Importance of Being Seven (2010)

Alexander McCall Smith is one of the few writers who can get away with being thoroughly inoffensive while still making you feel that he's not insulting your intelligence. Like all really good light literature, the plots are instantly forgettable but characters stay with you. I'm sure everyone who's read even one of these books has a clear mental image of long-suffering Bertie, overbearing Irene, and all the rest of them, but few would be able to summarise the storyline of any of the books. Does the baby get lost in the same book as the Volvo? When do we first meet the distressed-oatmeal sweater? No-one really cares, and in fact we're happy to forget the story if it gives us an excuse to re-read the book a year later. ( )

I adore Bertie. Bertie is one of my favorite characters and he is a constant 6-year-old boy. Many of the other characters are very funny and interesting, but I gravitate to Bertie. Poor Bertie, whose mother is constantly ruining his life. In this adventure, Irene, Bertie's mother, disappears. What fun the three males have without Irene to boss them around. Matthew and Elspeth are now married and have many new changes in store for them, and one is Elspeth's pregnancy with triplets. The jaunt up and down Scotland Street is always fun and full of laughs. ( )

Now the dilemma. Should have read S..L.OOO..W..E..Rrrrr
Book 7 wasn't even available yet in US.
Tempted to make emergency purchase of #7 from the UK.
ahh though....so many other books to read . . . think I can force myself to wait til it's in a US library.
Hoping Alexander stays healthy so he can keep writing until Bertie grows up. ( )

A perfect way to spend an afternoon. ( )

As the 6th book in the "44 Scotland Street" series I pretty much knew what to expect when I picked this one up, and I was not disappointed. From what I (unfortunate American that I am) understand, the 44 Scotland Street series comes from a serial story Alexander McCall Smith writes for The Scotsman newspaper. It follows the lives and happenings of a handful of people who live in Edinburgh, and whose lives frequently intersect. The books aren't particularly plot-driven, they are McCall Smith's delightful character observations, polite philosophical and political musings, and quirky imaginings. The lives of the characters change just enough, without ever changing too much. Reading this series is like wrapping up in a favorite cozy blanket. ( )