Book Week Scotland runs until the 3rd December 2017.
This year the theme is Nourish.
To celebrate, Scots crime writer Stuart MacBride has written a piece on his favourite book… and it might surprise you!
IT should come as no surprise to anyone that books are by far the healthiest thing you can consume.
They don’t make you fat, have no history of causing heart disease, cancer, or type two diabetes, and they genuinely make you attractive to the opposite sex. That’s because they don’t just nourish our bodies, they nourish our souls.
New books, old books, thin books, fat books, novellas and doorstops, they’re all good for us. They build understanding and empathy and character. Books! Books! Books!
But then I would say that, wouldn’t I? I make my living writing the things, so I’m hardly going to tell people they’re evil sinful things. Even if they were (which they’re not).
HEADING outdoors? Don’t forget your wellies and umbrella – a “book flood” is on the way.
Publishing bosses aim to convince Scots to create a deluge of literature that will flow through the festive season.
Organisers of Book Week Scotland want to encourage the public to practice the Icelandic tradition of Jolbokaflod – which roughly translates as “Christmas book flood” – and during which paperbacks are swapped on Christmas Eve and the night spent reading.
The tradition is so popular that most book sales in the country occur between September and December. Now people in Scotland are urged to take part in their own ScotBookFlood to celebrate links with Nordic countries and encourage the sharing of literature as part of Book Week Scotland.
FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week revealed her favourite book of the year – The Heart’s Invisible Furies, by Irish author John Boyne.
She said the novel, about an adopted boy growing up in 1940s Ireland, was more than just the story of one man.
“The novel begins in 1945, and ends just as Ireland votes to legalise gay marriage – a country making peace with its past,” she said.
“It is a beautifully written epic and will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.”
Over the past decade we’ve seen Kindle devices compete with the old-fashioned physical book.
But it’s not the only way our reading habits have changed, according to Waterstones.
Angie Crawford is the Scottish buying manager for the giant book retailer.
“Over the last decade, we’ve seen different trends – ten years ago misery memoirs were all the rage, we loved a good celeb biography and football memoir,” she explained.
“Now these may take more of a back seat as we curl up with crime fiction.
“In the Scottish market we have seen the growth of detective fiction with big names such as Ian Rankin, Peter May and Val McDermid.”
And although electronic devices were widely predicted to be the death knell for paper books, Angie reckons physical copies will continue to sell.
“Electronic reading has its place and can be a convenience for readers packing for their summer holidays but our infatuation with e-reading has plateaued,” said Angie. “Nothing can beat getting your physical book signed by the author. Our experience is that readers use a combination of both but the physical book wins!”
Tomorrow is the start of Book Week Scotland and to mark it we asked writers and celebrities to tell us their favourite novels.
