THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

This collection is a visceral depiction of the difficult love between a father and son and what happens when that love is lost. In his debut, Thomas Stewart examines the death of his father whilst exploring questions of grief, guilt, mental health, identity, sexuality and masculinity.

As these poems unfold a hallway of mirrors is created, with father-son relationships from art, cinema and Welsh mythology expanded and rethought. From Space Jam to The Mabinogion, The Babadook to Ivan the Terrible, this collection grapples what it means to be a father, a son and a self. Subverting the notions of gender, Stewart addresses the damage of old stereotypes, the passage of generational trauma and questions how we might change.

Here, father and son yearn, kill, retreat, die, grieve, turn to stone, are brought back from the dead. Here, sunflowers compete in fashion contests, bees nestle in beards, apple seeds birth ragged-robins. Here, suns give license to grief, witches rest in the crib and moths lead the way to the dead. At its core, Real Boys explores the crushing weight of grief and how we might just live with it.

Whether you take the high road or the low road, Scotland is yours to explore with Rick Steves! Inside Rick Steves Scotland you’ll find:

– Fully updated, comprehensive coverage for spending a multi-week trip exploring Scotland

– Rick’s strategic advice on how to get the most out of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites

– Top sights and hidden gems, from the wild beauty of Orkney Islands and the Hebrides to cozy corner pubs in Edinburgh

– How to connect with local culture: Chat with experts on the Speyside Whisky Trail, cheer on the locals at a Highland Games event, or try authentic haggis

– Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick’s candid, humorous insight

– The best places to eat, sleep, and relax with a dram of scotch

– Self-guided walking tours of lively neighborhoods and historic sites

– Detailed neighborhood maps and a fold-out regional map for exploring on the go

– Useful resources including a packing list, a phrase book of Scottish slang, a historical overview, and recommended reading

– Complete, up-to-date information on Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, St. Andrews, the Scottish Highlands, Oban, Mull, Iona, Staffa, Glencoe, Fort William, Inverness, Loch Ness, Pitiochry, Balmoral Castle, the Isle of Skye, Wester Ross, the Orkney Islands, and more

Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves Scotland.

Spending less time in Scotland? Hit the highlights with Rick Steves Best of Scotland.

The Scottish Highlands are at the most northerly extreme of mainland Britain. The region was once a place of turmoil and bloodshed, of clan warfare and royal misadventure. Now the Highlands are somewhere to explore at leisure. It is a place rich in history, a land of hills and craggy mountains, of secluded coves and sandy beaches, and appealing towns and villages.

With this book as your guide, meet Felicity, a large and friendly puma; learn the rules of Shinty, a unique and popular Highland sport; sit in the shade of Europe’s oldest living tree; take a turn around the Devil’s Elbow, if you dare; find yourself at the very centre of Scotland; visit a fairy village; take a stroll around an impossible garden; and shake it all about at the Earthquake House.

Written by someone who loves the Scottish Highlands whatever the weather, this book will help you explore this wonderfully beautiful region.

Get closer to Scotland with DK Eyewitness

A road trip on the North Coast 500. Whisky tasting in the Scottish Highlands. Days of festival fun in Edinburgh. Scotland offers enough bucket-list experiences to fill a lifetime. Whatever your dream trip involves, this DK Eyewitness travel guide is the perfect companion.

Our updated guide brings Scotland to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide does with expert-led insights, trusted travel advice, detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights, photographs on practically every page, and our hand-drawn illustrations, which take you inside the country’s buildings and neighbourhoods.

You’ll discover:- our pick of Scotland’s must-sees and top experiences- beautiful photography and detailed illustrations, taking you to the heart of Scotland- the best spots to eat, drink, shop and stay- detailed maps and walks which make navigating the region easy- easy-to-follow itineraries- expert advice: get ready, get around and stay safe- colour-coded chapters to each part of Scotland- a lightweight format, so you can take it with you wherever you go

Want the best of Scotland in your pocket? Try Top 10 Scotland.

In his most exhilarating novel yet, Britain’s greatest storyteller transports you from the vibrant streets of sixties London to the sun-soaked cobbles of Cadiz and the frosty squares of Warsaw, as an accidental spy is drawn into the shadows of espionage and obsession.

Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a tragedy: every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War. When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into a web of duplicities and betrayals.

As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into the shadows. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story. . .

‘Sheer, truly brilliant storytelling. He has probably written more classic books than any of his contemporaries’ Daily Telegraph

‘If it’s true escapism you’re after, William Boyd can always be relied upon to transport the reader from reality’ Vogue

‘A master storyteller’ Observer

In his most exhilarating novel yet, Britain’s greatest storyteller transports you from the vibrant streets of sixties London to the sun-soaked cobbles of Cadiz and the frosty squares of Warsaw, as an accidental spy is drawn into the shadows of espionage and obsession.

Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a tragedy: every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War. When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into a web of duplicities and betrayals.

As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into the shadows. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story. . .

‘Sheer, truly brilliant storytelling. He has probably written more classic books than any of his contemporaries’ Daily Telegraph

‘If it’s true escapism you’re after, William Boyd can always be relied upon to transport the reader from reality’ Vogue

‘A master storyteller’ Observer

Glaswegian-born, Derry-based performance poet Frank Rafferty has shared his spoken word and poetry on stages around the world. His debut collection, Rafferty’s Rules, includes his comic musings coupled with political calls to action captured with his unique style of energy and lyricism.

This volume includes crowd-favourites My Granny Made Me An Anarchist and This Iz Thi Voys.

Rafferty’s Rules/raf:uh:tees ru-ls/slang c. 1910

The phrase, a play on the Irish surname Rafferty, is a way to say you aren’t playing by any rules at all.

Cover illustration by Rachael Johnson.

ContentsAbsent

Notes From The Asylum

Past Lives

I Stopped

Mickey’s Monkey

Your Health

Elephant

Araphel

Templemore

Men Who Can’t Stop Marching

Snake

Mmajin

My Granny Made Me An Anarchist

Jazz

Service 64

Being A Tree

Do Not Belong To Others

This Iz Thi Voys

Nae Pasaran Ya Bass

A Random Selection from 100 things that

keep me awake at night

When I DieRemainder

Lastwurds

Get closer to Scotland with DK Eyewitness

A road trip on the North Coast 500. Whisky tasting in the Scottish Highlands. Days of festival fun in Edinburgh. Scotland offers enough bucket-list experiences to fill a lifetime. Whatever your dream trip involves, this DK Eyewitness travel guide is the perfect companion.

Our updated guide brings Scotland to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide does with expert-led insights, trusted travel advice, detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights, photographs on practically every page, and our hand-drawn illustrations, which take you inside the country’s buildings and neighbourhoods.

You’ll discover:- our pick of Scotland’s must-sees and top experiences- beautiful photography and detailed illustrations, taking you to the heart of Scotland- the best spots to eat, drink, shop and stay- detailed maps and walks which make navigating the region easy- easy-to-follow itineraries- expert advice: get ready, get around and stay safe- colour-coded chapters to each part of Scotland- a lightweight format, so you can take it with you wherever you go

Want the best of Scotland in your pocket? Try Top 10 Scotland.

James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England and Ireland, has long endured a mixed reputation. To many, he is simply the homosexual King, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the drooling fool whose speech could barely be understood. For too long, he has paled in comparison to his more celebrated Tudor and Stuart forebears.

But who was he really? To what extent have myth, anecdote, and rumour obscured him?

In this new and ground-breaking biography, James’s story is laid bare and a welter of scurrilous, outrageous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of Elizabeth I’s successor as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality. With reference to letters, libels and state papers, it casts fresh light on the personal, domestic, international and sexual politics of this misunderstood sovereign.’A real page-turner for lovers of history’ – Philippa Gregory

*Winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize*

‘Rich, taut and compelling’ – Melvyn Bragg, The Guardian

‘An accomplished display of vocal versatility’ – The Literary Review

The death of legendary jazz trumpeter Joss Moody exposes an extraordinary secret. Unknown to all but his wife Millie, Joss was a woman living as a man. The discovery is most devastating for their adopted son, Colman, whose bewildered fury brings the press to the doorstep and sends his grieving mother to the sanctuary of a remote Scottish village.

Part of the Picador Collection, Trumpet by Jackie Kay is a starkly beautiful modern classic about the lengths to which people will go for love. It is a moving story of a shared life founded on an intricate lie, of loving deception and lasting devotion, and of the intimate workings of the human heart.

‘Kay carefully registers the technical difficulties of transgendered life . . . She leaves us with a broad landscape of sweet tolerance and familial love’ – The New York Times

‘Carol Ann Duffy is the most humane and accessible poet of our time, and Rapture is essential reading for the broken-hearted of all ages’ – Rose Tremain

The effortless virtuosity, directness, drama and humanity of Carol Ann Duffy’s verse have made her our most admired and best-loved contemporary poet. Rapture, her seventh collection, is a book-length love-poem, and a moving act of personal testimony; but what sets these poems apart from other treatments of the subject is that Duffy refuses to simplify the contradictions of love, and read its transformations – infatuation, longing, passion, commitment, rancour, separation and grief – as simply redemptive or destructive.

Rapture is a map of real love, in all its churning complexity. Yet in showing us that a song can be made of even the most painful episodes in our lives, Duffy has accessed a new level of directness that sacrifices nothing in the way of subtlety of expression. These are poems that will find deep rhymes in the experience of most readers, and nowhere has Duffy more eloquently articulated her belief that poetry should speak for us all.

Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

A chance meeting with the manager of The Great Hippopotamus Hotel leads the much-admired and traditionally-built Precious Ramotswe to investigate what is going wrong with this previously successful country hotel. Guests have been unwell, clothing has disappeared from the washing line, and scorpions have found their way into the guest bedrooms. Mma Ramotswe drives out to the hotel with her irrepressible colleague, Grace Makutsi (97 per cent in the final examinations of the Botswana Secretarial College). What they find there are family conflicts that only the investigators of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency will be able to resolve.

Meanwhile, at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Mma Ramotswe’s husband, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, gets a visit from a middle-aged client who wants to purchase a fast Italian sports car. What should the conscientious garagiste do in such circumstances? Should the client’s wife be told? Mma Ramotswe is used to wrestling with such tricky questions, but it is harder for Mr J.L.B. Matekoni.

And in the background is that beautiful country, Botswana, with its wide skies and its courteous people. In such surroundings, big problems soon seem small, and small worries fade away altogether.

When was the last time you remembered your heart’s beating?

In his debut collection of songs and poetry, Seki Lynch presents pieces on love and connection for anyone who’s ever felt like dancing in the face of their fear.

Finding hope in the depths of disconnection, Under The Sun Our Hearts Are Beating is a gathering of consciousness, seeking to dissolve some of the invisible barriers between us. Influenced and inspired by literature, art, science, nature, hip-hop, jazz (specifically), music (generally) and his own experience, these 24 new works sift for meaning and belonging in the chaos of existence.They’re offered as a reminder that when everything gets on top, despite all you’ve been through, you’re here now, and your heart is still beating.

**The spellbinding, bold new retelling of the story of Lord Byron and the Shelleys, from the perspective of Claire Clairmont, the incredible woman that history tried to forget.**

‘Beautifully written, Clairmont tells the sensuous hidden story of an influential historic woman.’ Sara Sheridan, author of The Fair Botanists Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year

‘An absorbing, intoxicating page-turner about a woman who deserves to be remembered.’ Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne and Atalanta

‘Riveting – a clever portrait of a fascinating, flawed heroine.’ Sunday Times

‘An intimate and enlightening tale of one of Romanticism’s forsaken muses – an artfully told story that lingers in the mind far beyond the last page’ Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora

1816. A massive volcanic eruption has caused the worst storms that Europe has seen in decades, yet Percy and Mary Shelley have chosen to visit the infamous Lord Byron at his villa on Lake Geneva. It wasn’t their idea: Mary’s eighteen year old step-sister, Claire Clairmont, insisted.

But the reason for Claire’s visit is more pressing than a summer escape with the most famous writers in the world. She’s pregnant with Byron’s child – a child Byron doesn’t want, and scarcely believes is his own.Claire has the world in her grasp. This trip should have given her everything she ever dreamed of. But within days, her life will be in ruins.

History has all but forgotten her story – but she will not be silenced.

Jim Brennan is flying high. Against all odds, he is a big man at the university, tipped for the head job and an office at the top of the ivory tower. He has a beautiful, accomplished wife and two healthy children. Jim drives an Audi, and his dog is a pedigree bichon frisé. Not bad for the son of a hardman who grew up in a room and kitchen.

But for every person who’s watched his progress and wanted to hitch a lift, there’s someone else desperate to drag him back down. When his son Elliot is arrested on drugs charges, Jim is approached by men he thought he had left safely in his past. Their demands threaten his family, students and reputation.

As the pressure mounts, Jim discovers he is more like his father than he thought. The question is, how far will Professor Jim Brennan go to save the life he built?

From the author of bestseller, Ruxton: The First Modern Murder, comes another deep dive into one of the most notorious cases in Scottish Criminal History.

Tom Wood’s The World’s End Murders: The Inside Story is a new look at a well-known story. In this book, Wood offers the detailed analysis only one of the original investigators could give, and reveals how over nearly four decades, detectives and scientists struggled to deliver justice. The horrific killing of two Edinburgh teenagers in October 1977 sparked a nationwide manhunt that turned into one of Britain’s longest and most famous murder investigations. The book tells the story of two innocent young girls, Helen Scott and Christine Eadie, and of the extraordinary police investigation over almost four decades that eventually led to the discovery of links to their deaths with Angus Sinclair, one of Scotland’s most notorious murderers and sex offenders.

Acquitted after a controversial trial in 2007, changes in the law and new, cutting-edge forensic evidence meant that Sinclair found himself in the court again, and in 2014 he was finally held to account for the notorious World’s End murders.

But this is not a gruesome tale of violent death – the families of Helen and Christine have suffered long enough. It is a story of heroes – of the families of the two girls who, with quiet dignity, have carried an unimaginable burden down the years, and of the police officers, the support staff and the scientists who persisted in their investigations and never gave up. This is the inside story of the World’s End murders.

A LOCAL MYTH. A DEADLY THREAT.

Vera Stanhope, star of ITV’s Vera, returns in the eleventh novel in Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller Ann Cleeves’ acclaimed series.

A body is found by an early morning dog walker on the common outside Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who never showed up to work.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate. Her only clue is the disappearance of fourteen-year-old resident Chloe. Vera can’t bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can’t dismiss the possibility.

Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie are soon embroiled in the case, but when a second body is found near the Three Dark Wives standing stones in the wilds of the Northumbrian countryside, folklore and fact begin to collide.

Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, but it seems that the dark secrets in their community may be far more dangerous than she could ever have believed. . .

A LOCAL MYTH. A DEADLY THREAT.

Vera Stanhope, star of ITV’s Vera, returns in the eleventh novel in Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller Ann Cleeves’ acclaimed series.

A body is found by an early morning dog walker on the common outside Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who never showed up to work.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate. Her only clue is the disappearance of fourteen-year-old resident Chloe. Vera can’t bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can’t dismiss the possibility.

Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie are soon embroiled in the case, but when a second body is found near the Three Dark Wives standing stones in the wilds of the Northumbrian countryside, folklore and fact begin to collide.

Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, but it seems that the dark secrets in their community may be far more dangerous than she could ever have believed. . .

A SWEET TEMPTATION!

Running her own chocolate shop in a Highland castle is a dream come true for Bonnie. Working with reluctant new boss Ewen is not… The brooding tycoon is infuriating and disarmingly attractive in equal measure, but fragile Bonnie can’t chance her heart again. A fling, however, could be just what they both need… It’s only supposed to be fun-and temporary! Except now Bonnie has begun to wonder if Ewen is the second chance she didn’t see coming…

Discover the essence of Scotland’s cultural brilliance with Demarco’s Scotland, an immersive journey into the heart of one of the world’s most captivating nations. Experience the richness of Scottish identity, woven with threads of history, art and tradition.

This, the compelling sequel to Demarco’s Edinburgh, is where the soul of Scotland is laid bare through the eyes of Richard Demarco and Roddy Martine. Explore the profound connections between art, culture and history as you trace Scotland’s evolution from ancient pilgrimage routes to modern-day artistic endeavours.

Whether you are a seasoned Scot or a newcomer to its shores, Demarco’s Scotland is a celebration of the country?s enduring spirit and timeless quest for meaning. The perfect read for Festival enthusiasts, cultural explorers and history buffs.