Rather a long time ago I had the idea to put together a series of reading lists for some of my favourite places. I love reading almost as much as I love travelling and I love reading books about or set in places I’ve been or by authors who are from there.
I put together what I thought was a pretty amazing, all-encompassing reading list for my all time favourite place – Shetland – and I was on a roll.
Except I wasn’t. I never got any further with my series than to write a list of places I wanted to compile a book list for.
But now in these strange days of self-isolation and social distancing when we can’t travel and have to all stay tucked away at home, what better time to catch up with reading about wonderful places around the world and reminiscing about them or dreaming of future travels to them.
So as my contribution towards helping people cope with the Corona pandemic here is number 2 in my reading lists to world series. This one is full of books all about ….
drum roll …
Orkney!
The archipelago north of Scotland and south of Shetland. It’s a place full of history (the best neolithic remains you’ll ever see, Vikings, World War II, it’s got it all) and absolutely mind-blowing nature and scenery. They also make cheese.
If you haven’t already been, you’ll want to after reading some of these books.
I’m not going to say much about the books because, well, you’d end up scrolling down for weeks and still not get to the end, but I will sort them into sections so at least you know what type of book it is.
Scroll down for the only reading list for Orkney you’ll ever need.
History
Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney (the classic read)
The Northern Earldoms: Orkney and Caithness from AD 870 to 1470 by Barbara Crawford
The Stewart Earls of Orkney by Peter Anderson
Early English Settlement of Orkney and Shetland by Graeme Davis
Orkney: A Historical Guide by Caroline Wickham-Jones
Between the Wind and the Water: World Heritage Orkney by Caroline Wickham-Jones
Monuments of Orkney: A Visitor’s Guide by Caroline Wickham-Jones
Orcadia: Land, Sea and Stone in Neolithic Orkney by Mark Edmonds
Art and Architecture in Neolithic Orkney: Process, Temporality and Context by Antonia Thomas
Tomb of the Eagles: Window on Stone Age Tribal Britain by John W Hedges
Skara Brae: The Story of a Prehistoric Village by Oliver Dunrea
Skara Brae (7-9 yr olds) by Dawn Finch
Stone Age Farmers Beside the Sea by Caroline Arnold
Scar: A Viking Boat Burial On Sanday, Orkney by Olwyn Owen and Magnar Dalland
Broch Island: A History of the Island of Burray in Orkney by J M Struthers
Stromness: A History by Bryce Wilson
The New History of Orkney by William P L Thomson
The History of the Orkney Islands by George Barry
The Northern Isles: Orkney and Shetland by Alexander Fenton
Orkney by Anna Ritchie
On the Fringe of Neolithic Europe: Excavation of a Chambered Cairn on the Holm of Papa Westray, Orkney by Anna Ritchie
The Development of Neolithic House Societies in Orkney: Investigations in the Bay of Firth, Mainland, Orkney by Colin Richards and Richard Jones
Scapa 1919: The Archaeology of a Scuttled Fleet by Innes McCartney
The Last Days of the High Seas Fleet: From Mutiny to Scapa Flow by Nicholas C Jellicoe
The Great Scuttle: The End of the German High Seas Fleet: Witnessing History by David Meara
The Grand Scuttle: The Sinking of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919 by Dan Van der Vat
Cox’s Navy: Salvaging the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow 1924-1931 by Tony Booth
Scapa by James Miller
The Man Who Bought A Navy: The Story of The World’s Greatest Salvage Achievement at Scapa Flow by Gerald Bowman
Nightmare At Scapa Flow. The Truth About The Sinking Of HMS Royal Oak by H J Weaver
Scapa Flow – The Story of Britain’s Greatest Naval Anchorage in Two World Wars by Malcolm Brown and Patricia Meehan
The Sinking of HMS Royal Oak: In the Words of the Survivors by Dilip Sarkar
Hearts of Oak: The Human Tragedy of HMS Royal Oak by Dilip Sarkar
The Italian Chapel, Orkney by Donald S Murray
And On This Rock: Italian Chapel by Donald S. Murray
Orkney’s Italian Chapel: The True Story of an Icon by Philip Paris
Orkney in Wartime: Commemorating the Battle of Jutland, the Sinking of HMS Hampshire, the Churchill Barriers and Much More by Colin Nutt
Orkney in Wartime: Picturing Scotland by Colin Nutt
The Little General and the Rousay Crofters: Crisis and Conflict on an Orkney Estate by William P L Thompson
Eday: Orkney’s Best Kept Secret by Rosemary Hebden
Steamers and Ferries of the Northern Isles by Alastair Deayton
Fiction
George Mackay Brown is Orkney’s most prolific writer and if you only read one Orkney book it has to be a George Mackay Brown book. Here are his novels:
- A Calendar of Love
- Hawkfall
- A Time to Keep
- Magnus
- Beside the Ocean of Time
- Greenvoe
- Time in a Red Coat
- Vinland
- The Golden Bird
- The Island of the Women
- Winter Tales
- The Sun’s Net
- Andrina
- The Masked Fishermen
- The Sea-King’s Daughter
The Italian Chapel by Philip Paris
An Orkney Murder (A Rose McQuinn Mystery No.3) by Alanna Knight
Orkney by Amy Sackville
Tomb for an Eagle (Orkneyinga Murders Book 1) by Lexie Conyngham
A Wolf at the Gate (Orkneyinga Murders Book 2) by Lexie Conyngham
The Pilots of Pomona: A Story of the Orkney Islands by Robert Leighton
An Orkney Maid by Amelia E Barr
Orkney Twilight (Sam Coyle Trilogy Book 1) by Clare Carson
The Dark Isle (Sam Coyle Trilogy Book 3) by Clare Carson
Orkney Mystery by Miranda Barnes
The Blue Witch: The Witches of Orkney, Book One (7-12 yrs old) by Alane Adams
The Orkney Gruffalo (Gruffalo Orcadian Scots Edtn) by Julia Donaldson
None But the Dead by Lin Anderson
Skara by Andrew Appleby
Dark Water by Sara Bailey
Horror on Hoy by B K Bryce
Crash Land by Doug Johnstone
Where the Island Waits by Shirley Worrall
Against all Odds by Annie Holder
The Boy with the Bronze Axe by Kathleen Fidler
The Storm Witch by Molly Mack
The Pirate by Walter Scott
Poetry
George Mackay Brown has written plenty of poetry. Volumes include:
- Christmas Poems
- The Sea and the Tower
- Loaves and Fishes
- The Year of the Whale
- Fishermen with Ploughs
- Poems New and Selected
- Winterfold
- Voyages
- The Wreck of the Archangel
- Selected Poems 1954-1992
The Collected Poems of George Mackay Brown edited by Archie Bevan and Brian Murray
Orkney Winds: A Poetic Snapshot Of An Island Journey by Michael Hardy de Guerra
Nature and Wildlife
The Seafarers: A Journey Among Birds by Stephen Rutt
Finding Birds in Orkney by Harold Stiver
The Orkney Book of Birds by Tim Dean and Tracy Hall
Orkney: 40 Coast and Country Walks by John Fergusson
The Natural History of Orkney by R J Berry
Orkney & Shetland: Landscapes in Stone by Alan McKirdy
Naturally Orkney by Raymond Besant
People and Culture
The Orkney Dictionary by Margaret Flaws and Gregor Lamb
Close to Where the Heart Gives Out: A Year in the Life of an Orkney Doctor by Malcolm Alexander
Orkney: A Special Place by Richard Clubley
Orkney Folk Tales by Tom Muir
The Viking Isles: Travels in Orkney and Shetland by Paul Murton
George Mackay Brown: The Life by Maggie Fergusson
George Mackay Brown: The Wound & the Gift by Ron Ferguson
Interrogation of Silence: The Writings of George Mackay Brown by Brian Murray and Rowena Murray
Papa Westray: Island at the Rainbow’s End by Jim Hewitson
Sagas of Salt and Stone: Orkney Unwrapped by Robin Noble
The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland by Ernest Marwick
Witchcraft and Witchcraft Trials in Orkney and Shetland by G F Black
The History of Orkney Literature by Simon Hall
Energy at the End of the World: An Orkney Islands Saga by Laura Watts
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot
The Other British Isles: A History of Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, Isle of Man, Anglesey, Scilly, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands by David W Moore
Chucking It All: How Downshifting to a Windswept Scottish Island Did Nothing to Improve My Quality of Life by Max Scratchmann
Fine That: An Orkney Island Life by Julia Welstead
If Only I Had Told by Esther W
The Heart of Stromness: Stories My Mother Told Me by Patricia Long
Steering the Stone Ships: A Story of Orkney Kirks and People by Jocelyn Rendall
Knitting from the North: 30 contemporary hats, gloves, scarves & jumpers by Hilary Grant
Recipes from the Orkney Isles by Eileen Wolfe
North Boats: The Story of the North of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland Shipping Company by Alastair W McRobb
An Orkney Boyhood by Duncan Cameron Mckenzie
In My Small Corner: Memories of an Orkney Childhood by Margaret Aitken
Swimming with Seals by Victoria Whitworth
The Book of Bere: Orkney’s Ancient Grain by Liz Ashworth
The Islands of Orkney by Liv Kjorsvik Schei and Gunnie Moberg
The Blind Man of Hoy by Red Szell
The Far-Flung Isles: Orkney and Shetland by Garry Hogg
The Giddy Limit: Not Quite Tenth Anniversary Book by Alex Leonard
The Kirkwall Ba’ – Between the Water and the Wall by John D M Robertson
George Mackay Brown: The Life by Maggie Fergusson
George Mackay Brown has also written an awful lot of non-fiction.
- Portrait of Orkney
- The First Wash of Spring
- An Orkney Tapestry
- Letters from Hamnavoe
- Rockpools and Daffodils
- Under Brinkie’s Brae
- Northern Lights: A Poet’s Sources
- Letters to Gypsy
- For the Islands I Sing: An Autobiography
- Three Plays
- A Spell for Green Corn
- A Celebration for Magnus
Phew!! That’s ended up being quite a list. Most of the books can be found on Amazon so if you see any you fancy you’ll still be able to get hold them even whilst the shops are closed.
Happy reading!
Have you read any of the books on my Reading List for Orkney? Are there any I’ve missed? Share your thoughts and recommendations in the comments below.
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Like this? Read these next:
- A Reading List for Shetland
- Evaluating the Books I Read in 2019 for Diversity
- Exploring Graemsay – A Perfect Day on a Perfect Island
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Ooh I might have to check out some of the fiction books! Can you believe I haven’t read George Mackay Brown?? I think we read some of his poems at school but I’ve never read his books.
I can believe it, haha, it’s always the way isn’t it? You’ve probably read authors from all over the world but not from your where you’re from. I do recommend him though.
Edwin Muir!
Can’t believe I missed Edwin Muir! I’ll be sure to add him in when I update the post. Thanks for the reminder 🙂