A Scottish Summer

We think summer is one of the loveliest words in the English language. In the publishing calendar it can often mean a pause, a chance to catch-up with reading that’s been put on hold during the rest of the year. Here’s our selection of titles to accompany the lighter nights and some well-deserved downtime. This summer, as t-samhradh in Scots Gaelic, simmer in Scots – whatever it’s called in your part of the country - enjoy our issue.

A Handbook of Scotland’s Coasts

From an inspirational resource for those who want to discover more about the thousands of miles of Scotland’s spectacular coastline, this extract features two of the smaller islands.

Extract from A Handbook of Scotland’s Coasts taken from a chapter on Island Jaunts by Fi Martynoga Published by Saraband

Inchcolm

If you tire of Edinburgh in the summer, it is possible to transport yourself to another world within two hours. It’s a small one but so full of interest you will not spend much time looking back over the water at the city.

Lying in the Firth of Forth, this island is almost as delightful as Iona but much less well known or visited. Its abbey, founded in the 12th century on a site already used by Culdee hermits, was dedicated to Saint Columba. Like Iona, it has been the burial place of kings and other nobles, and of large numbers of Danish soldiers. A ‘hogback’ stone, now preserved in the visitors’ centre, is probably a memorial to one of their leaders. It was Sweyn Forkbeard, King of the Danes, who paid handsomely for the privilege of committing their bones to an island grave, where neither dogs nor wolves might exhume them.

What is remarkable about the abbey is the survival of many of its buildings, intact, and even with roofs. The octagonal chapter house, the cloisters with refectory and dormitory above them, and part of the church can all be seen, almost as if the Reformation never happened. Being offshore, they avoided the excesses of reforming mobs, and the place remained partly used as a residence, the rest of it being allowed to slide into ruin. Its charm is in this state of decay, which allows the historical imagination full play, and also in its situation. The greensward and scatter of trees of this tiny island are compelling: so near to Edinburgh, ye...

St Kilda: The Silent Islands

Stunning photographs of the wild and now deserted archipelago

Extract from St Kilda: The Silent Islands By Alex Boyd Published by Luath Press

Extract from ‘Introduction’

Having carefully lowered my camera cases into the boat, a task sometimes made impossible due to the rising and falling of the sea, we then set off, my eyes fixed on that most iconic of sights, the ruins of village bay beyond. It was not however the empty streets of Hirta which fascinated me, but something more modern, something absent from the countless tourist images of the islands, and much less sympathetic to the surroundings; a Cold War military base.

Instead of a structure hewn from local stone, the concrete and steel of a crumbling military installation are what first greet the eye of the visitor. Foremost among these is the unsightly but essential power station which keeps the modern St Kildans supplied with electricity, the o...

David Robinson Reviews: Kirsty Gunn’s new novel Caroline’s Bikini

‘If Hockney makes you think like a painter, Gunn makes you think like a writer.’

Memory and Straw

‘None of the faces wore masks – fear and hope, sadness and joy were etched on all the faces.’

A History of Scotland’s Landscapes

‘There was a quiet, a retirement, a wildness, a liberty, and a solitude that had such a charm for us.’

We’re All Going On A Super Scotland Summer Holiday

‘The days are warmer and longer, the blossom is finally blooming on the trees and the Beast from the East is a distant memory as we look forward towards the end of another school year and the start of …

The Posy Ring

‘When antiques seller Daisy Graham inherits an ancient house on the Hebridean island of Garve, she’s daunted by its size and isolation. But the building, its jumble of contents, its wilderness of a ga …

Halcyon in the Hebrides

‘There is only one way to enjoy the west and the islands during the summer, and that’s by boat.’

Rip it up: The story of Scottish pop

‘The song itself is hugely personal. It can reflect or represent a specific time in our lives, success or failure, hardship or joy, heartbreak or true love.’

Shapeshifters: On Medicine and Human Change

‘In growth and in recovery, in adapting and in ageing, our bodies ineludibly change form – and with sleep, memory and learning, so do our minds.’

A perfect keepsake for your summer events

‘Capture the moment with messages, doodles, and photos for a lasting record of your event.’

Lost Objects

‘”An intriguing and illuminating first collection, chockfull of interesting ideas about the natural world and ourselves.” says Jeff VanderMeer.’

Summer Grasses

‘Past dandelions already gone to seed and summer grasses’

Maggie’s Monsters

“Look at those big round eyes! Could they belong to a monster?” Maggie asked.

Tweed Dales

‘This meteoric rise was lent some serendipitous aid by literary neighbours, Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg.’

Canals across Scotland

‘The steeple’s clock was known as the ‘four-faced liar’, as each face tended to show a different time.’

Heart Fire by Johannes Hartl

‘This simple and self-evident attitude towards life seems almost strange.’

Abdullah’s Bear Needs a Name! by Yasmin Hanif

‘”Why don’t you guess?” said Abba. “You’ll know in your heart when you’ve found the right one.”‘
Food, Whisky, Life by Ghillie BaŞan

‘Pastries filled with ground nuts, baked fruit or creamy, semolina mixtures, and bathed in honey or …
A Chaos of Light: New Writing Scotland

‘The attic lowed like a crystal haal, last I saa her – / dark-eyed and ready tae furgit me.’
The Fathers by John Niven

‘The pleasures of the unexamined life and all that. Dan had read somewhere that the lower classes – …
Mrs Burke & Mrs Hare by Michelle Sloan

‘If you rip these bodies from the place that’s been blessed as their final place of peace, where fam …
It’s Hotting Up! Summer Reading Suggestions

‘Carso sits on the very north edge of Britain, higher than the Highlands, where the swirling waters …