Does anyone love Alexander McCall Smith as much as me? I mean, as an author...I don't really know him or anything...I actually love my husband the most...after God...umm, I'm just digging this hole deeper and deeper..so I'll stop now and resume my intended subject.
This month I read "Blue Shoes & Happiness" (a book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series), and started the Isabel Dalhousie series; managing to finish "The Sunday Philosophy Club" and beginning "A Right Attitude to Rain". I haven't really been reading as much as I'd like, and I have to say these were such fun books to start with!!!! I just love the books I've read by Smith.
How can I impart to you why I like these novels? They are just fun reads. They introduce characters and you get to know them so well throughout the series. Mma Ramotswe comes alive, you almost know what she's going to say next, just like you might with a very close friend. So far, I would say I like the Ladies Detective Agency series more than the Isabel Dalhousie novels. I personally would not have been as interested in Isabel had I not already been absolutely in love with Botswana and Mma Ramotswe's adventures.
"Blue Shoes and Happiness" has fun mysteries to be solved, blackmail, a shady medical doctor, and a troubled game reserve; it also gives a glimpse into the culture of Botswana while involving the reader directly in the character's everyday lives. These books seem simple, but are so rich with the stuff of life that they shouldn't be neglected.
The Isabel Dalhousie books are also interesting and worth a read - but they involve more philosophical wanderings and sometimes got a little weighted down for me. But only briefly. I plan on reading this whole series as well as any other book by McCall Smith I can get my hands on.
(how do I get the pictures from Amazon to post here? Anyone?)
3 comments:
I read the very first book in No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Haven't gotten to others. I do enjoy the main character. =) I should pick those up again.
I haven't read any of them, but now I will definitely request them from the library!! Thanks for finally posting. I was getting impatient!!
I've been thinking about No. 1 for a long time, and when I got to the library the other day, they'd pulled both that and the Sunday Philosopher's Club out and put them in the "Quick Picks" section - so I grabbed them both. And now I find you blogging about them. Too strange! I'm in the middle of No. 1 right now. I had begun that book some time ago at Borders, but never got around to finishing it. :)
Happy New Year, etc!
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