Top 10s: the first list

Now that the month of November is over, meaning that NaNoWriMo is over, I have a lot of blogging to catch up on! I was so busy writing for NaNo that I did neglect this poor blog somewhat. But on the positive side, I have many reviews to post over the next couple of weeks!



I thought I'd ease back into things by participating in this week's Weekly Geeks assignment. This is a carry-over from last week, a request to post your favourite books so far this year, out of those which were published in 2009. I have my yearly roundup to post in a few weeks, which will cover all my reading this year, but for now I thought I would share a list of 10 great books I've read in 2009 which were also published in 2009.



1. Broken / Karin Fossum (mystery/literary)



2. Come, Thou Tortoise / Jessica Grant (literary fiction)



3. Family Album / Penelope Lively (literary fiction)



4. The Incident Report / Martha Baillie (literary fiction)



5. The Good Mayor / Andrew Nicoll (literary fiction)



6. The Children's Book / A.S. Byatt (literary fiction)



7. The Sweetness at the bottom of the pie / Alan Bradley (mystery)



8. The Earth hums in B flat / Mari Strachan (literary fiction)



9. In Bed with the word / Daniel Coleman (non-fiction; literary discussions, spirituality)



10. Where our Food comes from / Gary Paul Nabhan (non-fiction; food issues, sustainable agriculture)

Year of Readers: Update

Since it is nearly the end of November, I wanted to give an update on my Year of Readers progress. Only one month left before all books read and all monies raised are totalled up...still time to donate a bit if you were thinking about it this year. :)

The charity I've been reading for this year is PLOW (Public Library on Wheels), an outreach program created by the library I work at, focused on family literacy. It goes out to smaller, rural centres and provides storytimes and book lending services, as well as organizing regional celebrations for Family Literacy Day in January.

I haven't been active enough in finding sponsors this year, I do feel a bit guilty about that. But still, my activities have drawn some local interest to PLOW and my family, friends and coworkers have supported the effort. A couple of my coworkers were even brave enough to pledge a certain amount per book read - I did warn them that I'd read 180 books last year!

This year's totals to date: Books read, 167.

A little less than 2008 -- so far. Please check out my Canada Helps giving page if you are interested in joining in at the eleventh hour. And do go take a look at the Year of Readers blog to see what everyone else is reading for this year; lots of good bookish charities if you want to find one to support. Thanks again to Jodie at Book Gazing for organizing this year-long reading effort!

Mathilda Savitch by Victor Lodato

Mathilda Savitch / Victor Lodato
Toronto: Random House, c2009.
304 p.

I read this a few weeks ago and haven't had a chance to mention it yet. That's too bad, because I found it to be a very entertaining read and wish I would have shared my enthusiasm while it was still fresh. Still, I do want to talk about this book a little; it's been getting a fair amount of attention but I think it can stand a lot of discussion -- there's a lot in it.

It is the story of Mathilda Savitch, thirteen years old, precocious and obsessed with her sister's recent death. Her sister Helene was pushed in front of a train a year before and Mathilda is trying to understand what happened. She doesn't know how her parents can be destroyed by grief and yet not be making every effort to find Helene's killer. The event is tearing apart Mathilda's family, with her mother sunk into her own depression and her father working every day and isolating himself from the emotions swirling in the household. Mathilda herself feels overlooked, and as the book opens she states: I want to be awful. I want to do awful things and why not.

She spends the rest of the book acting out, doing things that perhaps a girl of thirteen really shouldn't be doing; hacking her sister's abandoned email account, taking the train alone to find her sister's lover and question him, sleeping over at her neighbour's house after sneaking out alone (in his bedroom, in his bed, with him in it as well). She becomes a troubled child, but one who is determined to discover the truth about Helene's death. It's a tale told from a very strong character's perspective; Mathilda's voice is consistent and very believable, a young girl on the cusp between childhood and a more knowing adolescence.

Mathilda is a wonderful creation; she is conflicted, both loving and hating her parents, both idolizing and revealing the flaws of her deceased sister. She has a sassy voice and is a clever and intrepid addition to the phalanx of fictional girl detectives. Her creative attempts to find solutions to the questions she holds regarding Helene's death are always entertaining though just on the edge of being just too cheeky. Fortunately, the end of the book offers us the hope that her psychic trauma is resolved, or has the potential to be resolved. The portrayal of all members of her family, parents and Helene herself, are really well done. They are all full characters with personality, and individual lives outside of their relation to Mathilda. I enjoyed finding out more about them as the novel progressed and small facts were added to the story about each of them and their motivations for acting the way they did, even if Mathilda hadn't been aware of these elements previously. Lodato does a great job of giving us all this information in a way that Mathilda, the narrator, would naturally discover; some of the information that we read and are able to comprehend as signs and hints to the real story, Mathilda herself does not understand. She is just passing on her observations, without knowing what the deeper meaning of such behaviours or statements by others could be. This novel is so well constructed and suspenseful to its conclusion.

However, there were a few points that weren't so marvellous for me. At times the influence of Catcher in the Rye comes through a little too strongly for my taste, and Mathilda starts sounding eerily close to Holden Caulfield. I'm thinking of one scene in particular. But that could just be because, unlike Lodato, I don't actually like Catcher in the Rye very much. The very Caulfield preoccupations Mathilda reveals could have been toned down just a little, to my tastes, but again, I never did like Holden. Also, Mathilda's tentative sexual explorations felt a bit unnecessary to me, I am sure she had some interests in those areas but it wasn't my favourite part of the story; I didn't like her neighbour whom she was interested in sexually. The tempo of the narrative is rapid, full of action and Mathilda's manic voice pulling us forward, but it did feel a little like Lodato wasn't sure where to conclude the book. After Mathilda's final discovery, the book kind of just stops. There is no grand conclusion but as I mentioned earlier, there is the possibility held out that Mathilda and her family will be okay.

Still, I enjoyed this book a lot and would definitely recommend it. The main characters are wonderful and the voice of the novel is refreshing and entertaining. Mathilda's road through grief was touching, funny, and very bittersweet. She is a convincing narrator and you want her to find the truth and be able to move on with her life. The truth will become evident to the reader much earlier than to Mathilda, and this engenders a lot of sympathy for her struggles. This was an original book that I liked despite my initial reservations. I'm glad I read this one; Mathilda has stayed with me.

Interview with Victor Lodato in Experience Toronto

Other bloggers' opinions:

Luanne at A Bookworm's World likes it, but also mentions the disconnect between theme and cover art

Deanna at My Tragic Right Hip liked it and compares it to other adolescent narrator driven stories

Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea was drawn in by the narrator's voice (and had a copy with the cover I prefer)

Library Loot!

I've been too busy getting ready for the craft show I was a part of this week to do much reading, and certainly to do much blogging. Now it's over (yay!) and while it was fun, now I can just relax and read some new books. Ahhhhh. (and here's one of my flower quotes for your entertainment)


To celebrate, I want to share some of the great books I've brought home with me this week. I haven't done a library loot post in a while; I've been so busy I've mostly just been adding books to the list to bring home some other time. But since I finally have time to read again, I'll share my finds with you! I'm snatching some book descriptions from the publishers this week as I haven't had time to write up proper summaries myself, sorry.

The Spare Room / Helen Garner

From Publisher: The Spare Room is the extraordinary writer Helen Garner's first work of fiction in fifteen years, and an intense, moving investigation of the boundaries and limits of friendship. As the novel opens, Helen lovingly prepares the spare room in her home for her dear friend Nicola, who is coming to visit for three weeks while receiving controversial treatment for late-stage cancer. From the moment Nicola staggers off the plane, gaunt and hoarse but still somehow grand, Helen becomes her nurse, her guardian angel, and her stony judge. The Spare Room tells an unforgettable story of the complex humour, rage, and compassion that informs and changes a lifelong friendship.


The Heart Specialist / Claire Holden Rothman

I've been hearing a lot about this one, and it is published by one of my favourite Canadian publishers, Cormorant Books. I'm thinking this might be a good one for my upcoming list of books to read for the Women Unbound Challenge!

From Publisher: Inspired by the life of Doctor Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott, The Heart Specialist is the story of a woman pursuing her dream at the dawn of the twentieth century. Stripped of a regular childhood when her father is accused of a horrific crime and abandons the family, Agnes was never considered ladylike. She is drawn to the wrong things, such as anatomy and dissection, which lead to her calling as a doctor. Yet despite a rapid rise to stardom in the medical community, she finds herself up against the same glass ceiling faced by women in her field.

Find a quiet corner / Nancy O'Hara

From Publisher: Going beyond daily meditation, Find a Quiet Corner teaches us effective ways to release stress, boost energy, tap into creativity, improve our well-being, and above all, achieve spiritual fulfillment. Readers will benefit from its lessons on how to increase self-awareness and personal satisfaction through careful attention to breath.


Little Fingers / Flip Florian; translated from the Romanian by Alistair Ian Blythe

From the Publisher: In a small town in the mountains, a mass grave is discovered. Public prosecutors, journalists and former political prisoners arrive ; the issue becomes the main topic for the press and a daily source of political wrangling. The explanation that it was a crime perpetrated by the communists (in the 1950s) seems the most likely. Petrus, an archaeologist, researches old archives, visits and listens to the town’s old folk, seeking a convincing lead, in order to quell the furore surrounding the bones. As the credibility of the military prosecutors is zero, given their ties to the former and current regimes, a number of investigating Argentinean anthropologists arrive in the small mountain resort. Their verdict is disappointing for a country where communism murdered wholesale and mutilated lives: the mass grave is the product of the mediaeval Black Death and not red machineguns.

Heavy Words lightly thrown : the reason behind the rhyme / Chris RobertsFrom Publisher's Weekly: A librarian by night and a London tour guide by day, Roberts deploys an informal style of scholarship to dazzling effect, transforming a catalogue of familiar nursery rhymes into a treasure trove of tantalizingly slippery archaisms, hidden etymological layers, arcane associations and buried meanings. Having explained how the Victorians sanitized nursery rhymes' traditionally earthy content, Roberts attends to each ditty separately, printing obscure variants and tracing historical references, from British constitutional history to bygone pagan customs. Unlocking the secret meanings of the past, Roberts also finds plenty of refreshingly straightforward modern-day analogies for the nursery rhymes—the chanted taunts of the average British soccer fan illustrate certain rhymes' original tone and purpose. In a fluidly digressive style, he debunks accepted theories and confidently asserts his own.


I also received my first e-book ever from an author & her publicist this week! I'm excited to see how I like reading it in that format. It's a book on journaling (a topic I love to learn about, practice, and share information on); specifically about journaling for caregivers. It looks great; watch for a review soon. It's called:

You want me to do what? / B. Lynn Goodwin

From Lynn's website: Writing relieves stress and saves lives. As a caregiver, you spend every spare minute driving to medical appointments, stopping at the pharmacy, cooking, answering questions, paying bills, and helping with matters that used to be private. Why write about it? Journals never argue. They let you vent, expound, rationalize, elaborate, and imagine best and worst outcomes. They let you breathe. A journal welcomes your questions and invites you to explore and analyze possible answers. Journals never talk back. Journals let you finish your thoughts and offer silent, unconditional acceptance. Writing gives perspective and restores sanity. Writing is a lifeline as well as a record. Writing saves lives. Do not underestimate its power.


So that's what I have ahead for myself this week. Let's see if I get as much reading done as I hope to!

Deck the halls...

Despite the absolutely gorgeous sunshine and nearly 20 degree weather today, it is still only six weeks until Christmas! One of my favourite things about the pre-Christmas season is the appearance of church bazaars and craft shows. I love to make things for my family and friends but I am not a super crafty kind of girl -- most of the things I know how to make I've already given in years past. So, bazaars and craft shows are the next best thing; handmade crafts by people from my local area. I have the satisfaction of knowing I am supporting local business and finding some great, unique gifts. Today I had the chance to go the to Rotary Club's "Rotary Arts and Crafts Christmas Show", an annual tradition. It's a large show with crafts, jewellery, cosmetics, food products and even some books and music. I bought a variety of items, but this is my score for this year:

(the crazy pencil in the background is there for size comparisons!)

Utterly new and unlike anything I've bought there before, these are pins created from the pages of vintage dictionaries, hand colorized, and lacquered. The artist, Vivian Hutcheson, is from a small town just down the road called Shakespeare, where she runs a wonderful shop called Green Cottage Gallery. She specializes in masks, as seen on her Etsy page, but has a variety of other things like these pins (and others using poker cards & sayings) as well. How could a good, book loving librarian pass up one of these pins? Well, I couldn't, and although I wanted to buy about six of them, I kept myself under control and only bought one for myself and one for a gift. I couldn't resist the hoop skirt pin for the lovely image and for the addition of the word "hoose-gow" at the bottom ;)

So many great discoveries to make at shows like this, and they make me admire crafty people even more. I will be participating in a craft show myself again this year; but it is more of a small, inhouse one with only a handful of participants - I am making pictures with quotes and dried flower bits, they are one thing I can make and enjoy creating - but will mainly be featuring my health products (it's a show for anyone who has a side business besides the one we all have in common, to raise money for the United Way). A much craftier participant is my coworker who has an Etsy page as well, Needle Pulling Thread. Looking forward to some fun and some fundraising!

Karin Fossum's Broken

Broken / Karin Fossum; translated by Charlotte Barslund.
London: Vintage, 2009, c2008.
264 p.

I've read all of Karin Fossum's mysteries: she is a Norwegian writer who has a marvellous series of thoughtful yet bleak crime novels, in the recent Scandinavian mystery tradition. Featuring Inspector Sejer, they are about the human implications of crime on victims, police, wider society and the perpetrators themselves. They have a strong sense of place, and unforgettable imagery. They are very good, and since I don't generally enjoy dark, police based mysteries, I have been surprised at how much I admire her work. So I knew I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard it was being published -- but this is not one of the Inspector Sejer novels. In fact it is a standalone, and an unusual one. It is also one of the best books I have read this year.

Though this isn't quite a crime novel it is very suspenseful, and has a natural tension which builds up throughout. There are two narratives underway; as the book begins we are in the company of a middle aged writer, home alone and on her way to bed. Once it's dark she realizes there is a man entering her house, coming into her bedroom. After her fear dies down she realizes he is one of her characters, who has jumped the queue outside her home, so eager is he to have his story told. She gives him a name, Alvar Eide, and this begins the second narrative, the story of Alvar's quiet and very orderly life.

Alvar is a man who likes things in his life to be fully under his control. He works in an art gallery, almost entirely alone; he has his habitual lunch, the same every day; he goes home to his quiet apartment where he reads and sometimes indulges in a glass of sherry. He considers getting a cat but then decides it would be too needy for his taste. His life is running along smoothly until a point of conflict enters his story: a young girl, a heroin addict, turns up in the gallery one winter day and he kindly gives her a cup of coffee. His actions have far flung repercussions as she keeps returning, then appears at his apartment door, throwing his controlled existence off its centre.

Interspersed with the tale of Alvar's struggles are chapters in which the writer discusses the trajectory of the story with Alvar himself. He is a character who finds it hard to demand anything but is desperate to know what the writer is going to do to him. These chapters are full of musings on the creative process, of discussions about free will and destiny which apply both to Alvar's actual story and the ability of the writer to control the direction of the story. They are brilliantly thought provoking interludes and make this book into something really special. Although it could have seemed gimmicky with a lesser writer, Fossum has such control over both elements of the book that both are equally fascinating. Alvar is illuminated as a character within and outside of his actual story, he becomes an extremely sympathetic character as we see him struggle with the idea of somebody else directing his life -- and the thought that his character is his destiny.

It's a seriously brilliant book, I really loved it and will be recommending it to all the writers I know, and to readers who are interested in metafictional devices. I was also struck by what a perfect fit this book is for NaNoWriMo: it begins and concludes in the month of November, and it is partially about the writing process itself. Despite Fossum's straightforward, generally unadorned prose, there are moments of pathos and of poetry, moments that made me stop and consider my own reactions to the ideas in the book. It's beautifully written, original, and has the deepest empathy for all its characters, including the author's doppelganger - our narrator. Again, amazing book, one of my top five this year for sure.

Green Books Campaign: In Bed with the Word

*logo by Susan Newman

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.


In Bed with the Word : reading, spirituality, and cultural politics / Daniel Coleman

University of Alberta Press, c2009.

142 p.

First things first: since I received this book as part of the Eco-Libris Green Books Challenge, I would like to mention why this book qualified. The University of Alberta Press states that it is committed to protecting our natural environment, and thus this book is printed on Enviro Paper, which contains 100% post-consumer recycled fibres, and is acid and chlorine free.

And not Green, but really nice, is the fact that in addition to the Green printing information on the back of the title page, the copy editor and the indexer are credited by name! I appreciated seeing that.

Besides the good start it gave me to read the Green cred and the nice acknowledgement of the other publishing professionals involved in creating this book, the actual size and feel and cover of the book were enticing. I chose this specific book from the selection at the Green Books campaign because I have been doing a lot of research into the meanings and purposes of reading in the last few months; as a librarian I have a strong interest in figuring out both how and why we read. This book is a fabulous addition to my collection in this area, and it is one I will continue referring back to.

Coleman's view of spirituality and reading is that spiritual longing is primarily a reaching outward for the Other; reading enables us to place ourselves into the mind of that Other we are searching for, that ever present absence that is not-us. He divides the book into five chapters, each of which discusses the same kind of idea from different perspectives. The first and third chapters were most intriguing to me: Reading & Longing, and Posture. What posture will we take when reading? What state of mind, to receive the full benefits of a reading experience? What, in our approach to reading, makes it a spiritual exercise? This book is full of fascinating, illuminating answers to these questions, and it raises others that I want to explore further. The author gave a series of classes based on this book, he tells us in the introduction, and by halfway through I was wishing I could have been there during that time -- there is so much to this book that lends itself to discussion and deep thought! Here are a couple of quotes from the book, where Coleman is talking about what makes reading 'spiritual' in the way he means it:

Reading is spiritual because it simultaneously emphasizes and spans this divide between the self and other, between the reader and the author, between the reader and the world, between the reader and God. We develop right posture when as readers we recognize the structure of absence or distance across which we long to pass, when we recognize our limitation and isolation, and when we discern the suppressed or hidden possibility of connection and belonging to the Other who seemed so far removed.

Reading can give us practice in important spiritual disciplines; it can help us develop our capacity for attention, it can increase our ability to listen, and it can help us develop mental organization and alertness. Reading can draw us out of ourselves and can give us practice in listening to the less obvious that's always going on around us. It can give us daily experience in reaching across the structure of absence so that we learn to read the present signs of the Other even in the Other's absence and, by that means, put ourselves in contact with communities that would not be available in our own time and place.

It is hard to pull ideas out of this book to share with you, as it is all one long interconnected thesis -- you are really best off to pick up a copy if this is a topic you are interested in. Coleman writes in a flowing style that, while academic, is also engaging and includes moments of quite lovely storytelling in its own right. His discussion of the topic, while dependent on concepts of spirituality coming from St. Augustine and on the purpose of words as signposts, from Derrida, is easily comprehended by a reader who is fascinated by the deeper meanings of the actual practice of reading itself, not just spirituality as evidenced by content of a text. I've really enjoyed this one and have flagged at least 20 passages to reread and ruminate on.

But the third part of this book's subtitle is "cultural politics". There is a place for this among the discussion of reading and spirituality; they all tie in together. I think it is best expressed by this excerpt on the front flap of the book:

Reading is not solely an exercise to feed one's inner life. Rather, eating the book -- not just nibbling at it, or having a little taste here or there, but eating it wholesale -- produces a changed person, an empowered person, a different kind of person, and changed people means social and political change, too, not just personal change.

So, in conclusion (otherwise I'll just keep excerpting the book until I've copied it all out!), this is a wonderful exposition of the links between reading and a spiritual way of approaching the world. It was a great read, a text to be savoured and not rushed through; if that kind of work appeals, please do find a copy of this excellent Canadian book and then share your impressions of it as well.

Highly recommended.

Your Personal Renaissance by Diane Dreher

Your Personal Renaissance: 12 Steps to finding your life's true calling / Diane Dreher
Cambridge: Da Capo Press, c2008.
x, 276 p.

During this week of entertaining light reading, I also tried something a little different. I've had this book for a while now (I received it via Dreher's publicist) and have been feeling a bit guilty that I haven't said anything about it yet. I actually quite enjoyed it!

I don't read a lot of self-help but this one seemed unusual, and intriguing. It bases its ideas on elements of a Renaissance life. And I mean, really Renaissance -- Dreher, who has a PhD in Renaissance literature, takes elements from the lives of Da Vinci, Michelangelo and their crowd to illustrate how to improve our modern and more banal existences. As a fan of both Renaissance literature and history, I found that the comparisons to Renaissance life were useful for me. Dreher uses the 12 step template, giving us four steps with which to discern our true calling, and then eight more to put our calling into practice. Each chapter has exercises and quizzes to increase our knowledge of ourselves, and include many examples taken from Renaissance lives.

In brief, these are the Renaissance habits Dreher feels we could all benefit from in our search for our true calling, our desire to create a meaningful life and legacy:

Discernment:

• Discovery: Realizing your joys and talents
• Detachment: Clearing the path within
• Discernment: Embracing your values, living with heart
• Direction: Turn your ideals into action

Making it work:

• Faith: Trusting your life and world
• Daily Examen: Staying on course
• Renaissance community: Gaining support from mentors and friends
• Contemplation: Finding your inner oasis of peace
• Creativity: Making your life a work of art
• Reading and Reflection: Exploring new worlds within and without
• Physical Exercise: Building strength and wisdom
• Discipline and Dedication: Bringing your dreams to life

The organization of the book enhances its usability -- each chapter builds on the previous one to encourage the reader to continue the initial forward movement creating by discerning one's joys and talents. There are also tons of endnotes for each of the chapters, enabling much further research into the articles and websites she references. The index is also well done and very helpful, which isn't always the case with books in this area.

One of the parts I really enjoyed was the chapter on Reading and Reflection. Whew, I thought, at least I am getting one part of this right already! I like what she says about the power of reading to create momentum in life, to open our eyes to opportunity, to assist in our growth both personally and as a society. She says:

Reading can liberate your spirit and support your own personal Renaissance today. It can introduce you to other lives, like the people you're meeting in this book, and help you develop new skills and pathways for moving forward in your calling. Reading can also lead to reflection, revealing new insights about yourself and the patterns of your life.

I was also intrigued by the way Dreher includes physical exercise as part of this program. So often in books about digging out your real desires and longings for a life purpose, the focus is on a person's mental and emotional, and sometimes spiritual, aspects. But the physical is a part of the whole person, and to my chagrin I know that when I am not moving and feeling connected to my physical body, every area suffers. I appreciated her focus on all parts of a person's life, and on our interconnection with everyone around us, our responsibility to look outward as well as to our interior landscape. It was a balanced read, free of the easy solutions and clichés of some books in this field. The only difficulty I had was that quite a few of the questions in the early chapters focused on recalling the hopes and dreams you had in childhood, seemingly a common approach in books such as this. My problem is that I really don't remember much about childhood at all, no matter how much I think about it, so I never find these exercises very helpful. But that's just me; or does anyone else have only vague recollections of this era of their lives?

This book caught my attention more than I had anticipated, and I am going to reread it and try a few of the exercises. I think it would be useful for anyone interested in exploring what it is they really want to do, or those at the beginning of their work lives who might need a little inspiration about which direction to take. I enjoyed her approach and her obvious knowledge of the subjects of this book, both the Renaissance and positive psychology.

You can read an excerpt at her website if you'd like to get a taste of her writing style.

Botswana on Screen: Filming Alexander McCall Smith

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Prepared for the screen by Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis

As I am all about Alexander McCall Smith this week, I also decided to watch episodes of the first season of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, as represented onscreen. (it's now available on DVD) I've found that it is quite different from the books in many ways: new characters added who didn't appear in the stories, a slightly different tone to the storytelling, settings changed around a bit, and of course characters look and act in a way that strangely enough does not mirror what I had imagined! I'm not too fond of a couple of character 'types' that have been added in, and it does have a few flaws. Still, I have been enjoying it. This week especially, a week in which every day has been cold and grey, I have enjoyed watching a beautiful setting full of sunshine and cheer.

Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are well cast, and Rra Matekoni is perfect. The episodes have been written using various cases from the books, not necessarily in the same order or with the same concurrent actions -- for example, by halfway through Season 1, Mma Ramotswe and Rra Matekoni are not engaged as yet, not even likely to be at this point. And there is no mention of any adopted children; I suppose for dramatic action in a film there need to be fewer complications than in a novel which has much more time to introduce you to the characters. I have seen some reviews which call this production twee or shallow, but I don't agree with that assessment. I think anyone who has enjoyed the books will probably enjoy these as well, even with the differences I've mentioned. There are enough similarities to make it all seem familiar, and seeing the landscape of Botswana and some of its people is very engaging. It's beautiful to watch and listen to, and I still have half of the first season to watch!

Here are a couple of clips to intrigue you, the first a short trailer which I hope will intrigue you:




And here is Alexander McCall Smith himself talking about filming his books:

Lost Art of Gratitude

The Lost Art of Gratitude / Alexander McCall Smith

Toronto: Knopf, c2009.
362 p.

I did say I've been having a bit of a McCall Smith fest this week; he has so many books out at the same time that it is next to impossible NOT to have a new one to dig in to! This one is the latest in the Isabel Dalhousie series, set in Edinburgh. I love this series because I like Isabel quite a lot. She is a philosopher and edits a philosophy journal, so there is a lot of scope for moral asides and ethical ponderings, an aspect of McCall Smith's writing which I appreciate very much. In these later books she has a baby, which is not my favourite bit of this series by a long stretch, but at least it seems to make Isabel happy! And I like to read him writing about Edinburgh - the love of the city comes through strongly and makes me want to hop on the next plane and visit, to see all the landmarks and to soak in the atmosphere that he describes so evocatively.

This installment of the series brings Isabel a few more conundrums to deal with; her arch nemesis Professor Christopher Dove accuses her of publishing an article which is full of plagiarism. Isabel is more than equal to this charge however, and neatly performs an end run on his scheming. She experiences the enmity of her niece Cat when she and her partner announce their plans to marry (this could be a result of the fact that Isabel's partner and father of her child is her niece's previous boyfriend) -- but Cat comes up with her own fiancé in response, a tightrope walker named Bruno, which you just know won't end well. Isabel also re-encounters Minty Auchterlonie, a wicked woman to whom Isabel gives a second chance, hoping that she is not as awful as she seems. And Brother Fox, a wild fox who has been spotted in Isabel's garden since book 1, comes to require Isabel's help. It is all in very much the same style as the previous books in the series, but does not feel repetitious in any dull way. It reveals shades of all the characters which add to their fullness, and feels like a visit to old friends.

Like always, reading the latest by McCall Smith adds quotes to my collection, and encourages a slow read, or a reread of favourite passages. There is something quaint about his writing, a habit of writing passages that can stand alone. I find this quality in a lot of the Victorian fiction I read; there is always more to copy out in older books somehow -- but it is a quality I greatly enjoy.

Next up is a new Mma Ramotswe story, to be published in early 2010 -- hurrah! But before then I'll be talking about a different take on Mma Ramotswe...that of HBO. I've been watching the series on DVD this week and will chat about those a little later.

Corduroy Mansions

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while will know of my love for Alexander McCall Smith. I've talked about his work before; I have read it all and have few critical faculties when it comes to his books - I love them all. This week I have been having a bit of a McCall Smith fest; I received Corduroy Mansions recently, the first volume of his newest serial novel, set in the Pimlico area in London. The second set in this series, entitled The Dog who Came in from the Cold, is now running serially in The Telegraph - you can follow along reading or listening to the podcasts as read by Andrew Sachs. It follows a varied cast of people loosely connected with the apartment block known as Corduroy Mansions, dealing with their ins and outs, moral dilemmas and love affairs.

I have read all the 44 Scotland Street novels, newspaper serials set in Edinburgh, and especially love some of the characters in those books, like Bertie the eternal 6 yr old, or the cameos made by Ian Rankin. But in this series, the setting is London, and that does make a difference. When I read La's Orchestra Saves the World, a stand-alone novel with another English setting, I noted the fact that England doesn't seem to be as powerful in his writings as does Scotland or Botswana. That remains the same in this serial novel, and although the setting is not as much of a character as in his other work, the foibles of the human characters are still amusing and engaging. In this series, some of the themes connected to the characters' occupations are art, wine, and dogs -- the same things that appear in the Edinburgh stories, but here they appear quite differently. It is fascinating to see how these preoccupations take on different lives in this setting. Anyhow, it was an enjoyable read, with, reliably, some ponderings about the wider meaning of life itself. Here is Alexander McCall Smith himself, talking about the citizens of the Corduroy Mansions world in a Telegraph interview. At the Telegraph you can suggest what you think should happen to the characters next, or you may even want to follow the wonderful canine Freddie de la Hay on Twitter. Yes, the dog tweets.

If you enjoy McCall Smith, or want a handy slice of daily reading that is an entertaining 'soap opera' of sorts, try picking up Corduroy Mansions, or catching up online and reading along to The Dog Who Came in from the Cold. Great fun.