Il mondo secondo Bertie

Who needs real friends anyway? I just met up with my old friends in Edinburgh, Scotland and didn’t have to get off the couch. The messy, humorous, everyday lives of these ordinary people are exposed with a running commentary about the city life and history of Edinburgh. When Angus embarks on his nex Leggi tutto

This is the 4th in this series by Alexander McCall Smith, and it continues the sagas of a variety of characters in modern Edinburg, Scotland. To say that Smith has a keen insight to human frailties and comedic lapses is to put it mildly. He actually gets you to understand how so many things that we

What can I say? I love this series. I love how Alexander McCall Smith captures Edinburgh. I love the characters. I want to say the books are sweet or heart-warming, but not in a cloying way at all. The author allows his characters to be human, yet rise above their petty cares some of the time. The b Leggi tutto

I like the precocious six-year-old Bertie, and was looking forward to having much of this book be about Bertie. In spite of the title, it was not to be. It was an entertaining book, but I wanted Bertie ( little tantrum here! )

I continue to be addicted to these delightful serialized stories - especially as I am listening to them as audiobooks and the reader - Robert Ian Mackenzie - does a marvelous job (however, lately, I've been wondering if my profound hatred for Irene comes from the smarmy, smug and self-satisfied voic Leggi tutto

Another pleasant 3,5* from me and going straight to the next volume. :) The long time it took me to read this particular book has once again nothing to do with the book, but with some personal stuff I went through. I am still not bothered with the very few inadvertencies (like Matthew never giving an Leggi tutto

The world according to 6 year old Bertie is one of the most entertaining aspects of the 44 Scotland Street series providing plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. There are thoughtful moments also. I am including this excerpt because I wonder about McCall Smith's view of God. His characters seem to have

****Second read, 2018**** 3.75 stars. I have raved about this author here on Goodreads for years. Suffice it to say that he is the cure for what ails ya. His books are medicine for the soul. His The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series is my favorite, followed by this one. If my mood, and correspon Leggi tutto

This book is best enjoyed with snuggling down with your favorite drink, soft, but good, reading light, and plenty of time to devote to savoring the essays of daily life of the persons living in Edinburgh, Scotland, near 44 Scotland Street. As the title of the book suggests, this volume is dedicated t Leggi tutto

Poor Bertie! But hooray for Miss Harmony! And Matthew! And . . . the Jacobite Rebellion . . . ? I often feel there's a bit too much padding in the form of Angus and Domenica pontificating on the state of Scotland Today and Society in General, which is what keeps me from loving these books whole-hear Leggi tutto