Alexander McCall Smith

I finished In the Company of Cheerful Ladies and loved it. A friend of mine asked me to give her the list of all of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Detective Agency books, and here it is:

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

There is a website devoted to Andrew McCall Smith, which is where I found out that he has other books also. I have put Irregular Portuguese Verbs on hold and am eager to see how it is. The excerpt read well.

I initially tried reading The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency on tape while I was folding laundry and found that the narrator went too slow. I read rather quickly and found the pace of the book on tape maddening. On the other hand, when I went on to read the books, I enjoyed hearing the memory of the narrator speak the names. They are unfamiliar sounds, and I would recommend getting at least one of them on tape so you can hear the cadence of "Mma Ramotswe" for yourself.

Despite the completely different setting, I compare these books to the Mitford Series by Jan Karon. I found those books to be sweet and pleasant, and though I must admit I got a little tired of them before the series was over, I really enjoyed them on first reading. I do like the character of Precious Ramotswe better than that of Father Tim, and find her infinately more quotable. For instance:

"There was so much need, even in a fortunate country as Botswana; it seemed as if the resevoirs of suffering were never empty, and no matter what progress was made there would always be people for whom there was no job or no place to live, or not enough food. And when you became aware of these needs, especially if they were being felt by those who had a claim on you, then it was hard to put them out of your mind." (In the Company of Cheerful Ladies)

It's possible that if I went back and revisited the Mitford books that I would enjoy them as much again. I'll have to go back and see. I've been thinking about re-reading books recently...The Mermaid Chair and The Secret Life of Bees really seem to be books that improve with re-reading, and the No. 1 Ladies books seem like they will too. But it remains to be seen. Other books that I have absolutely loved don't seem like they could be read again until the details were forgotten. Janet Evanovitch's Stephanie Plum books come to mind. But I still EAGERLY await Eleven on Top, due out on June 21, according to Amazon.