First up, may I recommend Gary Sutherland's "Hunting Grounds":

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/3370157/Hunting-Grounds/Product.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunting-Grounds-Gary-Sutherland/dp/1841585866/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198166624&sr=8-1

 

Its an excellent journey round all 42 Scottish fitba grounds in one season.  Detailing transport, pre-match venues for a pint, the quality of the pies at the ground, and a review of the performance of both the players and the fans.  He goes into some depth in his report for each ground.  Its rather witty too!

 

He obviously visits Pittodrie (2-2 cup game with Hibs last season), and also a Falkirk v Aberdeen SPL game where the away fans are praised.

1 hour ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

Who is Dave Berry??

Maybe a joke here, but well above my head.

Radio bloke. Does breakfast show on Absolute. Bit annoying but I don't mind the breakfast show

On 18/05/2026 at 20:56, Don Julio said:

Will be interested in what you make of the Barnes

I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

An interesting book, mainly about death and loss and written in the usual Barnes style, but it seems more a reflection of his own life.

I enjoyed reading it, but was never quite sure what kind of book I was reading.

A book only an established writer, would get away with.

 

I am a member of a site that grants ARC's (advanced reader copy) in return for honest and unbiased reviews hence a lot of books I actually read are not yet published.

One of the books I've just read and posted an online review is called "The Butcher Of Aberdeen" by Roje Augustin. The Aberdeen in question is not our one but Aberdeen, Australia.

It tells the story of Katherine Knight and is a true story of Sex, Madness & Murder and gives the background to her life and the horrific crime she committed and is still incarcerated for and will remain so for the rest of her life. It is without doubt, the most brutally descriptive book I have ever read.

It is however, extremely thought provoking in that it is beyond belief that the Australian authorities allowed her to walk free for so long and ultimately her committing the brutal murder and skinning of her partner.

As long as you're not squeamish, this one is worth a read when it is published in the summer.

Antimacassar City - Guy McCrone

First of the Wax Fruit Trilogy, as mentioned previously by Blin Lemon.

Didn't think I would like it after the first few pages, but then reached the point where I couldn't put it down.

Book two has now been requested from the Library. 

If anyone was wondering, Antimacassar is the small piece of cloth that people put over the tops and arms of chairs. At least that's what Google told me.  

 

 

Hard copy Proper Mannies’ book 1: Simmy (uses the term ‘N*w F*rm twice 🥵 but redeems himself by referencing Keith FC)

Hard copy Proper Mannies’ book 2: Agnes Owens’s: For The Love of Willie (late Scottish author, enjoying a renaissance as new editions are published)  courtesy of the toon library.   

Hard copy Proper Mannies’ book 3: the Island Book of Records Vol 1 1959-68

Audiobook: Sebastian Faulks’s Fires Which Burned Brightly (10 fab essays)  compulsive listening  

Kindle: Clare Chambers’s Shy Creatures. 

2 hours ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

Antimacassar City - Guy McCrone

First of the Wax Fruit Trilogy, as mentioned previously by Blin Lemon.

Didn't think I would like it after the first few pages, but then reached the point where I couldn't put it down.

Book two has now been requested from the Library. 

If anyone was wondering, Antimacassar is the small piece of cloth that people put over the tops and arms of chairs. At least that's what Google told me.  

 

 

Ach min, you could have had my copy. I left it in a Weegie Air BNB after an enforced emergency seven-week stay, as the book selection, apart from a Kate Atkinson, was airport novels and populist poop. The two following parts of Wax Fruit are very good too. I’d be interested to hear how you got on. 

Edited May 22May 22 by blinlemon
I mis-spelled BNB like a right twat.

35 minutes ago, blinlemon said:

Hard copy Proper Mannies’ book 1: Simmy (uses the term ‘N*w F*rm twice 🥵 but redeems himself by referencing Keith FC)

Hard copy Proper Mannies’ book 2: Agnes Owens’s: For The Love of Willie (late Scottish author, enjoying a renaissance as new editions are published)  courtesy of the toon library.   

Hard copy Proper Mannies’ book 3: the Island Book of Records Vol 1 1959-68

Audiobook: Sebastian Faulks’s Fires Which Burned Brightly (10 fab essays)  compulsive listening  

Kindle: Clare Chambers’s Shy Creatures. 

I forgot, I’m also on page 112/277 of Arnold Bennet’s 1923 Riceyman Steps in a battered classic orange Penguin paperback (priced at twa bob, ie 10p for you yirlin radges) dated 1953. Hard copy Proper Mannies’ book 4. 

Re Agnes Owens mentioned awa up there somewye ^^^^^ she gets a bit of PR in Birlinn Books’ weekly newsletter which hit my inbox today:

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AGNES!
Sunday will mark the centenary of the birth of Agnes Owens, a brilliant but much overlooked Scottish author. Throughout this year we are republishing her entire collected works and sharing her wonderfully frank and deadpan writing with a new generation of readers.

The first four titles, with introductions by Kirstin Innes, Heather Parry, Kirsty Logan, and Dani Garavelli, are published now, with three further titles coming this September. These new editions have already been receiving some glowing praise in the media:

'This unsung writer can make you laugh and shock you on the same page' - The Times
'A working class genius... darkly comic' - The Observer 
'What under­pins this black com­edy is Owens’ authen­tic por­trayal of 1950s work­ing­-class hard­ship' - Daily Mail
'One of the most arresting and distinctive voices of twentieth century literature' - BBC Radio 4 Front Row”

I've downloaded Wax Fruits and am looking forward to it as it has been previously recommended.

For some reason I  generally don't read much in the 6 months I'm in Scotland but go into overdrive in the other 6 when I'm in Spain and have more time on my hands.

I tend to favour crime thrillers and  am currently rotating  between Robert Crais- Elvis Cole series, Denzil Meyrick- DCI Daley series, Mark Billingham- DCI Tom Thorne series and some Pg Wodehouse- Jeeves and Wooster or Alexander McCall Smith- Scotland Street books to lighten the mood.

I also recommend reading Craig Russell's Lennox books about a private detective in 1950's Glasgow and his Jan Fabel series set in Germany

I've previously enjoyed reading Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly and John Le Carre books, particularly the Smiley series. 

Right, so I'm going to to get pelters for this, but the other day in my Amazon feed I saw the Duncan Ferguson autobiography in ebook format for 99p.

Thought what the fuck, why not, if nothing else it might give me even more reason to dislike the Big Hun.

Turns out it is a really good read with only really one chapter (not very long) about his time playing for them.

Amusing anecdotes about his time starting out at The Arabs including tales of how some weeks he owed the club money such was the level of fines Wee McLean was hitting him with.

Huge focus on his time in Barlinnie that was an interesting read.

His passion for Everton FC really knows no boundaries and it turns out he is a really generous type of guy.

Actually one of the better footballer's autobiographies I've read and certainly worth less than a pound  

I could give you pelters, but I once borrowed Paul Gascoigne's autobiography from the library, and I enjoyed it.

2 hours ago, swaddon said:

I could give you pelters, but I once borrowed Paul Gascoigne's autobiography from the library, and I enjoyed it.

Ive read Bernard Mannings 

3 hours ago, swaddon said:

I could give you pelters, but I once borrowed Paul Gascoigne's autobiography from the library, and I enjoyed it.

Hun 😉

On 01/06/2026 at 15:08, BigAl said:

Right, so I'm going to to get pelters for this, but the other day in my Amazon feed I saw the Duncan Ferguson autobiography in ebook format for 99p.

Thought what the fuck, why not, if nothing else it might give me even more reason to dislike the Big Hun.

Turns out it is a really good read with only really one chapter (not very long) about his time playing for them.

Amusing anecdotes about his time starting out at The Arabs including tales of how some weeks he owed the club money such was the level of fines Wee McLean was hitting him with.

Huge focus on his time in Barlinnie that was an interesting read.

His passion for Everton FC really knows no boundaries and it turns out he is a really generous type of guy.

Actually one of the better footballer's autobiographies I've read and certainly worth less than a pound  

I bought the Kindle book on Bookbug for 98p. I’d seen a couple of clips of him being genuinely wide in interviews, and it’ll be entertaining enough. 

I’ll just miss oot the bits about TSMSTID and the Dead Bastards  Fuck them both, lube-free and with rusty poison-impregnated bastard file.  

Arnold Bennet’s Riceyman Steps 7/10. 
Agnes Owens’s For The Love of Willie 9/10.

Lee Stuart Evans’s Words Best Sung (Arundel, 2017) is on the paperback starting blocks

Sebastian Faulks’s A Fool’s Alphabet on Spotify bubbling away nicely, but I’ve run out of listening hours until monthly renewal next week. 

I've been to the library today and got these books:

• That Duncan Ferguson book that some of you are raving about
• John & Paul - A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie (it's about Lennon and McCartney)
• The Other Fab Four - about The Liverbirds, a Scouse girl band who were around in the 1960s. John Lennon said to them that 'girls don't play guitars', so they proved him wrong. I have never heard of them, so I'm intrigued to read their story.

I notice you never got Bernard Mannings autobiography 

Does someone have it out? 

31 minutes ago, Mason89 said:

I notice you never got Bernard Mannings autobiography 

Does someone have it out? 

I've already got it.

On 22/05/2026 at 18:34, blinlemon said:

Ach min, you could have had my copy. I left it in a Weegie Air BNB after an enforced emergency seven-week stay, as the book selection, apart from a Kate Atkinson, was airport novels and populist poop. The two following parts of Wax Fruit are very good too. I’d be interested to hear how you got on. 

Final two books of the trilogy finished and both very good reads.

I'd say the third one was the weakest of the three, but still a good read.

Thanks for the heads up on it.

I just read there a further two standalone books relating to the trilogy, which are hopefully available.

On 19/05/2026 at 14:10, BigAl said:

Downloaded it Sunday morning and read it before the day was out.

Excellent read, although it might mean more to the guys of my age than some of our younger supporters. The book took me on a real trip down memory lane and there were very few games that he spoke about that I wasn't in attendance at.

No doubt in my mind that Simmy was overplayed when not fit, but much of that appears to lie with himself, such was his desire to play week in week out for the team he loved.

Hard to believe that whilst playing regularly for the first team he was on a basic wage of £100 per week and I didn't get the impression that the bonuses were that high.

Shocking the way that the Scottish  Glasgow media hounded him out of Scottish football the way that they did.

A Don to the very core and a nice ending with him finally finding his father before it was too late

 

Read it tonight.

Nice read. You can feel his love for the club on every page.

Telling that a lawyer got an aknowledgement for dealing with a certain chapter.

Someone asked recently why we still hate them (even though they are a different club), just read this book.

Simmy ❤️🤍❤️

 

 

Edited June 15Jun 15 by TheDonbytheDee

On to some David Lodge now.

A writer that is new to me.

Edited June 15Jun 15 by TheDonbytheDee

On 15/06/2026 at 22:35, TheDonbytheDee said:

On to some David Lodge now.

A writer that is new to me.

His University of Rummidge (Brum, thinly disguised, where he was a senior academic) trilogy is fantastic.

Just finished Goliath’s Curse. Quite a tome on the history and future of societal collapse. I suspect Rico suggested it.

Digested read: we’re all doomed.

26 minutes ago, Don Julio said:

Just finished Goliath’s Curse. Quite a tome on the history and future of societal collapse. I suspect Rico suggested it.

Digested read: we’re all doomed.

It wasn't me, although I'm very familiar with Luke Kemp's work, I haven't read it. I've background listened to the audiobook though, he's got a decent grasp of the history and there is an inevitability to his predictions for the future. I can't remember if he's one of those guys that are part of the weird "human potential" groups, who seem like they might want to sacrifice a large part of humanity in order that a minority can spread humanity to the universe or some pish (Toby Ord is one, and the "effective altruism" crowd). Kemp does seem extremely intelligent, but maybe a bit void in the love department.

He is quite a good looking chap I heard him at the Scotonomics Festival in Letih earlier this year.

Quite rugged in his too tight white t-shirt and jeans 😉

I also have it as an audiobook but haven't listened as yet

I'm reading There are Rivers in the Sky at the moment - wonderful story