Vacation Reading

While I read, they worked.
One of my vacation pleasures is the leisurely reading of books.  I have completed one so far:  The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, by Alexander McCall Smith.  It's one of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.  I love the way A.M.S. presents fundamental and universal wisdom through the admirably simple main character, a woman of Botswana, of "traditional build".  (I also love that description!)  Some examples and a few of my favorite quotes are:

  • Don't think you know all the answers because you don't.
  • Those who have little to be dissatisfied with are frequently highly vocal about it.
  • There are times when something that has happened has to be treated as if it hasn't.  This is one of those times, I think.
  • That we have the people we have in this life, rather than others, is miraculous she thought; a miraculous gift.  
  • The next few days were marked by the fact that virtually nothing happened.  Such spells in otherwise busy lives are like breaks in bad weather; we know that they will not last, and our knowledge of their impermanence makes them seem all the more precious.
  • It was a gesture...of unequivocal pleasure--pleasure at hearing what all of us want to hear at least occasionally: that there was somebody who liked us, whatever our faults, and liked us enough to say so.
  • There are some remarks, like some temptations, that simply cannot be resisted--at least by those of us who are made of ordinary human stuff.
  • There are some cases where everybody tells lies.  In those cases you will never know the truth.  The more you try to find out what happened, the more lies you uncover.  My advice is:  do not lose sleep over such matters.  Move on, ladies and gentlemen:  move on.
  • Does it really matter?  The milk is spilled.  It will not be spilled again.
My brother (left) and husband - college classmates
Have you read any of Alexander McCall Smith's books?  What do YOU think of them?
Do you ever read while on vacation?

5 comments:

  1. I agree with you, my husband and I recommend this series to everyone. We adore Mma Ramotswe. I bought the book you describe, and am reading the one before it. To anyone who has not started this series, start with the first book, The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency. You are in for a treat.
    Like you, I read on vacation.

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  2. Is it in a book store and can I find it at the Library...I am wanting to get started with a good series.

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  3. It's not exactly reading.....but I take a pile of magazines I get at thrift stores and other places along with us when we camp. I like to look at them and cut things out as part of my *leisure* time. We're a pile of magazines lighter, on the way home!

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  4. I love to read but haven't read much lately. The last book I read that was fiction was Still Alice about a lady with early onset Alzheimer's. Really good. Sorta sad but I still liked it.

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  5. Yes. I have read all of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency--devoured them. Loved them. I love anticipating a vacation and reading books. At home, I resist starting books because once into a good book, I want to drop all other tasks and just read. I like hearing about the books that you read!

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Writing a Song a Week #3

Writing a Song a Week #3
♪ I wait for the Lord; my soul waits and in his word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning ♪ (Psalm 130:5-6)