Posts Tagged ‘The Good Books’
The Good Books, Heather Critchlow: ‘The moment I learnt to read still seems magical’
Heather Critchlow on learning to read as a child, reading until she falls asleep and the book she recommends to everyone. The first book I remember reading: Little Bear Stories – I still remember the first two lines (It is cold. Look at the snow.) Every morning when I was learning to read, I’d…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Helen Graham: I’ve read and loved all of Maggie O’Farrell novels, sometimes being moved to tears’
Helen Graham on being inspired by Maggie O’Farrell, her favourite books of the year, and her fascination with the world of plants and their healing properties. The first book I remember reading: I can still feel the heft of a hardback copy of Alice in Wonderland I was given when I was about six.…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Allan Gaw: ‘I was forced to read Shane by Jack Schaeferto at school, to this day I still can’t abide westerns’
Allan Gaw has been shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize with his crime fiction novel, The Silent House of Sleep. The first book I remember reading: I remember it was hard backed and easy to hold, and it had come from the magical folding bookcase in our infant school classroom. There were words…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Martin Stewart: ‘Being a pre-screen child meant devouring words and language’
The former English teacher and lecturer on the comfort of reading non-fiction and his childhood love of Roald Dahl. The first book I remember reading: Spot the Dog, that feeling of Spot being famous, a recognised thing to which I was being given access. After that, reading independently came very naturally. Being a pre-screen child…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Suzy Aspley: ‘I curl up in the dark with a great book and read until I can’t keep my eyes open
Suzy Aspley has been shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize with her crime fiction novel, Crow Moon. The first book I remember reading: Three Ponies and Shannan, by Diana Pullein-Thompson. As a pony mad kid who pined for a horse of my own (which was totally out of reach growing up in a…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Doug Sinclair: ‘The Life Changing Magic Of Not Giving A F***’ changed my life
Doug Sinclair on his favourite books of the year, his favourite place to read and the books of his childhood. The first book I remember reading: It was a children’s book about a boy who befriends a Romany girl when her family stops at his town. She lived in a charming old wooden caravan…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Jane Flett: ‘Marcy Dermansky writes my favourite female characters ever’
Jane Flett on reading in the bath, being inspired by The Hungry Caterpillar and her favourite books of the year. The first book I remember reading: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. A brilliant meditation on what it is to want too much and the transformative power of desire, which has inspired me ever since. How I…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Hugo Rifkind: ‘Good Omens is the funniest book ever written, and it gets no worse as I get older’
Journalist and author Hugo Rifkind on the best books he’s read in the last year, being inspired by Stephen King and reading on the tube. The first book I remember reading: Aside from picturebooks it must have been Stig Of The Dump, by Clive King. The story of a cave-boy living alone in an…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Donald Murray: ‘I always return to Alice Munro, she often shines a light on rural communities’
A son of the Hebrides, Donald’s acclaimed non-fiction books bring to life the culture and nature of the Scottish islands. He talks to us about his love of short stories, reading the classics and growing up on Lewis. The first book I remember reading: A version of Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by…
Read MoreThe Good Books, Alistair Moffat: ‘I recently bought three new novels and after a few pages of each, hurled them across the room’
Alistair Moffat on the books of his childhood, his despair at badly written novels, and his ancient alcove for reading. The first book I remember reading: When I was five or six, my mum took me down to the Carnegie Library in Kelso. Mr Bird, the librarian, looked over the counter at me for…
Read More