I’ve really enjoyed doing the Read Scotland Challenge this year and I’m definitely doing it again in 2017. I managed to read thirty-five books by Scottish authors or with a Scottish setting or link. I’ve been fairly strict with myself though as I’ve just finished reading a book by an author who according to the back blurb now lives in Glasgow, but there was nothing Scottish in her book so I’m not counting that one at all.
I’m going to be compiling a list soon of some of the Scottish books I plan to read in 2017. It’ll include a few classics by Sir Walter Scott and R.L. Stevenson and I think some other people doing the challenge will be doing a readalong at some point, RLS’s The Black Arrow has been mentioned as a possibility, it’s a historical adventure set at the time of The Wars of the Roses. It’ll be different anyway!
1. Beneath the Abbey Wall by A.D. Scott
2. The Factory on the Cliff by A. G. MacDonell
3. Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes
4. Night and Silence by Aline Templeton
5. A Life, Josephine Tey by Jennifer Morag Henderson
6. Fatty O’Leary’s Dinner Party by Alexander McCall Smith
7. Murder at the Loch by Eric Brown
8. The Moon King by Neil Williamson
9. Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart
10. Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
11. Water on the Brain by Compton Mackenzie
12. Fair Helen by Andrew Greig
13. Cork on the Water by Macdonald Hastings
14. The Hangman’s Song by James Oswald
15. Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart
16. Crossriggs by Jane and Mary Findlater
17. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
18. The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
19. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
20. Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne
21. Candleshoe by Michael Innes
22. Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
23. The Land the Ravens Found by Naomi Mitchison
24. England Their England by A.G. Macdonell
25. Kate Hardy by D.E. Stevenson
26. The Revolving Door of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
27. The Rival Monster by Compton Mackenzie
28. Furnished for Murder by Elizabeth Ferrars
29. A Smile in One Eye a Tear in the Other by Ralph Webster
30. Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson
31. After the Dance by Iain Crichton Smith
32. Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett
33. Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
34. Dandy Gilver and A Most Misleading Habit by Catriona McPherson
35. Glasgow Interiors by Helen Kendrick
Wonderful list! Nine Coaches Waiting is listed twice đŸ˜‰
Peggy,
Hell’s teeth! I’ll have to read another one before the end of the year!
Did I put it on your review list at Peggy Ann’s Post twice too?
Well done, Katrina! I agree about not including authors who though they may live in Scotland write books that have no Scottish connection. I’ve recently read A God in Ruins but can’t remember anything Scottish in that – am I wrong?
Margaret,
I count Kate Atkinson as Scottish as she has lived here for all of her adult life, I think it just depends on the setting for her. Andrew Greig is definitely Scottish but his book That Summer has nothing Scottish about it. I read Kate Atkinson’s book Emotionally Weird recently and she used lots of Scottish words. She has definitely soaked up our culture!
I’m impressed! I look forward to seeing your list of 2017 books for the challenge. I thought I hadn’t read anything Scottish this year but just glancing at the books on my Goodreads list I see that I have read 2 books by Ali Smith and 1 book by Catriona McPherson – and I really liked them all.
Anbolyn,
I have quite a few of Ali Smith’s books in my house (Jack likes her books) so I must get around to some of them in 2017. You could have joined in with the Read Scotland Challenge on Goodreads!
You have some on this list I would like to read. And I look forward to the list of what you are planning for next year. Which is getting closer.
tracybham,
I’ll need to get on and compile my list fast.