Books and Brian Donaldson

Profile: Louise Welsh, author of The Cutting Room and Naming the Bones

The crime author is set to appear at three literary events this month

1 Feb 2012

Ever since she exploded onto the Scottish literary scene in 2002 with her literary detective novel The Cutting Room, Louise Welsh has proved to be an astute explorer of human frailty. She describes her quartet of acclaimed novels as quests in which an…

Interview: Eowyn Ivey - author of The Snow Child

Debut author discusses tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska

1 Feb 2012

Give us five words to describe The Snow Child? Alaskan. Wild. Magical. Rugged. Tender. Name one author who should be more famous than they are now? M Allen Cunningham. His novel The Green Age of Asher Witherow is one of the finest I have ever…

Jeet Thayil - Narcopolis

Bombay-centric social drama with tangible atmosphere but little narrative drive

1 Feb 2012

(Faber) Narcopolis begins and ends with the word ‘Bombay’. Although several individuals vie for centre stage in poet Jeet Thayil’s debut novel, the main character here is India’s most densely populated city. Viewed as a solemn and dangerous hive…

February round-up: best books on Dickens

Simon Callow, Constance Moore, Jenny Hartley and Ruth Richardson celebrate the novelist's legacy

27 Jan 2012

In February, the rest of the UK will be joining all of dear old London town by taking to our foggy streets in honour of Charles John Huffam Dickens’ bicentenary. Well, perhaps not, but the media has certainly done its best to remind us that 2012 isn’t…

In Process and Great Debates

The Scottish Writers’ Centre's events are keeping the country's literary talent in the spotlight

9 Jan 2012

When it comes to getting the literary community ablaze with conversation or putting scribes under the microscope, the Scottish Writers’ Centre seem to have it down to a fine art just now. In Process is their monthly series of events in which a writer…

Preview of 2012 - Irvine Welsh's Skagboys

Renton, Sick Boy et al are revisited in this Trainspotting prequel

6 Jan 2012

Wonder how Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and co got to be the drugged-up life-rejecting Leith loons in Trainspotting? Well, wonder no more, as the publication of Skagboys brings us a bit more background on the individual and social circumstances revolving…

The top books for a healthy start to 2012

Dieting and exercise books from Tracy Griffen, Mike Dow, John Briffa and more

5 Jan 2012

It’s that time of year when the season’s jollities come back to haunt you. Stepping on the scales or glancing in the mirror can be a pretty scary prospect. Fortunately, you’re never short of advice in written form come January. Edinburgh-based personal…

Marcus Berkmann - A Shed of One’s Own

Occasionally hilarious, occasionally turgid treatise on middle-age

5 Jan 2012

(Little, Brown) What is middle-age? Is it a fixed number or a fluid miasma of values, outlooks and opinions? Marcus Berkmann, probably correctly, believes it could strike at any time (you could even get a middle-aged teenager) but is perhaps more…

Interview: Lucy Wood, author of Diving Belles

The writer's debut publication is a set of short stories about hopes, regrets and memories

19 Dec 2011

Give us five words to describe Diving Belles? Short stories reimagining Cornish folklore. Name one author who should be more famous than they are now? I think everyone should read George Mackay Brown’s fiction and poetry, for his evocation of…

The Hot 100 2011: 100-50

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

100: Gordon Ferris. Kilmarnock crime author makes good. The already packed Scottish crime writing field has finally found a bit of elbow room for another burgeoning talent. Joining the likes of Rankin, Brookmyre, McDermid and co is this Ayrshire-born…

Hot 100 2011 - No. 49 to 1

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

The Hot 100 is the definitive list of Scottish creative talent. From fashion designers to performance artists, everyone who has made a sizeable splash in 2011 has a place in this countdown. It’s for people who’ve created a buzz, but it’s also about…

Interview: Allan Wilson - Wasted in Love

The debut novelist on his collection of vignettes about love, lies, break-ups and betrayal

12 Dec 2011

Give us five words to describe Wasted in Love? Raymond Carver shagging Arab Strap. Name one author who should be more famous than they are now and why? Agnes Owens. Funny, tender and honest, her writing is about the lives of everyday, working…

Simon Armitage - The Death of King Arthur

The Yorkshire poet follows his Gawain translation with another medieval epic

12 Dec 2011

(Faber) In 2006 Simon Armitage embarked upon the commissioned task of translating Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for a modern audience. Encountering some resistance from the ‘lady on the desk’ at the British Library when he requested a peek at the…

Douglas Coupland & Graham Roumieu - Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People

Pacy but insubstantial short story collection

12 Dec 2011

(Heinemann) For anyone who has a glance at the cover of this book and believes that all they have spied is a cute illustration aimed at kids might want to take a closer look. It suggests that reading this collaboration between Generation X writer…

St Andrew's Day - The best books from Scotland

Our editors pick highlights from Scottish books through history

25 Nov 2011

First up, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). The ultimate doppelgänger novel, Robert Louis Stevenson’s fiction about the goodly doctor and his hairy malevolent side may be officially set in London but to all intents and purposes this is a…

Don Paterson, OBE and bard of Dundee - profile

The Scottish poet is the subject of three different events this month

15 Nov 2011

In a 2009 interview, Don Paterson insisted that the overriding characteristics of his work were ‘stupidity, incompetence and meanness of spirit’. A large handful of sodium chloride can be taken with that statement, as the bard of Dundee is clearly being…

Interview: Selma Dabbagh - author of Out of It

The author answers questions about her debut novel, about a family struggling to survive in Gaza

15 Nov 2011

Give us five words to describe Out of It? Girl. Gun. Boy. Sea. Fence. What was the last book you read? I have spent the last three days in the mood of Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton. A brownish, fuggy, alcoholic London novel set in 1939, it…

Top children's books on sale for Christmas

New titles from Jacqueline Wilson, Julia Donaldson, Francesca Simon and David Walliams

15 Nov 2011

While the December market is traditionally slow for adult fiction, when it comes to kids books, it’s a ripe old time of year. This winter there are books from some familiar names and favourite characters which won’t look bad popping out of a woolly…

Sarah Hall - The Beautiful Indifference

The Booker nominee delivers a short story collection with an eye for spectacular imagery

15 Nov 2011

(Faber) Four books into her literary career and a Booker nomination in the locker (for 2004’s The Electric Michelangelo), Sarah Hall is being touted as one of the key British voices of her generation. There is little doubt that she can weave some…

Umberto Eco - On Ugliness

Entertaining collection of art history essays edited by the Italian author

15 Nov 2011

(MacLehose Press) Just as notions of beauty are very much in the eye of the beholder, what constitutes ‘ugly’ can be viewed differently across centuries and continents. Football teams who ‘play ugly’ might still end up as winners, while being told by…

Don Delillo - The Angel Esmeralda

Challenging but ultimately rewarding collection of short stories spanning the author's career

18 Oct 2011

(Picador) Is anyone ever truly happy in a Don DeLillo universe? As the astronaut narrator of ‘Human Moments in World War III’ puts it, ‘happiness is not a fact of this experience’. The profundities and quandaries of existence weigh down mightily upon…

Padgett Powell, author of You & I - interview

The writer follows up his postmodern 'questions' novel with a book-length dialogue

18 Oct 2011

When Padgett Powell was a boy, he knew little of the settled life. With a trucker father, his family was constantly on the move and he reckons that he attended ten different schools and lived in 17 houses during his perpetual-motion upbringing. Perhaps…

V Campbell, author of 'historical teen action adventure quest' Viking Gold - interview

18 Oct 2011

Give us five words to describe Viking Gold? Historical teen action adventure quest. Name one author who should be more famous than they are now? John Christopher for his young adult sci-fi. My husband and I read his books together and they left us…

The Midnight Beast - Book At Us Now

Unfunny pop-parody book designed to cash in on upcoming TV fame

18 Oct 2011

(Coronet) ‘We mock the living hell out of stuff for a living,’ claim London pop parody trio The Midnight Beast. Even in this disposable age, simply poking fun at more talented people can only stretch so far before the game is up. Success rarely…

Christmas comedy memoirs roundup

Lee Evans, Johnny Vegas, Jason Manford and Simon Day all have books on the way

17 Oct 2011

With the Christmas market positively saturated these days with stand-up comedy DVDs, publishers have clearly decided it’s time to cash in by launching a batch of memoirs from folk who may (or may not) have made you laugh down the years. Titlewise, Lee…