Maggie Ritchie

INDEPENDENT bookshops have entered a new chapter

THE Western Isles attracts more than 200,000 visitors a year, many of them eager to see the ancient stone circle at Callanish and the white sands and turquoise sea of Luskentyre beach, named one of the best in the world. But there is so much more to this archipelago, as travel writer Brigid Benson reveals in her new book, Hebridean Journey, which uncovers the secret treasures of the Outer Hebrides.

THE mild-mannered Rev Richard Coles must have been taken by surprise when he caused a Twitter storm by posing a seemingly innocuous question.

HAPPY childhood memories of trips “doon the watter” to Rothesay inspired best-selling Scottish crime writer Craig Robertson’s latest thriller.

I attempted, as we are urged to by many a lifestyle magazine and TV programme, to declutter my wardrobe this week but only succeeded in getting rid of one tired shirt. As I took down the hangers and looked at each item of clothing they stubbornly refused to “spark joy” as recommended by the Japanese neat freak Marie Kondo. I couldn’t get rid of them all so put everything back and shut the door.

I ALWAYS remember at this time of year my dad teasing my mum that she would be ‘washing the coals’ next during the big Hogmanay house clean up.

Maggie Ritchie:

STROKE patients with speech problems are being short changed by the current system and are not receiving nearly enough therapy, according to a Scots academic.

THE announcement this week that The Burrell Collection had acquired its first ever sculpture by a female artist came as a sharp reminder that the art gallery will have been closed for six years by the time it reopens in March.

THE Christmas cards have been bought and I’m looking forward to sitting down to write them with a glass of wine and some suitably festive choral music playing in the background. It’s a tradition I cherish as much as putting up the tree and baking a Christmas cake with my son.