Journal Entry 1 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, January 27, 2007

The fourth book in McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies series, following The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Tears of the Giraffe, and Morality for Beautiful Girls. This copy was purchased from a MonsterBookstore during a Saturday afternoon errand run. 

Journal Entry 2 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, January 27, 2007

The full series:

1. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998)
   
2. Tears of the Giraffe (2000)
   
3. Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)
   
4. The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)
   
5. The Full Cupboard of Life (2004)
   
6. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004)
   
7. Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)
   
8. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)

Journal Entry 3 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, March 24, 2007

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is feeling much better (having survived the clinical depression that was dogging him in Morality for Beautiful Girls), but his fiancee Precious Ramotswe is still patiently waiting for him to suggest a date for their wedding. The amalgamated No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors continues to make a modest profit, although neither business can afford to pay its employees much. In the result, Mma Ramotswe's Assistant Detective, Mma Makutsi, turns her mind to other profit-making possibilities. She discards the idea of running a driving school (the insurance would be too costly), and ultimately hatches a much better idea: the Kalahari Typing School for Men, which can be run from a local community centre using typewriters donated by Mma Makutsi's alma mater, the Botswana Secretarial College. The school is an immediate success, and Mma Makutsi finds out she has a gift for teaching. Inspired by a particularly handsome student, she also comes face to face with some romantic yearnings, which threatens to end in disaster until Mma Ramotswe saves the day.

I loved this volume in the No. 1 Ladies series, and take back anything negative I ever said about these books. Alexander McCall Smith has a gift for talking about complex social and moral issues in an accessible, entertaining and surprisingly edifying way, and only rarely patronizes his wonderful creation Precious Ramotswe. Reading these books is like literary comfort food, but they are so wise and uplifting I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. 

Journal Entry 4 by goatgrrl at -- wild released somewhere in Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, March 24, 2007

Released 4 yrs ago (3/23/2007 UTC) at -- wild released somewhere in Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

I left the book on the table in the kitchen at the Federal Treaty Negotiation Office and it was picked up almost immediately. Best wishes and happy reading to whomever got it!