44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith

This is a very cosy sort of book. Originally written as a serial for The Scotsman, this book tells the stories of the various residents of the flats at the titular address. There's vain Bruce and his new flatmate, Pat, interesting Domenica, who's seen plenty of the world, pretentious Irene with her almost silent husband, and son Bertie, who is the focus of all her ambition and is starting to buckle under the pressure. McCall Smith has a talent for creating fascinating and relatable characters (I really enjoyed his Ladies No 1 Detective Agency books). The book is broken up into short chapters, suitable for it's original use in the newspaper, and is something to be nibbled at. A sweet sort of book. There's a sequel on the way too, continuing the stories of the residents of number 44 and their friends.

The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith

I was a bit disappointed with this book, I like the Mma Ramotswe books (Ladies No1 Detective Agency etc), and according to the blurb this was along similar lines. I know I should never judge a book by it's blurb or even by it's author (some wonderful writers occasionally write awful books). Anyway, this was nothing like the author's most successful works. It was deadly dull. The main character, Isabel Dalhousie, is nowhere near as interesting, colourful or charming as Precious, and the plot was very dry. Isabel is a philosopher, editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, a philosophy journal and amateur sleauth or so she is presented. Truthfully she doesn't really solve any crime, the supposed crime isn't really one, and there's very little action. Edinburgh is not as interesting as Botswana and the supporting characters don't have the charm expected of McCall Smith. I don't think I'll be bothering with the rest of the series.

The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom - Alexander McCall Smith

I picked this book up out of curiosity the other day, I enjoyed McCall Smith's Ladies No 1 Detective Agency books and wondered what his others were like. This encorporates all 3 novels about Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld (Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs & At The Villa of Reduced Circumstances), a Professor of Romance Philology in Germany. His adventures are quite comical, and the stories are light-hearted and gentle, much like his stories about Mma Ramotswe. If you liked the Botswana set stories, then these are probably going to be just as enjoyable. Although I didn't warm to von Igelfeld (apparently it means Hedgehog field, which did amuse me) as much as I did to Precious Ramotswe and co, I did enjoy this book. Happy Reading!