I’ve so been enjoying my foray into the Mma Ramotswe books, especially since I have never done a re-read with the series, or even finished reading the series. This is going to be a great reading year, I can tell. As always, there is a specific formula to the series, but Alexander McCall Smith knows how to balance the familiar and surprising all at once. And that’s perfectly fine by me. With The Kalahari Typing School for Men, we find out more about Mma Makutsi. […]

Alexander McCall Smith addresses pertinent issues that face people around the world, and he does so in a way that is both funny and tender, so that you don’t feel too raw at once. This time, he looks at depression. And while his solution may not ultimately be practical—after all, we can’t all just pack up our loved ones to an orphanage for a few weeks for treatment!—he does examine the mindset that many of us have when it comes to mental illness. This book […]

Two books into the Mma Ramotswe books, and I’m just as much in love. Not all of the books follow the exact same pattern (large overarching mystery and several smaller mysteries), but that’s part of what makes them so enjoyable. Smith knows a winning formula when he sees one, but he also knows how to provide a little variation when necessary. And that brings me to Tears of the Giraffe, which I have not re-read ever. Mma Ramotswe is trying to build a sturdy client […]

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 […]