Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Feelings On This One...
Review: I give this novel a weak 4 stars. As an avid Precious Ramotswe fan this book was like a fast food version of the series I've grown to love. There were parts that made me laugh but I feel that the character development was a bit overdone this time around if there is such a thing. Precious didn't seem to be at the center of the book. The book felt rushed. I just knew that the something I was missing would come and it never did. Nice ending but it didn't make up for other things I was missing. I love Precious for her outlook on life as a woman and as a black African. That Mr. McCall Smith is able to capture this is nothing short of amazing. However, this time around I felt Precious' words and those around her were forced. The beauty of the previous books has been on solving mysteries with compassion, common sense, and a deep love for the surrounding country of Botswana. I didn't get a feel for the mystery part of the equation this time around. There was only one mystery that seemed thrown in for good measure and then not even really solved. I know it's hard for an outhor to constantly live up to making each book better than the last but I have a favor to ask of Mr. McCall Smith. Please let Precious and all of her supporting cast do what they do best--be themselves. Many of us feel like we know this woman and all those that surround her so please bring her back to her natural element---being the No. 1 Ladies Detective that Botswana has to offer. I don't consider this a bad book but would only recommend it if you've already enjoyed the previous books, then you can overlook this tiny stumble. I'm very hopeful for the next book in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: I dream of Africa
Review: I have been enchanted throughout the first four installments of "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (with a name like that, how could one not be, at the very least, intrigued?) So I eagerly awaited the fifth installment, "The Full Cupboard of Life." This novel does not disappoint. Its apparently simplistic use of language still manages to evoke a powerful and alluring image of Mma Ramotswe's beloved Botswana. As with the previous four novels, the "mysteries" of "The Full Cupboard" are slight and are revealed at a leisurely pace. Mma Ramotswe's primary case seems to be to weed out the undesirable suitors of a rich female client. Divining the machinations of the human heart is delicate work and Mma Ramotswe, as ever, proves herself capable to the task.I'm dismayed, though, at previous reviews which cite a lack of plot or "mystery" in "The Full Cupboard." It bears remembering that the manifesto of Precious Ramotswe's agency was she would not attempt violent or bloody crimes. Also consider that most, if not all readers who review her exploits on this page are probably Western. Mma Ramotswe introduces her readers to the rhythms and social consciousness of her Botswana. For me, the novels provide glimpses into a world whose manners and social niceties may clash with or seem jarring to a Western sensibility. Presumably the stories are set in modern times yet there is no mention of mobile phones or e-mail or the Internet. Human relations, talking face to face is key and, of necessity, sets a story at a slower pace. So let's celebrate Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and the enigmatic (and gun-shy) Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni for the gentle pleasure they give, rather than critique them for what they were apparently never designed to provide.
Rating:
Summary: 97% successful
Review: I like this one the best of the series. The characters are now well developed and seem like old friends. It makes me want to go to Botswana.
Rating:
Summary: Not my Favorite
Review: I love this series. All of the characters are like old friends to me. This book seemed "forced". Not his best work. I still can't wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Looking For a Great Read?
Review: I loved this whole series, the characters continue to enchant me, but I think the story lines are getting soft and repetitious. That's what happens when writers keep using the same characters over and over: they either grow or shrink. If you want to read the year's best novel, something powerful, historical, exotic, try James Dalesandro's "1906", about the great San Francisco Earthquake. His portrayal of Enrico Caruso, who sang in San Francisco the night before the disaster and survived, is worth the price alone.
Rating: 
Summary: Pleasant story - but not a mystery
Review: I started with this book in the series, and I admit I shouldn't have. There was mystery involved, no detective work, no puzzle to unsolve. It was a book for readers of the series to familiarize with the characters.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful to visit Botswana again
Review: If you ever have the chance to attend a book event with Alexander McCall Smith, don't miss it. He is funny, smart and sweet and the large group had a wonderful evening. The title of this book seems to sum up Smith's outlook on life. This book carries the story forward in Gaborone. I love spending time with the characters in Botswana. I asked Mr. Smith what the people of Botswana think of the Ladies Detective Agency books and he said the people he spoke with seemed to like the books and the postive depiction of their lives and country. I will continue to look forward to the rest of the books in this series and the upcoming Sunday Philosophy Club series.
Rating:
Summary: The title says it all. Life is a very "full cupboard" here.
Review: In his fifth novel about the #1 Ladies Detective Agency, run by Mma Precious Ramotswe, author Alexander McCall Smith presents the full cupboard of Botswana life in all its richness. For Mma Ramotswe, people and their relationships are paramount, and she believes that these relationships are facilitated by Botswana's traditional code of behavior, with its customs of greetings, sitting down together, drinking bush tea, and casually talking around a subject, rather than addressing it aggressively. Life is a rich, full, and happy experience for Mma Ramotswe, who can find out everything she wants to know from her broad network of family and friends. Engaged to the good-hearted Mr. J.L.B. Matakone, who has not yet set a date for a wedding, she helps him surreptitiously with his problems and cooks and cares for the two orphans he has taken into his home. In this novel, full of gentle humor and wisdom, Mma Ramotswe and her friends face several "difficult" problems: A woman who has made a fortune establishing hair-braiding salons hires Mma Ramotswe to find out whether her suitors want to marry her for her money. Mr. J.L.B. Matakone finds himself tricked into "volunteering" to do a parachute jump, in order to raise money for the Orphan Farm run by the intrepid Mma Potokwane, who refuses to take no for an answer. He is also disturbed to discover that First Class Motors, a rival garage, has sold improper parts and failed to service a classic old Range Rover correctly, and he has been procrastinating about confronting the garage owner or reporting him to authorities. Mma Makutsi, the assistant at the detective agency, has been so successful running the Kalahari Typing School for Men at night, that her dream of renting her own house has now come true, and Mma Ramotswe is helping her to furnish all two rooms. With an obvious lack of exciting plot lines, the reader focuses completely on the characters-- beautifully drawn, sometimes flawed, and always forgiven their faults. In a pace as leisurely as life in Botswana, McCall Smith recreates the colorful everyday lives of these ordinary people, who treasure friendships, treat each other with respect, and possess inherent good sense. Honoring the values that contemporary readers sometimes do not take the time to preserve, McCall Smith portrays complex social relationships in very simple and direct prose. Warm, gently humorous, and loving, McCall Smith creates a kind of vicarious nostalgia for this way of life, a nostalgia which readers will continue to indulge and treasure as the series continues. Mary Whipple
Rating:
Summary: People Are People All Over The World!
Review: In Smith's 5th book in the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series, he again concentrates on many of his recurring themes. Smith uses the detective agency as a backdrop, to discuss the morality and ethics of Botswana, as a microcosm of the whole world. Because Botswana is a relatively small country, much of it being desert, the Botswanians tend to know each other, all over the country. This intimacy of course is less in the urban environments than in the more traditional rural areas. Nonetheless, by American standards, even the urban life is rather suburban if not rural in appearance. The issues that Smith concentrates on are the feelings that are universal in virtually every society. While there are specific nuances in each country, and within a country, in each region, still, there are certain things, that are common to all. Men will always seek the love of women. Women will always be more selective than men in choosing their mate. In Botswana, the meeting of the traditional versus the contemporary is deeply explored. The role of women in the Botswanian society is investigated and parsed. There are many types of women in Botswana, as there are many types of women in any part of the world. But Smith also finds, that there are similarities between men and women, and that these similarities are universal and accepted by almost all societies. By using Botswana, as a developing third world nation, Smith allows the reader to look back at the early days of his/her own country, and then see how far their country has come, from inception, to today. While the detective plots lend an interesting backdrop to Smith's message, the real concentration in all of Smith's books in this series are the way in which people do treat others, and the way in which they should treat others. The book provides another wonderful view of cross-cultural interactions and perspectives.
Rating:
Summary: People Are People All Over The World!
Review: In Smith's 5th book in the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series, he again concentrates on many of his recurring themes. Smith uses the detective agency as a backdrop, to discuss the morality and ethics of Botswana, as a microcosm of the whole world. Because Botswana is a relatively small country, much of it being desert, the Botswanians tend to know each other, all over the country. This intimacy of course is less in the urban environments than in the more traditional rural areas. Nonetheless, by American standards, even the urban life is rather suburban if not rural in appearance. The issues that Smith concentrates on are the feelings that are universal in virtually every society. While there are specific nuances in each country, and within a country, in each region, still, there are certain things, that are common to all. Men will always seek the love of women. Women will always be more selective than men in choosing their mate. In Botswana, the meeting of the traditional versus the contemporary is deeply explored. The role of women in the Botswanian society is investigated and parsed. There are many types of women in Botswana, as there are many types of women in any part of the world. But Smith also finds, that there are similarities between men and women, and that these similarities are universal and accepted by almost all societies. By using Botswana, as a developing third world nation, Smith allows the reader to look back at the early days of his/her own country, and then see how far their country has come, from inception, to today. While the detective plots lend an interesting backdrop to Smith's message, the real concentration in all of Smith's books in this series are the way in which people do treat others, and the way in which they should treat others. The book provides another wonderful view of cross-cultural interactions and perspectives.
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