doug johnstone

illustration: Dom McKenzie

As ever, I’ve been super-mega-slack at posting up my book reviews in the Big Issue magazine. So here they are with links and short summaries:

William Letford, Dirt (Carcanet) – playful and sublime poetry

Paul Muldoon, Selected Poems 1968-2014 (Faber & Faber) – playful & oblique poetry

Various authors, The Sorrows of Mexico (MacLehose) – sad & important journalism

Louisa Thomsen Brits, The Book of Hygge (Ebury) – calm & bland life-hack

Ron Rash, Above the Waterfall (Canongate) – poetic & hardbitten novel

Various Authors, 33 1/3 series  (Bloomsbury) – eclectic & informed music writing

Derek B. Miller, The Girl in Green (Faber & Faber) – sharp & enraging novel

Sara Taylor, The Lauras (William Heinemann) – poignant & controlled novel

Megan Abbott, You Will Know Me (Picador) – tense & brilliant novel

Laura Lippman, Wilde Lake (Faber & Faber) – thoughtful & brilliant novel

Enjoy! Dx

It’s time for Bloody Scotland! Here we go! See yeh there!

You might not know but I’m captain of the Scotland Writers FC. Anyhoo, we’re off to Barga in Tuscany this weekend to play against our Italian writer counterparts as part of Barga’s Scottish Weekend. We’ll also be performing readings and music in the evening. And maybe even doing some Scottish country dancing – why not, eh?

Shit just got real. The Jump has been shortlisted for The McIlvanney Prize, for best Scottish crime novel. It’s up against some big hitters (and friends) – honoured to be in such fine company. Details here. The winner is announced next Friday 9th September at the opening of the Bloody Scotland festival. Fingers crossed, eh?

So The Jump is finally out in the US. Fly, my pretty, fly! Or, more importantly, buy it HERE.

There has been a flurry of reviews, pieces I’ve written and giveaways, check it all out below. Huge thanks to all bloggers and reviewers who have given their time and energy to this, and to Shara Zaval, who pulled the blog tour together at Faber US. Cheers!

An amazing review by Sabina in Gutter magazine.

A total rave over at The New York Journal of Books by Chris Beakey.

A lovely write up at Novel Ink blog by Erica Miller.

Very considered stuff by Mariana over at Joie Des Livres.

And a piece I wrote for the same blog about publication called Giving Birth or Splitting Up.

A great review by Ayah Assem, plus a thing I wrote about my writing process, both at Dystopian Citzn blog.

Here’s a thing I wrote on The Character of Place for The Reader’s Room.

Here’s a video of me playing a Frightened Rabbit tune in my back garden, at The Suspense is Thrilling Me blog.

And Chelsea Humphrey’s very kind review of the novel at the same blog.

A pretty frank interview with Jane Hamilton at The Daily Record about the subject matter of the book.

Something I wrote about the book called Suicide Isn’t Painless, over at Book Reporter.

Here I am at Mystery Readers Inc writing about the inspiration behind The Jump.

Here’s a fascinating Q&A I did over at Book Savvy Reviews.

Terrific review by Ali at The Bandar Blog, as well as a thing I wrote recommending my favourite recent crime novels.

It’s ten years to the day since my first novel, TOMBSTONING, was published by Penguin. HUGE thanks to all readers and supporters over the last decade. It’s been a laugh, eh? Also, special thanks on this anniversary to Judy Moir, my first editor who took a chance on me way back then. Here’s to the next ten years of annoying self-promotion!

So the US blog tour has started. First up was The Bandar Blog where Ali gave the book a great review. Thanks Ali! There’s also a thing I wrote over there, recommending a bunch of great books I’ve read recently. And there’s the chance to win a copy of The Jump, so definitely check it out.

Next up was Book Savvy Reviews, where I did a penetrating Q&A about the book’s subject matter and main characters.

More in a bit. Enjoy!