I was delighted to win copies of all the books shortlisted for the Scottish Book Awards (thanks so much to ForBooksSake for this!). I received the books in the middle of last week and thought the deadline for public voting was in the middle of August, but no it's TODAY! I have quickly read the books (well I'm still reading one of them) and here are my potted reviews and I will be voting before the end of the day:
The Breakfast Room by Stewart Conn - the latest poetry collection from a well respected Scottish poet. I find Conn uses too many pompous words to describe ordinary events without offering the reader any real insights.
Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela - a novel of family life in 1950s Sudan and Egypt. This is very vividly told and the central narrative about Nur, an aspiring poet who fulfils his literary dreams despite major setbacks is inspiring.
The Death of Lomond Friel by Sue Peebles - a novel of family life in Scotland, centring around Lomond who has just had a stroke. Insightful and beautifully written.
Red Dust Road by Jackie Kay - a memoir about growing up in Glasgow black, lesbian and adopted. I'll post a review of this book for the LGBT Reading Challenge. This book is a companion piece to her latest poetry collection Fiere, which I reviewed over on Book After Book here.
If you have read these books and have an opinion you want to share about them then you still have time to vote for your favourite here.
As ever, coloured text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
1 comment:
Good grief Juliet, I should have to give up living for the week to get through a pile of book (sleep too perhaps). Good luck finishing them.
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