The Autumn Issue
The best books of the 'second spring'
The best books of the 'second spring'
To author Albert Camus, autumn is 'a second spring where every leaf is a flower'. Featuring the best books across fiction, non-fiction and children's, this special Issue showcases the abundant new publishing in this second spring. To mark the month of Bloody Scotland we also present some tartan noir that's perfect for the darkening nights...
By Rupert Wolfe Murray Published by Scotland Street Press
From Scotland to Tibet
Last month I launched my memoir about living in Tibet. It’s called 9 Months in Tibet and is about my search for a job on the roof of the world as well as a series of treks, adventures, horse rides and disastrous love affairs. People say it’s funny, I got a foreword from Alexander McCall Smith, and the best news is that teenagers like it.
What’s all this got to do with Scotland? You might be wondering.
There are three Scottish connections to this book: the first chapter is about getting away from Scotland; the book was published by one of Scotland’s newest publishing companies (Scotland Street Press) and I’m promoting it by cycling around the Highlands and Islands.
...We’ll start off with a body, because there’s nearly always a body, and death has nearly always come violently. We’ll find out precisely how when the coroner gets to work and the reader starts clue-sniffing. Enter the detective, closely followed by the suspects, and before we know it, we’re halfway into the case.
It all sound so simple, doesn’t it? So simple that you or I could easily have a go at writing crime fiction ourselves. And if we did, surely it wouldn’t be too long before we, too,...
‘Whatever was inside had to be extremely valuable. Extremely valuable and/or extremely illegal’
‘She explored the point where man meets nature […] paintings of hedgerows at the edges of crops, and the views of stormy seas and skies’
St Kilda: Last and Outmost Isle
‘Macaulay and his fellow adventurers portrayed a visit to the islands as an experience of high drama and romance’
Lari Don Reads from The Beginner’s Guide to Curses
Molly, the Spellchasers heroine, has a close encounter with a kelpie
Rhenigidale: A Community’s Fight For Survival
‘They were quite happy to wait until we were forced to leave eventually and give up the struggle for our rights’
Burrowed from the Russian classic by Leo Tolstoy
‘Fully revealed in the bright kitchen, it towered over him, grinning’
Lighthouse Pioneers: The Stevensons in Orkney and Shetland
‘It is hard for us to imagine the Stevensons’ courage and determination as they voyaged […] on dangerous seas’
Cleghorn: Forester, Laird & Collector Extraordinaire
‘Cleghorn became […] one of the most significant benefactors in the Garden’s 300-year history’