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Fifth read:4.5 stars. Wow. I can't believe I've read this book 5 times now. It's really something when the government is run so poorly and so heinously that I've literally read this loooong series through every single year it was going on. But it got me through it! It got me through it. And I do recommend this series wholeheartedly to every single human being on this planet. It is the cure all for whatever ails you. The entire series except the newest book is all narrated by Lisette Lecat and I
I started reading and the cadence of the words started up in my mind. I skim a lot, but this is one series that I read every word. To skip anything would spoil it. I love these books!
This is another wonderful book by Alexander McCall Smith. I feel like I know the characters and every new book is a visit home to find out how things are with my "family" in Botswana. Again, the books are not about solving a mystery. I think the mystery is a philosophical vehicle for the author's ideas and people with the children of his heart. Although some find these to be lightweight, I have a different take on them. Throughout literature, characters have been created that transcend their boo...
To read a book in this series is to take a mini-vacation. The world seems calmer, the people more noble and kind, the pace of life relaxingly slow. The mysteries that form the plot of this novel -- and its companions in the series -- are beside the point. It's the time spent with Mma Ramotswe, her loyal and ambitious assistants, her humble and soft-spoken husband, and the strong-willed matron of the orphan farm which matter. After sitting for a while with Mma Ramotswe (with or without a cup of b...
These books surprised me, because most detectives investigate murders and stuff, and I hate murder mysteries. A lot. (Sorry, Jen. I love you!)No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, though, are just consistently feel-good, introspective character studies and pools of knowledge about human nature. On top of that, they are really fast to read, and finishing a book always makes me feel good about myself.I don't read them in order, so don't let this review fool you--I haven't read them all. Eventually I wil...
Would probably rate this as 3.5. I really like this series, but some of the books are not as good as others. For some reason this one did not appeal to me as much. Perhaps because it seemed repetitive in some ways. Events moved along slowly, but it's more Mma Ramotswe's character. At times her patience, and for want of a better word, 'kindness' is grating. She seems to always understand the failings of others, but also to acknowledge her own (except about the tiny white van). I guess I'd like to...
Really loved this one so much! There are three "cases" and each is very different. Meanwhile Mma Ramotswe drives her tiny van around. Mma Makutsi still has conversations with her shoes. Charlie the apprentice is still looking at women's bottoms (which comes in handy this time). After a rainstorm, the flying ants come out. The younger apprentice grabs one or two midflight, takes off their wings, and pops them in his mouth. I also read about flying ants as a delicacy in an autobiography I was enjo...
Another feel-good book about the no. 1 lady detective, Precious Ramotswe and her slightly off-kilter assistant Mma Makutse set in Botswana. The plots are irrelevant, the many characters are beautifully-drawn and the author's love of Botswana shines through. Indeed, one of the pleasures of this series of books, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, is revisiting the interesting characters that populate the stories, much like meeting old friends and have a slice of fruit cake, a cup of tea and a cha...
I love this series by Alexander McCall Smith. Each entry is charming, witty, and compassionate in its understanding of human frailties and human relationships. Each one is such a pleasure to read that the reader dreads coming to the end.The mysteries that Precious Ramotswe solves are not grand and important mysteries involving murder, theft, and drugs. They are the every day mysteries that people struggle with. Who were my real parents? Who is writing threatening letters and why? Is this man rea...
These books give your heart warm cozies.
This is another slow-moving tale of Precious Rawotse, her assistant, Mma Makutsi, her husband, and others in the continuing cast. As usual, not much goes on, but we get to spend a little more time with comfortable personalities and continue our slow look at Smith’s idea of Botswana. In this one, Precious tries to find the true history of a woman who had been an orphan. Mma Makutsi must contend with her desire for a large, fancy bed, and leaving it out in the rain when it doesn’t fit into her hom...
What a lovely visit with friends! Smith conveys a warmth in the series that is ignited with every book.
Mma Ramotswe is back, and so is the quiet, gentle, easy reading, courtesy of Alexander McCall Smith.As usual, there really is no big mystery for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but that hardly matters. Precious Ramotswe tries to track down a woman's relatives, Mma Makutsi gets a new (and unusual) bed, and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni hopes for a miracle when he takes his daughter to a doctor in Johannesburg.There's nothing complex about this novel, which makes it a nice "in between" reading choice. I...
Precious Ramotswe's Botswana is filled with people who have their heart in the right place. And so the series, despite a tinge of bad, is a land of rainbows and sunshine. Nothing much happens in the book from a point of view of a book that has a story to tell. There is a new client who wants to find her original family, there are a couple of threatening letters and there is a new hope for their daughter's condition. And yet none of them really matter, as much as discovering the niceness in peopl...
"Mrs. Moffat had taken her hand for comfort, and they had sat there in silence for awhile. Sometimes it seemed as if the world itself was broken, that there was something wrong with all of us, something broken in such a way that it might not be put together again; but the holding of hands, human hand in human hand, could help, could make the world seem less broken."This was my most favorite book of the series, and I sincerely hope it won't be the last one. I really enjoyed the development of the...
Like catching up with old friends, mustn't leave it so long next time.
The ninth entry in Alexander McCall Smith's perennially popular Ladies' Detective Agency stories is much like the previous instalment, THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE. It's ably written, of course, and much like settling into a comfy, much-favoured armchair; by now you know exactly what's going to happen: not much plot, not much detective work, lots of characterisation, plenty of gentle humour and situations that explore the human mind.Unfortunately, I had a bone of contention with this one whic...
Yet another installment in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. This time Mma Ramotswe and her cast of characters destroy a heart-shaped bed, and reunite a long-separated brother and sister.I always pick up these books at the library, and then put off reading them, because I think I'm not going to like them. And while it's true that seem almost too innocent, too hopeful, I usually decide, like I did with The Miracle at Speedy Motors, that occasionally, reading about Mma Ramotswe's Botswana is jus...