THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

Life for Bertie seems to be moving at a pace that is rather out of his control. In Drummond Place gardens it seems that Olive has their future together all planned out. Meanwhile, upstairs at 44 Scotland Street, Bertie’s father Stuart is powerless to stop over-bearing Irene and her motion for Bertie to travel to Aberdeen on a three-month secondment. And, further up in the New Town, while Bruce Anderson plots with old-school chums, love blossoms in Big Lou’s Cafe.Warm hearted, humorous and wonderfully wise, Love in the Time of Bertie offers philosophical insight as well as sartorial elegance. Catch up once again with the extended family at No 44, in this the latest instalment in the Scotland Street series.

Nightclub, theatre, creative hub, party place, and one of the most important venues in Scotland, Britain and Europe: for almost 25 years, The Arches was the beating heart of Glasgow.In 1991, former punk-turned-theatre director Andy Arnold walked into the disused red brick Victorian railway arches underneath Glasgow’s Central Station and immediately saw the potential of the space. Not even he could have imagined its future, as simultaneously one of the biggest and most famous nightclubs in the world and a major player on the European theatre scene. Until its closure following a drug-related death in 2015, The Arches carved its own, indefinable path, playing a vital role in the lives of many Scottish artists along the way. Some of those stars of the future began their careers taking tickets, hanging coats and serving drinks there.For the first time, the people who made the venue get to tell their story. Piecing together accounts from directors, DJs, performers, clubbers, artists, bar tenders, actors, audiences and staff, Brickwork writes the biography of a space that was always more than its bricks and mortar.

In 1871 two brothers, George and James Weir, founded the engineering firm of G. & J. Weir, one of a booming range of industry on the west coast of Scotland. At their Cathcart works in Glasgow the Weirs produced their own groundbreaking inventions, all crucial to the development of steam ships at that time.Today, 130 turbulent years later, the Weir Group is almost the last of those once-flourishing companies still to retain its independence and its Scottish base.Over the intervening century, Weirs manufactured pumps and valves for ships’ engines around the world, oil pipelines and desalination plants, armaments (in the two world wars), and heavy equipment for power stations. Along the way it was briefly involved in autogiros (the precursor of the helicopter). Rooted in the inventiveness and determination of the Victorian manufacturing age, Weirs adapted to the changing world of the twentieth century, determined always to diversify, win overseas contracts, build partnerships and above all survive.This fascinating story is told by William Weir, a past chairman and chief executive of the company. Combining reminiscence and colourful anecdote with cool analysis of the company’s triumphs and failures, this is an unusual company history and an invaluable record of a Scottish engineering legend.

Abigail and Hugo have just helped restore the balance of power in Orkney by defeating the powerful alchemist Vertulious when Abigail discovers that Capricorn, the mermaid queen she trusted to help them, has unleashed the powerful Midgard Serpent named Jormungand-who, years ago, encircled the world of mankind and held it captive until Odin banished it to an underwater prison. Capricorn is determined to force Odin to make her goddess of the seas over Aegir, and she’s ready to use the massive serpent to bend him to her will-threatening all of Orkney. Abigail and Hugo must embark on an adventure across the seas to Odin’s island sanctuary to find a way to stop Capricorn and return Jormungand to his watery cell. But when Abigail finds that her powers are not enough, she has to tap into her dark magic again and again. As she is drawn further down this path, a dark presence makes itself known to her-one that may alter her path forever.

Soar into space with this glorious love story of alienfolk, from the creators of The Gruffalo and StickMan – now available in a fun, sturdy board bookedition!The Smeds (who are red) never mix with the Smoos (who are blue).So when a young Smed and Smoo fall in love, their families stronglydisapprove.But peace is restored and love conquers all in this happiest oflove stories. There’s even a gorgeous purple baby to celebrate!With fabulous rhymes and breathtaking illustrations, this bookis literally out of this world!From the creators of The Gruffalo, Stick Man and ZOG, which have all beenmade into animated films shown on BBC1Zog and the Flying Doctors animationwill be shown on BBC1 December2020.Praise for The Smeds and the Smoos:’A book for our time.’ BBC Radio 4’Blast off with the most exciting book yet from the creatorof The Gruffalo. Get ready for a wild and wonderful journey throughspace in a book that is perfect for reading together.’ TheSun’The Gruffalo team’s own Jabberwocky, with rhyme and nonsensewords but a happy ending, inventively illustrated by Scheffler.’The Times’A timely tale of tolerance that’s fun to read aloud.’Daily Express

This book explores in unprecedented detail the theological thinking of John Witherspoon during his often overlooked ministerial career in Scotland. In contrast to the arguments made by other historians, it shows that there was considerable continuity of thought between Witherspoon’s Scottish ministry and the second half of his career as one of America’s Founding Fathers.The book argues that Witherspoon cannot be properly understood until he is seen as not only engaged with the Enlightenment, but also firmly grounded in the Calvinist tradition of High to Late Orthodoxy, embedded in the transatlantic Evangelical Awakening of the eighteenth century, and frustrated by the state of religion in the Scottish Kirk. Alongside the titles of pastor, president, educator, philosopher, should be a new category: John Witherspoon as Reformed apologist.This is a fresh re-examination of the intellectual formation of one of Scotland’s most important churchman from the eighteenth century and one of America’s most influential early figures. The volume will be of keen interest to academics working in Religious History, American Religion, Reformed Theology and Calvinism, as well as Scottish and American history more generally.

It’s 1968, and the fishermen of Kinloch are preparing to celebrate the old New Year on the twelfth of January. The annual pilgrimage to the Auld Stones is a tradition that goes back beyond memory, and young Hamish, first mate on the Girl Maggie, is chuffed that he’s been invited to this exclusive gathering – usually reserved for the most senior members of Kinloch’s fishing community.Meanwhile, it appears that the new owners of the Firdale Hotel are intent upon turning their customers teetotal, such is the exorbitant price they are charging for whisky. Wily skipper Sandy Hoynes comes up with a plan to deliver the spirit to the thirsty villagers at a price they can afford through his connections with a local still-man.But when the Revenue are tipped off, it looks as though Hoynes and Hamish’s mercy mission might run aground. Can the power of the Auld Stones come to their rescue, and is the reappearance of a face from Hoynes’ past a sign for good or ill?

In 1771, Robert Burns, future national poet and folk hero of Scotland, has big problems.12-year-old Rab spends all of his time doing backbreaking work on his family’s farm instead of attending school, but when he finds a hag stone in one of the fields, everything changes.Looking through its circular hole, he sees witches gathering in a coming storm, and they’ve set their sights on his family. Can Rab save his sisters from the clutches of the witches’ coven before their Halloween ceremony in the old kirk?Filled with mystery and magic, Hag Storm is a spooky, historical adventure with a supernatural twist, based on the life of Robert Burns and one of his most famous and best-loved poems, Tam O’Shanter.

Richard Holloway is one of our most beloved public thinkers. As Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church he put principle over Church policy to advocate for gay rights and women in the priesthood. He never shied away from confronting his own doubts and fears, whether questioning his own faith, or facing the inevitability of death. Across numerous bestselling books he has been a radical voice of compassion and realism, helping us navigate the hectic modern world.Throughout his life Richard has turned to poets and writers to help answer the big questions, and for solace and guidance in the face of life’s challenges. Now in The Heart of Things he shares those poems and words which have been his own guide, offered in the hope they will help us too.Here then are some lights along life’s path, with thoughts and reflections on living well, death, sadness, regret, sin, conflict and forgiveness. All interwoven with Richard’s philosophical consideration of what they have meant to him. This is a book to turn to for inspiration, guidance and comfort. It offers lessons from those who, in Richard’s words, ‘know best how to listen and teach us to listen’, all united by ‘the sensual appeal of words, the pain and pleasure they impart’. It is a book to treasure.

Richard Holloway is one of our most beloved public thinkers. As Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church he put principle over Church policy to advocate for gay rights and women in the priesthood. He never shied away from confronting his own doubts and fears, whether questioning his own faith, or facing the inevitability of death. Across numerous bestselling books he has been a radical voice of compassion and realism, helping us navigate the hectic modern world.Throughout his life Richard has turned to poets and writers to help answer the big questions, and for solace and guidance in the face of life’s challenges. Now in The Heart of Things he shares those poems and words which have been his own guide, offered in the hope they will help us too.Here then are some lights along life’s path, with thoughts and reflections on living well, death, sadness, regret, sin, conflict and forgiveness. All interwoven with Richard’s philosophical consideration of what they have meant to him. This is a book to turn to for inspiration, guidance and comfort. It offers lessons from those who, in Richard’s words, ‘know best how to listen and teach us to listen’, all united by ‘the sensual appeal of words, the pain and pleasure they impart’. It is a book to treasure.

‘Nobody does cosy, get-away-from-it-all romance like Jenny Colgan’Sunday ExpressEscape to a cosy festive bookshop this winter with this page-turning and magical treat.PRAISE FOR JENNY COLGANAn evocative, sweet treat’ Jojo Moyes’Gorgeous, glorious, uplifting’ Marian Keyes’A cracker – the must-read this festive season’ Sun’Irresistible’ Jill Mansell’Just lovely’ Katie Fforde’Naturally funny, warm-hearted’ Lisa Jewell’A gobble-it-all-up-in-one-sitting kind of book’ Mike Gayle_______________The brand new feel-good Christmas novel from Sunday Times top ten bestselling author, Jenny Colgan.Carmen has always worked in her local department store. So, when the gorgeous old building closes its doors for good, she is more than a little lost.When her sister, Sofia, mentions an opportunity in Edinburgh – a cute little bookshop, the spare room in her house – Carmen is reluctant, she was never very good at accepting help. But, short on options, she soon finds herself pulling into the snowy city just a month before Christmas.What Sofia didn’t say is that the shop is on its last legs and that if Carmen can’t help turn things around before Christmas, the owner will be forced to sell. Privately, Sofia is sure it will take more than a miracle to save the store, but maybe this Christmas, Carmen might surprise them all…____________________Why readers ADORE Jenny Colgan’Jenny Colgan has a way of writing that makes me melt inside”Her books are so good I want to start over as soon as I have finished”There’s something so engaging about her characters and plots”Her books are like a big, warm blanket”Her stories are just so fabulous”She brings her settings and characters so vividly to life”The woman is just magic’

This collection re-examines the works and life of Arthur Conan Doyle from multiple disciplinary perspectives. It proposes new ways of studying Conan Doyle, and considers overlooked or neglected aspects of his oeuvre, offering fresh perspectives on the multiple genres of his fiction and his relationship to contemporary writers and movements.

My life was far from normal. Sometimes I wish it was. From the streets of Glasgow to the hills of Skye. And that was just the beginning. Join me in my journey of early 80’s Edinburgh. My Student Nurse days. The highs and lows of being a male Nurse. My days of being a local impresario and Record label owner. Pub singer and occasional actor. My loves, my losses. My travelling and working in other cities and other countries. Marrying a young Thai girl and becoming a father not once but thrice all in my mid-forties and early 50s. This is the story of the best and worst bits.

There is absolutely no logical reason why I am here. The life trajectory my nationality and class and circumstances portended for me was not even remotely close to the one I now navigate. But logic is a science and living is an art.The release I felt in writing my first memoir, Not My Father’s Son, was matched only by how my speaking out empowered so many to engage with their own trauma. I was reminded of the power of my words and the absolute duty of authenticity.But. No one ever fully recovers from their past. There is no cure for it. You just learn to manage and prioritise it. I believe the second you feel you have triumphed or overcome something – an abuse, an injury to the body or the mind, an addiction, a character flaw, a habit, a person – you have merely decided to stop being vigilant and embraced denial as your modus operandi. And that is what this book is about, and for: to remind you not to buy in to the Hollywood ending.Ironically maybe, much of Baggage chronicles my life in Hollywood and how, since I recovered from a nervous breakdown at 28, work has repeatedly whisked me away from personal calamities to sets and stages around the world. It is also about marriage(s): starting with the break-up of my first (to a woman) and ending with the ascension to my second (to a man) with many kissed toads in between! But in everything, each failed relationship or encounter with a legend (Liza! X Men! Gore Vidal! Kubrick! Spice Girls!), in every bad decision or moment of sensual joy I have endeavored to show what I have learned and how I’ve become who I am today: a happy, flawed, vulnerable, fearless middle-aged man, with a lot of baggage.

Push, pull and slide the moving mechanisms to meet all your favourite characters from the deep dark wood in this brilliant board book based on the bestselling classic picture book, The Gruffalo’s Child, and bring the story to life!One wild and windy night the Gruffalo’s Child disobeys her father’s warnings and ventures out into the snow. After all, the Big Bad Mouse doesn’t really exist . . . does he? Move the push, pull and slide mechanisms on every spread to find out.With a short, simple rhyming text based on the original story, The Gruffalo’s Child: A Push, Pull and Slide Book is the perfect introduction for preschoolers to The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, and a great gift for fans of the bestselling picture book.

Dr. Henry Jekyll is well-liked and admired by his friends, but seems increasingly troubled and withdrawn from their company. Meanwhile, a mysterious and repellent character, Mr. Hyde, commits crime after crime. What hold can he have over the admirable Dr. Jekyll? With fun activities after the story, and online audio in both British English and American English. CEFR level: B1. 1200 headwords, 3594 words.

The first magical book in the festive series, from number one bestselling author Matt Haig, and featuring enchanting illustrations from Chris Mould. Now in Scots for the first time, A Laddie Cawed Christmas is a tale of adventure, snow, kidnapping, elves, more snow and a boy called Nikolas, who isn’t afraid to believe in magic.BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLEYou are about to read THE TRUE STORY OF FATHER CHRISTMASIf you are one of those people who believe that some things are impossible, you should put this book down right away. (Because this book is FULL of impossible things.)Are you still reading? Good. Then let us begin…

When a distillery owner’s body is discovered on top of a remote Scottish mountain, forensics confirm that he died of natural causes. DI Corstophine’s concerns are raised however, when the dead’s man eccentric sister receives a message, apparently from the beyond the grave.The police are dismissive until it appears the devil himself is intent on attacking other family members. Why is his daughter kept locked and sedated in her room in the baronial mansion? Who or what is stalking his son as he scatters his father’s ashes on lonely summits? And what insanity is behind the horrific attacks in their small Highland town? DI Corstophine and his team don’t know what they’re facing until it’s too late.Following on from the success of Whirligig, The Devil’s Cut is a story about what constitutes sanity and how delicate that state really is; how such a perfect emotion as love can completely destroy a man.

Whisky enthusiasts all over the world look forward to the Malt Whisky Yearbook every autumn. This 17th edition is again fully revised and packed with new and up-to-date information on more than 400 whisky distilleries from all over the world.Distinguished whisky experts contribute with new features written exclusively for this new edition along with details of hundreds of whisky shops, whisky sites and new bottlings. The Independent Bottlers chapter gives you all the details about the worlds most successful blenders and bottlers complete with tasting notes. A comprehensive summary of the whisky year that was and all the latest statistics is also included.Malt Whisky Yearbook 2022 includes more than 250 tasting notes describing the flavour of single malts from all working distilleries in Scotland and Japan. Finally, with more than 500 colour photographs, Malt Whisky Yearbook 2022 is as much an essential reference guide as a book to read for pleasure.

Mistletoe Winter is a collection of essays on our environment, nature and wildlife, covering biodiversity, habitat conservation, rewilding and individual species. As in his companion volume, Cottongrass Summer, Roy Dennis balances his alarm at the crisis confronting the natural world with his own sense of optimism that new generations can make crucial changes for the future. His essays are informed by his considerable experience of working in nature to tackle species decline, degradation of habitats, the impact of farming practices, and to promote better stewardship of the land. One of our most prominent advocates for our planet and its species, Roy Dennis writes with insight and originality. This volume will provide inspiration and ideas for everyone who cares about our planet and its species.