The most recommended books about Glasgow

Who picked these books? Meet our 37 experts.

37 authors created a book list connected to Glasgow, and here are their favorite Glasgow books.
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Book cover of Taking Tea with Mackintosh: The Story of Miss Cranston's Tea Rooms

Jane Pettigrew Author Of Jane Pettigrew's World of Tea: Discovering Producing Regions and Their Teas

From my list on tea and tea history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I fell into the world of tea by chance in the 1980s when I gave up a career in higher education to open a 1930s style tearoom in southwest London. I grew up in the 1950s in a typical British family that drank tea throughout the day but little did I know, as I baked endless supplies of scones and cakes for the tearoom at 4 am every day, that I would end up writing books and magazine articles, editing a tea magazine for the UK Tea Council, speaking at world tea conferences, training staff in hotels, travelling to almost every major tea producing country, and eventually working today as Director of Studies at the UK Tea Academy.

Jane's book list on tea and tea history

Jane Pettigrew Why did Jane love this book?

The story of Britain’s tearooms is often thought to have begun in London but it was Stuart Cranston and his sister Kate in Glasgow who were responsible for opening Scotland’s first public tearooms. This lovely book explores the very beginnings when Stuart Cranston’s decided to install a few tables and chairs at his tea retail store in 1875 so that customers could taste teas before buying. Kate followed suit but added her own distinctive style by employing Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife to design the now world-famous Willow Tea Rooms. The charming story links inextricably with tea, Glasgow, art, design and business and, since the original Willow on Sauchiehall Street has now been totally renovated and refurbished in Mackintosh style, Kinchin’s book is particularly valuable.

By Perilla Kinchin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Taking Tea with Mackintosh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In 1896, Kate Cranston, the pioneer of Glasgow tea rooms in the late nineteenth century, commissioned Charles Rennie Mackintosh—who would become one of the Western worlds’ most renowned designers—to design her tea rooms, and over the next two decades he did so with dazzling inventiveness. (Mackintosh’s wife, Margaret, herself an artist, also made important contributions to the interior designs.) Cranston and Mackintosh opened up a unique, avant-garde artistic world to thousands of ordinary people and their tea rooms became internationally famous. Taking Tea with Mackintosh illustrates their exciting collaboration with black-and-white historical photographs of the tea rooms and color photographs…


Book cover of Tenement Kid: From the Streets of Glasgow in the 1960s to Drummer in Jesus and Mary Chain and Frontman in Primal Scream

Pete Elderkin Author Of Sugar, Gravy, Pleasure: An Indie Odyssey in Peterborough

From my list on British rock music icons.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like many others, I had an early fascination for pop music, which moved on to rock music as I grew older. I would love to know more about the artists or music figures who made such emotional and stunning music that made the world better and more exciting. British rock and roll music has made a massive impact on the Western life that we all know and love. These five books are the best ones for me, and while all are unique, they have humor and interesting details and let me gain knowledge about these iconic figures.   

Pete's book list on British rock music icons

Pete Elderkin Why did Pete love this book?

I loved this book because I was able to find out more about this lynchpin of the indie music World of the 80s and 90s that I grew up in. Primal Scream was responsible for some iconic tunes, and learning more about Bobby was insightful and entertaining. I discovered so much that I didn’t know about the band’s musical journey and Bobby's influences.

By Bobby Gillespie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tenement Kid as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

ROUGH TRADE'S BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Gillespie is rock and roll's Oliver Twist. A punk rock fairytale, razor sharp on class struggle, music, style, and a singular view of the world resulting in one of the world's great bands. Couldn't put down' Courtney Love

Born into a working-class Glaswegian family in the summer of 1961, TENEMENT KID begins in the district of Springburn, soon to be evacuated in Edward Heath's brutal slum clearances. Leaving school at 16 and going to work as a printers' apprentice, Bobby's rock n roll epiphany arrives like a bolt of lightning shining from Phil Lynott's…


Book cover of Wee Macgreegor

Mark Rice Author Of Metallic Dreams

From my list on most innovative Scottish books.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was born in Scotland. I grew up in Scotland. The family house contained no television, but it did contain a vast wealth of books, music, and life. As a result, I learned to read at a really young age and then set about working my way through my father’s myriad books. Stories, songs, and Nature have always been my solace. In addition to being Scottish, the five books on my list are so innovative that they transcend mere words on a page; there’s a lyrical quality to the lines, music in their cadence, and animals (non-human ones–the best kind!) infusing the stories with deeper significance and subtext.

Mark's book list on most innovative Scottish books

Mark Rice Why did Mark love this book?

As an 11-year-old, I read this book for the first time and thought it was the funniest book ever written. I cried and laughed at several parts.

The dialogue sparkles with old Glasgow wit and wisdom. John Joy Bell’s love of the Scots dialect is evident throughout. The book is a collection of tales featuring the titular character, a wonder-filled wee boy growing up in Glasgow during the 1930s.

The writing is endearingly innocent and playful. It’s a glorious snapshot of Scottish life a century ago.

By J.J. Bell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wee Macgreegor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank…


Book cover of Garnethill

P.R. Black Author Of The Long Dark Road

From my list on Tartan Noir to take you beyond your shortbread tin.

Why am I passionate about this?

These books aren't just the best in their field–they're the best at pinpointing the place I am from. Tartan Noir is a rich world, and I'm just about to join it. These books give a sense of place and people and sometimes bring a little laughter in the dark. To me, that's Scotland, in its magnificence, grandeur, and polar opposite of these things. Scotland is a country with two faces, as everyone from James Hogg onwards knew well... Let's see which side you prefer! 

P.R.'s book list on Tartan Noir to take you beyond your shortbread tin

P.R. Black Why did P.R. love this book?

Maureen O’Donnell’s married lover is found dead in her living room. Suspected of the killing, she decides to find the culprit herself. Along the way, we find out what happened to her and how badly let down she was by the system that should have protected her.

I found this a tough read, a woman’s perspective, casting a forensic eye on male behavior and its consequences.

By Denise Mina,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Garnethill as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Maureen O'Donnell wasn't born lucky. A psychiatric patient and a survivor of sexual abuse, she is stuck in a dead-end job and a secretive relationship with Douglas, a shady therapist. Her few comforts are making up stories to tell her psychiatrist, the company of her friends, and the sweet balm of whisky. She is about to put an end to her affair with Douglas when she wakes up one morning to find him in her living room with his throat cut. iewed in turn by the police as a suspect -- aided and abetted by her drug-dealing brother Liam -…


Book cover of Red Dust Road

Susie Orbach Author Of Bodies

From my list on contemporary memoirs by women.

Why am I passionate about this?

Memoirs have crept up on me as favorites. I could list many more. Please let me! As a psychoanalyst, I listen to the pains and struggles of individuals trying to become more at ease with themselves. They engage with their demons and try to make sense of how to manage the way their personal history has created their worldview and how to expand it enough to enter a present. Memoirs are another way of addressing such struggles. They have an elegance and a universality that emerges out of their individual stories. We learn about the other and we learn about ourselves.

Susie's book list on contemporary memoirs by women

Susie Orbach Why did Susie love this book?

Jackie and her brother were adopted by a loving working-class family in Glasgow. They were communists and thoughtful about the adoption process. Jackie becomes a beloved poet and a wonderful public performer. She was recently made the Poet Laureate of Scotland – The Scots Makar. In this book, she traces her childhood and her quest to meet her father in Lagos and to discover her biological parentage and story. It’s a story of belonging and of not belonging. Of finding, fitting, and not fitting. It moves and uplifts us.

By Jackie Kay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Red Dust Road as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Taking the reader from Glasgow to Lagos and beyond, Red Dust Road is a heart-stopping memoir, a story of parents and siblings, friends and strangers, belonging and beliefs, biology and destiny.

With an introduction by the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon.

From the moment when, as a little girl, she realizes that her skin is a different colour from that of her beloved mum and dad, to the tracing and finding of her birth parents, her Highland mother and Nigerian father, Jackie Kay's journey in Red Dust Road is one of unexpected twists, turns and deep emotions. In a…


Book cover of Second Wind

Brenna Bailey Author Of A Tale of Two Florists

From my list on cozy stories about characters older than fifty.

Why am I passionate about this?

Older people have always been present and significant in my life. I read widely, and—perhaps because of my role models—I noticed there’s a lack of representation of older characters in books. I started to seek out stories with protagonists over the age of fifty, and the more I read, the more I felt like the collection was lacking. Even though I’m younger, I want to use my position as a romance editor and author to remind people that aging doesn’t have to be a bad thing and life is still complex and enjoyable when you’re older. Adventure and romance can continue in your golden years.

Brenna's book list on cozy stories about characters older than fifty

Brenna Bailey Why did Brenna love this book?

Second Wind is a short, delightful read about how you’re never too old to find love.

Seventy-one-year-old Martha Appleby is flying to Glasgow to scatter her husband’s ashes when she runs into her childhood sweetheart, Pamela Thornton. Their paths are more intertwined than they thought, and their journey gives them a second chance to be together.

I found this story when I was looking for comparison titles for my book, and I am so glad I picked it up! It had me smiling and gave me warm fuzzy feelings all the way through.

By Ceillie Simkiss,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Second Wind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

No matter how old you are, there’s always a chance for romance. After the death of her husband, 71-year-old homemaker Martha Appleby is taking her first long-distance trip alone. That loss has derailed many of her plans for her twilight years, and she hopes to come to peace with not knowing what will come next.70-year-old service dog trainer Pamela Thornton is hoping to take advantage of a well-timed work trip to figure out what to do next. Crouton is the last service dog of the litter, and she’s not sure she wants to keep raising dogs by herself.These two childhood…


Book cover of Spaceships Over Glasgow: Mogwai, Mayhem and Misspent Youth

Marcus Amaker Author Of Hold What Makes You Whole

From my list on an everlong fire of musical obsession.

Why am I passionate about this?

“Big Butt.” That’s all you need to know about me. It was the first song I wrote and recorded on a dusty cassette tape in 1986. I was 10 years old and an obsessive Prince fan. On the back of his records, he wrote some variation of “written, recorded, produced and performed by Prince.” Those words empowered me to be an artist. More specifically, here’s what I wrote as a 10-year-old: “When I grow up, I want to be a rock star like Prince.” Five years later, I started writing poetry, and all of the poems I wrote felt like songs. Music is the fuel for all that I create.

Marcus' book list on an everlong fire of musical obsession

Marcus Amaker Why did Marcus love this book?

The moment I realized I was getting older was the moment I put two little pieces of toilet paper in my ears in the middle of a Mogwai show in Asheville, NC.

It was the loudest show I’d ever attended. And it was phenomenal.

Mogwai has been making cinematic music for a long time, and I came into awareness of the band with 2008’s “The Hawk is Howling.” They are epic, funny, mysterious, meditative, and relentless.

It’s no surprise that  Stuart Braithwaite’s book is perfect for the Mogwai fanbase in that it gives some insight into the band’s philosophy while maintaining a sense of mystery. I also like that Braithwaite doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously.

By Stuart Braithwaite,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Spaceships Over Glasgow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Born the son of Scotland's last telescope-maker, Stuart Braithwaite was perhaps always destined for a life of psychedelic adventuring on the furthest frontiers of noise in MOGWAI, one of the best loved and most ground-breaking post-rock bands of the past three decades.

Modestly delinquent at school, Stuart developed an early appetite for 'alternative' music in what might arguably be described as its halcyon days, the late '80s. Discovering bands like Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and Jesus and Mary Chain, and attending seminal gigs (often incongruously incognito as a young girl with long hair to compensate for his babyface features)…


Book cover of The Cutting Room

P.R. Black Author Of The Long Dark Road

From my list on Tartan Noir to take you beyond your shortbread tin.

Why am I passionate about this?

These books aren't just the best in their field–they're the best at pinpointing the place I am from. Tartan Noir is a rich world, and I'm just about to join it. These books give a sense of place and people and sometimes bring a little laughter in the dark. To me, that's Scotland, in its magnificence, grandeur, and polar opposite of these things. Scotland is a country with two faces, as everyone from James Hogg onwards knew well... Let's see which side you prefer! 

P.R.'s book list on Tartan Noir to take you beyond your shortbread tin

P.R. Black Why did P.R. love this book?

Rilke, the auctioneer, finds a collection of photographs that show the death of a young woman. He journeys into the dark heart of Glasgow–and his own desires–to find out who she is.

An amazing debut, looking at the subcultures and twisted alleyways that stitch together every big city. I was compelled by how far Welsh was prepared to go, depicting a city I thought I knew.

By Louise Welsh,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Cutting Room as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Unputdownable' Sunday Times
'I was hooked from page one' Guardian

When Rilke, a dissolute auctioneer, comes upon a hidden collection of violent and highly disturbing photographs, he feels compelled to discover more about the deceased owner who coveted them. Soon he finds himself sucked into an underworld of crime, depravity and secret desire, fighting for his life.


Book cover of The Wisest Fool

Steven Veerapen Author Of The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I

From my list on bring King James and his court to life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since childhood, I’ve been fascinated by the early modern era–and I was always drawn to the big personalities and events: Henry VIII and his wives, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. But, having made a career out of studying the era and its literature, I found that the drama didn’t end with Elizabeth in 1603 (and certainly not with Mary either when she fled Scotland or when she was executed in 1587). In fact, things became even more colorful under the riotous reign of King James. This led me to want to reassess his life and reign with a focus on the things that had historically been brushed over.

Steven's book list on bring King James and his court to life

Steven Veerapen Why did Steven love this book?

I have a soft spot for this book. It provides probably the most well-known modern pop culture image of the king–and James does not come off well. Though he’s presented as highly intelligent and calculating, he is also shown to publicly and constantly play the clown: expect to see him drooling, falling about, and squeaking with terror as he cowers behind others on seeing unsheathed swords.

This is absolutely not what the real James was like–and I imagine he’d have had Tranter’s head for suggesting it–but it is a fun, ahistorical read (which gets bonus points for delightfully ludicrous subplots about Shakespeare touring Scotland scouting for locations and Queen Anna engaging in a lesbian romance with the Countess of Huntly).

By Nigel Tranter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wisest Fool as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Son of the doomed Mary Queen of Scots, raised to rule two countries, James was one of the oddest kings ever to ascent any throne.
Neither noble nor heroic, he confounded those who despised him by being shrewd enough to reign for fifty-eight years, survive countless plots and never go to war.

'A vastly entertaining addition to the historical novels of Scots author Nigel Tranter.' Glasgow Sunday Mail


Book cover of Field of Blood

Brenda Chapman Author Of Blind Date: A Hunter and Tate Mystery

From my list on crime fiction with intriguing lead characters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been addicted to reading mysteries and crime fiction since I was a kid, and I naturally fell into writing in these genres—I’m currently in the midst of penning my fourth series! There’s nothing better than discovering a new, well-written series and following along with interesting, complicated main characters over several books. These favourite recommendations of mine will take you to Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, and my very own Canada without ever having to leave home. Hopefully, you’ll discover some new authors, and their main characters will bring you as much enjoyment as they’ve given me. 

Brenda's book list on crime fiction with intriguing lead characters

Brenda Chapman Why did Brenda love this book?

I loved the main character Paddy Meehan’s voice in this series. Paddy is a lowly copygirl at a Glasgow newspaper with dreams of becoming an investigative journalist during a time when girls are expected to marry out of high school and have babies, not unlike the way things were when I entered the work world. Paddy is intelligent and driven and so outside the mold that her family and boyfriend, indeed the Scottish community, cannot understand her drive to be more than what society demands she should be. She’s someone I rooted for every step of the way as she navigates the old boys’ club in the 1980s and 1990s. Combine Paddy with Mina’s brilliant writing, realistic dialogue, and compelling plotlines, and this series is one to be savored. 

By Denise Mina,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Field of Blood as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The most exciting crime writer to have emerged in Britain for years' Ian Rankin
'Denise Mina is Britain's best living crime writer' Sunday Express

FROM THE COSTA-SHORTLISTED BESTSELLING AUTHOR

In Glasgow, a child goes missing, taken from the front garden of his home. The investigation leads the police to the doors of two young boys.

Paddy Meehan has just started work at a local newspaper where she dreams of becoming an investigative journalist. Although everyone around her believes the boys acted on their own, she is certain there is more to it and begins to ask awkward questions.

But Paddy's…


Book cover of Taking Tea with Mackintosh: The Story of Miss Cranston's Tea Rooms
Book cover of Tenement Kid: From the Streets of Glasgow in the 1960s to Drummer in Jesus and Mary Chain and Frontman in Primal Scream
Book cover of Wee Macgreegor

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