My Christmas reviews will be published in The Scotsman on Saturday 10. December.  At least, I hope they will.  After last time, I’m a little nervous about being too certain!  I am very excited about some of the books, though.  I wonder if you’re able to tell which books I love the most…

My much-delayed review were published in The Scotsman on Saturday.

I am reliably informed that this will appear in The Scotsman on Saturday 22. October 2011.  Watch out for it; there are some great books included!

It’s true!  I seem to have been reading non-stop all summer: for The Scotsman, for the Edinburgh International Book Festival and for our own book festival.  I’ve read lots of things I really don’t want to see again but I’ve also read some stuff that was a pleasant surprise.  I’d include Mean Streets – the Chicago Caper by Graham Marks in the latter category.  I was chairing his session in Edinburgh and I had fun doing that as well as reading the book.  I also chaired Cliff McNish’s session and enjoyed it.  I was scared stiff by his book, The Hunting Ground, though!

At our book festival, I had the joy of working with Elizabeth Laird.  I’ve read all her novels but I re-read Red Sky in the Morning.  What an excellent book it is!  And what a great writer she is.  We sold out of The Witching Hour and I think had only six of her other books left after two sessions so it seems I’m not alone in my views.

The summer round-up of children’s books will be in The Scotsman on Saturday 2. July.

For those of you who’re interested, I’ve just discovered that my reviews are in today’s Scotsman.

I’m given to understand that my latest reviews for The Scotsman will appear next Saturday.  I won’t be in the country to find out so, if they’re not there, all I can suggest is that you try again on 9. April.  They’re an interesting mixture this time of the most wonderful writing in the world and less well-crafted, jump-off-the shelf titles.  I’ll leave you to decide which is which!

The delightful people at Scholastic sent me a proof of the late Eva Ibbotson’s final book.  I almost couldn’t bear to read it, knowing that it would be the last new book by her I’d ever read.  However, once I started it I couldn’t put it down. 

The book is called One Dog and his Boy and is for younger readers.  You will, of course, want to read it for yourself so I won’t tell you about the story.  I’m tempted to say that the story doesn’t matter anyway.  That’s not true, naturally, but it’s the quality of Eva’s writing that once again stands out for me.  The book is written in her distinctive style: subtle and gentle but still somehow making very pointed remarks about people.  And she paints pictures in the mind seemingly effortlessly.  As with everything else she’s written, it is a joy to read.

What a brilliant artist Emily Gravett is and what wonderful picture books she produces.  Her first book was Wolves.  Set in a library, it was, of course, going to win the hearts of me and my type!  But, that apart, it was clever and witty and had a snappily funny ending.  Her latest book also features a wolf.  But this one is not of the big bad kind – or not until he’s provoked just too far.  Wolf Won’t Bite the title says but beware!  Beware, but buy it or borrow it.  It’s as good as everything else Emily has created.

I was very sad to hear, belatedly, of the death of Eva Ibbotson.  The world of fiction for children, teenagers and adults is a poorer place now.  I looked forward to the publication of  her beautifully-crafted novels with great anticipation and re-read older titles avidly.  Her books read as though they were effortless  but I know that that is not true.  Eva wroted and re-drafted and honed every sentence until her language was as close to perfection as it could be.

That she was never awarded the Carnegie Medal is a huge regret for me.  It will be interesting to see if books that won Medals instead of Eva’s stand the test of time.  I think that her Journey to the River Sea and The Star of Kazan will.  I’ve written about the latter previously and I have no reason to change my opinion that it is a jewel of a book.  Read it or Madensky Square over Christmas and you will be transported to Vienna at the turn of the Twentieth Century.  You may not wish to leave.