Reading in Reykjavík

Originally published in June 2004, on my original 52 Books blog. Author: Alexander McCall Smith Year published: 2001 Genre: Detective story, literature Where got: Public library It’s easy to imagine you’re in Africa when you’re sweating away - the sun has been shining all day and the temperature inside my apartment is around 28 °C and feels hotter. The story: The detective agency is having financial difficulties and to save money Precious has moved the office to her fiancé’s office. Mr. Matekoni is not feeling well, but refuses to see a doctor, and Precious has to go away for a few days to find out if a client’s sister-in-law is really trying to poison her husband. Meanwhile, her assistant/secretary, Mma Makutsi, takes over both the agency and the garage and runs both with efficiency. While Precious is away, she is handed a case to solve, which relates to the book’s title. Technique and plot: As with the other two books, the prose is beautiful in its simplicity, even po...

Originally published in July 2004, on my original 52 Books blog. Author: Alexander McCall Smith Year published: 2002 Genre: Literature, detective story Where got: Public library The story: The agency has got some competition and Mma Ramotswe and her assistant/secretary Mma Makutsi are both worried about the future of the business. In order to make some extra money for herself, Mma Makutsi starts the business the book takes its title from, giving evening classes in typing to men, and one of her students falls in love with her. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe takes a case investigating whether a husband is cheating on his wife, and makes a disturbing discovery. Another client asks her to track down some people he hasn’t seen for about 20 years, so he can make restitution for things he did to them. Both cases present their own unique difficulties, but with her common sense and philosophical way of looking at things, Mma Ramotswe solves both cases to the satisfaction of all involved (ex...

Originally published in November 2004, on my original 52 Books blog. Author: Alexander McCall Smith Year published: 2000 Where got: Public library Genre: Detective story, literature Had a sleepless night and rather than allow myself to be frustrated over it, I decided to read a book and picked Tears of the Giraffe , the second of Alexander McCall Smith’s books about Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s only lady private detective. The first one was the wonderful The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency . The story: Precious has been handed her most difficult case to date: to find out what happened to a young American who disappeared on the edge of the Kalahari desert 10 years ago. In the meantime, Mr. Matekoni gets talked into taking in a pair of orphans, and his maid plots to get rid of Precious so she can continue to meet her male “friends” at Mr. Matekoni’s house during the day. Last, but not least, Precious’ secretary, Mma Makutsi, gets promoted to assistant detective and gets her ...

Genre: Travelogue, memoir Year of publication: 2005 Setting & time: Kasane, Botswana; early 2000s Will Randall went to South-Africa to attend a friend’s wedding and maybe do some travelling, but eventually found himself volunteering as a teacher at a small school in the town of Kasane in Botswana. He ended up being the class teacher for the first grade class and also coached them in football, taking them on outings and to football matches with teams from other schools, and making friends with their parents. This is a funny and mostly positive book, told with typically British self-deprecating humour. The descriptions of the people and places are delightful and make one want to visit Kasane. While the book is mostly light-hearted, Randall does mention and is clearly displeased with, the racist attitudes of some of the white people he met in the country, and he also does not shirk away from mentioning the HIV/AIDS problem that is decimating the adult population of Botswana, ...