THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

Pen and Alice, childhood best friends from Toronto, are in their first year at the University of Edinburgh. Each has come to the city for her own reasons.

Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she’ll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father’s – now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox – lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lennox’s centuries-old estate with his enveloping, fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents’ secret, just as she’s falling in love for the first time . . .

Meanwhile Alice, an aspiring actor, sees university as her route to the West End and beyond. The star of this year’s theatre production, she’s making the most of the power she wields as an object of desire – until an affair with her tutor begins to slip from her control.

Witty, warm and wildly unputdownable, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is at once a love story and an irresistible mystery, a celebration of female friendship, and a study of how looking back can help us move forward.

When Jane – smart, funny, fortyish – says she’s a school counsellor, people assume it’s all about exam stress. If only.

Her teenage clients include Vaishali, who hates the perfect curves that draw the attention of adult men; Fraser, who cares devotedly for his mother but hurts his girlfriend by confusing real life with porn; and George, a trans boy who suffers from acute anxiety.

Harbouring terrible secrets from her own youth, Jane struggles to contain the anger these stories arouse in her. It’s only when she starts counselling her colleague Kass, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse whose trauma is resurfacing, that her thoughts turn to revenge…

Moving, entertaining and revelatory, Words Fail Me not only shines a light on adolescent agonies, it’s also a gripping page-turner with a compelling mystery at its core – and a hair-raising climax

Once, Brann belonged to Raven. She flew high above the world and she was fearless. But Raven was destroyed by Dragon. Brann’s home is gone and her crew is missing.

Determined to find the truth, Brann heads north. But what she and her friends learn will change everything. What happened to Raven’s crew? And what is the secret Brann is hiding?

Rory the dragon and his best friend Flora share a love of flying and bicycles, so they are shocked when they discover a mountain of discarded bikes, and appalled when they realise that rust from that mountain is running into the dragon clan’s drinking and gardening water.

More and more children start discarding their old, sturdy bikes in favour of brightly-coloured, plastic, inflatable, single-use replacements which look great (they even sort-of fly) but pop easily and cause injuries on impact – facts which are of no concern to Evilyn the Entrepreneur.

It’s up to Rory and Flora to put an end to Evilyn’s schemes and repair and recycle all the damaged old bikes, before anyone gets seriously hurt.

If the Stars Are Lit is a speculative mystery exploring the implications of AI, memory, and loss.

When the starship ferrying her to Earth is gutted by an explosion, Joss Carsten is left alone and adrift, struggling to reestablish contact with humanity. But her health is fading fast, and her isolation is triggering painful hallucinations of Alice, her long-estranged wife.

In an act of self-preservation, the ship’s onboard system generates a gemel – a sentient holographic AI, born from Joss’s own psyche. The catch? This one is a ringer for Alice.

Now, trapped with an “Alice” who knows all her secrets, Joss must confront her old ghosts as they race to unravel the mystery behind the ship’s destruction.

What more can pleasure offer us, and how can we transform this pleasure into intentional practice in pursuit of a collective liberatory future?

When a society marginalises a people, their humanity is revolutionary in all its hunger and joy. As the queer community worldwide faces rampant transphobia, rising hate crime, and unequal access to support services – all in the context of humanitarian crises, a climate crisis, and a destabilised political landscape – hedonism can play a central role in how we seek to organise as a symbiotic system. When viewed through a queer lens, hedonism undergoes a process of transformation, embodying the power for change and much more.

Borrowing from the Ancient Greeks’ understanding of love’s multiplicity, Roses for Hedone explores queer hedonism not as a momentary phenomenon or indulgence, but rather a transformational route – whether via euphoric raves, inspired art, marching side by side in protest, or sharing simple delights – through which we can learn from our past, connect in the present, and look towards a more fair, hopeful future together.

Holy Boys seeks to address the lingering echoes of adolescence and the pains of living a life in the shadows of unspeakable desires and all-consuming longing. These poems are a means of finding language in youth, gathering experience in pubescence, and serving as testament to survival in a world that demands silences throughout queer life.

These poems are an archive which maps physical desire and emotional needs while pushing past dogma and self-hating. They are a means of naming the many lovers and loved ones who have helped move the speaker from boyhood into manhood. This is a collection that is informed by faith, sexuality, loss and love, a celebration of the growing pains that eventually allow us to unfurl into whole beings.

1936. Spain erupts in civil war. The Republic forms an International Brigade and calls for volunteers to combat a Nationalist uprising led by General Franco.

After his best friend Jimmy is killed by a police baton on a hunger march to London, Glaswegian Robbie Gillan has a fist fight with the mortician. The police are called and sympathetic nurse Alice Sheridan gives Robbie £5 when he tells her he wants to join the battle in Spain.

Alice’s twin brother Simon argues with his father over Spain and leaves on the night ferry for Paris where the volunteers are gathering. In a knife fight with Franco loyalists, Robbie Gillan saves Simon’s life and the two men, opposites in class and temperament, cross France and climb the Pyrenees to Spain. Alice, drawn by emotions that are not entirely clear to her, soon follows with the Red Cross.

The battle cry of the Spanish Republic was No pasarán. Pasaremos. They shall not pass. We Shall Pass – the defining spirit of this gripping novel that takes us into the heart of war and reveals the enduring power of love, hope and defiance as Robbie and Alice must overcome every obstacle to be together.

Edinburgh, 1948. Welfare Officer Helen Crowther has enough on her plate between her hectic job, her complicated love life, and her growing reputation as a troublemaker. Last year’s scandal did nothing to help with the disapproval she already gets as a woman in her line of work.

All she wants now is to focus on doing what she loves: helping the poor of the Fountainbridge ward in the city of Edinburgh. The last thing she needs is another string of murders to distract her . . .

But when a gentleman dressed in working-man’s clothing winds up dead right under Helen’s nose, and she catches her own father in a very risky lie, Helen is propelled back into the dark world where class rules, justice is hard to come by and gruesome death is everywhere.

Helen has already learned some hard truths about her city, but this investigation is about to reveal just how deep corruption can go . . .

Driving the North Coast 500? Good choice. This epic road trip travels through Scotland’s famed spectacular scenery, making it the UK’s favourite driving route. Not that it’s all about the scenery: along the way you’ll pass through pretty fishing villages, stop at pubs and distilleries, and visit plenty of historic sights, like Dunrobin Castle or the mysterious standing stones at Clava Cairns.

Such a great road trip deserves a great book to match. In the North Coast 500 you’ll find:

• over 100 highlights to explore along the route, from the historic Culloden Battlefield to a charming, community-focused café in tiny Bettyhill
• illustrated maps detailing each leg of the route
• insider recommendations for the best places to eat, drink, shop and stay
• suggestions for detours, including a cutting-edge rewilding centre, a UNESCO-listed bog and the famous Isle of Skye
• practical information so you can plan, get around and stay safe
• what3words addresses for every stop, so you can reach even the hardest-to-find places with ease

The best thing about this guide? Our experts, travel writer Rachel Laidler and photographer Daniel Alford, have been on the road themselves, giving you the insider’s view on what make the route so special. For an honest account of the road trip, look no further: this is the perfect book to dream and plan your Scottish adventure.

Alex and Pip are in desperate need of an escape. Their stressful roles as hostage negotiators are eased only by the fact that they get to come home to each other every night.

When an old friend invites the couple up to the Scottish Highlands for an extended break, Alex and Pip jump at the chance. It’s the rest they both need.

But soon after they arrive at the castle, they hear the sound of gunshots, and their perfect escape turns into a perfect nightmare. The remote mountainous landscape is now the setting for a terrifying kidnap plot targeting one of the other guests.

In the desperate hours that follow, Alex and Pip must call on all their years of negotiating experience to keep everyone alive. But with Pip gravely injured and the net closing in, it might be her life that needs saving most of all…

Lady Viviane leaves the lakes of the far North for the splendour of Camelot to capture the heart and hand of the young prince, Arthur.

But it is Arthur’s sister Morgan who captures Viviane’s eye. Fierce and headstrong, Morgan sees another path – one she and Viviane can carve for themselves in this world built for knights and kings.

But in this kingdom no one is as they seem. And when Arthur pulls the legendary sword from the stone, his closest allies will do all they can to tear Viviane and Morgan apart.

CAN THEIR LOVE SURVIVE THE DARK FORCES AT WORK IN CAMELOT?

How Does Change Happen? chronicles real stories from activists and organisers, exploring their approach to making a meaningful difference in some of the biggest issues of the 21st century. The book spends time with unions, campaign groups and activists, organising around issues like climate justice, worker’s rights, land reform, and human rights. From disruptive high-profile protests to workplace strikes, this is an exploration of the strategies, inspiration, frustration and hope of the people at the forefront of cultivating real change.

WINNER OF SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FOR DEBUT NON-FICTION
LONGLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2026
A DEBUTIFUL BEST NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

The orange is a souvenir of history. Across time, it has been a harbinger of God and doom, fortune and failure, pleasure and suffering. It is a fruit containing metaphors, dreams, mythologies, superstitions, parables and histories within its tough rind. So, what happens when the fruit is peeled and each segment – each moment of history, each meaning in time – is pulled apart?

In this distinct, subversive and intimate hybrid memoir, Katie Goh explores the orange as a means of understanding the world, and herself within it. What she reveals is violence, colonialism, resilience, survival, adaptation – and unexpected beauty and sweetness against all odds.

From glam rock to hyperpop: how queer music changed the sound of Scotland

Queer musicians have long mined beauty from the darkest of seams – and today’s artists are taking that treasure and using it to make magic. Trans writer, broadcaster and musician Carrie Marshall travels from bothys to the Barras to discover and share the sounds, the stories and the sheer joy of queer Scots music through interviews, fan recollections and more, inviting readers on Carrie’s own journey to experience the music she’s going to help you fall in love with.

Part musical journey, part social history, Small Town Joy tells the story of how LGBTQ+ musicians changed the sound of Scotland. From glam rock through political pop and indie rock to folk, hip-hop, house and hyperpop, Carrie Marshall discovers the musical threads that queered mainstream music. A celebration of the songs that changed the culture, the enormous impact of Scots musicians on global rock and pop, and the faces and places continuing to shape the sound of Scots music at home and around the world, Small Town Joy is a must-read for any fan of Scotland’s monumental musical influence.

Featuring interviews with Shirley Manson (Garbage), Lauren Mayberry (CHVRCHES), Sean Dickson (HIFI Sean), Maya Evan MacGregor and many more.

Discover the evocative world of A Summer Like No Other by Martin MacIntyre, the English translation of his acclaimed Gaelic novel Samhradh ’78. Step back to the summer of 1978, where young Colin Quinn finds himself on South Uist with his charismatic uncle, Ruairidh Gillies.

As the world turns its eyes to Scotland’s hopeful journey in the World Cup in Argentina, Colin and Ruairidh embark on a journey of their own, deepening their bond and navigating the complexities of life.

This novel offers a vivid portrayal of the Outer Hebrides, capturing the raw beauty of the islands and the fierce, unpredictable elements. Readers will be drawn into the characters’ intimate moments of joy and profound challenges, all set against the stunning natural backdrop of South Uist.

A Summer Like No Other is a significant addition to Gaelic-language fiction in translation – now available in English for the first time – providing a rare and authentic glimpse into island life and culture. Perfect for those who cherish Gaelic heritage, this book transcends geographical boundaries, appealing to anyone who values heartfelt storytelling and richly drawn characters.

Water has always been a constant theme in Gordon Meade’s poetry, from his earliest memories of the West Sands at St Andrews, through the Northumberland coastline, via County Cork and the canals of Venice, to the beaches and harbours of the East Neuk of Fife. Another prevalent theme in his work is the experience of a variety of non-human animals, whether encountered in the wild or in captivity, either free or abused.

A more recent theme has been the poet’s own experience of Stage Three and Stage Four Cancer; its diagnosis, its treatment, and life with a terminal illness. All of the above areas are represented in Beyond the Ninth Wave which closes with over a dozen new poems published here, in book form, for the first time.

We all want more free time. But do we know how to use it?

The celebrated psychoanalyst Marion Milner lived for the entirety of the twentieth century. By the age of ninety-eight she had written nine books revealing how free time and creativity are vital for a fulfilled life.

Akshi Singh was born ninety years after Milner, in Rajasthan, over four thousand miles away from where Milner lived and worked. At first glance, the worlds of these two women seem entirely separate. Yet when Singh found herself standing at a crossroads in her life and grieving personal loss, she realised the questions and preoccupations Milner was exploring were her own.

In Defence of Leisure presents Marion Milner as a writer for our times. In asking the simple question: how do I want to spend my free time? Milner developed a method for discovering her true likes and dislikes. As Singh follows Milner’s approach – from keeping a diary to painting, building a home to travelling to the sea – she discovers the importance of rest, creativity and play in all of our lives, and how it can open the door to achieving what we truly desire.

Edinburgh 1841. Reaching out like a hungry white worm it twisted and spiralled, tasting the air. Then, evidently attracted by the flow of warm blood, it squirmed its way under the surface of my skin.

Every autumn without fail, a strange seed appears on the chestnut tree that marks the spot where the witch Margaret McKay was murdered.

Legend states that anyone who catches this nut before it hits the ground will be blessed with untold riches, but when it falls into the eager hands of botanist Joseph Ware, the seed unleashes a terrible curse. In his quest to find the cure, Joseph discovers a resistance group battling to save the last of Scotland’s witches from a sinister order of surgeons who believe the key to all magic lies hidden somewhere within a witch’s anatomy.

The conflict quickly tears apart the bonds of family, friendship and even reality itself, as Joseph fights to save his soul and avoid the anatomists’ dissecting table.

Ideal for readers of The Last Witch in Scotland, The Witches of Vardo, Bram Stoker or for those with an interest in witchcraft lore.

Nate Yu Riley loves three things: his Switch, his ant farm (especially Betsy, queen of the colony) and his family.

He’s not so sure about some other things, like moving to a big city, starting a new school, and his parents making him do Chinese stuff. They’re always trying to get him to embrace his heritage, but Nate can’t speak Chinese, and he doesn’t know anything about Chinese customs.

But when Nate comes across an old shell casing engraved with a Chinese dragon, he can’t stop thinking about it. And when he touches the shell, someone extraordinary appears. A ghost from long ago. Someone who needs Nate’s help – and Nate might just need his, too …