Rating: 
Summary: Substance?
Review: I have to admit that I read only up through page 83, which is a little less than half way. Then, I just could not pick it up again. There is no intrigue, morality, imagery and hardly a plot. Someone, let me know if there is any substance in the second half. Please.
Rating: 
Summary: Kalahari Typing School
Review: I continue to enjoy this delightful series about a set of characters unlike many others. The wisdom and view of life exhibited by our heroine are often startling. I eagerly look forward to the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for more
Review: I've read the first 3 books in this series and can't wait for more. I can't remember laughing so often reading through a book. They are delightful, life-affirming...all those corny words. The characters restore your faith in the human race, something I at least need these days living as I do in Jerusalem. These people are the kind of people I hope to be. They just get through life being kind and loving and caring for people less fortunate than themselves. Goes to prove that novels don't have to be able sick twisted people to get an audience.
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Summary: I love these books: Great writing not bound by genre
Review: "The Kalahari Typing School for Men" continues the story of "lady detective" Precious Ramotswe, her fiance, Mr. J.L.B. Maketoni, and the assistant detective/secretary, Mma Makutsi.McCall Smith is an outstanding writer, not bound by genre. His descriptions of the Botswana countryside are as evocative as any "nature" writer's, and his ability to create interesting, entertaining, and complex characters is unparalleled. Precious, Mr. Maketoni, and Mma Makutsi are so clearly drawn that you would know them instantly if you met them on the street. In "Kalahari," we particularly get to know the plain, bespectacled, but utterly self-reliant Mma Makutsi better, when she starts her own typing school. My one caveat for series neophytes is that there is very little detecting going on in these books; in fact, McCall Smith appears to have given up clues, discovery, and the like entirely in favor of more character development. But he's so very very good at it, you mustn't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: More Botswanan Delight
Review: Another little burst of delightfulness from the world of Precious Ramotswe, her husband to be Mr J. L. B. Maketoni and their assistant Mma Makutsi. Here there are all sorts of new developments. J. L. B. is over his depression of the previous book but problems are arising with the behaviour of Puso, the younger of their adopted children, which is becoming stroppy and difficult. Then there is the nasty development of a rival in the detective business, flashy, male, ex-CID and publicly quite contemptuous of the female competition. J. L. B.'s difficult apprentices remain as oversexed as ever but one of them gets religion. It is he who proposes "Learn to Drive with Jesus" as a name for the new business venture Mma Makutsi proposes to embark on in a bid to save her floundering finances. In the end however she gives up on the driving school idea and proposes to address the worrying lack of typing skills among her male compatriots. Meanwhile Precious and J. L. B. are getting a bit concerned that their enterprising assistant may be lonely and thinking how good it would be if she could find herself a man... What with all this excitement there isn't much time for being a detective and indeed the whole detective business is somewhat sidelined here. Two cases nonetheless come Precious' way, the most substantial of which is no mystery but simply a commission to track down some people the client wronged many years in the past to whom he now wishes to apologize and make amends. This central story of a middle aged man, Mr Molefelo, and his search for personal redemption, needs a very sure literary touch to keep credible and interesting. But McCall Smith's touch is very sure indeed and it is entirely credible and rather moving. As is the whole of this supremely readable book.
Rating: 
Summary: A delightful, gentle book.
Review: This is a book I did not want to see end, and certainly look forward to the next in the series. Smith develops the characters in this series so the reader feels a personal relationship with them. The stories are delightful, and the descriptions of life in this part of the world is wonderful. A great book, hard to put down!
Rating:
Summary: Not really a mystery, but, excellent...
Review: A cute, sleepy private eye story told form the perspective of Precious Ramotswe, and narrated well by Lisette Lecat. In this episode, we find Precious investigating two cases: that of a philandering husband, and that of an older man who once committed a crime and wishes to make amends. What's good about this series is not the mystery. It's the characters and settings. I really got the flavor that I was in a small town in Botswana, and I enjoyed reading about Precious and her cohorts. If I have any criticism about this novel at all, there was a lack of suspense. The investigation was almost a non-event, and there was a bit too much dwelling in the past for my taste. Part of me wanted to tell the client: GET OVER IT ALREADY. The past is over and done with. Still, a cute story, sure to delight readers who want a slice of African life without too much gritty realism.
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Summary: Another Great One!!
Review: This is the fourth book of Smiths i have read over a period of a few weeks. I was hooked after the first one. Smith really paints a picture of life in Africa and gives great details about each character. I would love to meet Precious!! Cant wait for the next one in the series. A great short read!!!
Rating:
Summary: Superb continuation of a most enjoyable series
Review: Mma Ramotswe seems almost to step back a bit in this book as her trusty aide-de-camp moves into Botswana's entrepreneurial spotlight. But the stories are engaging as ever and Smith somehow manages to continue steady development of all the characters in this marvelous series. Start here or start with any of the previous books; you will be fascinated and ultimately engrossed by the people and the world the author describes.
Rating:
Summary: It should be 6 stars for this magnificent book!
Review: It really ought to be 6 stars for a book as wholesome, fun, enjoyable and utterly delightful as this one. The books are just getting better and better and we in England have already been able to enjoy this book's just as good sequel (with more coming from this author in 2004!) Give everyone 10 copies of this book for Thanksgiving and then find 10 more friends to give it to for Christmas - it really is THAT good! Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)
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