5 ‘must-read’ books

Following our interview with Sir Alexander McCall Smith last month, we wanted to share his top recommendations. The list includes poetry collections and novels set in Edinburgh (of course!).

Collected Shorter Poems – W.H. Auden.

“Auden was a magnificent poet, a wonderful humane voice. He wrote about so many different subjects, from psychoanalysis to limestone landscapes. If you haven’t discovered him, he is a great treat.”

Malgudi series – R.K. Narayan.

“I very much like the novels of the Indian novelist, R. K. Narayan. He wrote a charming series of books about a small Indian town called Malgudi and they are lovely books. They are really the precursor of many of the wonderful Indian novels in English that we have had in the second half of the 20th Century and the early part of the 21^st Century.”

Mapp and Lucia novels – E.F. Benson.

“These are screamingly funny – I think they are the funniest things written in the English language in the 20th Century.”

No Continuing City – Michael Longley.

“Michael Longley is an Ulster poet and I would highly recommend his work. I enjoyed No Continuing City very much indeed.”

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark.

“Muriel Spark was the most wonderful Edinburgh novelist and I think The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is the definitive Edinburgh novel.”