The boyfriend and I are currently planning a mini-break (I keep saying this because it reminds me of Bridget Jones and makes me giggle) to Edinburgh. I am all excited and all over this on Pinterest but I thought it may also be nice to read a few books set in Edinburgh, or about Edinburgh, or by some Scottish writers to help fuel the excitement.
These are books that I’d like to check out:
One. ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls
Admittedly, not totally set in Edinburgh, because it goes all over, but this is one of those ‘I’ve started but not finished’ books, so I think this mayyy be a good place to start.
Two. ‘Trainspotting’ by Irvine Welsh
This one is on the list because I saw the poster for the sequel to the film at the cinema about 2 days ago. I actually haven’t seen the film (yet! It’s on my list!) so I was thinking maybe I should read this, and then actually get round to watching the film and play the age old game of ‘which is better – book or film?’
‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark
I didn’t realise this was set in Edinburgh. I read ‘The Driver’s Seat’ not that long ago and enjoyed it, so I’d like to check out other things by Ms Muriel, and this is supposed to be her masterpiece.
‘Trumpet’ by Jackie Kay
This one isn’t set in Edinburgh, but Jackie Kay is Scottish and this one has been on my ‘to finish’ list forever. It references the main character’s youth in Glasgow in the ’60s, particularly The Barrowlands. Being really into music, The Barrowlands is somewhere that I would really like to check out one day, and Glasgow just sounds like a super fun city.
‘Any Human Heart’ by William Boyd
To be perfectly honest, as far as I know this book isn’t set in Scotland at all, but Boyd is Scottish (which I didn’t know) and one of my friends raves about this book, and reads it fairly often which really seems recommendation enough.
Having had a little look into this, it seems like there are a lot of crime books written by authors from Scotland, or set in Edinburgh (looking at you Ian Rankin, Val Mcdermid). Whilst they aren’t something I usually pick up (‘enough hideous things going on in the real world to read about’ which I know is poor logic), I really enjoyed the Galbraith books, so maybe they’re something I should try. And since we’ve mentioned her, obviously Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was written in cafes in Edinburgh, so I’ll probably give that a whirl.
198x129 