2022 Buddy Read: Scottish Authors

[Kathy]

I really loved Sunset Song, Chad.

[John]

Trisha wrote: "It’s good to see that Sunset Song has been so popular - I still plan to read it before the end of this year.

Today I finished reading Night Without End by [author:Alistair MacLean|..."

I also enjoy MacLean's thrillers, Trisha - Guns of Navarone and Ice Station Zebra were possibly my favourites, but there are least 7 or 8 of his books that could compete. I think I'll read/re-read a few more of his next year.

His books apparently sold more than 150 million copies, and a fair number were successful movies.

[Tr1sha]

Thanks, John. I’ve seen some of the films but never read the books before. I plan to read more of the books so it’s helpful to have your suggestions.

Update: decision made! I have downloaded a copy of Ice Station Zebra, but will wait until I have completed some other books before reading this.

[John]

I know we're only half-way through December, but I'll edit this message at the end of the month. I wanted to list what the group had read on this Buddy Read - and by my count it's currently 93 different books by 37 different authors. I've sure I'll have missed some, so please let me know of any mistakes you spot in the list below.

Lillian Beckwith
The Hills is Lonely;

Margot Bennett
The Man Who Didn’t Fly; The Widow of Bath;

George Douglas Brown
The House With Green Shutters;

George Mackay Brown
Poems New and Selected; Loaves and Fishes; Fishermen With Ploughs; The Storm and Other Poems;

John Buchan
Greenmantle; The Gap in the Curtain;

Robert Burns
The Great Poets – Robert Burns;

R T Campbell
Bodies in a Bookshop;

Thomas Campbell
The Complete Poetical Works;

J J Connington
Nordenholt’s Million; The Counsellor;

A J Cronin
The Citadel; The Keys of the Kingdom;

Arthur Conan Doyle
Lot No 249; A Pastoral Horror; The Lost World;

Douglas Dunn
The Happier Life;

Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Sunset Song; Cloud Howe; Grey Granite; Stained Radiance;

Meg Henderson
The Holy City;

James Hogg
Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner; A Lost Lady of Old Years;

David Hume
Works on Religion;

James Hunter
The Appin Murder;

Michael Innes
Hamlet, Revenge; The Daffodil Affair; Death at the President’s Lodging;

George MacBeth
The Night of Stones;

George MacDonald
Uncle Cornelius – his Story; David Elginbrod; The Giant’s Heart; The Light Princess; The Grey Wolf and Other Fantasy Stories; The Cruel Painter; The Gifts of the Child Christ;

Alistair MacLean
Night Without End;

Sorley MacLean
Eimhir;

John MacLeod
River of Fire;
When I Heard The Bell;

Edwin Muir
Latitudes; New Poets 1959 (Ed);

Robert Eadie Munro
Kythings;

Mrs Oliphant
Hester; Miss Marjoribanks; The Rector; The Doctors Family; The Executor;

George Prentice
Bombs Over Paisley

Sir Walter Scott
Waverley; Ivanhoe; The Lady of the Lake; Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft; The Antiquary; Rob Roy;

Nan Shepherd
The Living Mountain;

Sydney Goodsir Smith
Orpheus and Eurydice;
Kind Kittock's Land;

Muriel Spark
The Girls of Slender Means; Memento Mori; A Far Cry from Kensington;

D E Stevenson
Gerald and Elizabeth; The Empty World; Miss Buncle’s Book; Miss Buncle Married; Mrs Tim of the Regiment; Music in the Hills; Winter and Rough Weather;

R L Stevenson
Poems of R L Stevenson; A Childs Garden of Verses; Kidnapped; Catriona; The Short Stories; Treasure Island; Weir of Hermiston; Beach of Falesa; The Master of Ballantrae; The Treasure of Franchard; Markheim;

Mary Stewart
Wildfire at Midnight;
The Crystal Cave;

Josephine Tey
Miss Pym disposes; The Franchise Affair; The Daughter of Time; The Man in the Queue; To Love and be Wise;

Ruthven Todd
Space Cat;

Anthony Wynne
Murder of a Lady;

[Chad]

Thanks for doing that , John. A great list to easily browse for some good Scottish authors.

[Annette]

Thanks for the summary, John!

By the way, long ago, I missed replying to Message 407 about Lord Ullin's Daughter -- that is a sad tale.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

The group is currently reading The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart as a December group read as well.

[John]

Thanks Annette and Rosemarie.

I've edited msg 656 to include The Crystal Cave, and I found a few more that I'd missed!

[Melanie]

Hi John, I read To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey.

[John]

Melanie wrote: "Hi John, I read To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey."

Thanks Melanie - I've added it to the list.

[Armin]

Finished Master of Ballantrae today, my other RLS-Books in 2022 were: Weir of Hermiston, Beach of Falesa, Treasure of Franchard, Markheim.

[John]

Thanks Admin, I've edited msg 656 and added The Master of Ballantrae, Treasure of Franchard, and Markheim.

[John]

I've just finished what will probably be my last book in this Buddy Read - The Man Who Didn't Fly by Margot Bennett.

It was an entertaining enough read thanks largely to the clever plot, but I had real trouble engaging with any of the characters.

However, I enjoyed it enough to probably read one of her other books at some point.

[Kathy]

John, I read D.E. Stevenson's Music In The Hills.

[John]

Kathy wrote: "John, I read D.E. Stevenson's Music In The Hills."

Thanks Kathy, I've added it now.

D E Stevenson and her father's cousin, R L Stevenson, have provided a significant number of titles in this buddy read.

[Kathy]

I just finished another D. E. Stevenson - Winter and Rough Weather. I really liked this one.

[Brian E]

Kathy wrote: "I just finished another D. E. Stevenson - Winter and Rough Weather. I really liked this one."

It's nice to like the first two books in a trilogy and then the final book turns out to be your favorite one.
Now that you've finished with the Dering Family, Kathy, will you be checking out the Ayrton Family in 2023 or 2024?

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

John wrote: "I know we're only half-way through December, but I'll edit this message at the end of the month. I wanted to list what the group had read on this Buddy Read - and by my count it's currently 90 diff..."

Nice touch John! You have been an excellent Host and look forward to next year!

[John]

Kathy wrote: "I just finished another D. E. Stevenson - Winter and Rough Weather. I really liked this one."

Thanks Kathy, I've added it to the list.

[John]

Lesle wrote: "John wrote: "I know we're only half-way through December, but I'll edit this message at the end of the month. I wanted to list what the group had read on this Buddy Read - and by my count it's curr..."

Thank you, Lesle - it's been a pleasure to host this thread. I never cease to be amazed at the knowledge of NTLTRC group members; I've learned so much this year, and have benefited from lots of great recommendations.

[Kathy]

Brian E wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I just finished another D. E. Stevenson - Winter and Rough Weather. I really liked this one."

It's nice to like the first two books in a trilogy and then the final bo..."

I think I will, Brian. Have you read that trilogy? I also have Miss Buncle's Book on my TBR.

[Melanie]

Thanks, John, for your list. It's good to look back and see what we read this year.

For the year-end, I still want to read something by O. Douglas, the sister of John Buchan. She writes humorous domestic fiction, mostly set between the two wars. She has written quite a few books but none of them are in my library. I'm getting a gift card from my sister so I'm planning on buying a few of her books on Amazon.

[Brian E]

Kathy wrote: "Brian E wrote: "Brian E wrote: "Now that you've finished with the Dering Family, Kathy, will you be checking out the Ayrton Family in 2023 or 2024..."

Kathy wrote: "I think I will, Brian. Have you..."

Brian E wrote: "Now that you've finished with the Dering Family, Kathy, will you be checking out the Ayrton Family in 2023 or 2024..."

Kathy wrote: "I think I will, Brian. Have you read that trilogy? I also have Miss Buncle's Book on my TBR..."

No, I haven't read either the Ayrton or Dering family trilogy. I'm on the second of the Miss Buncle trilogy, Miss Buncle Married and already have the 3rd volume, The Two Mrs. Abbotts. I plan to read Vittoria Cottage someday, at a later date.

I hate it when, like now, my "add book/author" link says
"Search is temporarily unavailable. Use this time to read a book!" And I think: "Why don't you shut-up Wise Guy, let me plan my own activities for the day, and you instead use this time to get the "add book/author" link back up and running."

[John]

Melanie wrote: "Thanks, John, for your list. It's good to look back and see what we read this year.

For the year-end, I still want to read something by O. Douglas, the sister of John Buchan. She writes humorous d..."

Melanie, I think Project Gutenberg may have a couple of her books available for download.

[Kathy]

Brian E wrote: "Brian E wrote: "Now that you've finished with the Dering Family, Kathy, will you be checking out the Ayrton Family in 2023 or 2024..."

Kathy wrote: "I think I will, Brian. Have you read that trilo..."

"Search unavailable" was also aggravating me yesterday.

[Brian E]

Kathy wrote: ".."Search unavailable" was also aggravating me yesterday.."

I like using that function because it helps me avoid errors. Yesterday, I typed "The Two Miss Abbotts" when the book actually is The Two Mrs. Abbotts

[Melanie]

John wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Thanks, John, for your list. It's good to look back and see what we read this year.

For the year-end, I still want to read something by O. Douglas, the sister of John Buchan. She w..."

I'll check it out, John, thanks!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I read The Cruel Painter last week and have just read The Gray Wolf, both by George MacDonald.

[John]

Thanks Rosemarie - I have those listed; thanks to your commitment in reading MacDonald, he's someone whose books I will definitely look to read/re-read in the next year.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I've just finished another MacDonald story, The Gifts of the Child Christ.
Another group I belong to has been reading the works of George Macdonald this month.

[John]

Rosemarie wrote: "I've just finished another MacDonald story, The Gifts of the Child Christ.
Another group I belong to has been reading the works of George Macdonald this month."

Thanks Rosemarie -- now added.

[Brian E]

I finished Miss Buncle Married. While not nearly as funny or clever as Miss Buncle's Book, it still managed to be an engaging and entertaining read.
Stevenson is an author with skills in both plot and character development. And she can be funny too. I will be reading more of her.

My review of Miss Buncle Married: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My ratings:
Miss Buncle's Book - ***** 5 stars
Miss Buncle Married - **** 4 stars

[Brian E]

Finished my last contribution to this Scottish buddy read, Muriel Spark's A Far Cry from Kensington

My review of it: "Glè mhath, ach chan eil math"

My review of it in English:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I do have over 5 hours left, but I'll think I'll hold at the present amount of Scottish reads. Thank you, John, for hosting this fine and fun reading party.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Thanks for leading the discussion, John!

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Outstanding Host John for our Scottish reads!

[Chad]

This was so interesting, John. I’ll be finishing my final novel for this in January. Sunset Song.

[Melanie]

Thanks for all your hosting and expertise, John! I'll be finishing Treasure Island in January.

[Penelope]

Yes thank you John. I didn't read heaps of Scottish classics with you but did really enjoy Nan Shepherd, Robert Louis Stevenson among others. The big thing for me was to finally read Sir Walter Scott. I did so under the influence of this group and am so glad I did. Have more on my TBR. Looking forward to reading again with the buddy reads you are involved in in 2023. Happy reading and all the best to all for the coming year.

[Kathy]

Thanks, John, for hosting the Scottish reads. I enjoyed them very much.

[Tr1sha]

John, thank you for a great year of reading. I still have some books on my TBR that I only discovered from this buddy read - some authors that you introduced, plus others that I had thought would be too difficult but now want to try.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Thank you, John, for hosting a year of Scottish reads. I wouldn't still have read Sir Walter Scott if not for this thread. Also, I discovered A.J. Cronin, whose The Citadel I very much enjoyed. And I have added some other works of his to my tbr.

[John]

Brian E wrote: "Finished my last contribution to this Scottish buddy read, Muriel Spark's A Far Cry from Kensington

My review of it: "Glè mhath, ach chan eil math"

My review of it in ..."

Thanks Brian, and thanks for the review of A Far Cry from Kensington. I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive from the library, so this will be a 2023 read for me,

[John]

Thank you all for those kind comments, and for participating in this Buddy Read in 2022. It's been great fun, and I've learned so much, as well as adding to my TBR pile.

But most of all I've enjoyed everyone's comments and mutual support and encouragement.

Happy New Year, and all the best for 2023.

[Brian E]

U.S. television station, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is showing the 1938 movie version of The Citadel at 9:00 a.m. CDT (Central Daylight Time) I will DVR it.
While I appreciate getting this movie, I wonder why TCM is not showing Irish movies on St. Patrick's Day, as they have for as long as I've been watching it. At least now there's streaming services that enable me to watch Irish movies on that day.

[John]

Brian E wrote: "U.S. television station, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is showing the 1938 movie version of The Citadel at 9:00 a.m. CDT (Central Daylight Time) I will DVR it.
While I appreciate getting this movie, ..."

I hope you enjoy it, Brian. I hadn't realised that they made a movie of it within a year of the novel being published.