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381st out of 486 books
—
431 voters
Espresso Tales (44 Scotland Street #2)
by
Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author),
Iain Mcintosh
44 SCOTLAND STREET - Book 2
The residents and neighbors of 44 Scotland Street and the city of Edinburgh come to vivid life in these gently satirical, wonderfully perceptive serial novels, featuring six-year-old Bertie, a remarkably precocious boy—just ask his mother.
Back are all our favorite denizens of a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh. Bertie the immensely talented six y...more
The residents and neighbors of 44 Scotland Street and the city of Edinburgh come to vivid life in these gently satirical, wonderfully perceptive serial novels, featuring six-year-old Bertie, a remarkably precocious boy—just ask his mother.
Back are all our favorite denizens of a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh. Bertie the immensely talented six y...more
Paperback, 345 pages
Published
July 11th 2006
by Anchor
(first published 2005)
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I love Alexander McCall Smith. I would read his grocery list, and I bet it would be more interesting than a lot of the crap that's out there.
Aug 09, 2011
Lorna
added it
The second instalment in the lives of the inhabitants of 44 Scotland Street and their friends and relations. For me, the story that continues to dominate is that of Bertie, his appalling mother Irene and his father - who finally locates the car he left parked in Glasgow, after a fashion!
Bertie's introduction to school is a chequered one; he still hankers after a place at Watson's and is determined to find inventive ways to achieve his aim. Matthew's father Gordon has found a new girlfriend, Jani...more
Bertie's introduction to school is a chequered one; he still hankers after a place at Watson's and is determined to find inventive ways to achieve his aim. Matthew's father Gordon has found a new girlfriend, Jani...more
More about the exploits of the characters who live at 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh. Lively, witty, amusing, and sometimes thoughtful. Gentle reminders about what is important in life find their way into the narrative. For example on p. 327: "Big Lou did not like conflict and estrangement--what was the point, she thought, in being at odds with those whom we should love when our time on this earth was so very short?" In fact, in trying to describe the writing of McCall Smith I would say that he...more
I really liked the first in this series and am looking forward to where the lives of these characters go next.
Finished this charming book last week. The author amazingly seems to display himself within the text and the characters. The story is so endearing, and the humor so subtle. I find myself smiling as I read about Cyril, the winking dog, or Bruce, the ego-maniac who struggles to remember to put on clothes before he goes out :-) So glad that McCall Smith is continuing this series!
Finished this charming book last week. The author amazingly seems to display himself within the text and the characters. The story is so endearing, and the humor so subtle. I find myself smiling as I read about Cyril, the winking dog, or Bruce, the ego-maniac who struggles to remember to put on clothes before he goes out :-) So glad that McCall Smith is continuing this series!
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I actually just finished the 3rd in this series: Love over Scotland, which I will review shortly.
For my first ever GoodReads review, I wanted to start with this one, not because it was better or worse than the first or third, but because it does have an interesting aspect that sets it apart--not just from the books I've read so far of this series, or by this author, but of anything I've ever read!
That being (with disclaimer following):
THIS BOOK MAY WELL BE THE MOST PROFOUNDLY GRATIFYING COLLECTI...more
For my first ever GoodReads review, I wanted to start with this one, not because it was better or worse than the first or third, but because it does have an interesting aspect that sets it apart--not just from the books I've read so far of this series, or by this author, but of anything I've ever read!
That being (with disclaimer following):
THIS BOOK MAY WELL BE THE MOST PROFOUNDLY GRATIFYING COLLECTI...more
It reminds me of The Westing Game, in that the narrative leaps from one character to another and really gets into their head; the perspectives of constantly-checking-his-reflection Bruce and Cyril the dog particularly stand out. McCall Smith really succeeds in bringing these characters to you; despite the span of their ages, genders, backgrounds, there is a line of resonance in each of their stories that rings in you. The setting - Scotland Street, Edinburgh, the end of summer - is such a strong...more
Alexander McCall Smith is my guilty pleasure. His are the audio books I want on the airplane, or in the garden while I wrestle with the weeds.
He tackles stereotypical Edinburgh characters, exaggerates them only a little, and plunks most of them down in one apartment building. They make me laugh. Six-year-old Bertie figures strongly, and I cheer for him in his small war against the psychotherapist his mother foists upon him. (She also foists on him the hated pink overalls which are supposed to he...more
He tackles stereotypical Edinburgh characters, exaggerates them only a little, and plunks most of them down in one apartment building. They make me laugh. Six-year-old Bertie figures strongly, and I cheer for him in his small war against the psychotherapist his mother foists upon him. (She also foists on him the hated pink overalls which are supposed to he...more
By now everyone in the English-speaking world and beyond recognizes the magical pen of Alexander McCall Smith and his various series of books about Scotland and Botswana. When I first discovered The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and tried to tell my friends they HAD to read this book I got puzzled looks. Now McCall Smith’s stories are recognized for their warmth and loving charm.
Publisher’s Weekly describes Espresso Tales better than I could:
Once again McCall Smith fixes his telescope on the win...more
Publisher’s Weekly describes Espresso Tales better than I could:
Once again McCall Smith fixes his telescope on the win...more
1 like · like · see review
"It drives me mad to hear people say: 'Don't be judgmental.' That's moral philosophy at the level of an Australian soap-opera. If people weren't judgmental, how could we possibly have a moral viewpoint in society?"
Espresso Tales is the second installment of the series of books based in Scotland Street - a real street (but fictional characters) - in Edinburgh, where the residents are ever-so-slightly snooty and judgmental. In this novel, Bruce embarks on his new career in the wine trade - but wil...more
Espresso Tales is the second installment of the series of books based in Scotland Street - a real street (but fictional characters) - in Edinburgh, where the residents are ever-so-slightly snooty and judgmental. In this novel, Bruce embarks on his new career in the wine trade - but wil...more
The continued adventures of the residents of 44 Scotland Street continue to entertain and charm, sometimes in annoying ways but that's the way folks are, isn't it?
Bertie, I love Bertie! Definitely my favorite story thread. This time out he uses his considerable intelligence to trade in his "crushed strawberry" colored overalls for real jeans, get into the school and rugby game of his dreams and make a pot of cash playing cards with a Scottish gangster while on an outing to help his father find...more
Bertie, I love Bertie! Definitely my favorite story thread. This time out he uses his considerable intelligence to trade in his "crushed strawberry" colored overalls for real jeans, get into the school and rugby game of his dreams and make a pot of cash playing cards with a Scottish gangster while on an outing to help his father find...more
I can't believe thats been over a year before I managed to get round to this book to find out whats happened to the characters. Reading this is like popping down to a coffee shop and catching up with old friends and it was a great read to take to Ireland for a family wedding, it meant that any hanging about (hubby takes longer than I do to get ready!) I could pick it up and read a couple of chapters.
Pat and Bruce and not the main focus this time, if seems as if Bertie was getting most of the lim...more
Pat and Bruce and not the main focus this time, if seems as if Bertie was getting most of the lim...more
Sep 09, 2011
Amy
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2011-reads,
contemporary-fiction
I really enjoyed the first of Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street novels, and so was really looking forward to reading this. However, I didn’t quite enjoy this one as much.
On the plus side, I really love the drama of the Pollock family. Poor Bertie has now started at Steiner’s school-where his classmates have names like Tofu and Hiawatha-but longs to be a ‘normal’ boy and go to a school with a blazer and rugby. His unhappiness ultimately impacts his father, Stuart, who admires Irene but...more
On the plus side, I really love the drama of the Pollock family. Poor Bertie has now started at Steiner’s school-where his classmates have names like Tofu and Hiawatha-but longs to be a ‘normal’ boy and go to a school with a blazer and rugby. His unhappiness ultimately impacts his father, Stuart, who admires Irene but...more
In my McCall Smith spree i decided to experiment with Scotland street series and i found it engaging but not excellent.
The plot centers around the residents of 44, Scotland street and their interconnected lives. You have a boy genius, a confused young art lover, an old anthropologist, a complacent and self centered banker and their interesting every day lives. I loved Bertie (the boy genius) and i found his situations real. Luckily for me, i have been reading books that have interesting real wo...more
The plot centers around the residents of 44, Scotland street and their interconnected lives. You have a boy genius, a confused young art lover, an old anthropologist, a complacent and self centered banker and their interesting every day lives. I loved Bertie (the boy genius) and i found his situations real. Luckily for me, i have been reading books that have interesting real wo...more
This novel was very readable. It was originally a newspaper article done daily in the 'Scotsman.' Collected in a volume, makes the chapters short and you can set it down if you need to do something like cooking dinner! The problem, for me, was I didn't want to put it down.
This volume opens with our Pat, deciding what to do with her future, but by the ending, all the characters in the book look to the future and big changes are made.
The ending of Summer is at hand and so last flings, such as nudi...more
This volume opens with our Pat, deciding what to do with her future, but by the ending, all the characters in the book look to the future and big changes are made.
The ending of Summer is at hand and so last flings, such as nudi...more
I like these characters, almost against my will. The first book made me so frustrated, but the characters are so quirky and I just wanted to know what continued to happen to them. The parts about the book taht I didn't like: the 7 or 8 chapters about a character that was fleeting in the first book and doesn't connect to the other characters in this book, being led to think that a minor character was actually nice but then seeing that possibly she isn't, and the fact that wonderful Pat is only sh...more
This is the second in the 44 Scotland Street series, and once again it's a gently humorous study of the characters introduced in book 1.
My favourite character is probably Bertie, the 6 year-old prodigy, and he features heavily in this book. In real life I generally avoid young children like the plague, but Bertie's internal monologues are always entertaining.
These books first appeared as a serial in The Scotsman newspaper, and the resulting fixed-length chapters make for incredibly easy reading....more
My favourite character is probably Bertie, the 6 year-old prodigy, and he features heavily in this book. In real life I generally avoid young children like the plague, but Bertie's internal monologues are always entertaining.
These books first appeared as a serial in The Scotsman newspaper, and the resulting fixed-length chapters make for incredibly easy reading....more
This book was better than "44 Scotland Street," the first book in the series. I laughed out loud at some of the scenes, and am probably hooked until I read the last one in this series. My favorite parts are those that deal with Bertie, a very gifted 6-year-old and his family. His attempts to lead a normal life, despite a pushy and "enlightened" mother provide poignancy as well as comedy. There is one episode in which his psychotherapist says 'chow' (the dog) and Bertie mistakes it for 'ciao' (th...more
1 like · like · see review
Once again, as with 44 Scotland Street, I found myself thinking in the middle of the book, "Do I like this?" Then by the end of the book, I am caught up in the lives of the characters and very interested to see how things will turn out. In this book, I could have definitely done without the Ramsey Dunbarton segments, as they were rather boring and had absolutely nothing to do with any of the other characters in the book. I loved six-year-old Bertie's plot line and would love to see that continue...more
I debated long and hard whether to add this to "Go back to" or "Books that made me Run Screaming". I wouldn't be completely satisfied with either place, to be honest.
I tried mightily to finish this book. I was surprised that I struggled as much as I did since I enjoyed the first in the series. It might have something to do with the character of Bertie's mother. I really can't handle her. After awhile the short chapters became annoying too. Maybe that's just because the mother is so unbelievable...more
I tried mightily to finish this book. I was surprised that I struggled as much as I did since I enjoyed the first in the series. It might have something to do with the character of Bertie's mother. I really can't handle her. After awhile the short chapters became annoying too. Maybe that's just because the mother is so unbelievable...more
This book took me longer to finish than I expected. Bruce reminds me of Gwen from the Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton at times.
And there's a small portion of that book - specially the conversation with Angus and Pat and Domenica about Moray Place - that would be full of hilarity as a movie scene. Overall a great story. I'm glad to see Bruce got what he deserved in this book.
And I'm happy that Pat attitude in the end is one that makes me question, "Does it serve?"
I was cheering on Dr. Fairb...more
And there's a small portion of that book - specially the conversation with Angus and Pat and Domenica about Moray Place - that would be full of hilarity as a movie scene. Overall a great story. I'm glad to see Bruce got what he deserved in this book.
And I'm happy that Pat attitude in the end is one that makes me question, "Does it serve?"
I was cheering on Dr. Fairb...more
I enjoyed this book, although I did skim a bit at the end. I'm not very good at sticking with entire series of books, so this might just be my commitment phobia coming out once again. The first book was fantastic, the second one was good. I'm going to read the third one eventually, just not right now.
Some of the story lines really keep you interested, but one or two seem to be going nowhere in particular. If I'm reading a story that is going nowhere, I can adjust to that and just enjoy it for t...more
Some of the story lines really keep you interested, but one or two seem to be going nowhere in particular. If I'm reading a story that is going nowhere, I can adjust to that and just enjoy it for t...more
Sep 19, 2010
Writerlibrarian
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
september_pile,
read2010
Alexander McCall Smith fluffly serial novel #2 in his 44 Scotland Street series. It's fluffly, it's light reading. The characters are mostly caricatures especially Berty's mom and Bruce. Despite the caricature aspect, I got attached to most of the characters. Some I adore, Berty is my favourite, followed closely by Big Lou. I adore to loathe Berty's mom. She does shine in her own particular obsessive light in this one.
It's not Tales of the City, then again after book 3, Tales wasn't Tales of th...more
It's not Tales of the City, then again after book 3, Tales wasn't Tales of th...more
McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street stories are better than ever! The reader can't help becoming involved in the hopes and dreams of all his delightful characters - we're all rooting for Bertie to get out from under his mother's oppressive "Bertie-project" ministrations; we're hoping that Michael will make good with his art gallery, that Cyril the gold-toothed dog will be able to resist his ankle-biting fantasies, and that Big Lou will find a loving man who deserves her kind and generous heart. An...more
Sep 03, 2011
Amber Tucker
marked it as to-read
I have been enjoying these tales as thoroughly as their serially-published predecessors ( in 44 Scotland Street, which I've yet to review). Based on books 1.5, I'd recommend the Scotland Street series to just about anyone. The burgeoning independence of Bertie, the emergence of Big Lou's smug yet admirable personality, the bluster of Bruce, the incorrigible wisdom of Domenica and her pseudo-motherly relation to Pat - it's all wonderful candy reading. Sadly, now that I'm back at university I had...more
Very enjoyable second of the series wherein poor Bertie finds some small bits of happiness and his inept psychotherapist comes to blows with the object of his faux success. Dominique and Angus Lordie are quite wonderful, I hope to hear more of them both in the next edition as well as Pat, Matthew and Bruce the narcissist, not to mention Big Lou. I'm rooting for Stuart and his newly found courage, perhaps he will be able to best the domineering Irene. I have heard all I ever wanted to and more ab...more
I enjoyed finding out the events continuing for the residents of 44 Scotland Street. Things improved for one or two of the characters and Bruce, the Narcissist got a little come-uppance. It is amazing to me that this and the previous book were both written as a serial for a newspaper. One wants to read the next chapter in spite of no "perils of Pauline" cliffhangers. I must admit the memoirs of the bore were boring, but also humorous in being so boring. I have to read the next book to find out w...more
OK, I finished another Alexander McCall Smith book, what can I say, I just love this guy and his writing style.
I love how he gets into the brains and thoughts of so many of his characters. I can tell that he uses certain characters to ruminate on his own philosophies of life...in the case of these books in the 44 Scotland Street series, its Domenica Macdonald, one of the residents of the title address.
I googled Smith's writing style and found this on the BBC website:
McCall Smith's writing offer...more
I love how he gets into the brains and thoughts of so many of his characters. I can tell that he uses certain characters to ruminate on his own philosophies of life...in the case of these books in the 44 Scotland Street series, its Domenica Macdonald, one of the residents of the title address.
I googled Smith's writing style and found this on the BBC website:
McCall Smith's writing offer...more
This was somewhat entertaining but I enjoyed "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" far more. I had the sense that Smith was just playing with his characters and didn't really care about them. How can a reader care if the author doesn't??? This book seems to be more a collection of stories than a true novel. I finally just forsook reading it clear through and followed the stories of the young boy and the young woman who worked in the art gallery/store. I am still curious about the first book of thi...more
I listened to this book on CD, after reading the first book in this series, "44 Scotland Street". Some parts were a little boring, but this book is worth reading for the 6-year-old boy in the story, Bertie. He is hilarious. In fact, one of the author's next books in the series is named after Bertie. What I learned from this book: It is important to let your children participate in the activities that they like, not force them into soccer, ballet, etc. because it is what you wish you had been abl...more
This is the second volume of an amusing saga about the inhabitants of an Edinburgh house converted into flats, and the way their various lives interweave with each other and with other characters.
The most entertaining strand is about six year old Bertie, whose ghastly feminist mother is trying to raise him to be without gender stereotying, and so makes him wear pink dungarees, go to yoga classes with her etc, and won't let him do anything normal boys do. Though some of the 'normal' things Bertie...more
The most entertaining strand is about six year old Bertie, whose ghastly feminist mother is trying to raise him to be without gender stereotying, and so makes him wear pink dungarees, go to yoga classes with her etc, and won't let him do anything normal boys do. Though some of the 'normal' things Bertie...more
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Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what...more
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“There are many women whose lives would be immeasurably improved by widowhood, but one should not always point that out.”
—
19 people liked it
“She had to tell somebody, and Matthew would do. He would not be particularly interested, she knew, but she would tell him anyway. She had to share her joy, as Lou knew that joy unshared was a halved emotion, just as sadness and loss, when borne alone, were often doubled.”
—
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