Harvey Maps: Arran — the standard walking map for the island, waterproof and at a scale suited to day walks. Covers all the main routes including Glenashdale Falls and the approach to Goat Fell. Essential if you plan to spend more than a day on the hills.
Arran by Robert McLellan — McLellan was an Arran writer whose poetry and prose capture the island's particular character with an intimacy that comes only from having lived there. A good companion for a quiet evening in the village.
Lonely Planet Scotland — practical and broad, useful for planning the wider Scottish context around an Arran visit: the Ayrshire coast, Glasgow, or onward to Argyll and the islands.
The Vikings in Scotland by Barbara Crawford — a scholarly but readable account of Norse settlement and influence in Scotland, covering the period when Arran was firmly within the Norse world. Puts the Viking fort above Whiting Bay into a wider historical context.