Precious and Grace by Alexander McCall Smith - 4 stars

[Booknblues]

It has been awhile since I have read a No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency book and when my internet and tv died simultaneously it seemed that I needed a good dose of Precious.

Precious and Grace , Number 17 on the list seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I slowed down and fit into Precious' leisurely pace. By doing that I was able to fully appreciate her many words of wisdom:

She had always believed that people who were nasty or unkind to others were only like that because there was something wrong in their lives, and that people who had something wrong in their lives were not to be despised or hated, but were to be pitied.

“Three helpings is not too much,” said Mma Potokwane. “It is a vote of confidence in the cook. It is a compliment.”

Singing to children was one of the traditions that she most wanted preserved. It was what the grandmothers had always done, and it lay, she felt, at the heart of what it was to be brought up in Botswana. It was the blanket, in a sense, in which a child was wrapped—that blanket of love that a nation should provide. It might seem to be a small matter, but it was in reality a very big thing indeed.,

She could turn away and say that they had nothing to do with her, or she could accept that they had somehow touched her skirt. For that was how she viewed it: we all had a skirt, and those who touched our skirt became our concern.

I loved reading this. I would encourage anyone to pick up the first No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book and become acquainted.