Who knew that building a cathederal could be so interesting?

I released this book via Book Crossing and a few people have journalled that they also liked it.

I didn't enjoy this as much as any of Alexander McCall Smith's other books. In fact, it has put me off reading any more Scotland Street books as Bertie's Mum annoyed me so much I can't bear to read any more about her.

The first in the series and a very gentle introduction to what will become a village of assorted quirky characters.

Basically, helps you find your goal setting formula, not someone elses.

Actually only listend to the BBC play version of this, which are not quite the same as the book. I will read the book version of this at some point/

A very light fast read. Along the way a dull blue stocking turns into a fashionable beauty.

This book was my first swap on Read It Swap It. I swapped it for The Book Thief.
Addition is a bit of a romance with a twist. Grace learns to manage her OCD and her love life.

I enjoyed having this read to me by penelope Keith, as an audio book. She does some superb voices and read it to me untiringly at the gym or whilst baking in the kitchen.

To be honest, I found this a little dull.

Penelope Keith read this to me via an audio book. She does some great voices and I found I baked more often just to hear more of the book.

I much prefer Richard's way of working the dough. Somehow I never got along with kneading but I love this way, that is new to me. I happened to mention the book on my blog and Jo Bertinet commented and gave me great advice to use a floured linen tea towel to prove the dough on, so that it doesn't stick and thus make it difficult to transfer to your baking stone or tray.
I also bought one of the special scrapers but find a good silicone spatula works quite well - but the scraper is better for cutting amounts off the dough.

Enjoyed this book and it was also enjoyed by my teenage Daughter

The first book in the series. Have also listened the the BBC play version of this

3 stories by 3 well known writers; Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin, Irvine Welsh and an introduction from J K Rowling.
The stories are complex enough that they could easily have been expanded in to a novel.
If I remember rightly, some of the money from the sale of the book went to charity.

I read this after reading all of the other No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books that had been published up to the time of reading (June 2007). It was good to read the first in the series but any in the series can easily be read without having read the others. You are aware that the characters have history that is in the other books but it is not essential to the story, and if it is, Alexander McCall Smith will make it easily determined.

I can't pin down what it was about this book that I found so haunting, and I'm sure one of the many other reviewers will have expressed it better, so I won't try.
I intended to keep this book as a re-read but I swapped it on "Read It Swap It", having decided that, with so many books in the world, my possible re-reads should be kept to a bare minimum.

I found that I had already developed a lot of the suggestions as my own way of doing things, but I found the idea of a "Current Initiative" to be a better idea than my usual method of keep transferring a "to do" and never actually doing it because it seemed overwhelming.

Enjoyed this series of books but still haven't got hold of the first one yet. They can be read perfectly well as stand alones.

I read this book way back in 1983 and to be honest, gave it 5 stars purely because I remember loving all Jane Austen but I can't actually remember the story. One to re-read I think.

I read this book way back in 1982 and to be honest, gave it 5 stars purely because I remember loving all Jane Austen but I can't actually remember the story. One to re-read I think.

I read this book way back in 1982 and to be honest, gave it 4 stars purely because I remember loving all Jane Austen but I can't actually remember the story. Time for a re-read I think.

I read this book way back in 1982 and I thinks it's due for a re-read.

I read this book way back in 1982 and I think it's time I re-read it.

I read this book way back in 1982 and I would like to re-read it. I have seen so many different screen productions of it since first reading it that I wonder if it will be enjoyable to actually read it again, or if all those screen characters will colour my imagination.

A favourite quote from the book:
"Was it always this way? Did those with passage booked on death's silent ship always scan the dock for faces of the long-departed?"

and:

"Oh but age was so cruel! Little changes that slipped by unnoticed, that could never be arrested. The nectar of youth slipping silently through a blind sieve whose holes continued to widen."

When I became aware of some of the symbolic significances in this book I realised it was a much deeper book than I first thought.

I followed the LEVITY formula - Light,Exercise,and Vitamin Intervention Therapy during the winter of 2006 and it made a remarkable difference to winter blues.
In fact, writing this quick review has reminded me to look out for the first signs of the blues and get the appropriate vitamins - either through a supplement or dedicated diet additions.

I never got into the "shopaholic" series and was surprised by how much I enjoyed this.Maybe it was the cooking and housekeeping angle that appealed to me rather than shopping. I might try some of her other books for a nice light read.

I am writing this quick review two years after reading this book, as a library book, so I don't have it to refer to, but I do remember with great fondness the description of the first encounter with the elephants and also the elephants and the swimming pool.