All the things that make this series memorable are present in this novel, but it's just all starting to feel samey. The only progression that we see in this outing is that Fanwell is displaying the beginning of maturity, but other than that we have all the same players doing all the same things....
I enjoy the usually low-key writings of McCall Smith. This book, however, does get a little more tense as a character is forced into being a gigolo. It is always amusing to read the thoughts of the dog, Freddy de la Hay, as written by the author, especially since Freddie gets lost. Then there ...
Alexander McCall Smith's writing puts our flaws and those of our companions into beautiful perspective. People constantly surprise one another with their unexpected goodness and normality. This book pulls together the love stories of four people who meet on a train. Those stories are so common, b...
2.9 I blame this rating on my poor judgement. What was I thinking starting a series on it's 4 or 5th instalment? I'm pretty sure I would have picked up on the subtle nuances and charm of the characters if I gave myself the opportunity to grow fond of them in the first place. If you haven't read ...
Baru tahu ternyata ada seri Precious kecil ini :P. Seri ini untuk anak-anak. Bahasanya tentu saja lebih sederhana. Kasusnya jauh lebih sederhana daripada seri dewasanya yang kasusnya juga kebanyakan sederhana :D. Bahkan bisa dibilang di buku ini tidak ada kasus sama sekali. Lah dari awal juga pem...
I read the first book in the No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency series and really enjoyed it, so I thought it would be fun to introduce my daughters to Precious, the famous female detective from that series. This book was just ok ... kind of slow moving, but as always, the descriptions of Africa and i...
A very sweet and simple MG reader in the same vein as his adult No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. Very simple plot and little character development make this a very quick read but not very fulfilling. The great information about Africa contained in the book would make it a really good multi-...
This was great! I have never read the 'grown-up' version, but this book was exceptional! Loved the story-line. Loved the humor. Loved Precious. Loved the illustrations. We were laughing out loud at several points during the story, but that might just be us. ;o) The not-too-preachy message about ...
Trains and Lovers by Alexander SmithVarious stories from people who share the train and their life experiences. Loved the travel each had described and loved the jobs of a few of them: fisherman who lost his oar and the one who had picked up the steam train in a art setting where trains had not e...
This series is pure pleasure ...and what a fun twist for Bertie and Stuart ...and Ulysses, who becomes a real baby, laughing at the pleasure of seeing his brother after Bertie goes off on a camping trip! Lots of great changes for many characters, including one new one who listens to Penguin Cafe...
Reading travel literature is one of my favourite things to do. Unfortunately, some authors seem to believe that the subject matter, I.e the location, makes up for poor writing skills. Imagine how pleased I was to find this book of true travel stories written by really good authors. I loved it a...
Precious Ramotswe, Botwana's No.1 Lady Detective, is usually concerned with other people's problems and mishaps. She handles these with aplomb, common sense and, sometimes a little pressure... Her usual cheerfulness is rarely put to the test. Yet, when it comes to difficulties in her own life, sh...
Buat kamu yang baru akan pertama kali membaca serial ini–ya, ini sebuah serial terdiri dari beberapa judul, jadi sebaiknya dibaca secara urut dari buku pertamanya : Kantor Detektif Perempuan No. 1–aku ingatkan untuk bersiap diri mendapati kisah detektif yang berbeda. Kau tidak bisa berharap akan ...
It's always nice to return to this world where everyone is blunt and honest and all the bad stuff happens because of Western influence or men. This installment is quite simple, even as these books go. There's a rival private investigator who opens up, then he closes. Mma Ramotswe has to find some...
Airmata jerapah? Rasanya kita di Indonesia tak pernah mendengar istilah itu. Ada juga airmata buaya, yaitu istilah untuk menyatakan kepura-puraan seseorang menangisi kesedihan atau kemalangan orang lain. Karena pura-pura sedih - sebab sebenarnya ia justru bahagia atas kemalangan tersebut - maka a...
Publicado em 2003, é o quinto volume da série Agência Nº1 de Mulheres Detetives e continua deliciosa, viciante, lindamente singela. Mma Ramotswe ama a África especialmente por sua beleza e por seu povo, e esse foi um dos motivos que a levou a fundar sua agência de investigação, o desejo de ajudar...
I love these books from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. The dialogue, description of the countryside and local customs, and vividly described characters all make you feel like you are there in Botswana. I laugh when I hear Mma Ramotswe talk about her traditional build, as she enjoys ...
I'm no fan of mystery, crime or detective books - the bore me, generally, though I loved Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher books in high school and Agatha Christie's Ten Little Niggers gave me chills (since renamed And Then There Were None, for obvious reasons - but I've got an old edition).The No....
I really enjoyed the first of Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street novels, and so was really looking forward to reading this. However, I didn’t quite enjoy this one as much.On the plus side, I really love the drama of the Pollock family. Poor Bertie has now started at Steiner’s school-wher...
Alexander McCall Smith is best known for his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, of which I am a fan. He has another series featuring Isabel Dalhousie, a cultured and wealthy Scottish lady (and I use the term advisedly), which sounds far more like my usual preference than a genial African woma...
I randomly stumbled upon this book on a booksale. The title caught my attention since I owned a Dachshund for more than a year already and quite thinking on reading some literature involving them. Hence, I bought it. This 2003 novel by the Scottish author, Alexander McCall Smith, is a second nove...
I read the first book in this series, “Portuguese Irregular Verbs,” found it quite amusing and so wanted to read another in the series. My second foray was “At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances” which I listened to via a CD audio book. This book is good, but I preferred the first in the se...
Bertie, the precocious six-year-old, has managed to escape the clutches of his controlling mother for a couple of glorious days in Paris; Angus Lordie, dishevelled portrait painter, has become separated from his two dearest friends – Cyril the dog, who is lost, and Domenica MacDonald, who has se...
It was a great book. This is the first one that I've read of this series. It's about these two children, Max and Maddy. They go on lots of adventures. Most of the people in my family like them because they are very mysterious and you don't know what will happen next. There was a villan named Prof...
Esse é o primeiro livro da série que traz como protagonista o Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, filologista e maior especialista no estudo dos verbos portugueses irregulares e seus colegas Professor Dr Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer e o Professor Dr Dr (honoris causa) Florianus Prinzel.Não sabe...
Rating: 3.5* of fiveThe Book Report: Isabel Dalhousie, wealthy old-Edinburgh-family woman, art collector, philosopher, editrix of The Journal of Applied Ethics, lover of a beautiful younger musician, single mother.Wait...what?!My Review: This is the fourth Isabel Dalhousie novel, as I am pleased ...
The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom is the exciting and humorous trilogy of tales featuring the hapless Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, Professor of Philology, and his two professorial colleagues - Prof Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer and Professor Florianus Prinzel. In Portuguese Irregular Verbs the three Prof...
I adore Alexander McCall Smith's style of light-as-a-feather writing, but wished he'd stop using German in his novels. Firstly, because it's rather pretentious and secondly, because the man hasn't the first notion of the German language and always gets it wrong...and to compound his error always ...
The further adventures of Mma Ramotswe & Mma Makutsi of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective agency, et al. This installment involves tragedy with a new bed, threatening letters to the agency, the possibility of a medical miracle for Motholeli, and a search for a client's lost family.Alexander McCall Smit...