Read Scotland 2014

I made such a mess of most of my reading challenges this year, I guess I really shouldn't be thinking about signing up for any at all in 2014.  But this one is so attractive, I've just GOT to give it a go.

The "Read Scotland 2014" Reading Challenge is being hosted by Peggy Ann's Post, and runs  through 2014.  You can see all the guidelines over on the announcement page, but basically the idea is to read Scottish authors (by birth or immigration), or books about Scotland, or books set in Scotland.  There are several levels of participation, and you don't need a blog to join in (if you've got a GoodReads account, there's a challenge group you can join, here). 

This one should be fun and easy to do - I love Scotland, even though I've only been there once.  And one of my favorite authors, Muriel Spark, was a Scot by birth, and there are plenty of her works I have yet to read.  So I'm signing up at the second level (The Highlander), and committing to 5-8 books. 

Aside from the Muriel Spark books, I don't have firm plans about reading choices, but here are a few possibilities (in no particular order):

• The Sunday Philosophy Club. Alexander McCall Smith (Scottish author.  The first book in a very popular series that I've never tried.)
• The Man in the Queue. Josephine Tey (Scottish author. Again, the first book in a series - Inspector Alan Grant. I've read some of the later books, but never managed to read this first one.)
• The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame (Never read it! Loved the Disney animated feature when I was a child. Scottish author.)
• Death of a Gossip. M.C. Beaton (Scottish author.  And yet another series I haven't tried. This is the first book in the Hamish Macbeth series.)
• The Rector. Margaret Oliphant (Scottish author. First book in the Chronicles of Carlingford series. I've had this one on my TBR list for a number of years; this might be my chance to cross it off.)

So, that's something like a plan.  During the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog.  And I'm hoping that in 2014 (unlike 2013), I'll actually have some progress to track!