Book review: “The Careful Use of Compliments” by Alexander McCall Smith

The fourth of The Sunday Philosophy Club Series see us back with Isabel Dalhousie, who having fallen in love with Jamie, who is not only her niece’s ex-boyfriend but also fourteen years her junior, also fell pregnant and at the start of this book has had her first son, Charlie. Isabel is not only a mother, she is also the editor of the philosophical magazine Review of Applied Ethics, but her professional life is in trouble with the arrival of radical Professor Christopher Dove.

As with any working mother, Isabel tries to balance the various parts of her life, family life with Jamie and Charlie, managing the home with opinionated housekeeper Grace, her strained relationship with niece Cat, and her career with the magazine.

The joy of the Isabel Dalhousie novels is that Alexander McCall Smith uses his heroine to give the reader time to contemplate the moral and ethical challenges that face each of us every day. Whilst on the surface, the mystery of the authenticity of the paintings of a Scottish artist are the main plot of the book, this story is really just an extension of the previous novels and continue our journey through Isabel’s thoughts and ethics. I thoroughly enjoy these novels, and welcome the opportunity to sit back and consider the implications of the moral decisions we each make every day. Isabel is never allowed to preach to us as readers, and instead, is a vehicle for the author to give us the various choices we have when thinking about situations we find ourselves in, without ever saying one way is the right way, and always showing that whichever path we choose may still not give us the outcome we would like.

I love reading this series of novels so much, that it is one of the few books I will buy in hardback and not wait for either the paperback or reserve through my local library. The Careful Use of Compliments does not disappoint. We see Isabel with new challenges to give her consideration to, and for me, she is a genuine heroine. Her character develops and grows with every new book, and I aspire to have her intelligence and compassion. While she lives a privileged lifestyle, she is never ostentatious with her fortune, and strives to be a good person.

Edinburgh is also a character of its own in these books, and Alexander McCall Smith writes about it and its society with such warmth, that I feel I know the city without ever having visited. In my opinion, he writes Edinburgh as Richard Curtis portrays London in his films.

Wonderful book, charming location and lively characters, a great addition to the Isabel Dalhousie series. I loved it.

Why you should judge a book by its cover

There is an old saying “Never judge a book by its cover”, and while the sentiment is correct, the actual saying is wrong. Invariably, when you walk into a bookshop today, you’re immediately placed in front of a display unit with at least forty books, probably with a special offer. As you walk into the shop, depending on the size of it, you might see between two and twenty more of these display units, and then you also have to deal with the shelf units all around the shop, so unless you know exactly what book you were going to buy, you’ve got a massive amount of titles to choose from. So how do you decide which book to buy?

Well, the biggest clues as to whether you’ll like a book are on the cover! Publishers spend time and money deciding how to market a book, and who they want to attract to buy it. So make use of the information they’re giving you to choose your book.

First things first. One of the biggest giveaways on a book is simply the authors name. I don’t know about you, but if I’ve read a book I like, then I’ll definitely look out for other books by that author. I may also look out for books by authors I’ve heard talk on radio or television, or reviews of books on podcasts, so that’s clue number one.

Next up is the title. Authors, editors and publishers put a lot of thought into the title of books, so take something from that. The title of some novels has put me off, and there are some authors whose titles appear pretentious and I’ve avoided those as well. But it’s there on the cover, so don’t ignore it!

Most books will also have a little piece about the plot of the book. There are people whose job it is to write these, and their task is to summarise what the story is about in usually around 50-100 words without giving away any spoilers. What is interesting for me is where this information is placed. Sometimes this is on the back cover of the book, so it’s easy to find out what the book is about, but sometimes, if it’s a hardback book, it can be on the inside front cover of the book. There are occasions, though, where there is nothing on the book to tell you what the plot is about. This is a big mistake by publishers, if you ask me, as it means that they are assuming that the authors name alone can sell a book. This may be true in some cases, but I rarely by a book where there is no synopsis on the cover for me to read. But, if it is there – use it! Read what they have to say and see if it grabs your attention. If you start to read it and can’t even get to the end without being distracted – you’re probably not going to finish the book either, so put it back and choose something else!

Some publishers will also print quotations from reviews. Beware! These are sometimes quotes from reviews that refer to other books by the author, not necessarily this one. And don’t forget, they’re a small piece out of a long review, and are therefore out of context and may not reflect the tone of the reviewer at all. For example, there might be a quote for a national newspaper that says, “Enthralling and dynamic”, but when you read the full review, the full phrase might have been, “Enthralling and dynamic is not how I would describe this book”, or, “The opening chapter was enthralling and dynamic, but the book went downhill from there”. I’m always wary of quotes from reviews, and personally, try to ignore them! It’s always worth noting who the reviewers are – do you really want to rely on the review of a particular magazine, or a newspaper normally associated with a particular political party, or even another author who you don’t like? Think carefully before deciding on a book based on a quote from a review.

Most important for me is the cover design. Does the cover catch your eye? Photograph or realistic drawing or cartoon? Glitter? Typeface? Embossing? Again, publishers put a lot of time, effort and money into designing covers for books. Some authors will have series of novels, and each may have a specific design style. As an example, I’ve read Alexander McCall Smith books from three of his different series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series. All have their own separate design styles, so you immediately know which series the book you are looking at belongs to. All use illustrations on the cover designs, and these illustrations try to tell you something about the style of book you’re reading. Warm African colours, motifs and designs on The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books; stoic, architectural but informal designs on the 44 Scotland Street novels; stylised and stylish, slightly more formal designs on the Isabel Dalhousie covers. These reflect the style of writing you’ll find in these series of books. One of the authors I like to read is Alexandra Potter, and her first two books were published by Fourth Estate, and I thought the cover designs perfectly summed up the style of the novels – fun, modern, witty and romantic. She moved to a couple of different publishers for her other novels, and the designs have changed with each publisher, and they’re being pushed into a more generic romance style of cover, and I don’t know whether it’s because the publishers and editors are pushing the author down that route, or whether they’re just reflecting the authors style as it has changed over her career, but the novels aren’t as enjoyable as those first two. So, again for me, that reflects that the cover design is a good indicator of whether I will like the book.

I think perhaps my favourite book cover design recently has been the Jasper Fforde series of books published by Hodder in the UK. They are very stylized and immediately recognisable, funny and clever, cheerful and colourful, and perfectly sum up what you can expect to find in the novels. I absolutely love both the covers and the books.

So, all the information you need to know about whether you like a book should be provided on the cover, you just have to learn how to interpret it and decide if the book is for you. And if you’re not sure, leave the book this time, but if it catches your attention again next time you go looking for a book, give it a go. But, don’t forget, life is too short to read books you don’t enjoy, so if you start a book, and aren’t enjoying it, put it down and read something else! Don’t feel you have to finish just because you’ve started it, as that’s a sure fire way to put you off reading in general. Don’t think you have to read a book because other people say you must read it. Don’t let judging panels and awards make you think you must read a book because “it must be good if it won the Orange prize”. Unless you’re reading a book for education or work, it’s entertainment and should be viewed as such. Everyone is different, and everyone likes different books, so read what you want and read what you enjoy, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Book review: “Size 14 Is Not Fat Either” by Meg Cabot

Heather Wells is a former pop-star whose manager stole all her money and ran off – sounds bad, but to make it worse her manager is her mother! Her pop career over, she then finds her fiancé with another woman, a younger pop-star, so penniless she takes the offer of her ex-finance’s brother, Cooper, to live in his home, and takes a job as an assistant director of the college residence halls, in return for remission on her tuition fees to allow her to finally finish her education. As if life isn’t complicated enough, Heather is completely in love with Cooper, her father has been in jail for the last twenty years, and last year she solved the mysterious deaths of two girls in her residence hall, which is now dubbed “Death Dorm”.

At the start of this second Heather Wells mystery, Heather is trying to deal with a new boss, start her remedial math classes, and look after college kids turning twenty-one and legally getting so drunk they have to be accompanied to the emergency room. Her day is not exactly going well, when she’s called to the kitchens of the cafeteria to deal with a situation – a cheerleaders severed head has been left boiling in a pot on the stove, but with no sign of the rest of her body. Even though she has promised Cooper that she won’t get involved in this murder investigation, she then promises her friend Magda she will try to make sure the killer is caught. She soon finds herself caught up in the nastier side of college life … and in some very dangerous situations of her own.

I love Meg Cabot! Reading her books, whether kids books like The Princess Diaries series, teenage books like The Mediator series, or adult books such as these Heather Wells mysteries, feels like catching up with a good friend who has a far more interesting life than me. She is a great storyteller, and I find all her books real page turners, and really relaxing to read. Her writing always seems to talk to the audiences she’s writing for, without talking down to anyone. The heroines of her books feel like real people, and as such are never one dimensional, but always fully rounded characters, with emotions, feelings, faults and their own individual personalities.

This second Heather Wells mystery is another cracking read, and I finished it easily in a day. Considering it’s a murder mystery, there’s no gratuitous violence or graphic descriptions of the murder. Heather feels like someone I know, and I can completely put myself in her place, providing the perfect escapism I look for in books. The character development from the first book continues, and there are a few tantalising threads left at the end to be woven in to the next one, Big Boned, due to be published early next year. I can’t wait!!!

Book review: “Me and Mr. Darcy” by Alexandra Potter

New Yorker Emily Albright is on yet another hopeless date, with a man who can’t even hold the door open for her. As a bookworm since an early age, she knows the type of man she’d love to meet – Pride and Prejudice’s Mr Darcy! Brooding, intelligent and handsome, he’s recently been voted the man most women would love to date, and Emily is no exception. Desperate to avoid an 18-30 holiday in Mexico her best friend has organised, she finds a flyer for a literary tour of Jane Austen’s England and immediately signs up.

When she arrives, however, she finds she’s on a tour-bus full of elderly ladies, and wonders if she’s done the right thing, especially when the objectionable journalist, Spike, joins them so that he can interview the ladies to find out more about why women love Mr. Darcy.

Me and Mr. Darcy is a lovely, easy, fun read, perfect for chilling out with in the evening, or a beach read on holiday. Personally, I didn’t like the magic realism elements that had been added to the plot, and would have preferred for the story to be based on reality instead.

Alexandra Potter is one of my favourite writers of romantic comedy books, Going La-La being my favourite chick-lit book ever, with that one and What’s New, Pussycat? as her first two novels standing out as her best work. In addition to a smart, funny story, I also loved cover designs of the books. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but the covers of these two books perfectly matched the style and content of the stories. I was disappointed with the next three books, the stories weren’t as strong, and had lost some of the humour and the sassy style of the heroines, and with a couple of changes of publishers, I didn’t like the cover designs either! Me and Mr. Darcy looks like the start of a return to her earlier form, although, for me, not quite there yet.

If you love funny, romantic stories to relax with, I would recommend you read Going La-La and What’s New, Pussycat? first, and if you like those, try this one next. By all means read the others in between, but for me they aren’t as good as the first two.

Book review: “First Among Sequels” by Jasper Fforde

The latest in the Thursday Next series, finds us moving forward fifteen years to 2002. With Landen uneradicated, Thursday and her husband are dealing with their son, Friday, who is being a typically awkward teenager, refusing to join the Chronoguard, even though the whole family know it is his destiny, and are also bringing up their two daughters, Tuesday and (trying to break the days of the week formula) Jenny.

SpecOps has been disbanded, and Thursday is running the a carpet and flooring company … or is she? It’s actually a front for former SpecOps agents who are still carrying out their work underground, and Thursday is still working for Jurisfiction in BookWorld.

Trying to juggle family life and her job, whilst not letting onto Landen and the children that she is still effectively working as both a SpecOps and a Jurisfiction agent, Thursday is struggling to maintain normality in the real world, as well as having to deal with not one, but two very familiar cadets trying to become Jurisfiction agents.

Another great story from Jasper Fforde, with some wonderful twists and turns, for both major and minor plot points and characters. The thing I love about these series of books is that they don’t really seem to be separate stories, and that even though they all have a definite ending, there are always some little threads of plot that are picked up on and woven into one of the next books, and it feels like a warm, comfy place to revisit on each occasion. First Among Sequels is both funny and clever, with a loving nod to both classic and contemporary fiction and fictional characters, although as I’m a huge Austen fan, I would have loved to have had more Pride and Prejudice involvement in the plot, just because it’s one of my favourites and would have loved to have seen it have the same involvement in the plot as Jane Eyre did in The Eyre Affair, but that’s just me being picky. I did, however, love the idea that all the comedy had been stolen out of the Thomas Hardy novels.

Overall, another great novel by Jasper Fforde, and I’m already anxiously waiting for the next one!