Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop

07/09/2026

Welcome to Lighthouse’s Philosophy & Social Hope Bookclub, where we will be reading contemporary philosophers that concern themselves with the social!

The overarching theme will be readings that engage in social critique that can help take us towards new forms of social hope. We will be reading authors that offer powerful critiques of institutions, big tech, late-stage capitalism, as well as the central political concepts to those discussions (e.g. solidarity, freedom, justice, equality, etc) that, ultimately, equip us to re-evaluate the now in order to re-envision the future.


Why Philosophy & Who’s This For?

Philosophy is first and foremost a social activity – it’s about thinking together in communities of inquiry, it’s about synthesising ideas, transforming the categories and concepts which guide our thinking. It is famously characterised as a space “to understand how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term” as one philosopher put it.

This bookclub is for both philosophers and non-philosophers alike! For the philosophically initiated, the readings will be contemporary thinkers who you won’t find on a typical reading list. For the uninitiated, these readings will also be highly accessible, short, and relevant to the world we find ourselves in today. It’s an inclusive reading club, welcoming as many people from as many different backgrounds to help give us the best chance of seeing how everything hangs together!

Meetings:
Meetings will be hosted by Nic and take place every 5-6 weeks on Monday at Lighthouse from 7pm-8:30pm.

Use the code HOPE-PHILOSOPHY-SOC to get 10% off the bookclub books!

What We Are Discussing This Month:

How To Be A Dissident by Gal Beckerman

An invigorating guide to fighting back – part philosophy, part history and part how-to guide for living with integrity in an age of authoritarian drift.

How do we push back in a world where political leaders wield fear and where social media misinforms? We need role models to show us how, and here, acclaimed writer Gal Beckerman goes looking for them.
Drawing on the stories of dissidents from

07/09/2026

📣 EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT 📣

Lex Croucher (Lex Croucher) is one of our favourite authors here at Lighthouse - from historical romance to dark academia, there’s not much they can’t write. You can imagine our excitement when we found out that Lex would be celebrating the Edinburgh launch of ‘Bridget and Gabe Are Not Okay’ with us!

On stage with Lex we’ll have award-winning author and ancient historian Jean Menzies (Dr Jean Menzies). Expect an evening of Camelot, q***r joy and laughter.

Join us at Nicolson Square Venues (round the corner) - Thursday 17 September, 7-8PM!

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Newly crowned King Gabriel is having panic attacks in cupboards in-between council meetings. He can’t tell Arthur just how not okay he is – so he’s set him free, to find love with someone who can get through the day without breaking down.

Bridget has lost her spark for sparring, forfeiting again and again in the lists. When she’s invited to join Gabriel’s round table, she hopes it’ll be the change she needs. But trying to navigate the post-happily-ever-after reality of a relationship with Gwen, when Bridget no longer feels like the dashing knight Gwen fell in love with, feels impossible.

With the kingdom still reeling from an attempted uprising, and rumoured sightings of the Holy Grail, the Questing Beast and the Green Knight happening across the country, the gang depart on a PR tour destined for disaster. Can Gabriel be the king his country deserves? Can Bridget get her jousting groove back? And will they find their way back to the courtly love that once seemed fated?

06/09/2026

📣 EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT 📣

We could not be more thrilled to launch the latest anthology from the bestselling author of Wanderers: A History of Women Walking!

Women, Walking is an agenda-setting, contemporary exploration of women setting foot outdoors now, and what that means, compiling ten specially commissioned essays on walking from prize-winning writers including poets, novelists, essayists and journalists, published here for the very first time,

The groundbreaking collection brings together many of the most prominent and exciting voices of the last decade across poetry, fiction, essays and journalism, and many a Lighthouse bookshop favourite.

Women, Walking confirms the importance of every kind of walking as a political and creative act of belonging. Moving and radical, and we should all be encouraged to get outside, know our surroundings and find our voice.

🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️

Wednesday, 16 September, 7-8PM in the shop - see you there!
https://lighthousebookshop.com/events/women-walking

05/09/2026

05/09/2026

Autumn is here, and with it all of these glorious events!

We’re so pleased to be bringing you Palestine solidarity, fairies and illustration, women and nature, q***r Camelot, three poets, youth club histories, q***r joy, South Asian resistance and q***r northern authors - there’s absolutely something for everyone.

Check out our website for more info, and remember that we record all our events so you can always watch from home!

https://lighthousebookshop.com/events

04/09/2026

🧚Watch your step. Not all fairies are friendly🧚

We’re so excited to be welcoming author and illustrator for a double bill that will take you on a journey across continents and cultures as we uncover the origins of extraordinary folk creatures, from mermaids and bigfoot to shapeshifters and spectral hounds.

No matter where you are, you’re never far from a door to the Otherworld ... From the bloodthirsty baobhan sith of the Scottish Highlands to the mischievous trasgu creeping beneath your floorboards, the world is teeming with hidden, magical beings. The Fairy Spotter’s Guide is your essential companion for navigating the world of the uncanny.

See you on Tuesday 15 September at 7pm for an evening of excellent fairy chat and excellent illustrations!

03/09/2026

A brief message from the lovely inviting you all to join us at the Shorelines x Palestine Solidarity Night!

Among the performers, we’ll have .hannah, , and .

Wednesday 9th September, 7-8.30PM at in Bruntsfield - all tickets are contributions to the fundraiser and will go towards Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Ghassan Abu-Sittah Children’s Fund.

See you there!

02/09/2026

The ‘environment’, really, is everything, including us. So it follows that environmental writing, or nature writing - read in this way - should be the most sprawling, transgressive and boundary-breaking kind of writing, putting into focus the place of humans in our worlds.

On September 9th we’re immensely honoured to be marking the arrival of Alycia Pirmohamed’s (Alycia Pirmohamed) new non-fiction book Shorelines - a gorgeous chain of interrelated essays that ask what it means to carry hidden histories across borders and generations - with a night of readings, music and fundraising. All of this will take place at Bruntsfield’s gorgeous Pianodrome. Proceeds from the night will go to Readers and Writers against Genocide, distributed between Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Ghassan Abu-Sittah Children’s Fund.

A week later, on September 16th, we’re thrilled to be launching the latest anthology from the bestselling author of Wanderers: A History of Women Walking in the shop. Join us along with editor Kerri Andrews and contributor (and award winning poet) Josie Giles for an evening of radical writing on nature and belonging in Women, Walking.

You can find out more about these events, and check out some of our current favourite books on similar topics on our website now!

01/09/2026

Happy September! It’s so good to be welcoming autumn with cooler weather, quieter streets and lots of great, atmospheric fiction.

As the month begins, our booksellers have compiled a list of all the great reads of August - from Scottish romances, to memoirs on motherhood and contemporary fiction, we managed to get some reads in throughout our busiest period.

Check out the full list on our website now!

29/08/2026

Our last event of Book Fringe 2026 is tomorrow and we’re delighted to share it with you!

Bookshop regular Alfredo Carpineti will be wrapping up a gloriously q***r Book Fringe with an hour dedicated to science through a q***r lens.

It’s sure to be a popular one so reserve your tickets now!

🌌🌌🌌

What if the world around us is far richer than we can perceive?

In Invisible Rainbows, astrophysicist and science communicator Dr Alfredo Carpineti reveals the extraordinary hidden universe beyond the limits of human vision and how we have learnt to harness it.

From the emanations of powerful cosmic explosions in gamma-rays to galaxies glowing in radio waves, he shows how every colour we see is just one note in the vast symphony of light.

Featuring conversations with LGBTQIA+ astronomers and scientists from around the world, Carpineti focuses on their pivotal but often invisible contribution to the evolving field of astronomy, and how our identities can shape the way we look at the universe. Blending awe-inspiring science with reflections on perception, diversity and wonder, Invisible Rainbows changes the way we see ourselves and the cosmos.