I decided a while ago to start a series of posts where I collate all the books I know of that are associated with a particular place. Finally, I’ve got round to putting together the first of these posts. It took a lot longer than I thought!
Of course the first post had to be based on my soul home of Shetland. I’ve included books about Shetland, books by authors from Shetland and books set in Shetland. The list is a mix or fiction and non-fiction and I’ve categorised the books under several general headings. The only type of books I’ve avoided listing are guidebooks.
I’ve only listed the titles and authors. I did think about a brief synopsis of each book, but if I’d done that the post would never have been finished! Hopefully the category headings will give you a bit of an idea about what type of book each one is.
The post is a work in progress and I will add to it as I discover more books. If you think I’ve missed any off do let me know in the comments so I can add them.
Fiction
The Shetland series of books by Ann Cleeves – in order they are: Raven Black, White Nights, Red Bones, Blue Lightning, Dead Water, Thin Air, Cold Earth
Death on a Longship by Marsali Taylor
Shetland by Jack Spain (young adult fiction)
Shetland Folk Tales by Lawrence Tulloch
The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland by Ernest Walker Marwick
Sacrifice by Sharon Bolton
Da Trow: The Troll in Shetland Scots by Julia Donaldson and Christine De Luca (children’s; in dialect)
The Further North You Go by Tom Morton
Shetland Black by Laureen Johnson (in dialect)
Smootie an da Toon Hall Clock by Christine De Luca (in dialect; children’s)
Tang: A Shetland Story by J J Haldane Burgess
Thin Wealth by Robert Alan Jamieson
Dancing with the Ferryman by Frankie Valente
A Dream of Silver by J Laughton Johnston
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderlaand by Lewis Carroll (in dialect, translated by Laureen Johnson)
And Then Forever by Christine De Luca
Berries on the Heather by Kari Williamson
Fair Isle Ghosts by Carol Tweedie
The Shetland Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (children’s; in dialect, translated by Laureen Johnson)
The Shetland Gruffalo’s Bairn by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (children’s; in dialect, translated by Christine De Luca)
History, Politics and Culture
Women’s Suffrage in Shetland by Marsali Taylor
The Story of Busta House by Marsali Taylor
The Shetland Bus by David J Howarth and Kjell Colding
Scottish Lighthouse Pioneers: Travels with the Stevensons in Orkney and Shetland by Paul A Lynn
Myth and Materiality in a Woman’s World: Shetland 1800-2000 by Lynn Abrams
The Shetland Boat: South Mainland and Fair Isle by Adrian G Osler
The Shetland Story by Liv Kjorsvik Schei and Gunnie Moberg
Shetland and the Great War by Linda K Riddell
The Shetland Bible by Charles Greig (in dialect)
Shetland Islands by James A Pottinger
Doing His Bit: A Shetland Soldier in the Great War by Robert M Greig
Shetland and Oil by James R Nicolson
Vikings by Neil Oliver
Life in Shetland by Tom Kidd
Social Change in Dunrossness: A Shetland Study by Reginald Byron
The Northern Isles: Orkney and Shetland by Alexander Fenton
Shetland Life and Trade 1550-1914 by Hance D Smith
The Shetland Isles by Andrew T Cluness
The Orkneys and Shetland: Their Past and Present State by John R Tudor
A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands by Arthur Edmondston
Travellers in a Bygone Shetland by Derek Flinn
The Dunrossness Story by James W Irvine
Sons and Daughters of Shetland: 1800-1900 by Margaret Robertson
200,000 Feet on Foula by Michael Powell
Toons and Tenants by Brian Smith
The Coastal Place-Names of Papa Stour by George P S Peterson
Papa Stour and 1299: Commemorating the 700th Anniversary of Shetland’s First Document by Barbara Crawford
Aald Papa, I’m Dine! by George P S Peterson (in dialect)
The Isle of Foula by Ian Stoughton Holbourn
Unst: My Island Home and Its Story by Charles Sandison
Out Skerries: An Island Community by Joan Dey
Ancient Shetland by Val Turner
Up-Helly-Aa: Custom, Culture and Community in Shetland by Callum G Brown
Up Helly Aa: Tar Barrels and Guizing Looking Back by Charles E Mitchell
Up-Helly-Aa: A Century of Festival by James W Irvine
A Kist of Emigrants by J Laughton Johnston
A Lerwick Lifeboatman’s Story by George Leith
An Eye to Windward by Robert W Gear
Blockade 1914-1918 How Shetland Won the War by Ian Tait
Fishing, Fishermen, Fish Merchants and Curers in Shetland by James R Coull
Gravely Shetland by Alastair Christie-Johnston
Shetland’s Heritage of Sail by Charlie Simpson
The Literature of Shetland by Mark Ryan Smith
The Other Titanic by Simon Martin
The Peerie Guizers: A Celebration of Junior Up-Helly-A’ by Brydon Leslie
The Press Gang in Orkney and Shetland by J D M Robertson
Landscape and Wildlife
Shetland by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Diaries by Simon King
A Shetland Notebook by Norman Ackroyd
The Shetland Isles by Liv Kjorsvik Schei
Shetland Rambles: A Sketching Tour Retracing the Footsteps of Victorian Artist John T Reid by Mairi Hedderwick
Discover Shetland’s Birds by Paul Harvey
A Guide to Shetland’s Breeding Birds by Bobby Tulloch
Otters in Shetland: The Tale of the Draatsi by Richard Shucksmith and Brydon Thomason
The Natural History of Shetland by R J Berry and J L Johnston
Bobby Tulloch’s Shetland by Bobby Tulloch
Shetland: Land of the Ocean by Colin Baxter
A Naturalist’s Shetland by J L Johnston and John Busby
The Birds of Shetland by Pete Ellis et al
A Photographic Guide to Shetland’s Geology by David Malcolm and Robina R Barton
Shetland Ponies from Shetland by Margaret Hunter
A Photographic Guide to Shetland’s Wild Flowers by David Malcolm
A Shetland Nature Diary by Joyce J M Gammack
Memoir, Biography and Autobiography
Mackerel at Midnight: Growing Up Jewish on the Shetland Isles by Ethel G Hofman
Shetland Doctor: the Life of an Island GP by Robin Ditchburn
The Shetland Gypsy by Kayrin McMillan
Shetland Bus Man by Kaare Iversen
In a World a Wir Ane: A Shetland Herring Girl’s Story by Susan Telford
A Shetland Parish Doctor: Some Recollections of a Shetland Parish Doctor During the Past Half Century by Harry Pearson Taylor
A Peerie Peek at da Past by Agnes Hobbin
Like a Mantle the Sea by Stella Shepherd
Foula: The Time of My Life by Christopher Mylne
Foula: Island West of the Sun by Sheila Gear
Microbes and the Fetlar Man by Jane Coutts
A Kangaroo Loose in Shetland: Excerpts from a Diary by Lachlan Ness
Baby Boomers: Memories of Post-War Shetland by Erik Young
Bobby the Birdman by Jonathan Wills and Mike McDonnell
Born a Beachcomber: The Story of Thomas Mathieson by Steve Mathieson
Design for Life by Peter Jamieson
Hoswick Man by Martin Smith
Travel Writing
Between Weathers: Travels in 21st Century Shetland by Ron McMillan
Isles of the North by Ian Mitchell
True North: Travels in Arctic Europe by Gavin Francis
The Far-Flung Isles: Orkney and Shetland by Garry Hogg
60 Degrees North: Around the World in Search of a Home by Malachy Tallack
Ethnography
Whalsay: Symbol, Segment and Boundary in a Shetland Island Community by Anthony P Cohen
Food and Drink
Shetland Food and Cooking by Marian Armitage
Poetry
Wast Wi Da Valkyries by Christine De Luca (in dialect)
Bards in the Bog: Poems from the Shetland Project that put Poetry in Public Toilets by Shetland Library
Bright Pebbles edited by Mary Blance and Laureen Johnson (in dialect and English)
Language and Dialect
A Glossary of the Shetland Dialect by James Stout Angus
The Shetland Dictionary by John J Graham
Shetland Words by Alastair and Adaline Christie-Johnston
Shetland Wildlife Alphabet by Mary Isbister (children’s)
The Norn Language of Orkney and Shetland by Michael Barnes
Have you read any of these books? Have you read any I’ve not listed? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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