Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers (44 Scotland Street Series) Paperback – Illustrated, February 17, 2015

Another wonderful book or collection of stories to tell the truth in this wonderful series, each not to be missed!Yes

None of the word choices suggested by Amazon can possibly touch what Alexander McCall Smith does with his plots and characters. Yes, it's typically Smith's -- the characters that make you smile and laugh and even cry. Yes, it has a "plot," of sorts, but that's just not the right word. Perhaps a series of tied-together vignettes painting vivid, heart-warming, frustrating, surprising, predictable, unpredictable, unique characters, thrown into a common area in Scotland and therefore knowing one another sometimes all too well. Bertie is one of those intelligent, not-quite-like-the-others little boy who thinks things through in his own way. His poor, beaten-down father and his unusual, free-spirited mother (who often tempts me to smack her up side of the head, if only I could), the other unique characters who live at 44 Scotland Street ... well, they eventually pull you in and keep you coming back for yet another episode, and another. You know, somehow, it's all going to turn out just fine, but you just can't quite figure out how. Typical of the author, the book moves along quite slowly, with many detours and meanderings. The reader must be patient until at last, he/she realizes that this is the way life is, in a specific area and time,in a group of ordinary and extraordinary human beings, and if we would take the TIME to see it, read it, absorb it, we will be all the better for it. Keep 'em coming, Alexander McCall Smith.

Calling fans of the "44 Scotland Street" series by Alexander McCall Smith! Isn't six-year-old beleaguered Bertie your favorite character? He is mine, so I was so happy to find so much of him in the latest in the series, "Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers". Has he ever got the MOTHER of mothers! The poor kid; and dad Stuart hardly ever steps up.As much as I love to hate Irene, Bertie's horrible mother, I did start to notice that ALL the women in Bertie's life are pretty pushy; you'd almost think the Steiner School where Bertie is an Elementary student, could be re-named School for Fascist Females. Seven year-olds, Olive and Pansy, are little Irenes in the making. Olive insists that she and Bertie are going to be wed when they turn 20, whether Bertie likes it or not. (You wonder if that's how Irene got Stuart!)At least Bertie has two MANLY men in his life, even if they are also seven years old - Tofu and Larch. Bertie represents the median between the Neanderthal Tofu, and the wimp Stuart, but can he remain well-balanced into the future?I won't spoil the fun - but Bertie FINALLY turns seven in this book - and wait until you find out what he got for birthday presents. Sheesh. All the other Scotland Street denizens are here (plus a new character is added to the gang in this novel!) Fans will not be disappointed.

The hilarious adventures of eternally-seven Bertie continues. Fans of the 44 Scotland Street series won't want to miss this one, and everyone else in the world who hasn't gotten into the series is to be pitied. I especially recommend it to new mothers-- no matter how inept you are, reading about Bertie's mother will make you feel really good about yourself because no matter how badly you think you've messed up your kid, you can't compare to her. The funniest thing about the series is that we all know women exactly like Bertie's mother, not to mention Bertie's schoolmates Tofu, Hiawatha, and the rest, in his progressive school. There's also Bertie's little brother, who vomits copiously every time his mother picks him up, and who looks startlingly like the psychologist Bertie's mother takes him to. Bertie has to wear denim pants of crushed-strawberry color because his mother doesn't believe in gender-specific clothing. She also painted his bedroom pink. Bertie is very busy with his Italian and saxophone and yoga lessons, and the progressive school-- and as a result, he is precocious about some things that it were far better he were not. I recommend reading the series in order of its publication for maximum enjoyment. The series is absolutely priceless. You'll love it.

Such fun reading with charming observations about human nature. Wish I could meet these wonderful characters in real life! Captivating!

The always entertaining Bertie (and company) saga continues--and maybe concludes? Author McCall-Smith ties up a lot of loose ends with "Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers". Retribution is meted out for the "mother" in question--the unbearable Irene. Big Lou is offered fulfillment. Pat makes an important discovery. Angus, Cyril, and Domenica have sweet and sour visitors. Matthew and Elspeth and their triplets make a big jump. Self-absorbed and obnoxious Bruce appears to get a double comeuppance. Edinburgh--through its snooty nudists--gets a wake up call from other bare-minded towns and cities.The author follows his favorite moral themes and appears to take them to finality here. At the least, he could just leave all of his great characters in place and the reader could assume a happy or appropriate ending for all of them. We'll see, I guess.

Love, philosophy, and humor are the touchstones of this ninth book in the 44 Scotland Street series. These books can be described, too, by what they don't have. Violence, graphic sex and psychological tension are blessedly absent.Written in daily episodes as a serialized novel for a Scottish newspaper, this book sometimes moves between characters and situations rather abruptly, but the author has more than met the challenge of writing a segmented novel that can be enjoyed in its compiled state.The characters are like old friends to those who follow the series. Well, some, that we enjoy disliking might be classed as acquaintances, but they're all there with their musings, their foibles and their daily struggles. I recommend this book as well as the author's entire body of works to those who appreciate a gentle and kind spirit that never lapses into sappy prose.

Berties Guide to Life and Mothers(44 Scotland Street)I really enjoyed this book once I had the format the characters became very interesting and it became a enjoyable read.I do think it ended abrutley where one had to speculate the out comes

The Dubai connection is hilarious!!!

I just can't get enough of the life and trevails of Bertie and all those in and around Scotland Street.The books are excellent.

Delightful as usual.I so much enjoy this series . there is a chuckle on every page as well as wisdom.

As always it is the quality of the writing rather than any actual plot which make these books so readable. Strong storylines for Pat and Big Lou in this latest offering. The Scottish nudists make another appearance for some reason and, as another review said, was this to pad out the book? Likewise the continuing use of that nun's lengthy, full name became massively tiresome to the extent that I glossed over the parts where she featured. I can take a certain laxity in continuity and far-fetched stuff but there were aspects which made this book a touch difficult. Having been dispatched in a shipping container a few novels ago, Irene ends up in a Bedouin harem? Steady on.