A Guide to the Birds of East Africa (Mr Malik #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Jul 25, 2009 Pam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: africa

A GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF EAST AFRICA by Nicholas Drayson
2008, Viking/Penguin, 202 pgs, fiction, 4.5/B+
Read 07/08/09
1st Line: 'Ah yes' said Rose Mbikwa, looking up @ the large dark bird w/ elegant tail soaring high above the car park of the Nairobi Museum, 'a black kite. Which is, of course, not black but brown.'
Present; Nairobi/Kenya
Mr. Malik: retired widower, keeps a low profile, avid birder, harbors a deep passion for Kenya and Rose Mbikwa
Rose Mbikwa: widow of former politican, guide for the Ea ...more

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Nov 19, 2015 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, africa, misfits, animals-pets, z-2015-read, around-the-world

Sweet and enjoyable. Also it was the first book I've read about the Indian immigrant population in Kenya, so that was a bonus. ...more

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Dec 31, 2018 Ra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: africa

This is a perfect chocolate truffle of book. It can be gobbled up quickly, will give you a taste of comfort and happiness, and is small enough not to cause you to worry about calories or excess frivolity.

Mr. Malik is a middle-aged man who is a bird-watching enthusiast. He has been quietly in love with Rose Mbikwa the nature and birdwalking-guide in the natural museum, but he also has deeper secrets.

All things come to a head with a competition between him and the sleek Harry Khan, recently arrive ...more

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Apr 29, 2015 Georgia Carvalho rated it really liked it

What a little jewel of a book, totally charming. Mr. Malik is a wonderful character--I think honorable is the word. Descriptions of life in Kenya as you have not read about it yet. Drayson's style is somewhat similar to Alexander McCall Smith's, with a bit more humor thrown in perhaps. I really enjoyed so many of the characters and their touching stories, especially Rose and Benjamin, Tiger and Harry Khan both made me laugh out loud many times. Adding to all that the pictorial descriptions of th ...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Elizabeth marked it as to-read

This sounds so cute!

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Apr 05, 2009 Kay rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, africa, modern-fiction

Recommended by John (thanks, John!). A gentle book with complex, believable characters. Loved both the bird illustrations and the author's elegantly simple tone. The lack of "flash" is obviously something aimed for, set up as a deliberate counterpoint to the flashy Harry Khan of the novel. Over the years, I've read a number of (mostly) nonfiction books about Kenya, or should I say British East Africa, as that is the time period I've mainly focused on. This tale brought me nicely into the country ...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Windy rated it did not like it

Shelves: around-the-world

Gave up on this at about 50 pages. I found the writing a bit too simplistic and I got frustrated with the author stopping the plot to tell each character's back story. I even flicked ahead to see if it got better once the plot got going but found him still telling us about characters at around the 100 page mark (the book is only 208 pages).

I think fans of the the Number One Detective Agency might like it because the writing is similar but I didn't like that either. ...more

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Nov 06, 2008 Andrea rated it liked it

Shelves: africa, kenya

This is a fun, light comedy of manners set in contemporary Nairobi. I like the author's sympathetic take on characters and his quirky narrator, but he could have put a bit more depth in the minor characters, and the ending was a bit of a letdown. ...more

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Feb 27, 2018 Deedee rated it did not like it

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, world-africa-kenya, challenge-2018-winter, read-2018, read-2018-popular-fiction

Fails the Bechdel test.
(The Bechdel test asks if a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.)

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