JK Rowling snubbed: Harry Potter author fails to make list of Scotland's best books

The Casual Vacancy isn't among Scotland's 50 best novels

JK Rowling's Casual Vacancy did not qualify for a list of Scotland's 50 best books (Getty Images)

Her Harry Potter books helped get millions of children interested in reading, and the revelation that she was behind Robert Galbraith's The Cuckoo's Calling showed that despite now writing for adults she can still make front-page news, but JK Rowling is apparently not good enough for a list of Scotland's best books.

Literary critic Stuart Kelly and the Scottish Book Trust have compiled a list of the 50 best Scottish novels of the past 50 years.

Visitors to the Book Trust's website can vote for their favourite, and a top ten will be announced in late November during Book Week Scotland.

On the list are literary heavyweights such as Ali Smith's Hotel World and James Meek's The People's Act of Love.

There was also space for commercial favourites, including Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, Iain Banks's The Bridge and Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh.

But there was no room for any of the Harry Potter books, or JK Rowling's first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, which released to a mixed reception last year.

"If she was to have been included it probably would have been for the third Harry Potter book, but this list is about adult books," Kelly told the Guardian, adding: "There are 50 better books than The Casual Vacancy on that list."

He continued: "There are a lot of works which expand the novel, books which fundamentally change what a novel does, like Andrew Crumey's Pfitz, Frank Kuppner's A Very Quiet Street, or Hotel World by Ali Smith. It is not just about content, it's also about form. Many of these books are doing quite radical things."

JK Rowling proved far more popular with regular readers when the BBC carried out its Big Read survey of Britain's favourite books in 2003. Four of her Harry Potter novels placed in the top 25.