Tag Archives: Alexander McCall Smith

Library Books

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You might know that I’ve been doing an awful lot of library borrowing in recent months. Sixteen local libraries (Fife) are under threat of closure and I and lots of other people have been doing a bit of campaigning to try to get at least some of the libraries a reprieve. I’m concentrating on Glenwood, Markinch and Falkland as those are the ones nearest me. I’ve been to all three of them this week and my library haul is:

1. The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir
2. Smut by Alan Bennett
3. The Catherine Wheel by Patricia Wentworth
4. A Particular Eye for Villainy by Ann Granger
5. Snare of the Hunter by Helen MacInnes
6. Peter Wimsey Investigates the Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh
7. Bertie’s Guide to Life and Mothers by Alexander McCall Smith
8. Scotland’s Hidden History by Ian Armit

Jack has also borrowed books:-
First World War Poems chosen by Andrew Motion,
The Fires of Autumn by Irene Nemirovsky
21st Century Science Fiction edited by David G Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden
and The Untouchables by John Banville (which he actually has a copy of but not read yet and only borrowed to boost the numbers.)

I haven’t read anything by Ann Granger before but the librarian likes her writing, nor have I read anything by Alan Bennett, but I’ve enjoyed his work on TV. Scotland’s Hidden History by Ian Armit is the only non-fiction book and it’s about the many Neolithic tombs, stone circles, brochs, hillforts, standing stones, Viking graves and such which are scattered all over Scotland.

I intend to read them all, it seems like cheating to take books out of the libraries and not read them – just to put the reader statistics up – but at this rate I’ll definitely have to stop buying books as my own unread books just keep piling up!

Have you read any of these book and if so what did you think of them?

PS. If you want to see photographs of the Falls of Dochart which we visited with Peggy and Evee in May then hop over to Jack’s blog.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland

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Last week we went to the Scottish Parliament where The Great Tapestry of Scotland is on exhibition, it’s the longest tapestry in the world apparently. I meant to visit it this time last year but didn’t get around to it, due to pressure of house selling and too many people viewing our old place. It was my old family friend Isabel who recommended that I visit the exhibition, I knew that it must be good if she was impressed because she’s a really great embroiderer herself.

Of course it isn’t a tapestry it’s an embroidery, but then neither is the Bayeux Tapestry a tapestry, there seems to be a tradition of misnaming such things. I took quite a few photos of the panels which were of most interest to me, but I haven’t sorted them out yet. Meanwhile, you can see images of the panels here.

The tapestry has been wandering around Scotland for the past year or so and nobody seemed able to give it a permanent home but I just heard on the Scottish news tonight that it is going to be on permanant exhibition at Melrose eventually. I’m so glad I saw it in Edinburgh as Melrose isn’t exactly central.

The author Alexander McCall Smith was the chap who came up with the idea of a ‘tapestry’ depicting Scotland’s history and the artist Andrew Crummy designed it with the work being carried out by hundreds of embroiderers from all over Scotland.

Below you can see the first stitch being put into the design.

Sunshine On Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

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Often when I go into a library my mind goes completely blank and I find myself scanning the shelves hoping that something pops up or my brain gets into gear. It doesn’t help when the place has just been completely re-organised as well, but I did think to myself – Alexander McCall Smith – it’s about time he had a new Scotland Street book out. Sure enough, there was one sitting on a shelf.

Previously I’ve enjoyed this series, as much for the Edinburgh setting as anything else really but I think it is going downhill. It’s the usual cast of characters really, although Angus Lordie and his new wife Domenica don’t play much of a role as they take off for their honeymoon. Cyril the dog is the best part of the book, so there must be something going wrong with the series.

For some reason Bertie is still 6 years old, and it’s mentioned quite a few times, he’s still wearing his crushed strawberry dungarees, much to his shame, in fact he seems to be unchanged, very strange considering how quickly children do change. His mother, Irene continues to be a pain in the neck, only relieved by another child’s mother getting the better of her. Bruce Anderson, another pain, hasn’t got his come-uppance, surely it must happen sometime, Matthew will certainly be hoping so!

The author rambles off at times, often the best bits of the book as he comments on Thatcher and how awful she was and various ethical and religious musings, he gets a few things off his chest, like government statistics and the fact that not all Scots speak with a broad accent, but it doesn’t mean they are English. The trouble is that so many wealthy Scots still send their sons to Eton, a tradition which started when Scottish clan chiefs decided it would be a good idea to Anglicise their sons after the union. It is difficult to see people as Scots when they have an upper class English accent. Having said that, my own sons have been accused of being English, just because they don’t have a Fife accent.

In the past I’ve enjoyed when McCall Smith shoehorns real Edinburgh characters into his books, but I did think OOPS! when Cardinal Keith O’Brien (he was the head of RCs in Britain) suddenly appeared briefly in the story, described as a very nice man. Obviously it was written pre his massive fall from grace. It is thought that Pope Benedict resigned after he discovered that O’Brien had had a long career of abusing young priests, who were completely under his control. So maybe it’s best to stick with fictional characters.

I don’t know if I’ll bother reading the next book in this series, when it comes out. I didn’t hate this one, but it definitely misses the west of Scotland characters and humour, in the shape of the Glaswegian hard man Lard O’Connor, it was a mistake to kill him off. Of course it could be that I am just not in the mood for a Scotland Street book at the moment, and I am just being a grumpy old curmudgeon.

Library Book Haul

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It was much cooler today on the east coast of Scotland than it has been for the past week or so, but still bright and sunny. We decided just to take a walk to the newly reopened library, it had been closed for 18 months or so for refurbishment.

I don’t really like anything about the new library set up. The lovely old built in bookcases have disappeared, replaced by low free-standing bookcases, and there are too many different sections which you have to check for authors. I prefer books just to be alphabetical, then you can see straight away if the author or particular book you are looking for is there. There’s just too much scope for books to be misplaced, so you have to look all over the place. Why on earth do they have a section for ‘family’ books? I’m sure there are far fewer books in the library than there used to be, due to the low shelving which is no doubt there for easy access to everyone. The library is now self-service, although I suppose you can wait to be served by a member of staff if you so wish. I suspect they want to cut back on employees eventually.

Anyway, I did take a few books out. I’m trying to work my way through the Agatha Raisin series, so I grabbed:

Agatha Raisin Hiss and Hers by M.C. Beaton
Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C. Beaton
Sunshine on Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas – who I hadn’t even heard of until my friend Joan Kyler mentioned her. It’ll be interesting to try out this new to me author.

As you can see, I’m still in an easy/light reading phase and I’m a third of the way through Sunshine on Scotland Street already.

The Dog Who Came In From The Cold by Alexander McCall Smith

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This is the second book in the Corduroy Mansions series. Of course it’s the same idea as his 44 Scotland series except most of the action takes place in London instead of Edinburgh.

This one was more enjoyable than the first one I think, or maybe it’s just that I know the various characters better now, it’s another cozy read. A few more of the Pimlico inhabitants are paired up. The whole thing is quite daft really with Freddie de la Haye, the Pimlico terrier belonging to William French being recruited by MI6 as a spy. But then when you think about it, stranger things have happened in that weird world of espionage.

William French, the main character is a man of a certain age. Jack usually asks me exactly what that means and I reply – older than me – but in this case William is actually a bit younger than me. He muses on such things as Latin phrases which are unknown to younger people nowadays and the fact that the younger generation has no idea of the use of the subjunctive. It felt like he had dropped in to my world! I imagine that there’s quite a lot of McCall Smith in William French. For me, this series isn’t as entertaining as the Scotland Street books but that’s probably because I prefer the Edinburgh setting.

Book Beginnings on Fridays

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William French, wine merchant, Master of Wine (failed), somewhere in his early fifties (hardly noticeably, particularly in the right light), loyal subscriber to Rural Living (although he lived quite happily in central London), long time supporter of several good causes (he was a kind man at heart, with a strong sense of fairness) widower, dog-owner, and much else besides; the same William French looked about his flat in Corduroy Mansions, as anybody might survey his or her flat in a moment of self-assessment, of stocktaking.

That’s the first paragraph of The Dog Who Came In From The Cold by Alexander McCall Smith, it’s the second book in his Corduroy Mansions series. I have to say that although it’s not a riveting paragraph it does capture the character perfectly and hints at the humour usually found in McCall Smith’s books.

Going from the title of the book, this one is going to be mainly about the dog, Freddie de la Hay, who is a London version of Percy the dog who inhabits the 44 Scotland Street series. These books couldn’t be called high literature by any measure, but they are comfort reads which is sometimes just what hits the spot.

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith

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I requested this book from my library after Evee of Evee’s Blog mentioned that it featured a dog as a character. I think there are only two books in this series so far. It’s set in Pimlico, London and Corduroy Mansions is a crumbling Arts and Crafts mansion block which contains a number of flats which are inhabited by disparate characters.

Freddie de la Hay, the Pimlico terrier (I suspect he’s a Heinz 57 variety – in other words a mongrel) joins them there when William gets part time custody of him in a bid to get rid of his dog-hating son who is a ‘waste of space’ according to Marcia.

It was a mildly entertaining read and I’ll read the next one in the series but I don’t think it was as successful as the 44 Scotland Street series. I want to find out if the ghastly Lib Dem M.P. Oedipus Snark gets his come-uppance, isn’t that a great name for a baddie?!

Bertie Plays the Blues by Alexander McCall Smith

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In this book poor wee Bertie makes a break for freedom by putting himself up for adoption on eBay and when that doesn’t work he tries to get to Glasgow to find an adoption agency. Bertie has always wanted to live in Glasgow, unknown to him his father, Stuart has the very same ambition. Poor Bertie has another psychologist and Irene, Bertie’s horrendous mother, is busy psychoanalysing the analyst. Of course it’s Irene who is most in need of being analysed.

Matthew and Elspeth have become shell-shocked parents of triplets, entirely naturally and they aren’t coping too well with it all. This actually isn’t too far fetched because I do know a couple who had one wee boy and when he was about a year old they decided to have another baby which turned out to be triplets, the upshot being that they had four boys under the age of two. Nightmare! I must admit that I’m beginning to get a wee bit fed up with this gormless pair of millionaires though.

Stuart has joined the Freemasons, much against Irene’s wishes and McCall Smith sings the praises of that secret organisation which apparently is mainly for raising money for charity!!

It so happens that I side completely with Irene on the subject of Freemasons (whodathunkit) which is just corruption dressed up as is every secret society. In fact I can get quite a bee in my bonnet about the whole thing because a big part of the reason why the world is in the state that it is is because people get jobs by their ‘connections’ rather than on merit. It leads to people being in top positions who are completely clueless about what they’re meant to be doing. Like all those so-called bankers who messed up everything and didn’t have any banking qualifications at all. Honestly where is the point in people going to university to get qualifications if some idiot can come along with a dodgy handshake and shoot to the top? It’s corruption – plain and simple.

Right – I got that off my chest. Otherwise I enjoyed the book and I’m glad that I’ve caught up with the series. I have hopes for Bertie getting a life of his own – when he’s about 40.

The Importance of Being Seven by Alexander McCall Smith

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As you would expect from the title of the book it’s the six year old character Bertie who is concentrated on in this one. The poor wee soul is still very much under the thumb of his mother, the dreadful Irene, although Stuart, Bertie’s father, is pushed around by Irene even more than Bertie is. You just long for Stuart to ‘man up’. Thankfully they get a wee respite from her overbearing bossiness in this book, bliss for both of them!

At one point some of the Scotland Street residents jet off to Italy, including Angus Lordie and his dog Cyril. Some time ago I was asked which fictional dog was my favourite and I couldn’t think of any dogs at all except Nana in Peter Pan, but now I think that Cyril would be my choice as best fictional dog. He’s a great character and what with his ability to wink and being in possession of a gold tooth, he’s what I would call a gallus dog. I’m sure he must have been born in Glasgow, rather than Edinburgh!

As you would expect from this series of books, it’s a quick and enjoyable read, possibly knowing Edinburgh is an advantage. McCall Smith enjoys educating non Scots in Scots words and early on in the book he comes up with: bidey-in, trauchle and various others – and I’m all for spreading the words.

Mind you, I’m beginning to think that he gets a discount at Valvona and Crolla which is a delicatessen/restaurant in Edinburgh. He certainly should get something because he never misses a chance to give them a name check!

In the past I’ve read one of McCall Smith’s Isabel Dalhousie books which was okay-ish but I wouldn’t rush to read another one, but when I was at the library I saw one of the Corduroy Mansion books. Has anybody read any of these ones, if so, what do you think of them?

Library Haul

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I freely admit that I’m a real coward when it comes to reading new authors and that’s just one of the reasons why I read Jo @ The Book Jotter. Jo definitely comes under the category of brave reader because she’s happy to try out unknown quantities.

So when I saw a Carola Dunn book in my library called Manna From Hades I was happy to borrow it in the knowledge that Jo is quite keen on her books. This one is set in Cornwall and that’s always a plus for me too.

I also chose a book by M.C. Beaton called The Skeleton in the Closet for the same reason. I hadn’t realised that Beaton wrote the Hamish Macbeth series, mind you, I didn’t even watch that when it was on TV.

The Skeleton in the Closet cover

Then I got to the reason why I was at the library at all – Alexander McCall Smith, he’s writing his books too damn fast as far as I’m concerned, with the result that I have some catching up to do in the Scotland Street series. I borrowed the two which I haven’t got around to yet – The Importance of Being Seven and Bertie Plays the Blues. So I’m going to be busy with library books when I should be making inroads on my book piles at home. I’m looking forward to them though.

It seems that there are a few libraries around which are being refurbished at the moment. I spotted a small notice on the library door which said that it is going to be closed for more than a year!

You know what it’s like when a favourite tasty-bite has that dreaded slogan on it New Improved Recipe – well my heart always sinks when I read that because it’s almost always a change for the worse, probably because they’re using inferior and cheaper ingredients. I bet something similar happens to my library, it’ll be gutted and modernised and what is left of its original Victorian character will be scrubbed out, and all at great cost. I thought that local councils were supposed to be trying to save money in these dire economic times!

It has occurred to me that I might not have to see the effects of the modernisation because if everything goes to plan we’ll be living in another part of Scotland by then. Meantime a couple of the many empty shops in the High Street are going to be turned into a library for the duration of the refurbishment, I suppose it has the advantage that it will be central.