Books
The Good Books, JD Kirk: ‘If a book hasn’t grabbed me by 100 pages, I ditch it’
Barry Hutchison, aka JD Kirk, on falling in love with Terry Pratchett’s work aged 11, being inspired by Neil Gaiman and why he ditches a book if he’s not grabbed after 100 pages. The first book I remember reading: Wagstaffe the Wind-Up Boy by Jan Needle. I had mostly read comics until that point,…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Alison Murray: ‘I keep trying to read in bed but it doesn’t work for me, I just fall asleep’
Children’s author Alison Murray on falling in love with dogs after reading A Hundred and One Dalmatians, her passion for essays and why she can’t read in bed. The first book I remember reading: A very scarily illustrated compendium of fairy stories that was read to me at bedtime and would give me nightmares.…
Read MoreEdinburgh Book Festival: Salman Rushdie, Alan Cumming, Richard Osman, Dolly Alderton and Matt Haig lead line-up
Salman Rushdie, Alan Cumming, Forbes Masson, Richard Osman, Dolly Alderton and Matt Haig will star at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival. New festival director, Jenny Niven, revealed her plans for a reboot of the literary festival, with a series of 1000-capacity interviews at Edinburgh University’s McEwan Hall. It comes following a new partnership with…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Mike Billett: ‘As a child I loved reading books about animals’
Whisky connoisseur, Mike Billett on reading at The National Library of Scotland, growing up on Winnie The Pooh and why Moby-Dick is a book that has ‘everything’. The first book I remember reading: As a child I loved reading books about animals, and surely the first was Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne. A chilled-out bear…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Sara Sheridan: ‘The trick is finding books that engage your brain. A good book is a brain workout’
Sara Sheridan on being inspired by Alasdair Gray, reading Wuthering Heights at just ten-years-old and why Lord Byron wasn’t a ‘romantic’. The first book I remember reading: I have little memory of my early childhood. I know I learned to read using the Janet and John books but I can’t remember the experience. However,…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Andrew O’Hagan: ‘When I was eight I discovered Peter Pan – and was thunderstruck’
The Booker Prize nominated author on becoming engrossed in the King James Bible as a child, why he always recommends The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and his perfect seafront spot in Largs for reading. The first book I remember reading: When I was very small I used to read…
Read MoreGlencairn Glass: Read the runner up in this year’s crime short story competition
Elisabeth Ingram Wallace is the runner-up in this year’s Glencairn Glass Crime Short Story Competition with The Strange Sheep of Greshornish. It’s a sinister tale of a disillusioned tourist guide on the Isle of Skye who sends badly behaved tourists to suffer the same fate as the mad sheep in Greshornish. The Strange Sheep…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Douglas Skelton: ‘Mystic River is masterful, I wish I could write like Dennis Lehane’
The Glasgow author on returning to the books he read as a youngster and the influence of Ed McBain on his writing. The first book I remember reading: It has to be Two Doggie Tales. It’s the only book by Enid Blyton I ever read – the Famous Five and Secret Seven seemed to…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Pauline Tait: ‘Nancy Drew got me hooked on mysteries and the love of them has stayed with me’
Author Pauline Tait on the influence of American writer Nora Roberts in helping her believe she could write in two very different genres. The first book I remember reading: As a young child, I remember reading The Princess and the Frog. It was often my bedtime read, and I still have my slightly tattered…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Jenny Colgan: ‘When I was six my parents found me reading a Dr Spock baby book’
The best selling rom-com author on reading parenting books as a child, why she recommends people read Middlemarch and her favourite books of the year. The first book I remember reading: Topsy and Tim. I wasn’t reading them, but apparently I’d learned them off by heart. My mum used to show off and pretend…
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