Just over a week until Scotland’s online daffodil festival

Scotland’s annual daffodil festival is being held in a virtual format next weekend. The event, taking place on April 17 and 18, with additional sessions over the next two days, will give people who wouldn’t normally be able to attend the chance to hear the experts including TV presenter George Anderson MBE, and special guest…

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Novel approach to a virus in Edinburgh

Set in an Edinburgh recovering from a virus which targets young healthy people, Murder at the Music Factory is a thriller which starts at a fast pace. Unfortunately the book is littered with typos, but I still found the writing easy to read and despite not having read any of the other books in the…

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Celebrating Scotland’s daffodils at virtual festival

Scotland’s annual daffodil festival is moving online this year. The virtual event, taking place on April 17 and 18, with additional sessions over the next two days, will give people who wouldn’t normally be able to attend the chance to hear the experts including TV presenter George Anderson MBE, and special guest on the round…

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The Wigtown Poetry Prize is launched for 2021

The Wigtown Poetry Prize, an annual celebration of poets and poems in the country’s three indigenous languages, has had its first ever digital launch. The decision follows the success of last year’s online prizegiving ceremony (which was part of the Wigtown Book Festival) in reaching a larger, worldwide audience. It is hoped there will be…

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Magic can be made with a host of cupboard cans

Trying to eat well while sticking to a modest budget isn’t easy and we often resort to the same handful of dishes again and again. What Jessica Elliot Dennison has put together here in Tin Can Magic is an ingenious catalogue of recipes which use up things that most people consistently stock in their cupboards.…

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The horrors of war and the stories of two men

By using a rich collection of primary source material, author Gary Sheffield has woven a detailed picture of the lives of two men connected by both family ties and the horrors of war in In Haig’s Shadow. He shines a light on a story which has been entrenched in false truths and obscurity for many…

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Photographer to reveal Desert Island Gardens

Britain’s premier gardens photographer is to share her Desert Island Gardens this week. Andrea Jones, who lives near Barr, in South Ayrshire, will be a guest of the Garden Masterclass, where she will chat with Noel Kingsbury and Annie Guilfoyle. Like radio series Desert Island Discs, Andrea will discuss her favourite gardens which she has…

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More than Chariots of Fire to Eric Liddell

Running The Race is a wonderful ode to an athlete whose steadfast dedication to both sport and faith inspired a nation. While most have seen Eric Liddell’s life played out on the silver screen in Chariots of Fire, Keddie delves deep into the history books, further unravelling the Scot’s progression from young Christian to sporting…

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Scotland’s lost railway to the north-west

Academic books needn’t be reserved for PhD students with a knack for deciphering dense text. Drummond’s style is highly accessible, yet informative. Delving into archives, he unveils the story of north west Scotland in the 1890s, explaining why a railway to Ullapool never came to fruition. It is a niche topic, but even a transport…

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Scandis and Americans join Scots for Granite Noir

AUTHORS from Scotland, Scandinavia and the United States will star in next month’s online Granite Noir book festival. Aberdeen’s international crime writing extravaganza will include appearances by Camilla Läckberg and Attica Locke. Well-kent faces popping up on screen include David Baldacci, Stuart MacBride, Peter May, Val McDermid, Jo Nesbo, and Ian Rankin. The festival will…

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