptial Memoir) via an onstage conversation with Leanne Shapton. Her last book, Important Artifacts, was the mainly photo-led story of a…

Jane Harris – Gillespie and I

Fictional memoir combining warm late Victorian detail with well-crafted storytelling technique

13 Apr 2011

(Faber) We first meet Harriet Baxter in 1933 Bloomsbury, as our elderly narrator embarks on her memoir. The focus from the off is on her magical encounter with ‘soulmate’ Ned Gillespie, Baxter soon becoming deeply embroiled in the lives of this…

Denise Mina's 'The End of the Wasp Season' is a worthy addition to the DS Alex Morrow series

13 Apr 2011

(Orion) Denise Mina is one of the most interesting Scottish crime writers, continually fighting the war on cliché in terms of prose, plot and characterisation. This second novel featuring DS Alex Morrow is a consolidation of her recent move towards…

StAnza 2011 - Kevin Young and Gawain Douglas

International poetry guests and a reading of a 20th century classic

7 Apr 2011

One of the international visitors to the 14th edition of the Stanza Poetry festival in St Andrews was Kevin Young, hailing from Georgia, US. His five published collections often take history and blues music as themes, but for this appearance he read…

StAnza 2011 – Festival round up

14th annual poetry festival combines both major and emerging talents

31 Mar 2011

The StAnza International Poetry Festival 2011, now in its fourteenth year, gathered together an array of major and emerging talents. The themes were Timepiece and The Poet’s Ark. Both themes which encompass history and community, and the sense of…