To infinity...
...and further
Books have an extraordinary ability to take us further than we could ever hope to go in real life - not just on our own planet, but to distant galaxies, as well as far into the future, back into the darkest past and into worlds that exist only in the imagination.
Last week, I went to the cinema to see The Hail Mary Project, starring Ryan Gosling. It was an excellent film and I really enjoyed it. But it’s based on Andy Weir’s book of the same name, and I found the book infinitely more pleasurable. Although the film was fairly faithful to the text, the book just gave me so much more. That’s often the way with book-to-film adaptations. Reading lets you inside a character’s mind in the way that film can’t, taking us to another place we don’t have access to in real life.
Space has loomed large in the headlines all the more so this week with the successful Artemis II mission travelling beyond the moon. So what better timing for Edinburgh’s own science fiction, fantasy and horror festival, CYMERA, to announce its programme?
The festival runs from June 5-7 at the Pleasance, and if it’s your thing, you’ll find plenty on the programme to tempt you, including: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Rebecca Ferrier, Shona Kinsella, Nicholas Binge, Rafael Torrubia, Sunyi Dean, Lindsey Croal, E.J. Swift, MK Hardy, Shannon Chakraborty, Benedict Anning and so many more.
There isn’t space to list all of the events in this newsletter, so I’ve included a link to the programme for you to explore at your leisure. Weekend passes go on sale tomorrow (April 13), and day passes and individual event tickets will be available from April 20.
As usual, give me your thoughts in the comments, and let me know of any events that I’ve missed. And please, please share this widely with all your Edinburgh friends.
This week’s events
April 14
Shouting in the Tunnel: protest poetry and discussion with Ruth Aylett and friends
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DB
Shouting in the Tunnel is a collection of explicitly political poems, penned by Ruth Aylett in the hopes of bringing us together, to express our anger at poverty and injustice, and to inspire us to action. It is a vivid commentary on today’s world, but throughout it carries a message of hope.
To mark the launch of the book we’re hosting an evening of readings and discussion inspired by the book and headlined by Ruth herself!
These poems are offered to activists in the trade unions in their everyday struggle for better working conditions; to the anti-racist and anti-fascist movements; to the brave campaigners for action on climate change; to those who have put themselves on the line against the criminalising of Palestine Action; to the hundreds and thousands demonstrating and speaking out against the Gaza genocide; and to everyone struggling for a future free of the cruelty and oppression of capitalism.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £10.00
April 14
Polly Barton - What Am I, A Deer?
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
We’re delighted that Polly Barton will be joining us in the bookshop to celebrate the Edinburgh launch of her novel, What Am I, A Deer?. With astonishing existential acuity, Polly Barton’s formidable debut novel renders the paradoxes of modern life in all its complexity, in deliriously self-conscious prose that is at once propulsive, titillating and bitingly funny.
What does it mean to lose yourself – and is that something you should be aiming for? A young woman with little interest in games takes up a job in Frankfurt at a famous gaming company, naively set on reinvention. On her morning commute, in the familiar clutches of tedium and self-loathing, she encounters a nice-eyed stranger who returns her forgotten umbrella and finds herself catapulted into a dizzying, year-long whirlwind of obsession – not just with this endlessly attractive spectre, but also with the feverish karaoke trips from which she draws the ultimate solace. Echoing with the sounds of Whitney Houston and The Cure, reaching for the sublime in dark, sweaty boxes, What Am I, A Deer? is an exhilarating exploration of authenticity, fantasy, romance and intoxication.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £14.99
April 14
Mark Steel for The Leopard In My House
7pm, St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh EH1 2EP
I feel like there’s a leopard in my house, locked in a room. I’ve contacted the leopard authorities and they assure me they are used to dealing with leopards like this, and they have a plan for removing the leopard. It will take a while, though, and once in a while I can hear it growl.
And that’s all very reassuring. Even so, several times a day I think to myself: “Hang on, there’s a leopard in my house.”
One morning, while shaving, the comedian Mark Steel noticed that one side of his neck seemed larger than the other. After a whistlestop tour of assorted medical professionals, a consultant delivered the ominous words that would define the next months of his life: ‘I’m afraid it’s not good news, Mr Steel’.
And so began a journey into the heart of the NHS, as he embarked on the long and uncertain road to cancer recovery via a range of mildly torturous and entirely miraculous treatments. What, if anything, might he learn about himself - and our capacity for coping with life when times get tough - as he becomes part of a club that one in two British people will ultimately join?
A frank and funny diary of one man’s rather trying year, this is an unforgettable and uplifting story of getting ill, getting on with it, and getting better.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £12.99
April 15 - new listing
Wet Grain - Issue Seven Launch
7pm, Typewronger Books, 4a Haddington Place, Edinburgh EH7 4AE
Poetry is invaluable to our spatial awareness now as ever.
Join us for the launch of Issue Seven of Wet Grain featuring a selection of poems that bring together different lenses and sensibilities to landscape and the environment from the West Bank, Orkney, the Polish Beskids, Glasgow, London, and beyond.
Readings by: George Finlay Ramsay, Meredith MacLeod Davidson, Iona Lee, Jinling Wu, and M. Elizabeth Scott.
Free, but ticketed
April 15
7pm, Edinburgh New Town Church, 13 George St, Edinburgh, EH2 2PA
Waterstones is thrilled to welcome bestselling author of the Lightlark Saga, Alex Aster, back to Edinburgh to celebrate the publication of her unmissable adult romantasy debut, Starside.
Hundreds of years ago, a brutal war split a land in two. Starside is the realm of magic and immortals –the descendants of the gods, living in a power rich paradise. Stormside is where mortals fight for scraps of that magic.
Every 50 years, the gates between them open, and 50 challengers are allowed to journey across Starside on a deadly quest to access a pool of magic that can heal, grant wealth, or extend life. Everyone has their reasons for entering, but Aris has only one: vengeance. As a child, a goddess set fire to her village, killing her family. Aris isn’t after the gods’ magic – she’s going to kill them.
First, she must survive the Culling, the king’s deadly competition to choose his fifty challengers. An orphaned blacksmith’s apprentice, Aris doesn’t have the superior weapons of the heirs from the Great Houses. But the greatest swords – ones that contain power – are not inherited or bought, they are claimed, by both sides. And when Aris claims a great sword, it makes her not just a real competitor – but a target.
Getting past the gates is only the beginning. Starside is deadlier than it seems. If the ancient creatures, magicwielding beasts, and bloodthirsty immortals weren’t dangerous enough, a new peril has even immortals fearing what rises from the ground at night. With a blade most would kill to claim, Aris can’t trust anyone. Especially not Harlan Raker, the merciless and mysterious king’s guard who betrayed her years ago – and who may now be the key to her survival.
But Aris is hiding a secret tied to her family’s death. And when it’s revealed, not even the gods will be able to stop what’s coming…
Tickets £9/Ticket plus book £26
April 15
John Lanchester - Look What You Made Me Do
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
It's our pleasure to be hosting an event with John Lanchester! He'll be here in the bookshop to discuss his latest novel, Look What You Made Me Do.
What if the year’s most talked about TV show was all about your marriage?
Kate, thirty years into her marriage, has a seemingly idyllic metropolitan, North London life. Phoebe, a young screenwriter, is the creator of the year’s hit TV show, Cheating.
When Kate’s world takes a darker turn, she thinks she sees details and intimacies in the show that only she and her husband Jack could possibly have known. But who has betrayed who? Who gets to tell whose story?
A black comedy of resentment and entitlement, Look What You Made Me Do is the story of two very different women from two very different generations, heading toward a battle only one of them can win.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £2o
April 15
Idle Grounds Paperback Launch Event with Krystelle Bamford
6.30pm, Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street, EH3 5AQ
On a bright summer day in 1989 New England, Abi, three years old, vanishes from her aunt’s secluded home. Upstairs, her young cousins are looking out of the window. Something is unfolding in the distance at the edge of the forest – something sinister that is watching them back.
The adults don’t seem to notice that the youngest of the group has disappeared. Too busy bickering over politics and reminiscing about the family’s domineering late matriarch, Beezy, they leave the children with no choice but to get Abi back themselves. As the cousins embark on a quest through their grandmother’s sprawling estate, buried family secrets come to light and long-awaited plans are set in motion.
Will they lose themselves while trying to find her? Idle Grounds is a chilling, evocative and darkly comic debut about childhood, legacy, and the burdens and privileges we carry with us..
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £9.99
April 15
Cooks & Books: Nathan Outlaw for On Fish
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
For anyone wanting to know more about seafood and how to cook it, Michelin-starred Nathan Outlaw has distilled three decades of experience as a foremost fish chef into a very personal go-to cook’s handbook.
Fish Basics covers fishing methods, shopping & storing plus preparation techniques and advice on curing, grilling, smoking, pickling, barbecuing, poaching and frying.
Chapters on flat fish, round fish, oily fish, shellfish and cephalopods provide detailed knowledge about 32 individual species including habitat, fishing and when to eat seasonally,along with cooking & serving suggestions, followed by more than 80 recipes ranging from Brill Cured in White Wine with Grapes, Pumpkin Seeds & Basil Oil and Plaice, Aubergine & Mushroom Curry to Anchovies with Crispy Potato Wedges and Grilled Octopus Skewers.
With recipes to suit all occasions and cooking skills, On Fish is an indispensable resource for anyone wanting to discover and cook with sustainable fish.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £30
April 16
Ariana Reines: a fierce feminist poetry night
8pm, Pianodrome Bruntsfield, 41 Montpelier Park, Edinburgh, EH10 4NB
The Rose navigates the intersection of power and surrender. Drawing on the history of ‘romance’ as the troubadours knew it, and the titular flower’s ancient allegories for sexuality and mystery, award-winning poet Ariana Reines plunges into feminine archetypes to explore masculine pain:
‘I have always liked helpless / & terrible men because they break my mind.’
In these poems, inherited ideologies of gender performance are replaced with bold vulnerability: paradoxes of power and surrender transmute the speaker’s understanding of suffering, desire, and the soul. The voice in The Rose is wry and bare, approaching the connection between erotic love and spirituality with humour. Investigating war, maternity, violent sensuality, and the role of language in magical acts, Reines is unafraid to uncover the ‘secret / & terrible shovelings / Of love,’ and the result is a bloody and pulsing, sexy and unabashed bloom.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £10.99
April 16
Lisa Tuttle and Brigid Lowe - My Death and The Bloody Branch
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
For this special double-feature event, we're delighted that authors Lisa Tuttle and Brigid Lowe are coming to the bookshop to discuss their respective novels, My Death and The Bloody Branch. They will be in conversation with Rebecca Wojturska, Managing Director of independent publisher Haunt Publishing. Expect the discussion to get spooky, Celtic and rather uncanny...
About My Death: A writer decides to write her next book about a female author and artist unjustly forgotten by history. But what starts as an exciting research project rapidly unravels towards breakdown and horror.
The subject is to be Helen Ralston, an early twentieth-century author who has been systematically written out of history. The narrator sets about investigating her story as an artist, writer and muse to a much more famous man. Amazingly Ralston turns out to be still alive, and although elderly and frail a series of interviews begin.
But a tale about the historic erasure of female voices starts to break down into something even more sinister, bizarre and all-consuming as the narrator uncovers unnerving parallels between Ralston’s story and her own...
About The Bloody Branch: Darkness is falling across the land. All that stands against it are three determined women: slave queen Goewin, the reclusive sorceress Arianrhod, and Blodeuwedd, a woman conjured from flowers. Can they unite against the deadly force who threatens them all?
The sadistic ambition of the magician Gwydion wreaks havoc across the forests, cliffs and fields of the kingdom. With the earth itself at stake, Goewin, Arianrhod and Blodeuwedd must unleash their most uncanny powers to challenge him.
In this vital and visceral novel, Brigid Lowe casts ancient light on desire, sex and our relationship with nature to bring these Celtic heroines to explosive, sensuous, blossoming new life.
Tickets £5, redeemable against either book at the event.
April 16
Ben Lerner for Transcription
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
For over two-decades, Ben Lerner has been one of the most interesting voices in both poetry and literary fiction. Now, for the first time, the McArthur Genius Grant winning author of The Topeka School, Leaving the Atocha Station, 10:04, and several magnificent collections of poetry, joins us in Edinburgh to celebrate his latest novel, Transcription.
A writer returns to his college town, where he is to conduct what will be the final published interview with Thomas, his ninety-year-old mentor. But after he drops his smartphone in the hotel sink, he arrives at Thomas’s house with no recording device - a fact he is mysteriously unable to confess. What unfolds from this dreamlike circumstance is both a brilliant meditation on those technologies that enrich and impoverish our connections to each other, that store and obliterate our memories, and a moving exploration of the relationships that make us who we are.
Early bird ticket £8/Ticket plus book £14.99
April 16
6.30pm, Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street, EH3 5AQ
Identify the rocks you discover and uncover the stories they hold. What is that rock you’ve just picked up? Which minerals is it made of, what’s unique about it and what can it reveal about Earth’s deeper story?
Rocks gives you the tools to answer these questions. Geologist and science illustrator Vojta Hybl guides you through more than 100 rock types, explaining how they form, what they look like and the geological processes they represent. This authoritative yet accessible guide includes: Clear explanations of igneous, volcaniclastic, sedimentary, metamorphic and anthropic rocks. Practical tips for spotting and identifying rocks, including detailed specimen illustrations that highlight key features for easy recognition. Insight into minerals, the rock cycle and Earth’s dynamic history. Alongside practical identification advice, Rocks invites you to see the ground beneath your feet in a new way, connecting everyday stones to billions of years of planetary change.
Whether you’re a curious walker, an outdoor enthusiast or simply fascinated by the natural world, this book will transform how you experience landscapes and help you read the stories written in stone.
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £15.99
April 18
Book Launch: Some Things I Do Not Know by Arthur Allen
7pm, Argonaut Books, 15-17 Leith Walk, Edinburgh, EH6 8LN
Join us for the launch of Some Things I Do Not Know - a luminous work of mourning, written by our own beloved bookseller, Arthur Allen, in his first publication with Shearsman Books.
Allen explores with fearless honesty the ways in which we carry love and absence forward - into the afterlife and back again. This collection offers both solace and challenge, onstituting a personal and open ritual for how to live on with what we have lost.
This event will take place in the bookshop and be chaired by Jennifer Williams.
Tickets free/Ticket plus book £12.95
April 19
7.30pm, Portobello Town Hall, 147-149 Portobello High St
We are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming Evelyn Clarke – AKA V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke – to Portobello Town Hall to celebrate the publication of The Ending Writes Itself with an evening of conversation!
Schwab and Clarke have become great friends to us here in the bookshop over the years and we are so excited to be hosting their Edinburgh launch here in Portobello. Don’t miss out on your chance to hear all about the buzzy locked room mystery crime thriller that everyone will be talking about this year.
It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.
Six authors. One private island. Seventy-two hours to write the ending.
World-famous author Arthur Fletch is dead. His final novel, the most anticipated book in history, remains unfinished. But the ending won’t write itself.
When six struggling authors are invited to Fletch’s private Scottish island and presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, the plot thickens: whoever writes a worthy ending will receive a game-changing book deal and two million dollars. Why have they been chosen to attend? Who is behind the invitation? And just how far would they go to secure a place on the bestseller list?
They have just seventy-two hours, a typewriter and a blank page. All they have to do is write…
Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder.
Tickets £12.50/Ticket plus book £16.99
Upcoming events
And for those who like to plan ahead…
April 20
Tim Parks for: Across Sicily with the Thousand
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
We’re delighted welcome Tim Parks for Across Sicily with the Thousand.Tim is a friend of the bookshop and an icon of travel writing.
The 1860 Expedition of the Thousand, in which a group of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto, near Genoa, landing on the west coast of Sicily and advancing to its capital Palermo in a bid to liberate the island from Bourbon rule, is perhaps the defining moment of the unification of Italy, and a testament to the bravery, resilience and vision of the country’s last condottiere.
Drawing on a wealth of contemporary diaries and other first-hand accounts by the protagonists of the events, and interspersing them with his own penetrating remarks, best-selling author Tim Parks retraces the journey of the “Mille” through the ragged landscape of Sicily under the blazing summer heat, bringing back to life an entire world in all its intricate complexity. Along the way he revisits old controversies and provides answers to many unresolved questions – as well as offering a vivid commentary on the Italy of today.
Early bird ticket £8/Book plus ticket £20
April 21
An Evening of Slow Burn Fantasy
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
From the epic to the cosy, three debut authors discuss their love of slow burn romance within fantasy, from well-known tropes and small moments of care to love that spans epic trilogies. To celebrate the launch of Princeweaver, Elian J Morgan, Kalie Reid and Annabel Campbell discuss their debut novels and the romance threads within Princeweaver, The Sacred Space Between and The Outcast Mage.
Tickets £5
April 21
An evening with Charleen Hurtubise and Louise Nealon
7pm, Rare Birds Bookshop, Raeburn Place, Stockbridge
We’re so excited to welcome Charleen Hurtubise and Louise Nealon to talk about their new novels - Saoirse and Everything That Is Beautiful.
Exploring the fine line between dishonesty and reinvention, Saoirse is an evocative and compelling story of a woman perpetually in flight. A book for fans of Trespasses by Louise Kennedy and Barbara’s Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead.
Told through the perspectives of three very different women, Everything That Is Beautiful unfolds the story of one complicated family in startlingly honest prose. By turns funny and deeply moving, and with unmatched emotional intelligence, this is an unforgettable story of love and family, heartbreak and hope - and who we might become after we pick up the pieces.
Tickets £5
April 21
Catherine Ostler for The Renoir Girls
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
Catherine Ostler joins us to celebrate The Renoir Girls - an astonishing true story of splendour, scandal and tragedy in Golden Age Paris. Hot off the heels of The Duchess Countess, Ostler’s latest has been selected by The Times as a one to look out for in 2026. It should make for a fascinating evening.
In 1881, Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted two young sisters from a Jewish banking dynasty at their home in Paris’s grand 8th arrondissement. Pink and Blue, a portrait of Elisabeth and Alice Cahen d’Anvers, captures a fleeting moment of innocence and beauty, and today it is one of Renoir’s most celebrated works. His portrait evokes the glamour of the Belle Epoque: days at the races, nights at the opera, sun-soaked chateaux, brilliant salons filled with art, music and conversation. Paris at its most dazzling.
Yet beneath the glittering surface was a surging current of resentment. Renoir’s Impressionist masterpiece, radiant with light and colour, hides both a family secret and the tensions of an era poised for rupture. The same society that was illuminated by progress and culture was cast into shadow by division, prejudice and rising antisemitism. The Cahen d’Anvers, prominent patrons of this Golden Age, would come to embody both its glory and its tragedy.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £30
April 21
Balsam Karam for Event Horizon
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh, EH7 5JH
“If you ever wonder why fiction matters, read this radiant and defiant book.” — Samantha Harvey, Booker Prize-winning author of Orbital
Seventeen-year-old Milde is from the Outskirts, a place beyond the mountains where the dirt is corpse-rich, where mothers and daughters, banished from society, make their living – without rights, access to care, or legal status. But Milde refuses to accept the order of things and, together with some friends, she revolts against the government’s injustice. Arrested, imprisoned, and tortured, Milde is eventually presented with a final choice: to be executed publicly or, as part of an experiment, to be launched into space, into a black hole called the Mass. She chooses the Mass, opting to face its fathomless depth and loneliness rather than hurt the morale of her weary allies back home.
Collapsing and expanding myth and reality, Event Horizon is an exquisite existential novel, dark as deep space, woven with reflections on oppression, solidarity, trauma and loss.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £14.99
April 21
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
That’s right, the reissues of Doug Johnstone’s first two novels means that we’re hosting two events with the Portobello-based crime writer early on in 2026!
Johnstone will return to the bookshop to launch a new edition of his second novel, The Ossians. It sees a last-chance winter road trip for a Scottish band spiral into wild chaos with seagull massacres, bomb tests, and darkly funny rock’n’roll madness on the edge. Johnstone will be in conversation with the Quine of Crime herself, Val McDermid.
Connor is twenty-four, brilliant, broken, and out of control. He’s the swaggering frontman of The Ossians, a Scottish indie band on the brink of signing a major record deal.
Desperate to make their mark, they head off on a two-week winter tour across the cities and hinterlands of Scotland – a last-ditch attempt to find fame, purpose, and themselves.
But the tour soon spirals into a surreal, chaotic odyssey. From seedy bars and snowbound towns to a final, defining Glasgow gig, the band hurtles through a whirlwind of seagull massacres, botched drug deals, a mysterious stalker, radioactive beaches, bomb-testing ranges, epileptic fits, riotous Russian submariners, deadly storms, epiphanies, regular beatings and random shootings.
Raw, darkly funny and wild with energy, The Ossians is a gloriously anarchic story of rock’n’roll obsession, national identity and self-destruction, and what it means to belong – in a band, in a country, in a life unravelling at speed.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £9.99
April 22
Helena Attlee for The Fire in the Mountain
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
For centuries, Mount Etna has sent lava to engulf the towns and villages, terraced fields, orchards, vineyards, and citrus groves that nestle across its slopes. But still it remains home to a quarter of Sicily’s population. Why? Because Etna has always rewarded her people after every eruption with a landscape of unparalleled fertility, richness and drama.
In this extraordinary new book, Helena Attlee combines travel writing with history, mythology, geology, gastronomy and horticulture to tell a unique story of life in the shadow of Sicily’s most dangerous and alluring landmark. Venturing through lava-strewn fields and pistachio groves patrolled by armed guards; past dusky, basalt-built farmyards, and caves once used to store snow, Attlee gathers tales of the artists, writers, farmers, and scientists who have for centuries been drawn to this unpredictable landscape: from the early Roman, Arabic and Norman settlers, Romantic poets and Victorian geologists, to the local families who live and work there today.
It is at once a compelling account of Sicily’s rich and varied past, and a powerful meditation on humanity’s ever-changing relationship with landscape.
Early bird ticket £10/Ticket plus book £25
April 22
David Farrier - Nature’s Genius
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
We’re so pleased to welcome David Farrier to the bookshop on World Earth Day to celebrate the paperback publication of Nature’s Genius: Evolution’s Lessons for a Changing Planet, in which Farrier takes us on a profound journey into our ever-changing natural world.
EARTHDAY.ORG’s founders created and organized the very first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Since then, Earth Day Network has been mobilising over 1 billion people annually on Earth Day, and every other day, to protect the planet.
In Nature’s Genius David Farrier takes us on a profound journey into this ever-changing natural world. What we discover could transform us. The ways animals adjust to the urban landscape can help us design sustainable cities. Examining other intelligences can help us remake our economies. Learning from bacterial evolution may help solve our waste problem. Synthetic biology could rescue animals from the brink of extinction. Thinking in timescales of the natural world could help us choose a better future.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £10.99
April 23
The Asset Class: Hettie O’Brien on how private equity turned capital against itself
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43-45 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
You don’t know their names, but they own the house you rent. They own your hospitals, nurseries and care homes, the media you consume and the companies you work for. They even own the tools your union uses to fight back.
For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis.
Acclaimed by the likes of Grace Blakeley, Kate Raworth, Danny Dorling, Ha-Joon Chang and Oliver Bullough, The Asset Class is a vital intervention into the creep of Private Equity into public life - join us for the Edinburgh launch with author and journalist Hettie O’Brien.
In The Asset Class, O’Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follows the money, the ideological roots and the trail of destruction. What she finds is chilling: private equity isn’t just reshaping the economy - it’s selling out the foundations of Western society. The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £25
April 23
An Evening with Anthony Horowitz
7pm, The Parish Church of St Cuthbert , 5 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH1 2EP
Waterstones West End is thrilled to announce that they will be welcoming internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz to Edinburgh to celebrate the publication of the next delicious instalment his metafictional mystery series, A Deadly Episode.
The actors have been cast, the script written, and filming has already started in Hastings.
But when Hawthorne and Anthony visit the set, they find a far from happy family. The director’s pretentious, the screenwriter’s an eco-warrior, the two stars hate each other, and the producer has run out of money. And things are about to get much, much worse.
In the middle of shooting, the actor playing Hawthorne is stabbed – which leaves the real Hawthorne with no choice. He has to step in and investigate his own murder. Because the killer may not have got the right man. Was it Hawthorne himself who was meant to be the target?
A Deadly Episode is a wild ride through a world that the author knows only too well, and the most personal case Hawthorne has had to deal with so far.
Tickets £9/Ticket plus book £27
April 23
Eleanor Tucker: Turn Back Time
6pm, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, EH3 9FP
Join the Edinburgh Bookshop to celebrate the launch of Eleanor Tucker’s hilarious first novel, Turn Back Time - the story of a middle-aged woman who goes back to find her youth, and discovers it wasn’t where she left it.
If you could look 20 years younger. Would you do it?
47-year-old beauty journalist Erica Pells is over the ‘pro-ageing’ articles she is exclusively asked to write. Frankly, she’s over most things; getting older, heavy contouring and boring old Wiltshire. So when her former editor, Merlyn, gives her the opportunity to try a revolutionary hi-tech beauty treatment called WULT (Woke Up Like This), that promises to make you look 20 years younger, she jumps at the chance. What has she got to lose, anyway?
But how does a Gen X woman who grew up with Bridget Jones survive when she looks like fresh-faced Gen Z?
Free but ticketed/ticket plus book £9.99
April 23
7pm, Blackwell’s Edinburgh South Bridge
In the skies above war-torn Europe, Stanley Wake and his fellow aircrew at Bomber Command risk their lives on missions that are incredibly dangerous and highly pressured. As the strains of their work press on him, Stan is beginning to suspect that either their plane is haunted or Stan himself may be haunted by his part in bringing about death and destruction to so many.
On the ground in Lincoln, Abby Sallow is desperately trying to keep her own ghosts at bay. Working in a factory dismantling wrecked aircraft, Abby struggles to escape the nightly visions of her only son, who was killed at the very outset of war. While Stan longs to live, Abby seems intent on bringing about her own death.
And for intensely superstitious, Harry Culpepper, one of Stan’s crewmates, it is only the Fates can keep him alive. He has crafted a talisman – a bird skull – that he is convinced will guarantee his safety.
But as the bombing intensifies and the crew count down towards 30 flights completed – the point at which they will be given a reprieve from their deadly work – all three characters will discover whether they can find a chance of peace amongst the devastation of war, and whether the ghosts that haunt them can ever truly be laid to rest.
Tickets £3/Ticket plus book £17
April 23
James Bailey for Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark
7pm, Topping & Company , 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh, EH7 5JH
There are few names in the history of Scottish literature more influential than Muriel Spark, and there are few writers better positioned to document her life than James Bailey. This astounding biography is witty, mischevious, comprehensive, and incredibly readable. We are so delighted to welcome James to the bookshop this April.
Muriel Spark was one of literature’s great shapeshifters. That mercurial quality is found in her strange, brilliant, cruel novels - with their plots featuring pensioners receiving telephone calls from Death, the devil going clubbing in Peckham and a fascist schoolmistress leading her coterie of girls astray - but it is also true of her as a person.
As sly, nimble and elegant as Spark’s own work, Like a Cat Loves a Bird is a thrilling new perspective on a remarkable life and career that spanned much of the twentieth century. From her childhood in Edinburgh to her final years in Tuscany - via South Africa, London, New York and Rome - it traces a light-footed journey around the world and through her strange and magnificent bibliography. It tells an irresistible story of transformation, wit and fierce determination and makes a passionate case for this vital modern artist.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £20
April 23
An evening with Caro Claire Burke
7pm, Rare Birds Book Shop, Raeburn Place, Stockbridge
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and has the Instagram account to prove it. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than
the last.
So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What Natalie’s followers don’t know won’t hurt them.
Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. The year appears to be 1805. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? One thing Natalie does know is that it’ll make one hell of an Instagram post…
Tickets £5
April 23
John Kampfner for Braver New World
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
We are delighted to be welcoming broadcaster, journalist and award-winning author John Kampfner to Edinburgh to discuss his new book Braver New World: The Countries Daring to Do Things Others Won’t
A groundbreaking exploration of the countries solving the world’s most pressing problems and what we can learn from them.
At a time when democracies seem paralyzed by fear and populations are turning inward, award-winning journalist John Kampfner travels to ten countries confronting our shared challenges with bravery and imagination.
In Japan, he discovers inter-generational care homes ensuring dignity in later life while Britain ducks the social care question. He visits Vienna’s century old housing projects where 60% of residents live in subsidised accommodation without stigma and communities thrive. Taiwan’s health system achieves 90% patient satisfaction at a fraction of the cost of the NHS. From Moroccan solar panels in the Sahara producing enough clean energy to power two million homes to Finnish classrooms preparing children for an uncertain world that Britain’s teaching-to-the-test system cannot match, Kampfner introduces us to the people making radical change happen.
These aren’t utopias. But what unites them is a refusal to accept that difficult problems are unsolvable. The countries showing true innovation are often those with their backs against the wall not wealthy nations assuming they have all the answers. ‘Braver New World’ is an urgent reminder that solutions exist. The question is whether we have the courage to learn.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £22
April 24
Ann Cleeves: An Evening at Edinburgh Castle
7pm, The Great Hall, Edinburgh Castle, Castlehill, EH1 2NG
The Edinburgh Bookshop is delighted to be welcoming number one Sunday Times bestselling crime author Ann Cleeves and broadcaster Nicola Meighan to Edinburgh Castle for a very special evening celebrating the paperback launch of Ann's latest Jimmy Perez novel, The Killing Stones.
When a violent storm descends upon Orkney, the body of Archie Stout is left in its wake. An unusual murder weapon, a Neolithic stone bearing ancient inscriptions, is found discarded nearby. Archie was a popular, larger-than-life character, and his death is a shocking blow to the community.
Detective Jimmy Perez, no stranger to the complexity of human nature and the darkness it can harbour, is soon on the scene. He counted Archie as a childhood friend, so this case is more personal than most. Now living in Orkney with his partner, Willow, and their son, Perez is soon drawn into the lives of the islanders, many of whom harbour secrets. Dark secrets, which could have led to the man’s murder.
Here, in these ancient lands where history runs deep, Perez must discern the truth from legend before a desperate killer strikes again . . .
Ticket £20/Ticket plus book £30
April 24
An Evening with Gillian McAllister
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
We are delighted to be joined by bestselling author Gillian McAllister, as she discusses her latest atmospheric, taut and incredibly twisty thriller Caller Unknown.
They Took Her Daughter. Now She’ll Break Every Rule to Get Her Back.
Simone’s holiday to Texas was meant to be some much needed bonding time with her teenage daughter, Lucy.
On their first night in the desert, Simone wakes to find Lucy missing and a mobile phone in her place. The phone rings: Lucy has been taken and, in order to get her back, Simone must commit a crime. As Simone prepares to follow the kidnapper’s instructions, she feels certain that there is nothing she wouldn’t do to save Lucy. But becoming a wanted woman is just the start...
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £20
April 24
Dan Richards With Special Guest, Shipping Forecast announcer Ron Brown, for Overnight
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh, EH7 5JH
We’re delighted to welcome Dan Richards to Edinburgh to celebrate the paperback release of Overnight, an exploration of the night and the people found in it. Richards’ prose is witty, tender, and deeply humane.
On the night, Dan will be joined by BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Ron Brown to discuss and, with luck, read a little of the iconic Shipping Forecast.
There is something special about the night.
For many, dusk and evening conjure thoughts of starlit skies, romance, bedtime stories and rest. For others, the small hours mean fear, vulnerability and sleeplessness. At night things go bump, the familiar world becomes mysterious and uncanny; owls and bats take wing, foxes prowl.
With new material delving deeper into all things nocturnal, Overnight is a hymn to nighttime wildlife, travel, dreams and art. Along the way, Dan Richards meets a fascinating array of people who labour while the rest of us sleep, and brings their work into the light.
From night terror chills to the warmth of dawn on the summer solstice, Overnight will change the way you think about the hours after dark.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £10.99
April 24 - 8 May
First Date Festival from Lighthouse Bookshop and Book Lovers Bookshop
Save the Date dear reader: from 24 April to 8 May YOU are once again invited to join us for another edition of our First Date romance festival! As great lovers of romance and feel good fiction - and following a fortuitous conversation with Jenny Colgan in 2022 - we thought it was high time we created a platform for a much beloved genre that deserves its own stage, and so we launched FIRST DATE! For the fourth year of FIRST DATE, Lighthouse Bookshop and Book Lovers Bookshop have teamed up again to bring you TWO WEEKS of events, including writing workshops, panel discussions, late night shopping and lots more!
Featured authors include Beth O’Leary, Rebecca J. Caffery, Adiba Jaigirdar, Meg Jones, Lola Keeley, Zoe Terakes, Lily X, Kai Spellmeier, Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, Andrés N. Ordorica, Elle McNicoll, Lizzie Huxley Jones, Leigh Rivers, Olivia Belle.
Tickets and programme details: Lighthouse Bookshop and Book Lovers Bookshop
April 25 - new listing
Like Minds - an evening of poetry
7.30pm, Typewronger Books, 4a Haddington Place, Edinburgh, EH7 4AE
Join us for an evening of poetry featuring Sophie Robinson, Jane Goldman, KD Sims, Meredith MacLeod Davidson, Parel Joy and L Scully.
Free, but ticketed
April 25
Theatre Book Club: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
1.15pm, Blackwell’s Edinburgh South Bridge
Join us for our Theatre Book Club where we will be chatting about The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.
Do you love reading and going to the theatre? Then head on over to the Festival Theatre website to book your tickets to the book group here.
Do you want to dig in deep to the original story before seeing its adaptation? This collaborative book club from Blackwell’s and Capital Theatres is just the thing to take you from page to stage and ignite some fascinating conversations.
This Book Club will explore John le Carré’s third novel, and the first to earn him international acclaim, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.
With unsurpassed knowledge culled from his years in British Intelligence, le Carre brings to light the shadowy dealings of international espionage in the tale of a British agent who longs to end his career but undertakes one final, bone-chilling assignment.
When the last agent under his command is killed and Alec Leamas is called back to London, he hopes to come in from the cold for good. His spymaster, Control, however, has other plans. Determined to bring down the head of East German Intelligence and topple his organization, Control once more sends Leamas into the fray — this time to play the part of the dishonored spy and lure the enemy to his ultimate defeat.
YOU WILL NEED TO BOOK YOUR TICKET ON THE FESTIVAL THEATRE WEBSITE, this is an information page. Book here.
Book club tickets £3
April 27
Liz Earle for How To Age
7pm, St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh EH1 2EP
Join Liz as she shares all the latest scientific research which informs her unique approach to age well; never anti-ageing, always in the best way possible. So much of what we have been told about ageing is wrong. We’re not here to spend our later years in silent decline. We have just never been shown the full picture of what is possible - or how we can take control of it. Liz offers the very best evidence-based biohacks and practical, easy-to-implement, daily plans to improve and boost your energy as you age. She has used these same protocols to turn back her biological age by decades and she now feels stronger, happier and more purposeful in her 60s than in any other decade of her life.
Early bird ticket £10/Ticket plus book £22
April 27
Cooks & Books: Helen Graham for Centrepiece
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
“Helen carries the torch for all the ingredients I love most. Vegetables behaving exactly as they should. A cook after my own heart.” - YOTAM OTTOLENGHI
We are delighted to be welcoming Helen Graham to the bookshop for Centrepiece: a celebration of bold, vibrant vegetarian dishes designed to inspire, delight and put vegetables exactly where they belong: centre stage.
Drawing inspiration from the rich flavours of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Helen Graham’s Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, this cookbook features 100 inventive, vegetable-based recipes that will transform your table. With accessible ingredients and simple methods, Helen’s flavour-packed combinations of spices, herbs and sauces elevate vegetables into something truly showstopping.
Early bird ticket £10/Ticket plus book £28
April 28
Bilingual Reading and Conversation with Cristina Rivera Garza and Ilana Luna
6.30pm, Rare Birds Bookshop, Raeburn Place, Stockbridge
The Cervantes Chair at the University of Edinburgh presents “The of Virus Here and Now”, a literary event featuring a bilingual reading of poems by acclaimed Mexican writer Cristina Rivera Garza.
Rivera Garza will be joined by Ilana Luna, Professor of Hispanic Studies, for a conversation exploring her work, her creative process, and the themes that shape her writing. The dialogue between the poet and the professor will be open to questions from the audience, offering a unique opportunity to engage directly with both speakers.
This event is organised by the University of St Andrews, the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh, and the Cervantes Chair.
Free but ticketed
April 28
Joanna Cherry: Keeping the Dream Alive
7.30pm, Blackwell’s Bookshop, South Bridge, Edinburgh
We are looking forward to being joined by Joanna Cherry as she shares her astonishing insider’s account of a tumultuous decade in Scottish politics, in her new book Keeping the Dream Alive.
In 2015, the landscape of British politics was changed forever - Westminster was suddenly the new workplace for dozens of freshly elected SNP members. What followed was one of the most remarkable decades in British political history.
Joanna Cherry was part of this cohort, and in this explosive and revealing memoir she tells her own story of Scottish and British politics during this turbulent period .Covering everything from the party’s rejection of its popular leader, Alex Salmond, to the scandals that engulfed his successor Nicola Sturgeon, Cherry also reflects on the opportunities that followed the 2015 landslide and offers remarkable insight into why the party failed to further the cause of independence despite a series of electoral victories.
As well as offering an astonishing insider’s view of the culture of the SNP, Keeping the Dream Alive also looks to the future and offers a clear-eyed view of how political reform in Scotland and the revival of the independence cause could take place.
Tickets £3/Ticket plus book £20
April 28
Sara Wheeler for Jan Morris: A Life
7pm, Topping & Company Booksellers, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
There are few literary figures more significant in the last seventy-years than Jan Morris. From her magnum-opus, Trieste, to her outspoken support of transgender people, and her gender reassignment surgery, Morris is a figure whose life demands documentation. Sara Wheeler’s authorised biography, Jan Morris: a Life, is deeply readable, unflinchingly honest, and remarkably timely.
She was the twentieth century. Who wouldn’t want to write her biography?
When Jan Morris joined the 1953 Everest expedition and was first to get news of the ascent back to London, she became the most famous journalist in the world. So began a glittering career covering the Eichmann trial, interviewing Che Guevara and scooping the story of Suez collusion. Morris transitioned in the early seventies and documented the experience in Conundrum. She was a pioneer and her books, including Venice and the Pax Britannica trilogy, have inspired readers across the globe.
Here, renowned travel writer and biographer Sara Wheeler uncovers the complexity of this twentieth-century icon to reveal a mosaic of contradictions. Morris’s work conjured the spirit of place, yet her late masterpiece Trieste celebrates ‘the meaning of nowhere’; she was a Welsh nationalist who wasn’t Welsh; a preacher of kindness with a cruel side. This is a portrait of an astonishing life, and a scintillating story of longing, travel and never reaching home.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £25
April 28
In Conversation with Dominic Gregory & David Gange
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
In this special double-feature event we are thrilled to welcome both Dominic Gregory and David Gange for a discussion of their respective forthcoming books The Lifeboat at the End of the World and Afloat.
Dominic Gregory is an RNLI volunteer on the Dungeness lifeboat, his book The Lifeboat at the End of the Worldis the first to document the realities of volunteering for the RNLI. Dungeness has been home to a lifeboat service for over 200 years, and now finds itself as the centre of one of the most pressing political stories in modern Britain. His candid, powerful writing takes you into a unique perspective on the issue of small boat migration and explores why the RNLI is so important.
David Gange explores ways of life that have been built on small rowed or peddled boats, particularly in the North Atlantic, in his latest book Afloat. Small boats have been essential to many cultures’ ways of living in the land- and seascapes that surround them. Wherever we have statistics, small rowed and paddled boats outnumber decked ships by at least fifty to one, yet nearly all writing is dedicated to the large boats, until this book.
Tickets £5/Ticket + Lifeboat at the End of the World £18.99/Ticket + Afloat £22/Ticket + both books £35
April 29 - new listing
Brian Bannatyne-Scott: A Singer’s Life
7pm, The Edinburgh Bookshop, EH10 4DF
Join us to celebrate the launch of Brian Bannatyne-Scott’s biography, A Singer’s Life, as he talks with Olga Wojtas about his 40 year career as an opera singer all over the world. The life of an opera singer is a total mystery to 99% of members of the audience at any performance. This fascinating book, written by Brian Bannatyne-Scott, a Scottish bass who, over four decades, has sung roles all over the world, as well as appearing in many international festivals both in opera and oratorio, allows the listening public to garner some understanding of what it takes to become an opera singer, a modern Troubadour, in the 21 st Century.
We learn about the painstaking hours of study and rehearsal before a production gets even close to a performance, about the life of a travelling singer, and about the influences that shape the personality and artistry of the professional singer.
Free, but ticketed
April 29 - new listing
The Future in Our Past: The General Strike, 1926/2026
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop - 43 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
The Future in Our Past tells the story of the 1926 General Strike on its centenary. It is a compelling on-the-ground account of how workers brought the country to a standstill for nine extraordinary days.
Callum Cant and Matthew Lee take us on a journey through a Britain living on its nerves, from the London docklands to the South Wales coalfields and the railways and warehouses of middle England. Churchill feared that labour militancy presaged a Bolshevik-style revolution. The question of power hung in the air as rank-and-file militants pursued a chaotic, improvised and wildly uneven confrontation with the British ruling class.
This is social history at its most immediate and relevant. Cant and Lee revisit the communities where the struggle burned brightest, uncovering the lessons the General Strike holds for labour movements today.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £11.99
April 29
An Evening with Anthony Horowitz
7pm, The Parish Church of St Cuthbert, 5 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH1 2EP
Waterstones is thrilled to announce that we will be welcoming internationally bestselling author, Anthony Horowitz, to Edinburgh to celebrate the publication of the next delicious instalment his metafictional mystery series, A Deadly Episode.
The actors have been cast, the script written, and filming has already started in Hastings.
But when Hawthorne and Anthony visit the set, they find a far from happy family. The director’s pretentious, the screenwriter’s an eco-warrior, the two stars hate each other, and the producer has run out of money. And things are about to get much, much worse.
In the middle of shooting, the actor playing Hawthorne is stabbed – which leaves the real Hawthorne with no choice. He has to step in and investigate his own murder. Because the killer may not have got the right man. Was it Hawthorne himself who was meant to be the target?
A Deadly Episode is a wild ride through a world that the author knows only too well, and themost personal case Hawthorne has had to deal with so far.
Tickets £9/Ticket plus book £27
April 29
Jane Harper with Val McDermid for Last One Out
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
This April we’ll be joined by the tremendous Jane Harper to discuss her latest book, Last One Out - an unforgettable small-town mystery with huge emotional resonance. Jane will be joined by the Queen of Crime herself, Val McDermid.
He had been here, that was clear from the marks in the dust. And he had been alone.
In a dying town, Ro Crowley waits for her son on the evening of his twenty-first birthday. Sam never comes home. His footprints in the dust of three abandoned houses offer the only clue to his final movements. One set in. One set out.
Five long years later, Ro returns to Carralon Ridge for the annual memorial of Sam’s disappearance. The skeletal community is now an echo of itself, having fractured under the pressure of the coal mine operating on its outskirts. But Ro still wants answers. Only a few people remain. If the truth is to be found in that town, does it lie among them?
Early bird tickets £18/Ticket plus book £20
April 29
Michael Pedersen: Muckle Flugga
7pm, Blackwell’s Edinburgh South Bridge
Join the brilliant and very much acclaimed poet and author of Boy Friends, Michael Pedersen as we celebrate the publication of his wonderfully vibrant and haunting island-set psychodrama, Muckle Flugga.
Life on a remote island is turned upside down by a stranger’s arrival, testing bonds of family and tradition and leaving a young dreamer’s future hanging in the balance.
It’s no ordinary existence on the rugged isle of Muckle Flugga. The elements run riot and the very rocks that shape the place begin to shift under their influence. The only human inhabitants are the lighthouse keeper, known as The Father, and his otherworldly son, Ouse. Them, and the occasional lodger to keep the wolf from the door.
When one of those lodgers - Firth, a chaotic writer - arrives from Edinburgh, the limits of the world the keeper and his son cling to begin to crumble. A tug of war ensues between Firth and the lighthouse keeper for Ouse’s affections - and his future. As old and new ways collide, and life-changing decisions loom, what will the tides leave standing in their wake?
Tickets £3/Ticket plus book £10
April 30
Happiness by Yuri Felsen Event with Bryan Karetnyk in conversation with Sarah Gear
6.30pm, Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street, EH3 5AQ
Join us in the bookshop to hear Bryan Karetnyk in conversation with Sarah Gear about Happiness by Yuri Felsen.
Happiness is the second part of Yuri Felsen’s The Recurrence of Things Past trilogy, following the critically acclaimed Deceit. Both subtle and profound in its exploration of love, art, literature, and human frailty, Felsen’s trilogy traces the tormented romance of its protagonist alongside his artistic evolution, standing at the forefront of aesthetic and philosophical currents in European modernism.
Yuri Felsen was the pseudonym of Nikolai Freudenstein. Born in St Petersburg in 1894, he emigrated in the wake of the Russian Revolution, first to Riga and then to Berlin, before finally settling in Paris in 1923. In France, he became one of the leading writers of his generation, alongside the likes of Vladimir Nabokov; influenced by the great modernists such as Marcel Proust, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, his writing stood at the forefront of aesthetic and philosophical currents in European literature. Following the German occupation of France at the height of his career, Felsen tried to escape to Switzerland; however, he was caught, arrested and interned in Drancy concentration camp. He was deported in 1943 and killed in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £12.99
April 30
Andrey Kurkov for The Lost Soldiers
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
Literary legend Andrey Kurkov joins us in Edinburgh for the first time to celebrate the latest in his Kyiv mysteries, Lost Soldiers.
Fresh from case of the stolen heart, one that shattered his belief in the regime he works for, Samson Kolechko is confronted with a mystery that borders on the impossible. How could a squad of Red Army soldiers have disappeared from the Galician bathhouse, leaving only their boots and their uniforms as evidence they ever existed?
Faced with such a fantastical conundrum, Samson resorts to fantastical investigation method: stitching his operative severed ear into a bathhouse worker’s jacket, he is able to eavesdrop on his every move. But he discovers far more than he bargained for, uncovering human remains in the stoves and the presence of a sinister religious cult in the city.
With his quick-witted new wife Nadezhda at his side, Samson must not only solve the case but navigate the political turmoil that still grips Kyiv as civil war looms and trust between neighbours and comrades is eroded day by day.
In this third volume, Andrey Kurkov, Ukraine’s greatest living novelist, and a true master of absurd storytelling, vividly depicts a city filled with political turbulence and eccentric characters - and draws playful parallels with the present day.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £20
30 April
Paige Toon in conversation with Niamh Hargan
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
We are thrilled to be joined byinternationally bestselling author, Paige Toon, as she chats to her friend, Niamh Hargan, about their latest sweepingly upliftingly and deeply emotional love stories, Don’t Fall in Love With Me and Nothing Good Happens After 2am.
What if the person you love the most is the one you can’t have?
Grace has loved Jackson since she was fifteen – when they spent every childhood summer exploring France’s breathtaking Ardèche region together. They were best friends, until life took its course and Jackson married someone else.
Years later, Jackson re-enters Grace’s life with an irresistible offer: her dream job in the very town where their story began. And he’s newly single. As memories from those idyllic summers flood back, Grace encounters an old friend Étienne, who proposes a plan to help make Jackson jealous. But as their scheme unfolds, Grace finds herself questioning if the sparks between them might not be so pretend after all…
Unbeknownst to Grace, Étienne is harbouring a secret that could shatter her world. Will learning the truth finally set her heart free? Or is this the beginning of a love story bigger than she ever imagined?
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £13
May 1
Cooks & Books: FoodieHolly aka Holly Dingwall for Dinner, Solved
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
Join us for a culinary evening with Scotland’s top foodie influencer, FoodieHolly aka Holly Dingwall!
Stuck in a dinner rut? Bored of the same old pasta? Short on time, but still want a meal that delivers on taste? Dinner, Solved redefines what ‘quick dinners’ can look like and offers endless inspiration for year-round cooking.
From viral food creator Holly Dingwall (@foodieholly), Dinner, Solved proves that fast meals can still feel fresh, creative and seriously satisfying. With over 100 delicious recipes that can be made in 10, 20, 30 or 40 minutes, you can plan your meals around your schedule - not the other way around. As well as speedy recipes, you’ll get an ultimate toolkit for remixing your cooking repertoire.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £22
May 3 - new listing
An Evening with Mitch Hutchcraft
6pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
One man. 12,000KM. A triathlon to the top of the world – and a roadmap to redefining your own impossible.
We’re looking forward to welcoming adventurer, endurance athlete, and former Royal Marine Commando, Mitch Hutchraft, as he chats to us about his incredible adventure that took him to the top of the world, in his new book, Limitless.
What are you capable of when you stop believing your own limits?
In 2024, Mitch Hutchcraft set out to achieve the impossible: a physically gruelling 13,000km triathlon from the English Channel to the summit of Mount Everest. Over just 240 days, he swam, cycled across two continents, ran 900km across India and hiked to the highest point on earth. He achieved in months what most spend a lifetime chasing.
Mitch didn’t set out to break records. He set out to prove that the mind, not the body, is what determines what’s possible.
Your Everest isn’t a mountain. It’s the goal you’ve abandoned, the fear you’re avoiding, the version of yourself you’ve stopped believing in. And the principles that carried Mitch through his journey are the same ones that will carry you through yours.
This book is for anyone tired of waiting for the ‘right time’ to chase their dream. It’s for the person who’s tried before and failed, who’s carrying loss or regret, who knows they’re capable of more but can’t seem to break through.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £25
May 4
James Holland for The Visionaries
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh, EH3 6QE
Acclaimed historian and bookshop favourite, James Holland, returns this May to celebrate his latest work, The Visionaries. Holland’s writing is, as always, gripping, thorough, and deeply readable. It should make for a brilliant evening.
Although the Second World War was still a long way from being won, even by early 1941, US President Franklin Delaney Roosevelt was already planning for peace. America’s entry of the war may still have been almost a year away, but he could already see the new world order that needed to emerge from the smouldering ashes of Europe. The business of war was very quickly going to have to become the business of peace.
Three years later, under the guidance of his successor, President Harry S. Truman, the Marshall Plan would emerge, a forward-thinking combination of global philanthropy and canny self-interest, rooted in a profound sense of Christian and moral duty, and which kickstarted unprecedented European growth and a chance for the world as a whole to rebuild after the ruinous catastrophe of war. From the world on the eve of war in 1914 through to the Versailles Treaty and the global financial catastrophe of the late 1920s and early thirties, and the political earthquakes that followed, The Visionaries takes a broad sweep of history with important lessons for today. It’s a reminder that while history does not repeat itself, patterns of human behaviour certainly do.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £20
May 5
The Beta Band’s Steve Mason for Failure is Always An Option
7pm Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
Join us in conversation with Steve Mason for his long awaited autobiography Failure is Always An Option, detailing the life and misadventures of the musical maverick, polymath and Beta Band front man.
“I see this book as a picture of someone who was lost, with zero confidence and had no idea what he was supposed to do to with his life. But through music, he found something approaching belief in himself which carried him over the next 30 years into all manner of success, failure and adventure. All the while battling the demons on constant patrol in his mind until, after they nearly finished him off, he focused his full attention on purging them from of aspect of his life. It’s a story of youth culture, failure, success, sadness and redemption”
Steve Mason 2025
“Self-destructive pop saboteurs who did it all wrong in all the right ways. Utterly brilliant” NME 2026
Early bird tickets £12/Ticket plus book £25
May 5
An Evening with Antonia Hodgson
7pm, Waterstones, Edinburgh - West End, Princes Street
We are thrilled to be joined by Antonia Hodgson as we celebrate the paperback publication of her immersive and enthralling epic fantasy, The Raven Scholar.
She might win the throne. She might destroy an empire. Either way, it begins with murder.
After twenty-four years on the throne, it is time for Bersun the Brusque, emperor of Orrun, to bring his reign to an end. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders will compete to replace him.
Trained at rival monasteries, each contender is inspired by a sacred animal – Fox, Raven, Tiger, Ox, Bear, Monkey, and Hound. An eighth – the Dragon proxy – will be revealed only once the trials have begun. Eight exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists – the best of the best.
Then one of them is murdered.
It falls to the brilliant but idiosyncratic Neema Kraa to investigate. But as she hunts for a killer, darker forces are gathering. If Neema succeeds, she could win the throne – whether she wants it or not. But if she fails, she will sentence herself to death – and set in motion a sequence of events that could doom the empire . . .
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £13
May 5
An Evening of Poetry with Bloomsbury and Nine Arches Press
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh, EH7 5JH
We are delighted to be hosting a joint reading between four poets across Bloomsbury and Nine Arches Press: Karen McCarthy Woolf, Troy Cabida, Safa Khatib and Jennifer Wong.
Ranging from the aftermath of colonialism across London and LA, to the way language inhabits the ever-changing self, to the vibrant neon landscape of the queer body, to the workings of time as it entangles with memory, these four poets capture the plurality of the human experience throughout their work.
It is such a pleasure to be welcoming all of them to Edinburgh for a special collaborative event. We hope to see you there!
Early bird ticket £8/Ticket plus book voucher £10
May 6 - new listing
Murray Pittock: The Shortest History of Scotland
7pm, Blackwell’s Edinburgh, South Bridge
From Robert Bruce to Nicola Sturgeon, join Murray Pittock as he talks about his lively and insightful history of Scotland ranges far and wide to understand the rich identity of one of the oldest nations in Europe - The Shortest History of Scotland.
Scotland is one of the oldest nations in Europe. Its territory remains fundamentally unchanged since the fifteenth century, and its southern border with England has barely altered since 1237. And yet Scotland – a country with a global brand, its own law, education and church – is not a state at all. In The Shortest History of Scotland, Murray Pittock argues that this very ambiguity is what has made the nation a central part of the global story.
From first tribes to devolution, Pittock unpicks the myths from the reality. He explores the glories – real and imagined – of Scottish history, from Robert Bruce to Robert Burns, tartan to paisley, Scott to Sturgeon – and asks what the past can tell us about what lies ahead. All in just over 200 pages...
Tickets £3/Ticket plus book £15
May 6
An Evening with Patrick Radden Keefe
7.30pm, Church Hill Theatre, 33 Morningside Rd, Edinburgh, EH10 4DR
We are delighted to welcome Patrick Radden Keefe to Edinburgh for a discussion of his new book, London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth. From the Baillie Gifford Prize-winning & Sunday Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing – a stunning story of corruption and tragedy in one of the world's great cities: London. Radden Keefe will be in conversation with author and broadcaster Zing Tsjeng.
In 2019, a London teenager, Zac Brettler, mysteriously fell to his death from a luxury apartment building on the banks of the Thames. When his grieving parents began their desperate quest to understand how their son had died, they made a terrible discovery: Zac had been leading a fantasy life, posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.
In his inimitably gripping and forensic prose, Baillie Gifford Prize winner and New Yorker writer Patrick Radden Keefe follows Zac’s parents on a dark journey to find out what brought Zac to the balcony that night – and how a teenager’s world of make-believe drew him into the city’s terrifying underworld.
London Falling is at once a devastating family tragedy, a riveting story of greed, power and deception, and an indictment of the culture that has transformed London into a haven for the malignant forces that have come to influence us all.
Tickets £18/Ticket plus book £22
May 6
Roderick Beaton for Europe: A New History
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
One for the history buffs! Award-winning historian Roderick Beaton joins us to discuss his latest, Europe: A New History. Beaton questions what we talk about when we talk about Europe? Is it defined by geography? Or is it politics, or shared culture? Perhaps it’s all of the above. In Europe, Beaton tells the story of Europe as never before - as the history of an idea, and a collective identity.
Since its dramatic birth in ancient Greece, ‘Europe’ has been defined, and redefined, by its people. Through this powerful lens, and with the narrative drive and scope of a novelist, Beaton deftly surveys Europe’s major historical developments: the rise and fall of Rome; the explosion of Christianity; the intellectual ferment of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment; the arrival of Europeans in the Americas; the violent upheavals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; and the uncertainties of the present. Throughout, original sources allow the voices of the past, from Tacitus to Thatcher, to speak for themselves.
Grappling with the multilayered identities that have always come with being European, Europe places the Europe of today in a long arc of history stretching back more than 2,500 years.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £30
May 7
Hannah Lavery - Everything Everyday: A Year of Empty Promises
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
It's a pleasure to be welcoming Hannah Lavery back to the bookshop for the publication day launch of her new poetry collection, Everything Everyday: A Year of Empty Promises. Lavery will be in conversation with fellow poet and former Scottish Makar Jackie Kay. Don't miss out on what will be a beautiful celebration of Lavery's poetry!
Everything Everyday is a poetic journal of the year that charts winter through to autumn in a richly textured sequence of diary-poems, lyric fragments and a crown of sonnets. Each month’s entry weaves together mythic figures – Tahlequah the mourning orca, Brigid’s mountain dance, Sister Icarus’s fragile flight and Beira’s shore vigils – with the unfolding chronicle of contemporary grief and protest. Readers move from January’s frozen harbour and political flashpoints into spring’s ritual planting of ‘lemon-drop’ seeds, summer’s drum-driven rallies and smoky vigils, and autumn’s oil-slick swans and ash-borne snowdrops.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £10.99
May 7
Ocean Event with Polly Clark, in conversation with Jenny Brown
6.30pm, Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street, EH3 5AQ
A powerful yacht, a warring family, the unforgiving deep...
Caught in a terrorist explosion on the London Underground, inner-city schoolteacher Helen is pregnant and lost until a stranger leads her to safety then vanishes. Obsessed with finding him, she begins to lose her grip on reality – and her family.
As their marriage fractures, her husband Frank proposes a daring plan: sell up and sail the Atlantic with their son Nicholas and troubled foster daughter Sindi on the Innisfree, the very boat where the couple first fell in love. What begins as a daring bid for salvation turns into an epic journey. The ocean proves as wild and unpredictable as the heartbreak Helen is trying to outrun.
Will the voyage meant to save them destroy them instead? With a fiercely funny and maverick heroine at its helm, Ocean is a powerful exploration of the uncharted waters of the human heart. The award-winning author of Larchfield takes us on a gripping, beautifully written voyage into the depths of what it means to heal – and to live.
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £9.99
May 7
Alex Howard for The Ship’s Cat
7pm, St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh EH1 2EP
First there was The Ghost Cat, then there was The Library Cat, now Alex Howard joins us to celebrate the wonderfully heart-warming, The Ship’s Cat. It is an epic of Homeric proportions that will leave the reader with a smile on their face.
When street-savvy London stray Archie accidentally stows away on a flight to Turkey, he’s just looking for shelter. But after stumbling onto a fishing boat in a quiet cove, Archie discovers he’s no ordinary feline - for with his polydactyl paws, he brings uncanny good fortune to vessels at sea.
From the sun-drenched harbours of the Mediterranean to the bustling decks of ocean racers, Archie becomes a legend among sailors. Yet beneath the viral fame and whispered tales of ‘the magical ship’s cat’, Archie yearns for something deeper: a forever-human who will love him not as a talisman, but as a companion.
It may be luck that drives Archie on this great Odyssey around the world, but love will be what calls him home - not to some place, perhaps, but to someone. Heartwarming, adventurous and quietly profound, The Ship’s Cat is a tale of resilience, belonging, unexpected friendship and the mysterious ways love finds us.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £16.99
May 7
Jack Parlabane returns! Chris Brookmyre for Quite Ugly One Evening
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
Christopher Brookmyre, two-time McIlvanney Prize winner, returns to Edinburgh this May to celebrate Quite Ugly One Evening.
This zeitgesty locked-room mystery sees the return of rogue journalist Jack Parlabane thirty years after his first appearance in Quite Ugly One Morning.
An Atlantic voyage. A family at war. A secret worth killing over...
Reporter Jack Parlabane thrives on chasing stories in unlikely places, and where could be less likely than a fan convention on a cruise liner celebrating a contentious Sixties TV series? But unlike the media family exploiting their show’s renewed relevance, he’s not there to stoke controversy: he’s there to solve a murder.
Already in deep water with his employer, Jack desperately needs a win, and solving this decades-old mystery could be it. Problem is, he’s in the middle of the Atlantic, and someone onboard has already killed once to keep their secret.
And that’s not even the tricky part. No, the tricky part is definitely the dead body locked in a stateroom with him, covered in his blood. Now Jack has to solve two murders, otherwise the only way he’s getting off this ship is in handcuffs - or in a body bag.
Tickets £10/Ticket plus book £22
May 8
Annie Knows Everything launch party
Join us for an extra special night at Rare Birds for the launch of Annie Knows Everything!
We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this book with our treasured community, as it’s written by one of our own: the author is also our store owner, Rachel Wood.
Included in the ticket price is a copy of the ANNIE KNOWS EVERYTHING special edition, which you can have signed and personalised on the night, plus our brand new store tote, not yet available for purchase!
The drinks will be flowing, the tunes will be playing, and our friends from Joelato will be in the building serving up scoops of gelato inspired by the book. We can’t wait to see you there!
Tickets £16.99
May 8
Jess Venner for The Lost Voices of Pompeii
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
Acclaimed historian Jess Venner joins Toppings this May to relive the dramatic last day in Pompeii in this immersive book, based on seven of the city’s real residents.
We all know how the people of Pompeii died. But what about how they lived?
Drawing on the latest archaeological discoveries, Dr Jess Venner brings the ancient streets to life through the eyes of those who lived, worked, loved and ultimately met their fate in Pompeii.
Along the way, Venner reveals a community more complex, diverse and human than we ever imagined. We meet Julia Felix, a successful female entrepreneur defying Roman convention; Petronus, a slave grappling with his future after gaining his freedom; politician Gaius Cuspius Pansa, who cements his power and prestige by hosting the Plebian Games at the amphitheatre; and many others.
Pompeii is remembered for its destruction, but here we discover the vibrant lives that came before. Richly evocative and immersive, The Lost Voices of Pompeii vividly recreates the final twenty-four hours before the eruption, reminding us exactly what - and who - was lost in 79 AD.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £22
May 9
John Robb memoirs and spoken word tour
7pm, The Voodoo Rooms - The Ballroom, Edinburgh EH22AA
In May 2026 John Robb will be releasing his memoirs, Punk Rock Ruined My Life, and to accompany this will be a spoken word tour. Each event will be a one hour talk from John Robb then after a break there will be a different special guest every night in conversation with John Robb. The Edinburgh guest will be Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai.
Tickets £15.89
May 11
Cooks & Books: Henry Harris for The Racine Effect
7pm, Topping & Company Booksellers, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
Those who have had the pleasure to eat Henry Harris’ food certainly haven’t forgotten it. He is an authority on French Cooking, loved by the public and his fellow chefs alike.
Throughout a lifetime in the kitchen, Henry Harris has cooked classic French dishes defined by their generosity and flavour. From his beloved London restaurant Racine in the early 2000s to the renowned Bouchon Racine twenty years later, Henry’s food has always captivated and comforted hungry diners - and, in turn, Racine has shaped his life and career.
In The Racine Effect, Henry shares a collection of his most loved dishes, interweaving family favourites and restaurant classics. From the simple joy of endive au gratin or confit de canard, to his takes on good ingredients, such as a roast chicken salad, posh croque or rabbit with mustard sauce and smoked bacon, and the sheer indulgence of his famous creme caramel, Henry’s dishes encapsulate the deep enjoyment that cooking can bring, as well as the feelings and connections that a plate of food can prompt.
Early bird ticket £12/Ticket plus book £40
May 12 - new listing
Polly Atkin - Swimming the Seasons - A Freshwater Almanac
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh EH15 1DA
It’s always a pleasure when Polly Atkin visits and we’re looking forward to her return for the launch of Swimming the Seasons: A Freshwater Almanac right here by the Porty seaside! This is a book about resilience, mindfulness and the transformative embrace of wild water.
Follow poet and nature writer Polly Atkin as she swims through the turning year in the rivers, lakes and tarns of the English Lake District, in this lyrical ode to the uplifting power of water. This is a love story between a person and a place. It is a story of acceptance, persistence and finding joy in the everyday, as eight years of outdoor swimming through every season deepen Atkin’s knowledge and understanding of both the landscape she calls home and her disabled body.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book book £8.99
May 12
Philippa Perry for Shrink Solves Murder
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
We are thrilled to be joined by Philippa Perry to celebrate her newest crime novel Shrink Solves Murder. A warm, witty, and perceptive crime caper from the nation’s favourite therapist.
Her 3 o’clock just became a murder case...
When a body is found near Beachy Head, the police chalk it up to suicide - a tragic but not uncommon end in these parts. But local psychotherapist Patricia Phillips isn’t convinced. The victim? Her three o’clock patient, Henry Clayton.
The cause of death is supposedly self-inflicted. Yet Pat can’t shake the belief that someone wanted Henry Clayton dead. She spends her working life listening to histories and secrets, and she has a nose for when a story doesn’t quite ring true.
Drawn from the therapy room to the crime scene, Pat begins to notice what others appear to overlook. At her side is her best friend Prichard - a home-brewer of fearsome, stomach-turning concoctions, an excellent cook, and a man who seems to get along with everyone. Which makes him useful for infiltrating village life.
As Pat and Prichard look beneath the village’s thin veneer of normality - one that barely conceals its appetites - they discover a killer hiding in plain sight.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £18.99
May 12
Brian Dillon for Ambivalence
7pm, Topping & Company Booksellers, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
Brian Dillon is the author of Affinities, Suppose a Sentence, Essayism, The Great Explosion (shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize), Objects in This Mirror, Tormented Hope: Nine Hypochondriac Lives (shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize) and In the Dark Room, which won the Irish Book Award for non-fiction.
When Brian Dillon was 16 his mother died and he simply gave up all schoolwork. While he courted exam failure, his real education was going on elsewhere: with books, music, films and television.
When at last he made it to university, his head was already full of avant-garde writing, art and ideas. Could academia live up to the hopes and dreams he had invested in it?
Halfway through college his father died, and the stakes of reading and writing seemed even higher.
Ambivalence explores what learning meant to its author, what it enabled and denied, between the ages of seventeen and twenty-six, when he left his native Dublin. It’s at once a memoir of that city in the 1980s and 1990s, an uncynical portrait of the adolescent and early-adult mind, and an intimate defence of radical thinking about literature and life.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £14.99
May 12
Frances White in conversation with Hannah Kaner
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
What lies beyond the Bone Door?
Join bestselling author of Voyage of the Damned, Frances White, as she chats to Hannah Kaner about her thrillingly unique, twisty new book in which she masterfully blends humour, horror, magic and murder, The Bone Door.
When Hop awakens in an ancient labyrinth, he has no memory of his life before, or how he got here. He does not recognise the mysterious girl trapped with him. And he certainly cannot identify the shadowy figure stalking him, whispering terrible things.
But there is one thing he is certain of. He must escape.
The only way out of the labyrinth is through the Bone Door. But it lies behind a series of other locked doors hidden across an array of strange realms. To open the way, Hop must complete impossible tasks before his time runs out. As Hop travels deeper, he discovers that he and his companions may be more connected to the place and its horrors than he could ever imagine. Unless Hop is able to unravel the true mystery of the labyrinth, including his own role within it, the Bone Door and any hope of escape will be lost forever.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £23
May 13 - new listing
Charlie Bingham: The Life-Affirming Magic of Birds
7pm, Blackwell’s Edinburgh, South Bridge
Birdwatching is for everyone. Discover how simple, everyday encounters with birds can help you bond with the natural world.
We were looking forward to welcoming Charlie Bingham along to the shop, as she discusses her deeply personal memoir and practical guide to slowing down and noticing what’s around you, The Life-Affirming Magic of Birds.
Whether it’s a brief encounter with a friendly robin or a curious wood pigeon perched on your windowsill, everyone has a bird story. Join nature and wildlife enthusiast Charlie Bingham as she travels the length and breadth of the UK, searching for oystercatchers on rooftops and peregrines on cathedral spires. Simply look up and become part of the awe-inspiring world that exists above us.
Blending Charlie’s beautiful nature writing and personal anecdotes with relatable life lessons, this is the perfect book for all birdwatchers, or anyone who struggles to find motivation to get through the daily grind.
Tickets £3/Ticket plus book £13
May 13
Celebrating The Shadow Prince by Helen Scheurer
6.30pm, Lady and the Bear Cafe, 1 Hope Park Terrace, Edinburgh EH8 9LZ
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Iron & Embers, Helen Scheurer, Shadow Prince is an epic fantasy romance with enemies to lovers, scorching spice and a richly woven world of magic. Drue Emmerson wants one thing: vengeance. With her family slain by vicious shadow wraiths, she’s determined to defend her fallen kingdom.
And that means carving out the hearts of every dark creature she can find. Talemir Starling, celebrated warrior of the realms, has a dangerous secret: he’s a half-wraith, kin to the creatures wreaking devastation on the world. He’ll do anything to keep his true nature under control, especially around the woman who’s vowed to destroy him.
When someone close to Drue disappears, all signs point to Talemir’s kind. But he is determined to prove he’s no monster, and to seek answers of his own. Begrudgingly, the pair must join forces to uncover the deadly truth.
In a world of chaos and carnage, their attraction to one another is the one thing that might just spell the end of them both . . .
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £22
May 13
Rose Campbell on Shere Hite and The Hite Report
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DB
Come and meet Shere Hite—the feminist hero whose notorious work revolutionised how we think about sex, marriage, and the female orgasm.
We are thrilled to welcome Rosa Campbell, historian of global feminism, to the bookshop for a deep dive into the life and work of one of the little known but leading thinkers of the second wave feminist movement, Shere Hite.
Her groundbreaking book, The Hite Report, was the first feminist exploration of the link between sex and male power. It sold millions of copies when first published in 1976 and revolutionized the way people thought about marriage and the female orgasm. How, then, did it, and Hite, disappear from public consciousness? Using original research material and sharp cultural analysis, Rosa Campbell explores Hite’s complicated life and literary legacy. Campbell expands on Hite’s ideas about sex — namely, that sex is sexist — and tracks Hite through her fraught childhood, her struggles working in the porn industry, and her eventual cancellation by the far-right Evangelical movement. All the while, Campbell holds Hite and The Hite Report to account for their own failings and absence of intersectionality. In a post-Dobbs, post-MeToo world, this book’s examination of shifting ideological movements is essential to understanding both the current feminist movement, as well as how conservative, reactionary, counter-mobilization efforts can silence even the most successful of women.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £25
May 14 - new listing
The Book of Murmurs: a graphic novel launch with Candice Purwin
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43-45 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
One of our favourite artists, a formidable comic creator that is also one of Edinburgh’s own, has a debut book! And we’re doing a launch!
In The Book of Murmurs, Purwin crafts a fantasy world rich in lore and vibrantly rendered in watercolors and colored pencils. An enchanting story of grief, identity, and queerness that conjures whimsy, wonder, and a delightful sense of dread...
In a world rife with cruelty, Purwin’s work is a window into our shared humanity, a capacity for care and compassion, creativity and a deep longing for justice that are too often overlooked - her storytelling is a gift.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £16.99
May 14
Suzy Aspley and Allison Meldrum: Murder She Wrote Crime Writing Panel
7pm, The Edinburgh Bookshop, EH10 4DF
Join us for an evening celebrating women crime writers with Suzy Aspley and Allison Meldrum in conversation with Jacky Collins. They’ll discuss plot twists, the perfect crime, their journeys into writing, and their latest novels, The Bone Mother and Keep Me Safe.
The Bone Mother by Suzy Aspley
When reporter Martha Strangeways is called into investigate the discovery of body parts on a remote railway track, she’s drawn into a strange case, as her own past comes back to haunt her… The atmospheric, critically acclaimed Martha Strangeways Investigation series continues…
Keep Me Safe by Allison Meldrum
When investigative journalist, Maggie Shields, dives into the disappearance of a high-profile missing person in her seaside town, she uncovers a tangled web of corruption, murder, and betrayal stretching back a decade.
Still haunted by an unsolved murder she witnessed as a teenager—one her brother convinced her to stay silent about— Maggie is faced with a painful dilemma. And as she connects the dots between the two cases, Maggie exposes corporate cover-ups, a fatal data breach, and a deadly conspiracy…
Tickets £5/Ticket plus either book £9.99
May 14
An Evening of Wine Tasting with Rose Murray Brown
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street,
We are delighted to be joined by award-winning wine critic and Master of Wine, Rose Murray Brown to celebrate the publication of her latest book, A Taste for Wine.
Join us for an enjoyably educational evening of sampling complimentary wine, familiarising ourselves with the depths of flavour and significance of grape variety.
‘How do you distil a lifetime of knowledge and learning into 224 pages?...Rather than a dry encylopaedic catalogue of wine grapes and styles, this is a series of masterclasses for the layperson. So you cover all the ground at your own pace - with a glass in hand.’
Tony Turnbull, The Times, ‘Books of the Year 2025’.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £27
May 14
Nicholas Binge for Abyss
7pm, Topping & Company Booksellers , 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
Office work can feel like hell - maybe a little more than we think in this chilling new novel by Nicholas Binge. His work was described by master of horror, Stephen King, as “Old School Creepy”, and we hope you’ll join us to celebrate this frightful novel of cosmic-office-horror hosted by Sunday Times Bestselling author Gareth Brown.
This job will eat you alive.
Joe Rice is lost - lonely, disconnected and terminally online. His new job as an administrative assistant at the Ponos corporation seems like just another unfulfilling stop-gap. But from his first day, something is deeply wrong. The vast Canary Wharf office is empty, his line manager is a bundle of paranoid energy, and his work is monitored by WellBot, an AI wellness chatbot that demands total honesty while tracking his every move.
As Joe’s tasks descend into a surreal nightmare, he’ll eventually learn that handing in his notice could have deadly consequences . . .
From the bestselling author of Ascension, Nicholas Binge, Abyss is a creeping, Lovecraftian horror about work, technology and existential dread.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £16.99
May 14
Sara Sheridan for The Jewel Keepers
7pm, St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh EH1 2EP
We are so delighted to welcome bookseller-favourite Sara Sheridan for the launch of The Jewel Keepers. Featuring real historical events and places amid its fiction, The Jewel Keepers is an immersive, evocative story tinged with romance and brimming with intrigue.
Men would kill for this treasure.
The McKenzie women will guard it with their lives.
London, 1837. When 25-year-old Araminta McKenzie-Moore is summoned from Richmond to her great aunt’s deathbed in Edinburgh, it’s the first time she’s met her extended family. The McKenzie women, however, have been keeping a close eye on her. For they have a long, secret and dangerous history as Jewel Keepers to the Scottish Crown and they need Araminta to play her part to solve a puzzle which stretches back generations.
But the McKenzies are not alone in this high-stakes treasure hunt though history. They’re being pursued. The last of her line, if Araminta succeeds, she will uncover something more valuable than mere jewels - a secret that will change the lives of all women living on this, the cusp of the Queen Victoria’s rule.
Early bird ticket £10/Ticket plus book £22
May 14
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
We are so excited for Will Maclean to join us for the Edinburgh launch of his latest novel, Solace House. He will be joined by Kirsty Logan for what is sure to be an outstanding discussion of this spectacular, mysterious story.
Summer, 1993, and Alex Lane finds himself at the end of the University summer term, broke and without any concrete plans. So, when he’s offered the chance to join a group of students tasked with clearing out Solace House, a large Victorian residence left to the University by a reclusive hoarder called Flayne, he jumps at it. The other students are a mixed bunch, but Alex quickly falls into a close friendship with the mercurial, red-headed Ella.
At first the house seems to be an ordinary, if grandiose, property. But as the team begin sorting through piles of junk, they stumble upon Flayne’s journals in which he details his obsession with his missing mother, his discovery of a strange place called Bewise, and – most mysteriously – his belief in another realm lying parallel to ours, along with coded instructions on how it might be reached.
As the students continue to sort through the detritus, one of Alex’s companions becomes increasingly obsessed with the hidden secrets of Solace House, Flayne’s missing mother, and the possibility that, if only they can decipher Flayne’s increasingly unintelligible writings, they might gain knowledge beyond their wildest dreams. That is, assuming, they are willing to sacrifice everything.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £20
May 15
Sable Sorensen for Fury Bound
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
Join us for an exciting event with the bestselling authors of Dire Bound, who will be in Edinburgh to celebrate the publication of Fury Bound – the dark, romantic and hotly-anticipated sequel in the Wolves of Ruin series.
Against all odds, Meryn Cooper has inherited the crown - and a deadly war. As the Kingdom of Nocturna splinters under the weight of generations of lies, it is up to Meryn, her bonded direwolf Anassa and their allies to bring the country back from the brink.
But the commoners, the Bonded and the nobles are distrustful of their new queen and Meryn is caught in a deadly game of politics. Meanwhile, Meryn’s beloved sister, Saela, is more at risk than ever.
Confusingly, the one person Meryn can trust is Stark Therion - the dark, dangerous Alpha she thought hated her as much as she loathed him. Yet, his loyalty is unshakeable. His presence intoxicating. And with his guidance, Meryn can seize an unthinkable level of power.
With enemies closing in and shadows stirring her dreams, Meryn stands to lose her kingdom - and her heart.
Early bird ticket £8/Ticket plus book £22
May 15
Greg Doran, former Royal Shakespeare Company director, for Walking Shadow
7pm, St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh, EH1 2EP
A compelling blend of memoir, travelogue and investigation, from the former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Walking Shadow sheds new light on the past while Doran himself emerges from the darkness of loss.
After the death from cancer of his husband, Antony Sher, Greg Doran stepped down from his role as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, and inspired by the surprising history of the company’s own copy, he set out to see how many of these important volumes he could find. Walking Shadow relives the months leading up to Sher’s death, told via the two men’s raw and loving diaries, and maps Doran’s quest to track down folios worldwide.
By his journey’s end, Doran had seen more than 200 First Folios - over 90 per cent of all the surviving copies - including one whose existence was previously unknown. He had also gained a greater understanding of Shakespeare and his times, as well as his impact on the world.
Early bird ticket £10/Ticket plus book £25
May 16
An Evening with Douglas Stuart
7.30pm, Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2LR
The Portobello Bookshop is absolutely thrilled to announce that this coming May, they''ll be hosting the launch of Douglas Stuart's new novel, John of John. The event is a full five days before the book is published, so grab your ticket now for early access to John of John!
One of the most enjoyable events we’ve ever hosted was for his previous novel, Young Mungo, and we’ve been eagerly anticipating his next book. He’ll be in conversation with Nicola Sturgeon, and we can’t think of a better way to enjoy a summer Saturday evening than by listening to them discuss this wonderful new novel.
Our team already loves John of John, the story of a young man’s return home to the Isle of Harris after studying in Glasgow, exploring the complex emotions and dynamics that such a return can entail. This is a truly special novel, and it’s a privilege to host the launch with one of our favourite writers.
Tickets £15/Ticket plus book £20
May 18
Fredrik Backman for My Friends
7pm, Tollcross Central Hall, 2 W Tollcross, Edinburgh EH3 9BP
Fredrik Backman, the author of Anxious People and A Man Called Ove joins us this May to celebrate the paperback release of My Friends. We hope to see you there!
You have to take life for granted, the artist thinks, the whole thing: sunrises and slow Sunday mornings and water balloons and another person’s breath against your neck. That’s the only courageous thing a person can do.
In the corner of a world-famous painting, three tiny figures sit on the end of a pier, a secret hidden in plain sight.
Twenty-five years ago, a group of teenagers found solace in each other during one unforgettable summer. Their friendship inspired a transcendent work of art, a painting that now mysteriously belongs to eighteen-year-old aspiring artist Louisa. Driven to learn the story behind its creation, Louisa embarks on a journey to the seaside town where it all began. But as she gets closer to the painting’s birthplace, Louisa learns that happy endings do not always take the form we expect.
Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life years later.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £9.99
May 18
Cal Flyn with Dan Richards for The Savage Landscape
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
Cal Flyn returns to Edinburgh to celebrate The Savage Landscape - a brilliant investigation of our relationship to the natural world. Cal’s previous book, Islands of Abandonment was a Sunday Times Bestseller, winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, shortlisted for The Baillie Gifford Prize, Shortlisted for The Wainwright Conservation Award, shortlisted for The British Academy Book Prize.
Cal will be joined by the always-brilliant Dan Richards, author of Overnight. It should make for a fantastic and insightful evening.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £22
May 19
An Evening with Caroline Palmer, in conversation with Heather Darwent
6.30pm, Rare Birds Book Shop, 13 Raeburn Place, EH4 1HU
We’re so excited to welcome Caroline Palmer to the Rare Birds to discuss her brilliant debut novel, Workhorse.
As wickedly funny as it is darkly unsettling, Workhorse is an astonishing story of envy and ambition, set against the glamour and privilege of media and high society in New York at its height.
Caroline will be in conversation with local author and Rare Birds favourite, Heather Darwent.
Tickets £5
May 19
Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever: Lamorna Ash on a new generation’s search for religion
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43-45 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
Why are young people in Britain today turning to faith in our age of uncertainty?
We’ll be springing into summer with a gorgeous paperback launch of Lamorna Ash’s critically acclaimed Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever- a New Generation’s Search for Religion.
In Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever, Ash embarks on a journey across Britain to meet those wrestling with Christianity today. Through interviews and her own deeply personal journey with religion, and from Evangelical youth festivals to Quaker meetings, a silent Jesuit retreat along the Welsh coastline to a monastic community in the Inner Hebrides, she investigates what is driving Gen Z today to embrace Christianity.
Written with lyrical beauty and sensitivity, this is a reminder of our universal need for nourishment of the soul.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £22
May 19
Lauren Elkin - Vocal Break - On Women, Music & Power
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
We are so excited that Lauren Elkin is coming to Portobello for an event to celebrate the publication of her new book, Vocal Break: On Women, Music & Power. It’s a dazzlingly original reassessment of the power and plurality of women’s singing voices by the critically acclaimed author of Art Monsters and Scaffolding. Elkin will be in conversation with art writer, editor and curator Rachel Ashenden.
For millennia, women’s raised voices have been heard as unruly, uncivilized, dangerous. Women singing were cast as sirens: mythical creatures who lured sailors to their death. In Vocal Break, Lauren Elkin seamlessly blends memoir, feminist manifesto and cultural history to explore a plurality of female singing voices – and how women have used them to defy convention, genre, capitalism, racism and sexism.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £22
May 19
Kim Sherwood for Hurricane Room
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
James Bond returns and the Double O agents make their last stand in this gripping and explosive spy thriller from bookseller favourite, Kim Sherwood.
The return of 007
Agent 003, Joanna Harwood, has finally found James Bond after years of searching. All she has to do is get him out of Russia alive and convince him to trust her again.
A mission for revenge
But Bond trusts no one. And he wants revenge on Mora, the monstrous figure at the head of Rattenfanger - a terrorist organisation with links to the past.
The final showdown
MI6’s Double O section is in pieces. Moneypenny is captured. Agents have switched sides. And Rattenfanger’s plans for hijacking the cyber-intelligence of the West are finally about to be realised.
Bond and the remaining Double Os must work together to save the world - and figure out which of them are still loyal...
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £18.99
May 19
Emma Southon for Servus
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
A ground-breaking account of the role slavery played in the creation and maintenance of the Roman Empire by acclaimed classical historian Emma Southon.
We associate the Romans with majesty and greatness: we marvel at their straight roads and innovative underfloor heating, at the dominance of their army and navy, at the grandeur of their palaces and temples. But the Romans were also enslavers. They built an empire on the backs of millions of people snatched from their homes in the aftermath of war, kidnapped from the streets, sold into slavery as punishment or, simply, born enslaved.
Servus takes us into the invisible spaces of the Roman world, where millions of enslaved lives were unwillingly dedicated to the perpetuation of the empire that owned them. From the fields of wheat required to give every Roman their daily bread, to the actors and gladiators who provided their circuses, and the miners who kept Rome a city of gold and marble, enslaved people were the bedrock of the Roman Empire. These enslaved people were ubiquitous, but silenced. Through the fragments they left behind, historian Emma Southon traces the pain and tragedy of their lives alongside the love stories, lifelong friendships, small victories and hard-won freedoms.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £25
May 20
Few and Far Between with Jan Carson
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
From the award-winning author of The Raptures and The Fire Starters, a stunning, imaginative novel about a community living on a small group of islands.
Sometimes a utopia is not all that it seems...
In Few and Far Between, Carson, imagines an alternative version of Northern Ireland’s recent past. A prime minister with a mad plan to create a new county. An archipelago of haunted islands. A community seeking refuge from the Troubles. The perfect place to escape to - or so it appears.
It’s summer 2017 and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years.
How will they cope with modern life? Will the Ark give up its secrets before it sinks? Can they leave the past behind?
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £18.99
May 20
McIlvanney Award Winner Tariq Ashkanani for The Hollow Boys
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
This May, we are joined by most recent McIlvanney Award winner, Tariq Ashkanani, author of The Midnight King, to celebrate the release of his latest novel - The Hollow Boys. Small town mysteries abound in this gripping thriller of missing children and dark conspiracy.
Two children lost. The wrong one found.
It’s a warm evening in September when nine-year-old Danny Yates comes back from the dead. He walks into town half-starved and silent, ten months after he and his best friend Will Keefe were presumed drowned. And when Danny does finally speak, he swears that he’s not Danny. He’s Will.
Danny’s mother is convinced that her boy has come back wrong. More than that, she thinks the town itself is now at risk from whatever dark force returned her son. Chief of Police John Deacon is more interested in how the sinister disappearance of two boys could have been written off as a tragic accident, and who was responsible.
What happened to Danny to make him take on his friend’s name, his personality? And does Danny’s return mean there’s a chance that Will is still alive?
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £16.99
May 20
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
We are so excited to be welcoming Imani Thompson to the Portobello Bookshop to celebrate her debut novel, Honey. Imani will be in conversation with the wonderful Len Pennie!
Funny, sexy, addicting, and unpredictable, you won’t be able to put it down once you get a taste! Honey has been making waves as one of the most talked about novels of 2026, and the buzz is more than warranted. Join us for thrilling conversation about power, love, obsession, and just a little bit of serial killing.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £16.99
May 21
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
We’re delighted to welcome Isabel Ibañez for an evening of conversation to celebrate her latest book Graceless Heart. A lush, atmospheric, and achingly magical standalone adult fantasy romance set in Renaissance Italy.
In 15th century Volterra, sculptress Ravenna Maffei enters a competition hosted by a secretive, immortal family who offer an invaluable boon to the victor. Desperate to win so she can save her brother, Ravenna reveals a rare magical talent – a dangerous act in a city where magic is forbidden.
Isabel Ibañez is an internationally bestselling author of historical fantasy for teens and adults. She has written many highly acclaimed novels, including Woven in Moonlight, as well as the bestselling Secrets of the Nile duology, Together We Burn, and Written in Starlight.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £24
May 21
Sean A Pritchard for Atmosfloric
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
We are delighted to be welcoming Sean Pritchard this May to celebrate his latest book, Atmosfloric. Seans first book, Outside In, is an essential for florists, interior-designers, and gardeners alike. We hope to see you there!
The garden allows us to play with colour. Unlike the colours in our interiors, colour in the garden is fleeting and fickle, and with that comes an exciting opportunity to experiment with a changing performance of colour month after month and to bring those colours indoors for constantly changing displays.
Sean also takes a personal look at colour theory and explores the relationship that gardeners and gardener-artists have had with colour through history.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £30
May 21
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Cristina Rivera Garza for Autobiography of Cotton
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
“A sumptuous work of autofiction that plumbs the mirage-like landscapes of the border region and the frictions that simmer between neighboring nations. In dense, lyrical prose, Rivera Garza weaves in an array of political and historical allusions, highlighting the human costs and environmental degradation caused by the cash crop that created our modern world.” —Time, “The 36 Most Anticipated Books of 2026”
“A historical novel braided with deep personal narrative and research, creating something unique and almost indefinable.”—Literary Hub, ”Most Anticipated Books of 2026”
“Cristina Rivera Garza—mythmaker, archivist, historiographer, etymologist, and philosopher—reveals the blood-soaked blossom between parallel histories. Rooted in careful research, Autobiography of Cotton is a triumph of the critical and speculative imagination.”—Vanessa Angélica Villarreal
From Pulitzer Prize–winning author, Cristina Rivera Garza, comes theAutobiography of Cotton: A Novel, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £14.99
May 22
An Evening with Callum McSorley
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
We are thrilled to be joined by prizewinning author of Squeaky Clean and Paperboy, Callum McSorley, as he chats to David Goodman about his A new dark, gritty and hilarious Glasgow thriller, Rat Race.
DCI Alison McCoist is up to the oxters in Glasgow’s shadiest police unit, with a list of guilty secrets growing longer by the day.
Fran Forbes has just bolted from the scene of a gangland massacre with only a shite-stained tracksuit and a memory stick full of cryptocurrency to his name.
Ally is tasked with looking into this latest underworld rammy and ends up working with some bampots even dodgier than her polis pals. Can she keep Fran from being turned into mince by a Russian OCG and finally free herself from the fankle of police corruption she’s caught in? An enemy from Ally’s past is determined her story won’t have such a happy ending...
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £20
May 22
RJ Barker for Mortedant’s Peril
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
If you have spent any time in the Science Fiction room of our Edinburgh store, you will have invariably had Andrew throwing copies of RJ Barker’s work in your general direction. He is a master at building fantastical worlds for readers to explore, and characters that hum with humour and humanity. This is why we are delighted to welcome him to Edinburgh this spring for the launch of a brand new series!
Irody can speak to the dead. But the living want him silenced.
Mortedants can speak to the dead, and Irody Hasp is the greatest of them. Not that they’ll admit it. Or that anyone actually likes the Mortedants, in particular Irody. Nonetheless, Elbay is a city of tradition and it calls for Mortedants to attend a death. But when Irody reads a clerk’s corpse, he uncovers a vast conspiracy which sees him framed for the murder of those closest to him.
Soon, his execution is only days away. With the eyes of Elbay’s nobles, guilds, and villains all turned his way, Irody must work with unwanted allies: a street urchin and a hulking, inhuman mercenary. With danger lurking and trust a luxury, Irody must save himself, his friends and Elbay - the terrifying, complicated city he loves. Or the darkness that has fallen on him will come for them all.
Mortedant’s Peril is an epic historical fantasy of murder, mystery and unlikely alliances from RJ Barker, award-winning author of The Bone Ships. Perfect for fans of Six of Crows and City of Last Chances.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £22
May 23
Celebrate The Roommate Rule by Georgia Stone!
6.30pm, Lady and the Bear Cafe, 1 Hope Park Terrace, Edinburgh EH8 9LZ
Join us for an in-person event with Georgia Stone to celebrate her new rom-com The Roommate Rule! The event will be chaired by author Elliot Fletcher.
Dylan likes to know exactly where things are going. With her career, her family, her relationship, and, well, everything else. From spreadsheets to themed Pinterest boards, she's meticulously planned out every aspect of her life for as long as she can remember.
Max, meanwhile, always lives in the moment. The world's too full of beautiful places - and beautiful people - to let yourself be tied down. Besides, he's learnt the hard way that no future is ever guaranteed.
So when Dylan's broken up with she's left reeling, with no concrete plans for the first time in her life, aside from the accountancy job she's starting in a few months. Perhaps that's why she finds herself agreeing to a totally off-piste proposition - share a cabin for the summer with her friend's brother during his all-expenses-paid travel influencer trip to the pristine Welsh coast. It's not like six weeks is long enough to throw your entire life off course or anything.
Right?
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £10.99
May 25
Claire Fuller for Hunger & Thirst
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
We’re delighted to be welcoming the Costa Award winning and Women’s Prize shortlisted author, Claire Fuller, to the bookshop this May. We’ll be talking all things Hunger & Thirst, an addictive, propulsive, and unsettling work of literary horror. She is a favourite amongst our booksellers.
1987: After a childhood trauma and years in and out of the care system, sixteen-year-old Ursula finds herself with a new job in the postroom of a local art school, a bed in a halfway house, and-delightfully- some new friends, including wild-child, Sue. When Ursula is invited to join a squat at The Underwood, a mysterious house whose owners met a terrible end, she can’t resist the promise of a readymade, hodgepodge family.
But as Sue’s behaviour and demands become more extreme, Ursula who has always been hungry-for food-and more importantly for love, acceptance and belonging, carries out her friend’s terrible dare. It’s a decision that will haunt her for decades.
Thirty-six years later, Ursula is a renowned, reclusive sculptor living under a pseudonym in London when her identity is exposed by true-crime documentary-maker who is digging into an unsolved disappearance. But it is not only the filmmaker who has discovered Ursula’s whereabouts, and as her past catches up with her present, Ursula must work out whether the monsters are within her or without.
From critically acclaimed and award-winning author, Claire Fuller, Hunger and Thirst is a compelling and chilling tale of loneliness and female friendship, of the dangerous line between wanting and needing, and of how far a person will go to truly belong.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £18.99
May 25
Siri Hustvedt on Paul Auster for Ghost Stories: a Memoir
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
Siri Hustvedt joins us to celebrate Ghost Stories, a deeply tender memoir of the time Siri spent with her husband – writer, poet and filmmaker Paul Auster – from their first encounter in 80s New York to his recent death.
“I began writing Ghost Stories shortly after my husband, Paul Auster, died on April 30th 2024. My meditations on Paul’s cancer, his death, my grief, the potent feeling I had of his presence on the day he was buried, and my memories from the years we spent together are interwoven with several texts that were written before he died: twelve letters I wrote to friends during his cancer treatment; journal entries I wrote between early November, 2023 and May 3, 2024; and three love letters I wrote to Paul in 1981, when he left me for a period of nine or ten days to return to his former life. Although I knew Paul had saved those letters, I hadn’t read them since they were written and had only a foggy recollection of their content.
In the last month of his life, Paul began writing what he hoped would be a small book of letters to our grandson, Miles Auster Hustvedt Ostrander, who was born on January 1st, 2024. Paul was too weak to finish it as planned, but the thirty-five pages he did manage to write are interwoven in this book.
I want to stress that Paul’s text is not an appendix to mine but an integral part of the book as a whole. Because the memoir turns on attachment, betweenness, and dialogue, all crucial to the love affair that lasted forty-three years, the insertion of one author’s text into another’s, is, in this case, essential to the memoir’s overall meaning.”
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £22
May 25
An Evening with Matt Haig - The Midnight Train
7.30pm, Freemason’s Hall, 96 George St, Edinburgh EH2 3DH
We’re really looking forward to welcoming Matt Haig back to Edinburgh for the Scottish launch of his latest novel, The Midnight Train, in conversation with Len Pennie.
The Midnight Train is a magical, time-travelling love story, from the world of the number one Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling The Midnight Library.
When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop?
No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there.
The chance to re-live the moments that meant most.
To see what kind of person you really were.
For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his honeymoon in Venice. Before he gave it all away.
He wishes he could go back and live differently. But to do so risks everything.
Tickets £18/Ticket plus book £25
May 26
An evening with Sarah Gilmartin
7pm, Rare Birds Bookshop, Raeburn Place, Stockbridge
We’re delighted to welcome novelist Sarah Gilmartin to Rare Birds to discuss her new novel Little Vanities.
Sarah is the author of Service and Dinner Party which are both best-sellers in store so we can’t wait to sit down and chat about Little Vanities.
Dylan, Stevie and Ben have been inseparable since their days at Trinity, when everything seemed possible. A glance between them can still conjure their younger selves: dancing beneath pulsing lights, the sharp taste of salt after swims in Dublin Bay. Two decades on, life feels smaller.
Dylan, once a rugby star, is stranded on the sofa, cared for by his wife Rachel. Across town, Stevie and Ben’s relationship has settled into weary routine. Then, after countless auditions, Ben lands a role in Pinter’s Betrayal.
As rehearsals unfold, the play’s shifting allegiances seep into reality, reviving old jealousies and awakening sudden longings, as each must reckon with how far they’re willing to go in pursuit of desire. Wry, sexy and deftly observed, Little Vanities is a novel about the dangerous thrill of stepping outside the roles we’ve been given - and the distance between the lives we imagine and the ones we live.
Tickets £5
May 26
Sarah Raven for A Year of Cut Flowers
7pm, Edinburgh New Town Church, 13 George St, Edinburgh EH2 2PA
Join us for tips, tricks and everything you could possibly wish to know about planning, growing and arranging your own cutting garden from the queen of cut flowers, Sarah Raven.
Sarah shares the secrets she has evolved over decades at Perch Hill to keep cut flower production nearly constant, from the start of the growing year to the end. With her unparalleled expertise up your sleeve, you’ll have a house full of flowers conditioned to last well in a vase, and an abundant garden always brimming with colour.
With plenty of cut-flower inspiration and practical advice such as:
- How to choose high, medium and low productive cut-and-come-again plants so you can enjoy bountiful vases of home-grown blooms.
- Which plants should form the backbone of any cutting patch or garden, large or small.
- Plant rotation, with a selection of plant groups coming in and out of the same patch of soil.
- A year-round plan to achieve efficient cut flower production and ensure highest possible production from minimal space.
- How to condition and arrange your cut flowers for maximum impact and longevity.
Early bird tickets £15/Ticket plus book £30
May 26
Ruth Ozeki - The Typing Lady and Other Fictions
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
We are so pleased to be welcoming Ruth Ozeki to the bookshop to discuss her brilliant new book, The Typing Lady and Other Fictions. The first story collection from the Booker Prize finalist and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction is cause for celebration and we couldn't be happier that she will be here and in conversation with Sam Baker, host of The Shift podcast.
Exploring childhood ambition, youthful desire, midlife reinvention, and the unsparing clarity of old age, Ozeki brings us 12 richly imagined stories of characters standing at life’s thresholds. A college student falls for her professor and learns to transmute longing into language. A disquieted husband watches as the ghost of his wife’s ambition roams the woods outside their home. A long-deceased Beat poet hijacks the mind of a young publishing assistant and rails against the state of modern literature. A curious grandmother creates a fake online dating profile to spy on her granddaughter’s romantic life – and sets in motion a deception she can’t control.
Spanning eras and geographies, The Typing Lady is an electrifying meditation on the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we abandon and the stories we become. Threaded with the tactile ephemera of writing – typewriters, letters, manuscripts and disappearing ink – the book reveals how we record ourselves in language, and how language, over time, records us in return.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £18.99
May 26
Thundery at Times Event with Katie Carr
6.30pm, Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street, EH3 5AQ
The hopeful, honest and humorous story of one woman’s attempt to finish the challenge left to her by her brother: to sea kayak in every area of the Shipping Forecast.
Katie had never been in a sea kayak, but when her brother Toby died in the middle of his challenge to paddle in every area of the Shipping Forecast, she decided to honour his memory by completing his adventure. On a journey that takes her from the monotonies of motherhood in urban Barcelona to the far reaches of the Shipping Forecast through the wilds of the British Isles, Katie is forced to face her past and question her present, exploring the loss of her family members as well as her own identity. After two years of inelegant paddling and potentially worse parenting, can she finally cross the finish line?
Thundery at Times is not a story of battling high seas or completing daring tasks, but one of making your own rules and living life to the full. It is about finding joy and hope in nature, motherhood and middle age, in nurturing your own adventures and embracing connection and peace. It is a story of female resilience in the face of adversity; of staring down grief and asking, what’s possible from here?
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £18.99
May 26
Tari Lang for My Neighbour, The Dictator
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
We are excited to be welcoming Tari Lang to the bookshop this May to celebrate her memoir, My Neighbour, the Dictator - a rare first-hand memoir of Indonesia’s pivotal year, 1965. Tari combines the intimacy of literary memoir with the insight of Indonesian political history. It is not an event to be missed.
Indonesia, 1965. As General Suharto seizes power and the streets of Jakarta run with fear, 14-year-old Tari Budiardjo’s life is torn apart. Her Javanese father and British-born mother - intellectuals and civil servants-turned-radicals in Sukarno’s government - are imprisoned without trial, leaving her to navigate adolescence in a city of soldiers, informers and whispered betrayals. Between crushes, curfews and secret errands for the resistance, Tari finds herself caught between childhood and revolution. My Neighbour, The Dictator is both an intimate memoir and a rare witness to Indonesia’s most turbulent years - a story of family, love and survival in the shadow of tyranny.
Early bird tickets £8/Ticket plus book £10.99
May 27
Havisham: Elle Machray delivers a queer feminist reimagining of Dickens
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop - 43 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
A thrilling and immersive historical novel, Machray’s new novel Havisham is a queer feminist reimagining in which Dickens’ most infamous female character tells her side of the story at last - we could not be more thrilled to be hosting an Edinburgh launch!
Jilted bride. Mad witch. Tragic villainess. This time, she will have her revenge.
Charlotte Havisham has a secret. She’s been underestimated for too long: by her former fiancé, Compeyson; by her family; and by society. But now her true heart’s desire is within reach for the first time. And she will stop at nothing to get it.
This is the story of Miss Havisham as you’ve never heard it before. And she will exceed all expectations.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £16.99
May 27
Dave Goulson for Eat the Planet Well
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
Join us this spring for Professor Dave Goulson’s delightfully enlightening Eat the Planet Well: How to fix our toxic food system - one meal at a time.
How can we eat well without harming the planet?
The way we produce food today is damaging people and nature alike. Modern, intensive farming systems producing pesticide-laced, ultra-processed foods are bad for us and bad for the planet.
But there is cause for hope. From supporting more sustainable farming systems and modifying what we eat to wasting less and growing more ourselves, Dave Goulson shows that change is possible and individual choices do matter - even while governments fail to act.
Packed with surprising insights and practical guidance, Eat the Planet Well cuts through the information overload to help us navigate the tricky decisions we face every day, and offers an optimistic vision for a healthier future.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £22
May 28 - new listing
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
We are delighted to be welcoming the award-winning Kate Foster, as we celebrate the publication of her enthralling, deeply compelling and at times chilling new work of historical fiction, The Repentants.
St Monans, Fife, Scotland 1790. Two women are forced to publicly repent in church, one for adultery the other for breaching the sabbath. Wealthy housewife, Florrie, and salt serf, Eliza, form a quick and unusual bond over their mutual humiliation. So when Florrie’s husband decides she must accompany him on a trade venture to Iceland, she insists Eliza comes as her maid.
Far from home, isolated and fearful, the two women grow ever closer. Then Florrie’s husband reveals his sinister plan: he will leave her in Iceland, banished for the shame she has cast upon him. Florrie must escape, but when she turns to Eliza for help she realizes nothing is quite as it seems . . .
Inspired by an attempt by Scottish merchants to annex Iceland as a remote prison for the British Empire, The Repentants is a chilling tale of betrayal, exile and survival from the Women’s Prize long-listed author of The Maiden, Kate Foster.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £23
May 28 - new listing
Hard Place: queer lit night with Gab Torr and Wuthering Dykes
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
Everyone’s healing. No-one’s happy.
For years, Billy’s decisions have been made for her by long-term girlfriend Rose, leaving her free not to think for – or about – herself. But when they break up and Billy is left without anywhere to live, she’s forced to take up an unappealing but affordable SpareRoom ad. Her new flatmates, Sid and Rhoda, are the kinds of people who talk very seriously about taking accountability, adhering to the flat’s community guidelines and holding space for one another. Meals are communal by force, polyamory is assumed, and whatever the problem, capitalism’s usually to blame. Yes, Rhoda’s parents own the flat, but that doesn’t matter: they’re unapologetically political and loudly queer, and slowly Billy becomes enmeshed in their radical, vulnerable world. But as Billy’s past starts to catch up with her, and all of their boundaries begin to crumble, each of them must reckon with what they truly stand for – and what they’ll sacrifice to hold onto it.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £16.99
May 28
Berdoulat’s Patrick Williams for The House Rules
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
We are so looking forward to hosting Patrick Williams this May. Patrick’s shop, Berdoulat, and his work are both beloved by our booksellers. We hope to see you there.
Founder of Berdoulat, a Bath-based architectural and interior design practice with a beautiful shop on Margaret’s Buildings, Patrick Williams is known for his minute attention to detail when working with period buildings. The House Rules expresses his studio mantra: the building is the client – an approach that encourages the building to dictate what’s done to it, why and how.
Patrick’s childhood was spent on a building site. He was mixing lime render aged three, and learned his trade at the coalface via purist parents (who only hung paintings with 18th century hand-forged nails). The book plots out how these early years, followed by a fine art degree, resulted in the birth of Berdoulat, now in its twentieth year.
Rather than being organised on a project-by-project basis, Andrew Montgomery’s stunning images are thematically sequenced and serve to illustrate Patrick’s musings on the difference between today’s approach to design and manufacture, versus that found in period buildings. At times philosophical, at others technical, he focuses on how these fundamental changes in practice affect our mental health and that of the planet.
With beautiful photography from Andrew Montgomery, frequent references to food and the kitchen, a recipe and even a foreword from Nigel Slater, this is not your typical interior design book.
Early bird ticket £10/Ticket plus book £40
May 28
Jem Calder - I Want You to Be Happy
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
We’re excited to welcome Jem Calder for an evening event to discuss his debut novel, I Want You to Be Happy. Calder’s debut short story collection, Reward System, was published to much fanfare and praised by the likes of Sally Rooney in 2022.
Funny, excruciating, and true, I Want You to Be Happy is a sharp-eyed tale of two people searching for meaning and connection in modern times, missing the mark maybe, but trying.
Chuck and Joey meet in a bar. He’s in his mid-thirties; she’s twelve years younger. He’s long abandoned his ambition of becoming a novelist and now works as a copyeditor at a big ad agency. “Lead copywriter,” he corrects himself.
Joey lives paycheck to paycheck on her barista wages and privately dreams of making it as a poet. They go back to Chuck’s luxury flat - a world away from Joey’s cramped house-share, the crumbs in her bed.
Soon, Joey’s imagining a future between them, and Chuck’s moving on from a major change in his recent past. Amazing, how meeting a new person can make you feel so new.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £14.99
May 29
Katja Hoyer for Weimar
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
From bestselling historian Katja Hoyer comes a gripping story of life during the rise and reign of Hitler through the eyes of the people of Weimar.
Weimar looms large in German history: a crucible of democracy and dictatorship. This ancient town nestled in the heart of the country was home to some of Europe’s greatest thinkers, Goethe and Schiller, Liszt and Nietzsche among them. It gave its name to the ambitious Weimar Republic crafted in the aftermath of the First World War. But it was also where fascism took hold. Where Bauhaus architects first experimented with new ways of living, Buchenwald was dug out of a beech forest.
Weimar shows us a town and its people on the edge of catastrophe. Drawing on a wealth of new archival research, acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer takes us from 1919 to 1939 as she tells the stories of the men and women who lived through the new republic and Hitler’s regime. We encounter a vividly drawn cast of characters, from bookbinder Carl Weirich and hotel owners Rosa and Arthur Schmidt, to Friedrich Nietzsche’s sister Elisabeth. Here are fascists and socialists, artists and workers, politicians and citizens, who, as the events of history swept them up, became witnesses, perpetrators, victims and bystanders.
An unforgettable picture of lives and choices in extraordinary circumstances, Weimar takes us deep into the heart of the storm - to the town that dreamt of a better world, and woke up to tyranny.
Early bird tickets £12/Ticket plus book £30
May 31
Bookshop Signing with Elle Kelk
11am, Book Lovers Bookshop, 6 Melville Terrace Edinburgh UK EH9 1ND
Join us for a Bookshop Signing at Book Lovers Bookshop with author Elle Kelk.
Ticket plus book £9.99
June 1 - new listing
Celebrate A Queen Crowned in Flames by Hazel McBride
7pm, Christ Church Morningside, 6a Morningside Road, EH10 4DD
Join us for an in-person event with Hazel McBride to celebrate her new romantasy book A Queen Crowned in Flames! The event will be chaired by author of The Lady of the Lake, Dr. Jean Menzies.
Revenge is a fire that burns bright in the epic finale of the Sunday Times bestselling duology that began with A Fate Forged in Fire. Aemyra Daercathian is a queen on the run. Having failed to take Àird Lasair and betrayed by her husband - whom she grew to trust and and was beginning to fall for during her time in captivity - Aemyra is forced to retreat with a raging desire for revenge. But before she can settle the score and fulfill a sacred promise to kill Fiorean, her forces must rest and replenish their strength. No one can know the truth. Even though Aemyra has a fierce dragon and a large army of elemental wielders called Dùileach standing behind her, she has lost what’s most important to her - her fire magic.
Haunted by her love for her enemy, and unsure if she is even goddess-blessed anymore, Aemyra vows to do right by her people. Even if that means she must make a new kind of alliance, one that could mean winning back her kingdom. At a cost to her heart... From the ashes, Aemyra must emerge as a new kind of queen, but will she be the dawn for her people or the fire that burns everything to the ground?
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £22/Ticket plus book bundle £32.99
June 1
Tayari Jones for Kin
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
The Women’s Prize winning author of An American Marriage, Tayari Jones, joins us this June. Her latest novel, Kin, is a richly told novel about mothers and daughters, about a lifelong friendship, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South. We hope to see you there!
Vernice and Annie are ‘cradle friends’, both born in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, both destined never to know their mothers. The girls are inseparable, bound by a friendship far deeper than sisterhood, but as they grow up, their lives start to look very different in the segregated America of the 1950s and 60s.
Both girls leave Honeysuckle in search of something that might fill the hole left by their absent mothers: a university education, the promise of a first love affair, the hope offered by the simmering civil rights movement. But it is Annie whose bad decisions pull her into a world of danger, leaving her oldest friend to battle to save her.
Early bird ticket £8/Ticket plus book £18.99
June 1
Graeme Thomson for In Another World: Four Seasons of Talk Talk
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
Join the brilliant Graeme Thomson to celebrate the definitive biography of one of the most critically acclaimed and enigmatic groups of all time: Talk Talk.
An elegant, erudite and insightful study of a unique and exceptional group, In Another World explores the full creative lifespan of Talk Talk and Mark Hollis while focusing on four remarkable records: The Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, alongside Hollis’s eponymous solo album, released in 1998.
When Mark Hollis died suddenly in 2019 aged 64, he left behind a slim but perfectly formed collection of Talk Talk albums, one solo album in twenty-three years and an ever-burgeoning mystique which only continues to grow with each passing year.
The band’s reputation is formed on the imperious run of three albums released between 1986 and 1991, yet Hollis and the band remain a carefully shrouded mystery.
For the first time, Graeme Thomson seeks to unpick this knottiest of musical locks and understand the other world of Talk Talk.
Early bird ticket £10/Ticket plus book £25
June 1
Your Presence is a Danger to Your Life: Samar Yazbek shares voices from Gaza
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
Throughout 2024, Samar Yazbek met with hundreds of survivors from Gaza asking each one of them about their experience of October 7, 2023, and what their life has been like since that pivotal date. She has selected twenty-six of these narratives to share with the world. Yazbek captures the raw, chilling accounts of ordinary civilians aged thirteen to sixty-five, who have witnessed what history may one day remember as one of the most savage military offensives of our time. Their stories reveal a nightmarish dystopia, where each survivor has endured unimaginable loss – homes shattered, loved ones vanished, limbs obliterated – and many have been treated in hospitals ravaged by Israeli attacks.
But these survivors remain determined to share their stories, and cling to the hope that their voices will resonate. The title, Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life, is adapted from one of the flyers dropped on the residents of Gaza minutes before a bombing.
Please join us to welcome Syrian writer and journalist, Samar Yazbek to Lighthouse for a thought-provoking discussion on loss, grief and hope against the backdrop of the ongoing Israeli siege and genocide in Palestine.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £14.99
June 2 - new listing
7pm, Blackwell’s Edinburgh, South Bridge
Everything you know about leadership is about to expire.
The rulebook most leaders rely on was written for a slower world that no longer exists.
Join Mike Soutar as he chats about his rigorous, practical manual for leading through a period of change unlike anything experienced in recent working memory, Next Gen CEO.
This is not a book about management theory. It is about the raw mechanics of leadership - the principles that remain when the noise of the modern world is stripped away. In 60 sharp, micro-learning chapters, Mike Soutar distils decades of experience as a founder, CEO, and the formidable interviewer from BBC’s The Apprentice.
These are the benchmarks Mike used to judge Britain’s most ambitious entrepreneurs and the hard-won truths he used to scale his own multi-million-pound businesses. No jargon. No waffle. Just battle-tested frameworks for a world where AI, distributed work, and economic upheaval are reshaping the workplace in real time. Leadership is a behaviour, not a job title. The future will reward those who learn faster than the world is changing.
Are you ready to be a leader others choose to follow?
Tickets £3/Ticket plus book £22
June 2
Sarah A Parker for The Ballad of Falling Dragons
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
This June, Sarah A Parker joins us to discuss The Ballad of Falling Dragons -the powerful second instalment in the Moonfall series - featuring an immersive, vibrant world with mysterious creatures, a unique magic system, and a love that blazes through the ages.
The conversation will be chaired by Hazel McBride, the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Fate Forged in Fire.
Early bird ticket £10/Ticket plus book £22
June 2
Let the Quiet Ones Rise: An Evening of Weirdness and Wonder with Robin Ince
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
A new book from the fabulous Robin Ince will always be occasion to celebrate, so celebrate we will!
Join us for an evening of weirdness and wonder as Robin reads from his latest poetry collection - Let the Quiet Ones Rise : Poems about standing up and standing out - and invites us into the world of his last nonfiction, fresh into paperback: Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal : My Adventures in Neurodiversity.
Robin Ince is many things. A comedian, an author, a broadcaster and a populariser of scientific ideas. A campaigner of huge integrity and a joyous performer. The Guardian once declared him a ‘becardiganed polymath’ which seems about right.
SO! Join us for an evening of words and ideas and protest with the motor mouth, easily diverted, ever beguiling storyteller that is Robin Ince.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £10.99
June 3
Sathnam Sanghera on George Michael: Tonight the Music Seems so Loud
7pm, Greyfriars Charteris Centre, 138-140 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9RR
This June, Sathnam Sanghera joins us to celebrate Tonight the Music Seems So Loud - at once a kaleidoscopic portrait of one of Britain’s most beloved musicians and an account of a strange and turbulent period of British history. In his unconventional and enthralling book, Sathnam explores the connection between music and politics, exposes what secrecy does to the soul, and reveals how fame rots the sense of self. Throughout, Sanghera captures, joyfully and poignantly, one of Britain’s greatest artists in all his musical glory.
He wrote one of the biggest hits of our age in ‘about an hour’ in his childhood bedroom. He would go on to collaborate with some of the greatest musicians of all time, from Aretha Franklin to Stevie Wonder. He was a pop star who bleached his hair blonde, wore tiny shorts and, at the same time, critiqued his own image mercilessly. He lived through the AIDS crisis and one of the most homophobic periods of British history and yet when he finally came out, he did so boldly and unapologetically.
Ten years after his death, George Michael is still everywhere: the annual success of ‘Last Christmas’, new covers of his songs, and endless memes on social media.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £22
June 3
Jennifer Saint for This Immortal Heart
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
Jennifer Saint joins us epic to celebrate This Immortal Heart: an epic story of love and war where two opposing deities find themselves drawn to each other against all odds. When Aphrodite and Ares fall in love, sparks are bound to fly...
THIS IS THE OLDEST LOVE STORY OF ALL TIME . .
Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, wields unparalleled power over every divine and mortal heart. Though her world is one of beauty, she is the most dangerous god of all, ruled by passion regardless of the consequences.
Ares, God of War, is her perfect contradiction: feared, unwanted and relentless in his devotion to chaos. Where she breathes life into longing, he thrives in destruction.
And yet gods are no more immune to love and loss than anyone else, and soon their lives collide. But even divine love can’t protect them from the fates of Mount Olympus, and whilst the God of War may be capable of greater love than anyone else, so many the Goddess of Love be capable of the gravest mistakes.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £18.99
June 3
Broken Sleep Books Scotland Showcase: Ricky Monahan Brown & Maria Sledmere
7pm, Typewronger Books, 4a Haddington Place, Edinburgh EH7 4AE
Join us to celebrate recent publications from two of Scotland’s most vibrant contemporary writers.
Ricky Monahan Brown is known for writing prose; Maria Sledmere, poetry. For their respective publications from Broken Sleep Books, however, both went to ‘the other side’ – from this came the ‘ambient’ novella The Indigo Hours, and the poetry pamphlet Drawer of Letters.Who let this happen? Should we be concerned? How did this change their approaches to writing, if at all? And, now the dust has settled, what happens next?
For answers to these questions, readings from their new books, and a discussion on the boundaries between genre and form, join us at Typewronger.
Free, but ticketed
June 4
Graeme Armstrong for Raveheart
7pm, Voco Royal Terrace, 18 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AQ
A high NRG, whip-smart look at the state of modern Britain through the eyes of a disparate band of rave rebels, from the author of acclaimed, best-selling debut The Young Team and one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists.
William Patterson - better known as DJ Turbo - is living a soulless existence after his glory days as resident spinner at a local Coatbridge ice rink, The Time Capsule, have been snatched from him. As a far-right UK regime sweeps to power, ‘The New Greatest Britishest Party’ cracks down on youth, culture, drugs and - the final straw - electronica. Incensed by a blanket ban of their beloved tunes, Turbo and his comrades launch a rave revolt - resurrecting the illegal warehouse parties of the past in this new darker, monolithic Greatest Britain, as a powerful act of resistance.
But, as the political situation escalates and secret police surveil every corner of society, Turbo and his troops fly ever closer to the sun in the dangerous world of the anti-rave abolitionist paramilitary. Mixing classic hardcore anthems, nu-gen euphoria enthusiasts and psychotropic chemical courtships, they will fight the war for the rave. Deciding who to trust... and who may betray the cause is everything. The future of the whole nation is on the line... can Turbo be the hero not just of rave, but of Scotland?
Hilarious, tragic and incredibly clever all at once, this unique, narcotic trip of a novel is a modern, meta, mayhem-filled cultural coup d’etat and cult-classic in the making, written in an inimitable and energetic voice, from one of the most electrifying young writers in Britain today.
Early bird ticket £8/Ticket plus book £16.99
June 4
Shannon Chakraborty - The Tapestry of Fate
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh EH15 1DA
The Portobello Bookshop is overjoyed to welcome Shannon Chakraborty to Edinburgh for a discussion of her latest book The Tapestry of Fate. This is the highly-anticipated sequel to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, an epic historical fantasy full of pirates, magic, and, you guessed it, adventure! Chakraborty is the author of the beloved Daevabad Trilogy, starting with City of Brass. Join us for a brilliant conversation between Shannon and fellow fantasy author Hannah Kaner for an insight to the spellbinding world of Amina al-Sirafi.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £18.99
June 4
7pm, Waterstones West End, Princes Street
Join award-winning author David Goodman as he chats to Nicholas Binge about his propulsive, intelligent, edge-of-your-seat new book, Solitary Agents.
Jamie Tulloch and Sam Li never intended to be spies. Jamie, a former exec at a tech company, found himself caught up in a mission and discovered a taste for the secret world while Sam, a burnt-out corporate lawyer, was unexpectedly talent spotted by MI5. When both are plunged into covert training, they find themselves pitted against each other for their final evaluation – Exercise Red Poacher.
Every year, MI6 trainees must evade capture, infiltrate sensitive sites and report back with the right intel, while their peers at MI5 try to stop them. But things take a sinister turn when they witness the apparent murder of one of their fellow recruits. Is it all part of the exercise? Or is someone trying to weaponise this game of spies into something far more deadly?
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £23
June 5
Kirsty Lockwood in conversation with Nicola Sturgeon for We Know What You Did
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
This June, we’re joined by Kirsty Lockwood to celebrate her fantastic debut novel, We Know What You Did. We’re delighted to share that the event will be chaired by the former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
Everyone saw the murder happen.
Now they want to know why.
Nineteen-year-old Odette and eighty-year-old Amos were already famous. Their unlikely, heartwarming friendship captured the hearts of thousands of fans online.
But when Amos is brutally murdered during a livestream and Odette is filmed covered in his blood, there’s no question who’s to blame.
The video of the murder quickly goes viral, and the world is hungry for answers. How did a sweet, lonely girl turn on her only friend? And why won’t she say a word in her defence?
As the media storm worsens, Odette is frightened, alone and refusing to speak. But time is fast running out and if she stays silent, the truth may never be revealed . . .
We Know What You Did is an incredibly compelling and tense debut with an unforgettable voice and a protagonist that leaps off the page.
Early bird tickets £10/Ticket plus book £16.99
June 5-7 - new listing
The Pleasance, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ
CYMERA is Scotland’s Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Writing. Each year CYMERA brings writers, readers and publishing industry experts together in celebration of speculative fiction. At CYMERA you’ll find author panels and book signings, writing workshops, open mics, live performances, bookish quizzes, tabletop gaming spaces and so much more. Each year the festival is held both in Edinburgh and online, allowing genre-enthusiasts to tune in no matter where they are in the world.
Weekend passes on sale from April 13, individual event tickets available from April 20.
June 7
Maggie O’Farrell for Land
4pm, Assembly Rooms, 54 George St, Edinburgh EH2 2LR
Please note, this is the afternoon event with Maggie (4pm-5pm). For the evening event, please click here - however, the evening event is now sold out.
The wonderful Maggie O’Farrell will be joining us to celebrate her latest novel, Land.
She is the author of Hamnet, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and the memoir I Am, I Am, I Am, both Sunday Times no. 1 bestsellers.
Hamnet has been made into a film, with Maggie co-writing the screenplay with Academy-Award-winning director Chloé Zhao. The film has won Best Motion Picture at the Golden Globes and the Audience Award at multiple film festivals. Maggie has been nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay.
Maggie joins us to celebrate the launch of her highly anticipated new novel Land. We hope you will join us to hear this extraordinary author talk on what will undoubtably be one of the biggest books of the year.
Ticket plus book £25
June 8 - new listing
W Elliot Bulmer for Burning the Union at Both Ends
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
With the Scottish parliamentary elections this year, it feels apt that we take the opportunity to welcome W Elliot Bulmer to the bookshop to celebrate Burning the Union at Both Ends.
Bulmer delves into the complex and often fraught relationship between Scotland and England, examining the constitutional challenges that threaten their union.
Through a nuanced exploration of history, culture, and politics, he invites readers to reflect on the implications of a fractured union. With insights that resonate in today’s turbulent political climate, Bulmer encourages a candid dialogue about national identity, heritage and the sacrifices required for unity or self-determination.
Tickets £8/Ticket plus book £16.99
June 8 - new listing
Skins’ Hannah Murray for The Make-Believe
7pm, Main Hall, Edinburgh Academy, 42 Henderson Row, Edinburgh EH3 5BL
From the actor known for Skins and Games of Thrones, a deeply intimate, shockingly honest memoir about acting, fame, mental illness and the struggle to leave a cult-like organisation whose belief in magic shattered Hannah’s reality.
In 2017, Hannah Murray was a successful actor whose career had taken her to Hollywood and given her the opportunity to act with A list stars and Oscar-winning directors. But as the daily costs of acting grew, from the degradations of auditions to repeating violent scenes over and over, Hannah found herself searching for something to make her feel better. One day, a reiki healer promises her a new kind of treatment, a kind of magic, and all of a sudden Hannah’s life is changed.
Back in London, she becomes increasingly involved with the organisation behind the magic, an organisation whose charismatic leader, promises of secret knowledge, and increasingly complex rituals, are seductive, cult-like - and ultimately destructive, as Hannah finds herself on a week-long course from her friends and family - and her sanity falls apart. Detained in hospital, she struggles to understand the difference between what’s real, and what’s imagined. The result is a propulsive, shockingly honest, and extraordinarily intimate portrayal of a mind taken over the edge.
From the outer edges of fame, through Hollywood film sets and London parties, Hannah’s life has slowly moved from that of a successful starlet to that of a young woman seduced by the magical thinking of an organisation that promises health and happiness beyond her wildest dreams, but her reality becomes far more disturbing than she could ever have imagined.
Shocking, intimate and compulsive, The Make-Believe is an ultimately uplifting and inspiring story of empathy, resilience and the power of belief.
Tickets £12/Ticket plus book £18.99
June 9 - new listing
Rottenheart: launching Kat Dunn’s new Gothic horror with Kirsty Logan
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop Garden, off West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
Bringing dark tendrils to a summer night, we’re thrilled to the bone to be hosting the Edinburgh launch of a new gothic horror from the frociously talented Kat Dunn!
A visceral tale of grief and madness, Rottenheart exhumes the heart of Hamlet to tell a fearless queer love story laced with an unforgettable haunting, asking whether we can truly outrun our suffering, or if we are forever indebted to the vengeful dead.
To bring the book into the world, we have Kirsty Logan hosting Kat, in the bookshop garden: join us...
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £16.99
June 9 - new listing
Olivia Laing - The Silver Book
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh EH15 1DA
It’s our great pleasure to be welcoming Olivia Laing to the bookshop for an event to celebrate the paperback publication of their latest novel, The Silver Book. Laing will be in conversation with Fiona Bradley, the Director of Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery.
It is September 1974. Two men meet by chance in Venice. One is a young English artist, in panicked flight from London. The other is Danilo Donati, the magician of Italian cinema, the designer responsible for realising the spectacular visions of Fellini and Pasolini. Donati is in Venice to produce sketches for Fellini’s Casanova. A young – and beautiful – apprentice is just what he needs.
He sweeps Nicholas to Rome, into the looking-glass world of Cinecittà, the studio where Casanova’s Venice will be ingeniously assembled. Then in the spring, the lovers move together to the set of Salò, Pasolini’s horrifying fable of fascism.
But Nicholas has a secret and in this world of constant illusion, his real nature passes unseen. Amidst the rising tensions of Italy’s ‘Years of Lead’, he acts as an accelerant, setting in motion a tragedy he didn’t intend...
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £9.99
June 9 - new listing
Cooks & Books: Helen McGinn for The Supermarket Wine Guide
7pm, The Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
Excellent wine doesn’t have to be expensive!
Much loved TV-wine expert Helen McGinn brings you the ultimate guide to choosing the best bottle of wine at your local supermarket.
Celebrating the breadth and quality of wines stocked on our high street, this money-saving selection covers recommendations for every major supermarket, with over 180 bottles divided into seven key chapters - red, white, rose, sparkling, orange, sweet & fortified and non-alcoholic.
So, no matter your budget, this wine-lovers guide will help you find your new favourite bottle in all of the following: Asda, Aldi, Co-op, Lidl, M&S, Majestic, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose.
Ticket plus book £14.99
June 9 - new listing
Michele Masneri for Paradiso
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
Michele Masneri is a freelance writer in Rome. He contributes to the national newspaper Il Foglio, for which he was a special correspondent in Silicon Valley from 2016 to 2018. He’s also a regular contributor to Vogue Italia. His first novel, Addio, Monti, was published in 2014.
This event is organised in conjunction with the Italian Cultural Institute and made possible with their support.
On the hottest day of one of the hottest summers anyone has ever known, young journalist Federico Desideri is sent on an apparently routine assignment; to snatch an interview with Italy’s latest Oscar winning film director. But in Rome. Far from the comforts of his native Milan. When the director turns out to be elusive, and the Romans as rough as their reputation, Federico falls in with Barry Volpicelli, the rumoured inspiration behind the winning movie’s lead character - a seductive, fast-talking, America-obsessed rogue, and instead of finding his interviewee, he finds himself in Paradiso - Barry’s crumbling country estate on the Lazio coast, with an eccentric cast of inhabitants who seem frozen in time. Alan Bennett meets Fellini at a shabby, Italian White Lotus in this novel which is a satirical bildungsroman through the nature of illusion, escapism and the enduring myth of the Eternal City. As Federico navigates the absurdities, passions, and dangers of this apparent paradise, it starts to look more and more like purgatory, and he begins to question how he can find his way out.
Tickets £8/Ticket plus book £13.99
June 9 - new listing
Kathryn Stockett: The Calamity Club
7pm, Christ Church Morningside, EH10 4DD
We are overjoyed to welcome global bestselling author of The Help, Kathryn Stockett, to Edinburgh with her new novel The Calamity Club - a triumphant, big-hearted novel from one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.
Oxford, Mississippi, 1933.
Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one.
Ever since her beloved mother failed to come home last Christmas Eve, she’s been one of the “unadoptable” big girls at the town’s orphanage where she fights each day to keep her wits sharp and her spirit unbowed.
When she meets Birdie, a young woman set on confronting the socialite sister who believes she’s left her impoverished family behind, for the first time in a long while it seems someone else might care about Meg’s future.
But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister’s charmed life is balanced precariously upon a tapestry of lies. Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman haunted by loss who has been pushed to the brink with nothing left to lose.
Drawn together by circumstance, they find unexpected kinship among a disreputable, determined band of women. But in a town steeped in hypocrisy, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences…
Tickets £10/Ticket plus book £25
June 10 - new listing
How Queer Bookshops Changed the World: An evening with AJ West & June Thomas
7pm, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43-45 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
On the eve of indie bookshop week we’re celebrating Queer bookshops in particular with an Edinburgh launch of AJ West’s How Queer Bookshops Changed The World, hosted by to wondrous June Thomas, and followed by a Q&A bringing in Lavender Menace’s iconic founders, Bob & Sigrid!
Travelling from Shakespeare and Company in Paris to Gay’s the Word in London to the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop in New York, A.J. West has written the first history of these remarkable spaces. Tracing their evolution from under-the-counter operations to beloved out-and-proud institutions, West reveals how they stood at the vanguard of LGBTQ+ rights, offering support through the AIDS crisis and bringing the fight to Section 28.
How Queer Bookshops Changed the World celebrates cherished shops past and present, the ground-breaking books they championed when others wouldn’t, and the booksellers who demonstrated courage and community through it all.
Tickets £4/Ticket plus book £16.99
June 10 - new listing
Minette Batters for Harvest
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
The first female president of the National Farmers’ Union in its 109-year history tells the story of how she fought tooth and nail for British farms through some of the country’s most tumultuous years - and what we need to do next.
We’re delighted to be hosting Minette Batters for Harvest, a brilliant book that blends memoir and manifesto, offering a powerful insight into the real lives of farmers, a love letter to British rural life, and a rallying cry to save it.
Born and raised on a small farm, Minette’s love for farming never wavered. Even after her father warned her there was no future in farming, her heart brought her home to take over the family business. While running the farm, managing her successful catering business and raising her twins, she joined the NFU to help advocate for locally grown food and the people who feed us. In her third act, as advocate for the UK’s farming industry, she became the most visible agriculture expert in the UK, at a time when Brexit, Covid and international conflict has pushed our farms, and our food production, to a state of crisis. Who better to guide us through the political landscape that surrounds how we feed the nation and what our farmers need to thrive?
Tickets £10/Ticket plus book £22
June 10 - new listing
7pm, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh EH15 1DA
It’s always a pleasure to welcome Fiona Mozley to the bookshop and she’ll return this June for a launch event to celebrate the publication of her third novel, Awake Awake.
Mary is struggling with her memory. She does not have too few recollections but too many, including some that are downright absurd. She has many memories of her childhood: going to parties and on school trips, walks with her father and family dinners. She remembers world events too: the falling of the Twin Towers and the Iraq War. But the most concerning memories she has are about her Jewish grandfather and his role in the death of Adolf Hitler. She feels sure – almost completely sure – that what she has been told can’t be true, that she must have imagined the whole thing. But there is a doubt.
To decipher fact from fiction, Mary goes back over her life, sorting through her childhood and adolescence with her three friends in York, through an adulthood accustomed to tragedy. Guided by her family and friends, Mary attempts to figure out what is real, both in history and her own life, all the while wondering if her mind has conjured everything.
Tickets £5/Ticket plus book £20
June 10 - new listing
Among Willows Event with Cynthia Fan
6.30pm, Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street, EH3 5AQ.
Plants not only make our lives possible but meaningful. So why do we think so little of their everyday presence? Since childhood, Cynthia Fan has made plants her life’s work – scientifically studying, artistically arranging, and simply obsessing over their surprising quirks and nature. In this, her debut collection of plant writing, Fan ponders the most profound questions of plant life – What exactly is a leaf? How does a plant think? – by delving into her own, as well as the world around her, whether it be in the South Africa of her birth, the China of her ancestors, or the blustery Britain in which she works today.
Accompanied by her own photos and sculptural arrangements, Fan finds both plants and people in a constant dance of deception and adaptation, inviting her readers to marvel at the true fluidity of biology, the supremacy of serendipity, and the porous boundaries between self and environment.
Tickets £6/Ticket plus book £18.99
June 11 - new listing
Lex Croucher in Edinburgh
7pm, Voco Royal Terrace, 18 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AQ
Dark academia meets contemporary fantasy in this timely page-turner about a student who fails to gain admission to the UK’s only school of magic but then finds their way there years later and unearths the ugly secrets simmering behind its ancient walls - unmissable for fans of Babelby R.F. Kuang and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.
Briar always dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, the elite boarding school that’s produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in history, long rumoured to be magical. Briar’s best friend, Sebastian, just wanted them to stay together forever.
When Sebastian gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn’t, their relationship is shattered - until, at eighteen, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the magical junk in Temple’s attic, and discovers that quiet, sensitive Sebastian, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become the villain.
Tickets £10/Ticket plus book £22
June 11 - new listing
Kate Williams for Regina: A New History of Women and Power
7pm, Pilrig St. Paul’s / LARCH, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AH
Stories about royal women form some of our most foundational myths about femininity, and yet their legacies have been almost entirely constructed by the words and images of men. In Regina, celebrated historian Kate Williams leads us deep into the world of queens, empresses, princesses, mistresses and ladies-in-waiting, uncovering how their ambitions were shaped, celebrated and often thwarted.
From the ancient civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia to the opulent courts of the pre-medieval world, Regina delves into the lives of these remarkable women, revealing both their trials and triumphs as they navigate political intrigue, family rivalries and personal sacrifices. From Hatshepsut and Cleopatra, through to Tudor queens Catherine of Aragon and Lady Jane Grey, via Queen Victoria’s contemporaries Yaa Asentewaa of Ghana and Queen Lili’oukulani of Hawaii, and right up to Princess Diana, this is an unmissable history that unlocks why we think about women, politics and power in the ways that we do.
Tickets £10/Ticket plus book £25
June 12 - new listing
Cooks & Books: Honey & Co Daily
7pm, Topping & Company, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
Honey & Co. Daily is about food that looks good on the plate and tastes sensational, but hasn’t taken all day to prepare. Cooks Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer offer us a wonderful new Honey & Co. cookbook, with all the same flavour and effortlessness we know and love them for.
Based on the menu Itamar and Sarit serve at their café in Store Street, London, it’s the kind of relaxed, informal food we all want to eat every day - chapters include effortless recipes with eggs, fragrant soups, tasty ideas for in or on bread, nourishing salads, simple, wholesome dinner ideas in daily, nightly, quick and easy, cookies and cakes and even some ‘serve me in a glass’ speedy cocktails and desserts. From a summery courgette & broad bean shakshuka and a crispy za’atar chicken schnitzel sandwich to spicy sausage, tomato, pepper & goat’s cheese dirty rice and ginger & chocolate cookies - this is wholesome, seasonal food that will lift your spirits and improve your day - sunshine on a plate!
Tickets £10/Ticket plus book £27
But that’s not all
Coming up fast…
June
Olly Smith, Grace Curtis, Lachlan Goudie, Erin Maglaque, Steve Brusatte, Georgina Hayden, Benedict Anning, Sir Roger Deakins, Colin Morgan, Freya Bromley, Cymera Festival, Richard Dawkins, Y.M. Abdel-Magied, Sohail Jannesari, Ashley Poston, Callum McSorley, Hodder Romance Road Show, Cynthia Fan, Daisy Dixon, Claire Daverley, Andrew Lownie, Meghan Kobza, Georgina Hayden, Sunyi Dean, Lorraine Kelly, Helen Graham, Katherine Arden, Lucy Lapwing, Andrew Sean Greer, Brandon Taylor, Rowe Irvin, Naomi Gibson & Lorraine Wilson, Thomas D Lee,
July
Veronica Roth, William Dalrymple, Jenny Chamarette, Alasdair Gill, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Sims, Phil Melanson,
August
Edinburgh International Book Festival, Book Fringe
September
Robert Harris, Yotam Ottolenghi, Emma Warren, Marie Darrieussecq, Paul Johnson, Andrew Pettegree, Robert Barrington, Janice Hallet, Christopher de Hamel, Sharon Blackie,
October
Rachel King, Edinburgh Women’s Fiction Festival, Portobello Book Festival, Sean Hewitt
November