I last read The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency about two and a half years ago for my ENGL 2000 class, and which I reviewed for CBR 7 (aka, the only time I ever managed more than a triple cannonball, which gets more exhausting to reach each year). I have never made it through the entire series yet, but that’s one of this year’s goals. I was excited to read it again, because I find the gentle humor to be soothing in a time where […]
A comforting read in dark times
I am a fan of Alexander McCall Smith. I am woefully behind in the Mma Ramotswe books, but my aunt gives me a copy of the new book when it appears. One year, she gifted me with one of his rare standalone books, and I just got around to tackling it as one of the last in my read-the-books-on-my-shelf project, which will end in early 2018, when I finally read the rest of the Mma books in my stack. I had heard mixed reviews of […]
I am an incurable, and nothing else behaves like me
This book was just a lot of fun. 44 Scotland Street is a serial novel that was originally published in an Edinburgh newspaper. It takes place in Edinburgh, focusing mainly on the inhabitants of the titular apartment building. Among other characters, there’s Pat, a college-aged woman taking her “second gap year,” Bertie, a high-achieving 6-year-old with a helicopter mother, Domenica, the resident wise Mrs. Madrigal-type, and Bruce, who is honestly a completely fascinating character. In fact, while Pat is nominally the main character, and Bertie […]
A lovely start to my semester.
My aunt first introduced me to Alexander McCall Smith several years ago, when she bought me the first four books in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I thought they were charming and made for perfect bedtime reading. And so I devoured them, not realizing that I would have to WAIT for the next books to come out. That’s the problem with a series you like…the waiting. Thankfully, Mr. McCall Smith is a productive and voracious writer, so you don’t have to wait too […]
I give it a thumbs up, even though there is a very suspect lack of Knightley here.
Alexander McCall Smith is a writer that I like very much, but I honestly can’t remember much about the books I’ve read by him. I know I read The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Maybe I read a few more of those? Maybe something a bit more Scottish? I really don’t know. But I like his easy way of writing and the warm characters that he writes, so while he isn’t a “must” writer for me, I do enjoy his books from time to time. […]
Because you know I’m all about that Jane…
Anyone who knows me knows I am all.about.that.Jane (with apologies to Megan Trainor, whose twee song I am now appropriating). So of course when Alexander McCall Smith announced at the book signing I attended in November 2013 that he was writing a contemporary adaptation of Emma, I was excited. Very excited. Smith is an Austen acolyte, and also incidentally, that of Barbara Pym, as well (and one of the people who recommended her to me in the first place). For the record, Mr. McCall Smith […]