A trip doon the watter that may float your boat

The west of Scotland sense of humour is a creature in its own right. And if you’re a fan of the likes of Tony Roper and Dorothy Paul, the Kerryoans up the Clyde! is definitely the book for you. This book, illustrated by Bob Dewar, recounts the adventures of a vessel full of character with…

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Scots fish and chip shops faced with closure

A Scots restaurateur is backing a UK-wide campaign to help save Scottish fish and chip shops under threat of closure due to rapidly escalating costs. Carlo Crolla, 47, owner of East Coast Fish and Chips and East Coast Restaurant on North High Street in Musselburgh has teamed up with the National Federation of Fish Friers…

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A gripping read will chill you to the bones

Just five pages in, writer Helen Grant’s prose sets the heart racing. She depicts a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare, fromwhich point the reader is constantly on edge. Protagonist Fen Munro has moved to erthshire with her fiancé to escape London’s rat-race, only to find they are being watched by a figure dressed in lavender. Barr Dubh,…

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A book that’s a pure and simple joy to read

Wordsmiths rejoice, Fifty Words For Snow is as simple and as brilliant as you might hope. Nancy Campbell, a poet, writer and Arctic traveller from the Borders, teaches us of snow in its many forms across the globe. Many of these words and phrases shall now be used at every given opportunity: ‘hagelslag’, meaning ‘hail…

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A thrilling mystery in a fictional Scots village

The Purified is the second of C F Peterson’s high-octane thrillers set in the fictional village of Duncul. Eamon Ansgar (the hero of the first novel, ‘Errant Blood’) has found happiness in marriage, but community life is shaken by a brutal murder and he finds himself helping the local police force to investigate (an entirely…

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A real life adventure story that sounds like a movie

Do you fancy abseiling into an erupting volcano? Living off two sea slugs and a crab for a week? How about being locked in a bunker for ten days without so much as a sliver of daylight? Me neither. These impossibly testing environments may seem fit for Tom Cruise’s next Hollywood blockbuster, but in reality…

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Bake Off winner Peter’s cookbook comes up a treat

The Great British Bake Off is a seemingly unstoppable phenomenon. There’s something intrinsically British in its appeal and the good cop, bad cop judging formula that was Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood seems to have transitioned nicely with the programme’s change to Channel Four and with Prue Leith’s slightly less good cop taking the reins.…

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A collection of stunning Scottish photography

Each year, a book is published to capture some of the most stunning photography in Scotland. Showcasing striking Scottish landscapes, creative urban views, dramatic weather, seasonal shots and rugged coasts, this year’s Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year book is truly breathtaking. Each page, curated by Stuart Low – the photographer who launched the The…

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A gripping read that thrills to the very end

Master of crime Denzil Meyrick transports his readers to the urban gangland of the Scottish town of Paisley and the dark underworld of London. Packed with brutal crime, dysfunctional families and dark humour, follow gangland boss Zander Finn on his quest to right his wrongs, only to learn some life decisions can’t be undone. This…

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Bringing the 6th century chaos around Iona to life

Island-Pilgrim is the third volume in the epic series The Chronicles of Iona. It brings to life the vivid world of 6th-century Scotland and Ireland, a world engrossed in bloody feuds and bitter factions. But with missions of peace and hopes of stability, the book follows the progressive struggle to shed the chaos of the…

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