Book Report – 44 Scotland Street


Alexander McCall Smith is my absolute favourite author, thanks to my momma. She got me hooked! I’ve read his entire No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series, which are my favourite books ever. They were even made into an HBO series for a season. They are about a traditionally built (fat) lady detective in Botswana. If you are looking for some easy and fun reading check those out. So far he has 13 books out in that series and each one is incredible. As I have read the whole series thus far I decided to branch out into his other series.

I just finished reading 44 Scotland Street, the first book of the series. It was originally published as a serial in The Scotsman newspaper in Scotland; which makes it quit interesting. Each chapter is no more than 4 pages long, and has to be a complete “scene” in a sense, as it would be read on it’s own in the newspaper.

The book is about the tenants who live in apartment building in Edinburgh. The characters were quite interesting, although there were many, and you only got a wee snippet of each one in their short chapters. I loved that the characters ranged in age from 5 year old Bertie whose mother Irene is a little crazy! She painted his room pink so he can decide for himself what type of boy he wants to be, refuses to let him play with trains, the toy he so desires, is forcing him to learn Italian, making him play the saxophone and may have a crush on his therapist (she is married). Then there is 20 year old Pat who gets a job at an Art Dealership where they don’t know who painted any of their paintings. Pat thinks one of them could potentially be a Peploe, which would be worth somewhere around 40 thousand pounds but it goes missing before they know for sure. Then there is Domenica an eccentric widow who once lived in India and has some even more eccentric friends.

It was an interesting read, I don't know anything about Scotland so some of the cultural references were lost on me. I'm looking forward to getting the next book in the series, although I am hoping the chapters can be a little longer so the author can get a little more in depth with the characters.

I definitely recommend reading Alexander McCall Smith, however I would start with the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series first, and then move on from there.

I haven't really figured out what to read next. Any recommendations?

Rachel

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Baby Sized Miracle

Image
Today I witnessed a beautiful miracle. I saw God's love poured out in a lovingly selfless act. Today I saw the hands and feet of Jesus at work. Today in Leveque something amazing happened. It started with something terribly sad. A newborn baby was dropped into a latrine and left to die. Something I cannot fathom and which shatters my heart. I cannot even begin to understand what went through this mother's mind as she let go of her baby and watched him fall into the dark pit. Thankfully God has a wonderful plan for this little life and his sweet cry was loud enough to be heard by a good samaritan passing by, who quickly called Pastor Williamson, the deaf pastor from Leveque. A group of people worked together to smash the cement cover off the latrine carefully so the baby would not be injured. Then they somehow used some metal bars and a net or basket of some sort to lift the baby out of the pit. Miraculously he only had a few scraps on him. The community came together to care
Read more

How to Be More Effective in Cross Cultural Ministry

There is a sad truth I would like to share with you. All too often people with great intentions do harm in Jesus' name in cross cultural ministry. In my ten years on the mission field I have seen a lot of amazing things happen but I've also seen a lot of hurt caused by well meaning ministry workers. I have compiled this short list of things I have learned, and that I think you should know to help you be more effective in cross cultural missions. 1. Always remember that YOU are the foreigner. This is not your country, you are a guest and should act like one. 2. The people you are serving know SO much more than you ever will about their country, culture and needs. 3. Your way isn't the only way, or necessarily the right way. 4. You better work your butt off to learn the language, and quickly. If you have been living or serving in a foreign land for a year and still can't communicate more than basic greetings to those you came to serve you need to make some chang
Read more

Gross, gross, gross!!

I can handle mice. I can handle rats. I can handle lizards. I can handle cockroaches. I can handle snakes. I can handle tarantulas. I can handle flying green leaf shaped bugs that smell funny. I can handle a lot more than your average woman, with two minor exceptions: Dead things and Haitian frogs. I can kill a mouse, a cockroach, a snake or a tarantula without fear, but once it's dead I'm not going near it! A lizard on my bedroom wall doesn't faze me, but a dead one in the closet makes me run for the door. Strange I know...but dead things just freak me out! Haitian frogs on the other hand have me running around screaming like a scared little girl. I specify Haitian frogs because Canadian frogs have never really bothered me, except that one time in grade 8 when Ben Lanteigne kicked a frog and it came flying right for my face! Haitian frogs are a whole other ball game. They are the kind of frogs you would see in the Toronto zoo. They always look wet and slimy and ha
Read more