The Best Choice for Scottish Books

BooksfromScotland.com, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, is no ordinary bookseller. Set up to showcase and sell Scottish-interest books, the site combines bookselling and interesting, newsy content. With readers from Paisley to Prague, and contributions from academics, authors, publishers and customers, BooksfromScotland.com is the comprehensive e-portal for Scottish books, literature and writing.

A New Design!

BooksfromScotland.com has been been refreshed, revised and redesigned! We've widened the site to give our books, authors and features more room to breathe. We've cleaned up the design and simplified things a little. All your bookmarks and favourites will still be working.

We've done our best to test all these changes before going live - but if you do notice something broken or awry, just let us know - email editor@booksfromscotland.com with your comments.

Maps of Scottish Books, Authors, Publishers and Festivals

Our exclusive maps of Scottish Books, Authors, Publishers and Festivals brings together information on the settings of Scottish books - from Shetland to the Borders; the home towns of Scottish authors; the locations of our literary festivals, and much more. We also reach further afield, to highlight Scottish literary connections around the world.

Scottish Publisher of the Month

East Lothian Library Service are our featured Publisher for March. They not have a big publishing list, but they are rightly proud of their seven-volume East Lothian Statistical Account 1945-2000, which was finished last year.

Antisyzygy

Antisyzygy: it's a word to conjure with, isn't it?... So begins Andrew J Wilson in his new article Between Stark Reality and Far-Fetched Fantasy, an essay on the difficulty in defining Scottish science fiction. He argues that Alexander Gray's Lanark changed our unsterstanding of what is possible with speculative fiction in Scotland - something that is both Stark Reality and Far-Fetched Fantasy.

Scottish Writer of the Month

Val McDermid is one of Scotland's most successful crime writers, and her Tony Hill series of novels have been adapted for television. She has won numerous awards, including a CAW Cartier Diamond Dagger award this year. Originally from Kirkcaldy (she attended the same school as the PM Gordon Brown), McDermid now lives in Northumberland with her partner.

Also featured

18th and 19th century novelist, satirist and essayist Elizabeth Hamilton
Shetland born poet Christine De Luca

StAnza Poetry Festival

There will be over 60 events at the 2010 StAnza Poetry Festival in St Andrews this year. One of the key themes will be Myth & Legend, offering a more contemporary look at a subject that has long inspired and influenced poets – from classical Greek mythology to the stories of the Old Testament, fairy tales, Celtic and Norse legends. We have a complete events listing for StAnza 2010, plus links to their website and programme.

Interview with Gillian Philip

We interview Glasgow born novelist Gillian Philip about her latest novel for teenagers, Bad Faith. With its heady mix of murder, religion, love and politics, Bad Faith is a thrilling story that leaves the reader hungry for more.

Scottish Book Prizes and Awards

We have expanded our information on award-winning Scottish books, with a new list of Scottish literary and book prizes. The list, updated for 2010, includes contact details and closing dates for a range of awards, from the Angus Book Award to the new Walter Scott Prize, one of the richest book prizes in the UK.

Book of the Month

Cover scan of Precious Ramotswe In Scots

Precious and the Puggies

Alexander McCall Smith

~~£9.99~~ £7.99

This is a brand new, previously unpublished story from Alexander McCall Smith. A world first from Itchy Coo, this story will not be available in any other language until 2011.

Children's Choice

Hoglet The Spineless Hedgehog

Allyson Marnoch

~~£5.99~~ £4.99

Hoglet is a problem hedgehog! With no prickles to defend himself, he needs to overcome his lack of spines and find somewhere safe and warm to hibernate for the winter.

Appearing at the StAnza Poetry Festival

The Hunt In The Forest

John Burnside

£10.00

In The Becoming

Tom Pow

£12.99

Grain

John Glenday

£8.99

Book Extracts

Christopher P. Nicholson's Postcards from the Edge features remarkable postcards of Britain's most remote lighthouses, and is backed up with information on the history and construction of the lighthouses, and working lives of their keepers. Learn more about the Isle of May lighthouses in our PDF download.

Red chapter one from Hazel Allan's exciting children's novel Bree McCready and the Half-Heart Locket. Download a PDF of the first chapter to your computer for free.

A spellbinding fantasy from John Ward, The Comet's Child, where young Fin has to come to terms with the prophecies about his life. Download a PDF of chapter one to read.

New Scottish Books

Advanced Higher Biology
£11.99
The Clans
£5.99
Advanced Higher Physics
£11.99
Keir Hardie
£10.99
A Companion To Medieval Scottish Poetry
£19.99
Eighty Years In The Highlands
£14.99

More Recently Released Scottish Books

The Publishing Scotland Yearbook - 2010 Edition

Now in its 17th edition, the revised and updated Publishing Scotland Yearbook provides a thorough listing of Scottish publishers and related publishing services.

This directory has been expanded to include freelances working in the publishing industry in Scotland. It also offers comprehensive information on Scotland’s publishers, freelancers, and literary organisations. The Yearbook is an invaluable handbook for all those working with books in Scotland, and is essential reading for publishers, writers, booksellers, librarians and freelancers.

Book Events Across Scotland

Launch of Corrag

Meet Susan Fletcher at the launch of her third novel Corrag, which is set in 1692 after the Massacre of Glencoe
Blackwell Bookshop, Edinburgh | Wednesday 24 March 2010
SCBWI Scotland Masterclass: Picturebooks with Catherine Rayner

Illustrator Catherine Rayner is running a masterclass on children's picture books, at an event organised by SCBWI Scotland
Edinburgh College of Art | Thursday 25 March 2010
The Golden Hour Tour

The Golden Hour will be touring northern Scotland, featuring readings and music from authors and poets.
Moniack Mhor | Thursday 25 March 2010