THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

Andrejs Up?ts?s classic novel Gold, set in Latvia still under Tsarist rule and on the brink of the First World War, is perhaps more topical in recent decades than it has been for a long time. In fact it was dusted off in the 1990s precisely because of its description of how society behaves in untrammelled free markets.The poor and hardworking Sveilis family suddenly inherit great wealth, and this leads them on a journey in which desire and disappointment are always in control, and the author avoids many of the readers? expectations and all stock narratives.Up?ts is forensic in his naturalistic analysis of a society contending with extremes of both wealth and poverty, and how this is undermining what was left of a moral society. High on a bull market and a flood of quality alcohol, the nouveau riche are in expansive mood but what they experience is not happiness but jaded insatiability they are unable to control.These hellraisers and presumed winners in the struggle for wealth are the subject of this highly original novel, and the losers are barely mentioned except in its brief first section. The pace and the detailed observation of psychological developments carries readers along through a narrative whose power resides in its lack of moralism. They are left to make their own judgements.

When wild animals stray into the park and get into difficulties, Hassan and his mum are there to help in two heartwarming tales from animal-story maestro Helen Peters.Dapple the fawn gets carried away exploring the park near the woods where he lives with his mother, Fern. But when Fern comes to find him, she gets tangled in a wire. Can Dapple find someone to help set her free?Olive the otter loves playing in the river near her home. But when she disobeys her mother and strays out after a rainstorm, Olive gets washed far downstream and lands on the bank in a city park. How will she ever find her way home?Luckily for Dapple and Olive, Hassan and his mum, a wildlife ranger, live close to the park and can help both little animals back to safety.

Find the truth. Solve the murder. Never reveal your secret.Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at university: The Murder Masquerade Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, but they were always fictional – until their final Christmas Masquerade, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.Now, the remaining members of the group receive an invitation to a reunion masquerade, to be held in a beautiful and remote country house in Scotland. When they arrive they are each assigned a new identity themed around the Twelve Days of Christmas – they become Lady Partridge or Mr Gold; Lord Leapworth or Doctor Swan. The game begins, and it feels just like old times.Until the next morning, when Lady Partridge is found hanging from a pear tree.

The Gaelic Games has been shaped by great players. Since its inception, special players have made hearts soar with daring moves, acheived sporting glory and created everlasting memories. Now Extraordinary GAA People celebrates the achievements of the very best footballers, hurlers, managers, ladies footballers and camogie players from the start of the twentieth century to the present day.Based around exclusive interviews , Extraordinary GAA People is a roster of legendary Gaelic Games icons, with stars from all 32 counties represented, giving a unique and fascinating account of the greatest heroes and legends of the games.

Anya lives in a paper village, among delicate paper trees and paper houses, where the people are paper-light. Every year the villagers of Paperlee put stones in their pockets to avoid being blown away by the late summer winds.The windy season has long past when Anya is knocked over by a great gust. What is causing the strange weather? It is coming from Forestlee, the village on the neighbouring mountain?Determined Anya has a plan to find out, making a delicate kirigami paper bridge to cross the chasm between the two villages. But what will she find on the other side?Told through stunning, beautifully crafted kirigami scenes, Seng Soun Ratanavanh created a real paper world for debut author for Joëlle Veyrenc’s wonderfully imagined story. Readers will be enchanted by constructed 3D houses, folded foliage and illustrated characters. The Paper Bridge is a unique modern fairy tale which explores distrust of the unknown and the challenge of living together through climate change.

When world-class chef Pam first opened Inver, her restaurant on the shores of Loch Fyne, she set out to discover what makes ‘modern Scottish food’ – or if it even existed. This book traces Pam’s journey to answer that question and in doing so reveals what we can all gather from our culinary heritage. Part memoir, part manifesto on the future of feeding the world and a feminist critique of the food business, it documents the difficult early days of her now multiple award-winning restaurant, reflecting on how the immersive experience of ‘destination restaurants’ can both help and hinder our understanding of wider land and food culture.From the soil to the kitchen, Between Two Waters interrogates the influences on what we eat: capitalism, colonialism and gender, as well as our own personal and cultural histories. Yet it also captures with real heart all that the dinner table has to offer us: sustenance, both physical and imaginative, challenges and adventure and, most importantly, communion with others.More than anything, it is a blisteringly original work from one of the world’s most innovative thinkers about food, sustainability and landscape.

In a world increasingly preoccupied by borders, bridges celebrate the possibility of connection, allowing the flow of goods, people and ideas. Bridges are among our grandest physical structures with the power of transforming lives and economies, but we also stand (or fall) upon the simple arch of bones in our feet. Text is a bridge between writer and reader, and conversation builds bridges of understanding between minds.

Dr Gavin Francis has spent his life fascinated by the power of bridges to improve human connection. In The Bridge Between Worlds he examines bridges both actual and metaphorical, on a journey through more than twenty countries, across four decades of travel.

From Rome’s Ponte Sant’Angelo to Brooklyn, Victoria Falls to London, Singapore to Siberia, this thought-provoking book reflects on connections between nations and between individuals. Francis demonstrates what the building of bridges has meant to our civilisation, how crossings can enrich our lives, and the price we pay when we tear them down.

Discover more about Robert the Bruce and other unforgettable figures that made Scotland the great nation it is today. Through fascinating images and expert text, A History of Scotland takes you through each decade of Scotland?s varied and dramatic past up to the present day. A History of Scotland provides a pictorial exploration from the times of the Neolithic stone circles of Orkney to the turbulent referendums of the contemporary era. The book is arranged chronologically, from the roman invasion of Scotland in the 1st century to Mary Queen of Scots and her downfall, David Hume and Adam Smith, Dolly the Sheep in 1997 and the construction of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in the 21st Century.

One of the all-time great animal stories. Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s book, with exclusive illustrations from EH Shepard has delighted generations.?There?s nothing ? absolutely nothing ? half so much worth doing as messing about in boats.?”One of Junior Magazine?s 100 best children?s books of all time!The Wind in the Willows is one of the most famous and bestselling animal stories of all time. This exclusive 90th anniversary paperback edition celebrates E.H. Shepherd’s classic illustrations that brought Mole, Ratty, Badger and Mr Toad to life 90 years ago and have captivated children and adults alike ever since.The Wild Wood seems a terrifying place to Mole, until one day he pokes his nose out of his burrow and finds it?s full of friends. He meets brave Ratty, kind old Badger and the rascally Mr Toad, and together they go adventuring ? but the Wild Wood doesn’t just contain friends, there are also the sinister weasels and stoats, and they capture Toad Hall when Mr Toad is in jail. How will he escape? And can the friends fight together to save Toad Hall?Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows is a classic animal adventure that charms and enthrals. This new paperback edition contains the original black and white illustrations by E H Shepard, the man who drew Winnie-the-Pooh. The perfect adventure for children aged 9 and above.

SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR

In Island Dreams, Gavin Francis combines stories of his own travels with psychology, philosophy and myth, shedding new light on the importance of islands and isolation in our collective consciousness.Francis draws on thirty years of island adventures from the Faroe Islands to the Aegean, from the Galapagos to the Andaman Islands. He contrasts these quests for freedom with the demands for commitment required as a doctor, community member and parent. Island Dreams riffs on the twin poles of rest and motion, independence and attachment, never more relevant than in today’s ever-connected world.

‘A tense, creepy page-turner’ Ian Rankin, New Statesman

Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch, Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs, a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries. While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the door they clamour to torment her all over again, bringing with them shocking visions of imminent deaths. Into this oasis comes her adoptive mother, Mandy McEvoy, begging for Annie’s help. Mandy’s nephew Damien has gone missing, after dropping off his four-year old son at his mother’s home. Unable to refuse, but terrified to leave her sanctuary, Annie, with the help of her brother Lewis, is drawn in to a secretive, seductive world that will have her question everything she holds dear, while Lewis’ life may be changed forever…

The second book in the critically acclaimed Annie Jackson Mysteries series, The Torments is both a contemporary gothic thriller and a spellbinding mystery that deeps deep into a past that should, perhaps, remain undisturbed.

Driven by a yearning to experience the vast skies and frozen beauty of the North, Gavin Francis goes in search of the people living along the northern limits of Europe. From the first Greek explorers to the Vikings to modern polar adventurers, he travels through history and legend to find out why – and how – we are drawn to the North.Francis’s encounters in the Arctic teach him as much about that sense of longing for the North, and of belonging to the North as the seafarers, warriors, monks and poets whose stories he follows. In Shetland, the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, Svalbard and Lapland, Francis finds a way of life characterised by both peace and unease, threatened as it is by the shadow of climate change and the tense, ever-increasing importance of Arctic Europe in global power politics.

The Feisty Feminist. The Hot Lesbian. The Desperate Cougar.The Deranged Mother. The Stupid Tart. The Hag.Doon Mackichan is best known for her comedy characters, but throughout her career there are parts she’s refused to take and stereotypes she’s continually defied.In My Lady Parts, Doon shares her experience on stage, screen and in real life, examining how our culture still expects women to adhere to certain stereotypes – and punishes those who don’t. This is a courageous, vulnerable and empowering account of being a woman in an industry that has been exposed for its deep-rooted sexism.

Following a convention in the Scottish Highlands, eight social media influencers vanish without a trace, leaving their followers ? and families ? in a state of shock, and the police clueless as to their whereabouts.And then, the livestreams begin.Broadcast live from their squalid underground cells, the young influencers are forced into a sadistic battle for survival.With each livestream, their captor pits them against each other in a twisted competition for likes. The influencer with the fewest positive reactions faces a gruesome end ? live on camera.As the likes increase and the death toll rises, DCI Jack Logan and his team must traverse both the Scottish wilderness and the darkest corners of the internet to try and save the remaining captives.But how do you catch a killer who is always one click ahead?

Set in a small community on the Scottish coast, the new feel-good story about family, belonging and finding peace with the past from the author of The Lighthouse Bookshop and The Forgotten Garden.Can a return to the past be the start of something new?Bette and Nina Crowdie have never been close ? they?re too different, the ten-year age difference doesn?t help, and Bette?s rarely been back home since she left for university at eighteen. When their father passes away and unexpectedly splits the family farm between them, Nina is furious and afraid. She?s been working at the farm for the past five years. It?s the only stable home her young son Barnaby has ever had, and she?s convinced that Bette, who never wanted anything to do with the family business, will sell at the first chance she gets.When they discover the huge debt their father has been hiding from them both, Bette reluctantly agrees to help her sister. But that means they have to find a way to work together, and Bette must face up to the real reason she left all those years ago.Could the discovery of an ancient orchard on their land be the key to saving the farm ? and the sisters? relationship? Praise for Sharon Gosling: ‘A compelling read with a dramatic sense of place and a caring community at its heart’ Heidi Swain  ?A warm, romantic mystery, beautifully structured and feelingly written? ? Daily Mail

Tony Moscardini has exchanged life in a rain-lashed Scottish city packed with incident for the sun-baked predictability of a small medieval hilltop town in rural Italy.

He has given up onerous full-time employment in daily journalism and found fulfilment in photography and guerrilla film-making. More importantly, he has found what feels a lot like true love.

And yet, if he’s being honest with himself, life in Castel di Colonia has also begun to feel a little bit dull.

So what will he find on his return to Glasgow for a weekend? Old foes? Long-forgotten disappointments? Fresh excitements? Overwhelming temptation?

Will the happier new Tony yield to his pessimistic former self?

Heart of a tiger, strength of a dragon, body of a … schoolboy? A thrilling action-adventure series with the magical power of the Chinese Zodiac.

It’s time for the ultimate battle! The Dragon King has stolen the coin that gives Jack the magical powers of the zodiac animals. Is the Tiger Warrior finished? Or is it time to fight dragon with dragon?

This is a true story about a real place. A place hidden behind the waves. The Vikings saw it in their dreams, and sometimes sea birds call its name. It’s a dot on a map. The blink of an eye. The beat of a wing. Storms and songs and stickleback stop by on their travels.

This is St Kilda. A tiny group of islands; an archipelago: Hirta, Boreray, Soay, Dùn. They call them The Islands at the End of the World.

Come on an adventure, far away across the sea to the mysterious St Kilda to discover its story.

In Jeda Pearl’s debut poetry collection, Time Cleaves Itself, a disabled Scottish woman of colour invites you into the split and rewoven threads of her intersecting, in between worlds as she navigates belonging and claiming space.

Landscapes and bodyscapes are brought into focus through lenses of race, illness, disability and womanhood. Ancestral languages of Scots, Patois, Geordie and English critique ableism, colonialism and Scottish exceptionalism; they ask ‘Who gets the trees?’, honour Caribbean and Scottish heritages and move from the bed as universe to fantastical and science-fictional imaginings.

Here, lyrical acts of observation unfold with defiance, tenderness, rhythm and the occasional side-eye. The accordion of time stretches across poems that deliver a sonic meditation on memory, grief, disability, belonging, empathy and resilience.

As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice treating lycanthrope bites, bargaining with kikimoras, and slaying bloodsucking upirs. There’s only one monster she can’t defeat: her ex, the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed by someone close to her, Kosara’s only choice is to trade her shadow-the source of her powers-for a quick escape.

Unfortunately, Kosara soon develops the deadly sickness that plagues shadowless witches-and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To find it, she’s forced to team up with a suspiciously honorable detective. Even worse, all the clues point in a single direction: To get her shadow back, Kosara will have to face the Foul Days’ biggest threats without it. And she’s only got twelve days.