Chocolate (Isabel Dalhousie Series)

All the books in this series are rich with imagery and humor, but this book is the richest. I love the little throwaway joke about philosophers in Edinburgh delicatessens, the anecdote about German professors, and the beautiful final scene. I don't like the central plot very much, but I reread this book over and over for the little things.

AS BOOKS IN A SERIES GO, 'FRIENDS. LOVERS. AND CHOCOLATES' WAS EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS 'THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB.' PERHAPS THEY WERE NOT QUITE AS MUCH FUN AS THE 'NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE' SERIES BUT MORE INTERESTING THAN 'PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERBS' TRIOLOGY ALL BY ALEXANDER MC CALL SMITH.

THE CHARACTERIZATIONS WERE VERY GOOD, THE NIECE, THE HOUSEKEEPER, JEREMY, AND ISABEL ALL LEAPED OFF THE PAGE AS LIVING, VERY REAL AND INTERESTING.

IT WAS A QUICK READ, I KEPT TURNING PAGES WANTING TO REACH THE CONCLUSION, BUT VERY MUCH ENJOYING THE STORY ALONG THE WAY. I ALSO ENJOYED THE PEPPERING OF W.H. AUDEN QUOTES THROUGHOUT!

Isabel Dalhousie is a pure delight. Her need for doing the ethical thing gives her a fine depth of character, and you've gotta love someone who quotes aptly from Lin Yutang as well as Auden and Robbie Burns. I haven't read "The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" yet, but charm and imagination don't come much better than this.

This, the second book in THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB series, was a pleasure to read. I found it a much more enjoyable book to read then it's predecessor. Isabel is an intriguing character, and seeing her philosophizing about even the must mundane things is truly original. Just one thing...How about a book where the Sunday Philosophy Club actually meets?

Did Alexander McCall Smith actually write both the "The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" and the Isabel Dalhousie series?
Precious Ramotswe's character is clever and engaging, and the plot lines are delightful. Isabel is pedantic and possesses the worst character flaw of all - she is boring. Of the plot I have nothing to say, since there really wasn't one.

This is a marvelous book. Alexander McCall Smith has such a good eye for detail and a wonderful use of language. He raises so many interesting questions in this book -- cellular memory, coincidence, how we think, how far should we intervene, the nature of love, friendship and life's many temptations. The book works so well in that atmosphere of Scotland. This may well be one of the best books I've read all year.

We were fortunate to hear the author on a recent book tour in America last month and not only is he a great writer but a very engaging speaker as well.

How did this ever get published? The author sets out several interesting premises and then, unable to work out any reasonable outcome to ANY of them, proceeds to shoot them down like in a carny's gallery. Shame on you, Mc Call Smith! I won't try to resell this p.o.c. I'll turn it into "book art" ..the binding, paper, etc. is beautiful.

I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns of this delightful book. It has all the things you want for a pleasant read, a good plot, mystery, a little romance, some improbable events, humor and writing that is easy to get lost in. It isn't deep, abstract literature but it is very entertaining.

San Francisco & Edinburgh are favorite cities for 'meandering'. I rate myself among the most willing to straggle from the crowd & allow footsteps to slow (living on *Less Traveled Road* has taught me something). Give yourself up to the delights of McCall Smith's newest detective & fascinating philosopher - - you may discover a description (pg. 145) that was immediately copied for my 'collection of clotheslines': a suit hanging on the Isle of Skye where "the wind had been in the arms and legs & had given it life."

I marvel at how the author has turned his scrutiny on the workings of Isabel Dalhousie's mind. No, she isn't "nosy" but her curiosity does allow her to scurry as through a maze in the interests of Science & Philosophical research. Her grounded, more skeptical housekeeper, Grace, offers humor with starch.

I am jealous of future *Mystery* fans who will savour the 8-course banquet someone is sure to bring to television for viewers who appreciate stars neither shallow-minded or pursuing serial partners. Also starved for more challenging fare are readers!And everyone must have something to feel guilty about, so Isabel offers clues that in her next adventure, chocolate will be generously shared as well as more thoughts about duty and friendship.

What do the men in this story think of Isabel and her serendipitous brain, whirring through the daylight hours like a hummingbird: no significant 'looks' missed, with occasional pauses before choosing the proper word; the gentle judgments? How can this review be launched without an appreciation of niece "Cat" and also "Brother Fox"? There are questions that surface in my mind: Is it inexplicable for a transplanted heart to trigger visions that would cause Ian's heart to feel endangered? If the story of a transplanted heart inspires the dark wrath of a possible hit-&-run driver (I still cower), what else might a transplanted bassoonist create?

Alexander McCall Smith's carefully detailed appreciation of Edinburgh and its lovingly drawn inhabitants will be much of what dominates the musings of reviewer mcHAIKU while taking *my walk to work* (pg. 215 ); how about YOU? I want you to be 'taken' by this exquisite story.

In some books, such as Friends, Lovers, Chocolate: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel the author, in this case Alexander McCall Smith, can write every single thought that pops into a person's head, and all the parenthetical thoughts, and all the asides, and all the options not taken, and then the person can finally just say, "Uh." This is not great writing. This is chatty drivel. BORING (as JoAnn Worley would so aptly proclaim). It's not romance, or mystery, or biography.

In many books I've read, there are redeeming qualities even if the book does not end up on my favorites list. Not this one. Just frustration and plodding plots.

So which is easier to write? In a play, you write what people say, and what they do. In a book, you can write what they think, and add 10,000 words and get paid more. Plays are easier to write, harder to write well.

The reading of this audio CD is OK, not great. It's hard to distinguish who is speaking sometimes, because almost everyone has a Scot accent. So, the audio production deserves a 3, the novel a 1. Go read Anita Shreve instead.

This book, second in a new series by Alexander McCall Smith, did not delight me, as does most of his writing. Isabel, the protagonsit, is the editor of a journal of ethics, which colors how she looks at the world. She could be an interesting character, but she just ddidn't quite make it for me. The plot got a bit tiresome and the endings of each subplot were anticlimaxes. All in all, a very disappointing read.

I enjoyed both books in this series. However, the character of Isabel doesn't ring true to me. She mentions her age being early 40s and that she was a college student in the 70s, but she seems to be of an older generation. I know she's fictional and that may be part of her charm, but it strained credulity for me.

The charactors are fun nice people having interesting experiences. But there is no real mysteries like the "First Ladies Detectitve Agency" and the stories are not as enjoyable or lovable. Still the book is quite entertaining.

I was attracted by the storyline: after a heart transplant, a man had some "new" memories, and suspected that the transplanted heart carried with it the memories of the donor. Attractive story, isn't it? But I'm sad to find out the story unfolded was quite boring *_*

This is utter rot.

Another stinker from the withered pen of MCall Smith.

Plotless, overly peppered with Mr McCall Smith's book of quotations, up-tight, and worst of all - boring.

Mr McCall, don't give up the day job.