St. Andrew’s Day is a national holiday in Scotland dedicated to celebrating the patron saint of Scotland, Saint Andrew. It is a day that honors Scottish culture, heritage, and traditions, and it provides an opportunity for Scots and people of Scottish descent around the world to come together in celebration.

To celebrate this special day we have collaborated with Publishing Scotland, the trade and networking body for publishers in Scotland. Celebrating their 50th anniversary year this year, Publishing Scotland provides guidance, training, promotion and opportunities for Scotland’s publishers to reach a wider audience at home and abroad. 

This Scottish books list was compiled by Vikki Reilly, Marketing & Trade Development Manager for Publishing Scotland.

As part of Vikki’s marketing remit at Publishing Scotland, she edits www.BooksfromScotland.com which curates features and content on new and classic books from Scotland’s writers and publishers. She also programmes networking events in person and online, and spearheads professionalisation in sales and marketing in publishing. She is a cheerleader for the book trade in Scotland and is always good for a book recommendation or three!

This list features some of our LoveReading Star Books for 2024. We absolutely adored Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan - an epic state-of-the nation novel with a huge cast of characters living in a post-Brexit, post-Covid London.

Be a Birder by Yamza Hassin is a welcoming, friendly, and positive guide to birding and 50 fabulous birds that can be seen in the UK.

And Strong Female Character by Fern Brady we considered to be unputdownable. Newly diagnosed Brady tells her no-holds-barred account of living as an undercover undiagnosed autistic. Brave. Powerful. It's an education. Thank you Fern, we all thank you.

It of course features winner of the 2020 Booker Prize, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. A heart-breaking, unforgettable and incredible story that will stay with you long after you've finished it. It is difficult to believe it's a debut as you read the travails of young Shuggie, his alcoholic mother Agnes and see inside their dysfunctional family life in 1980s working-class Glasgow. It's a powerful story with unflinching honesty that will no doubt make you cry. It shows the power of love and despite the bleak subject matter, it's incredibly tender, hopeful and oh so readable. It's a triumph.

It features Edinburgh-based Floris Books' An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales by Theresa Breslin. Slithering stoorworms, mischievious brownies, fierce kelpies and magical selkies - these are the creatures of Scottish folklore. Award-winning children's author Theresa Breslin has collected the best-loved tales from all over Scotland. Retelling each in its own individual style, she presents funny tales, moving tales and enchanting fairy tales. Soar with the goshawk, dive with selkies and battle with the stoorworm, as each story is brought to life with exquisite illustrations by Scottish fine artist Kate Leiper, which brim with otherworldly beauty. A wonderful gift, this is a truly stunning book to be treasured for a lifetime and will be enjoyed by parents and grandparents as well as children. 

And the Land Lay Still by James Robertson was the winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award 2010, and is a masterful insight into Scotland's history in the twentieth century and a moving, beautifully written novel of intertwined stories.This breathtaking novel is a portrait of modern Scotland as seen through the eyes of natives and immigrants, journalists and politicians, drop-outs and spooks, all trying to make their way through a country in the throes of great and rapid change. It is a moving, sweeping story of family, friendship, struggle and hope - epic in every sense.

Crime? How about one of the must-read books of the year, Midnight and Blue, the brand new Rebus thriller from the iconic number one bestseller Ian Rankin. John Rebus has spent his life as a detective putting Edinburgh's most deadly criminals behind bars. Now, he's joined them...

If you're looking for romance (with a bit of an edge) check out A Glasgow Kiss by Sophie Gravia. Filthy, hilarious and painfully relatable, Zara Smith is Bridget Jones for the millennial generation, from the writer of the Sex in the Glasgow City blog.

For more Scottish inspiration, check out 60+ Blooming Brilliant Books by Scottish Novelists That’ll Have You Singing Their Praises from Arthur’s Seat to the Outermost Isles.