Since my better half is currently reading the next book that should be next (I don't like reading anything about a book while I am reading it, that's for sure!), I am going to skip it for now... but stay on the edge of your seats for a post about Gone Girl, which seems to be the break-out book of the summer.
Alas, this post is yet another Alexander McCall Smith book and they pretty much write themselves (and I pretty much cut-and-paste what I already posted on Goodreads)...
Ok, we're up to The Lost Art of Gratitude... Volume 6 of the Sunday Philosophy Club/Isabel Dalhousie "mystery" series, so what else is there really to say at this point?! Except to wonder what ever happened to the Sunday Philosophy Club and are these ever really mysteries... or more Isabel wiggling her way out of situation after butting in to someone else's business?? Ha! Likewise, I can cut-and-paste any of my Alexander McCall Smith reviews -- in this series or No. 1 Ladies -- and reiterate how light, easy, comforting, pleasant they are to read as they continue to be my go-to "cleanse the palate" guilty pleasure books! So there you go!
In the last installment (Comforts of a Muddy Sunday), I felt the series was getting a bit tired. After reading several in a row, I switched back to No. 1 Ladies, but given that I needed another light read I and had just read a Mma Ramotswe "mystery" just a few books ago, I decided to give Isabel another try. Initially, my fears were confirmed. Isabel was just a bit too grating and her over-worrying/thinking I am sure had me rolling my eyes. But, alas slowly and surely, I was lulled into McCall Smith rhythm and was won over (yet again). Being an animal lover, a chapter devoted nearly wholly to Brother Fox really won me over and may have been one of the more beautiful and touching passages I have read in any McCall Smith novel.
Ratings-wise, I always rate these books in the 3 to 3.5 star range and I will go with the latter here, but given that I felt Gratitude won me back in the end after increasing doubts about the series, I gave it the Goodreads reading bump up to 4 stars (tho with my usual snooty-ish caveat that it should not be confused/compared to my 4-star ratings for more "serious" lit).
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