#5. Dream Angus – Alexander McCall Smith

This is one of Alexander McCall Smith's lesser known books, and with good reason. According to the book's introduction, this "story" is a retelling of the myth of Angus, the Celtic god of dreams. And while there certainly was a dream theme running through each of the chapters, some of which returned to the story of Angus, and some of which were stand-alone tales, overall it seemed shallow and quite unsatisfying (and left me, at times a little disoriented). McCall Smith employs a more lyrical and slightly whimsical style in this book, best demonstrated in my favourite chapter, 'Is there a place for pigs there?' It follows the story of Pig Twenty, a pig grown in a research centre purely for the purpose of harvesting his organs. He spends his days shut up in a concrete enclosure with only a small window in the ceiling, until one day, he is rescued by a keeper, who, finding out that the scientists plan to end Pig Twenty's life, decides to take him home. Unfortunately the keeper is found out, and has to take the pig back to the centre to face certain death. The keeper takes the pig back across the fields.
"Halfway across, they stopped to rest. Pig Twenty sat down and looked at the sky, as if puzzled, floored, by its sheer immensity. He might have thought, if he thought at all: is there a place for pigs there? Is that for pigs?"
Despite my lukewarm response to the rest of the book, I loved this story, and especially this passage... perhaps because I like pigs, the idea of Pig Twenty in silent contemplation of the sky, for the first time in his short life, is a lovely one.

#4. Secrets of Small Business Owners Exposed! - Dale Beaumont

This formed part of my reading for inspiration for the new business year, but it was actually a little disappointing. I recently re-read Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs Exposed!, when I was in a bit of a slump as far as our business was concerned, and it really did give me a shot in the arm, partly because the interview subjects in the book had achieved much greater levels of success and some of them were household names. By contrast, the businesses featured in this book were a bit more run of the mill, and although it goes a bit more into the nitty-gritty of how to make smaller businesses successful (relevant for us at the moment), it wasn't as much fun to read.

#3: The Post-Birthday World – Lionel Shriver

I finished this book about a week ago (and at 517 pages, that was quite an effort) but it has taken a little while to digest and work out how I felt about it.
The basic premise of the book is a Sliding Doors-type scenario - children's book illustrator Irina McGovern effectively decides her future on the basis of whether she takes one particular action... betraying her long-term partner Lawrence by kissing professional snooker player Ramsey Action, or not. There is one version of Chapter One, but two versions of every chapter following, alternating between the two realities Irina could possibly have found herself experiencing. This, as well as Shriver's extraordinarily detailed rendering of both characters and everyday events, accounts for the sheer size of the book. It is an interesting structural device, but sometimes the juxtaposition of Irina's chosen paths seems rather too neat, and at one point the plot collapses into the type of "self-reflexivity" that my postmodernity lecturers at uni would have wet themselves over, but which to me is totally twee – with Irina writing and illustrating a children's book showing two alternative realities flowing from a crucial decision made by the main character. Yes, we know how clever you are, Lionel Shriver – we don't need you to paint us a picture.
Although I did enjoy this book, it did seem to drag at times, and in fact I set it aside for a while and read something else before coming back to it. I think my struggle with it, aside from the pace, stems from the fact that to me both alternatives seemed pretty grim in their own ways. In one version, Irina's relationship with Lawrence seems completely passionless, and although its familiarity and routine was meant to be sufficiently attractive to Irina to hold her steadfast in this partnership, I couldn't see the attraction myself. And while Shriver goes on and on about the passion and particularly the sex in Irina's relationship with Ramsey, it seemed to be a totally combative situation without much outside the bedroom going for it. So when later Irina and Ramsey profess their eternal love for each other, it has a hollow ring to it.
The 'moral' of the story, if I have read it correctly, seems to be that no matter what choices you make in life, they are the right ones, and in fact you end up pretty much in the same situation anyway. While the narrative arc of this book seems to illustrate that very tidily, I'm not so sure life follows such a perfect pattern. Not a bad read if you like a good human drama though.
PS. Here is an interview with Lionel Shriver when the book was released... she found the inspiration for the book in her own choice between two futures.

#2: Tears of the Giraffe – Alexander McCall Smith

Reading Alexander McCall Smith's books is, to me, a bit like eating boiled lollies – very sweet and a bit addictive, but without a huge amount of substance, although they are lovely stories.
My family are great fans, although I have to admit I was a little sceptical when the first McCall Smith book I picked up was The Careful Use of Compliments, the third book in the Isabel Dalhousie series – and rather than being fascinated by the protagonist, I just wanted to slap her. Fortunately, my stepfather convinced me to give McCall Smith another go.
Tears of the Giraffe is the second book in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, based in Botswana, and its reflections on daily African life are part of its appeal. It picks up where the previous book left off, following Precious Ramotswe and her detective pursuits, and her burgeoning relationship with Mr J. L. B. Maketoni, the local mechanic, who has a much larger role in this book, as well as a swelling cast of equally engaging characters.
Although the book is light and charming, along the way McCall Smith makes subtle comment on the character and development of Africa, but nothing so heavy-handed that it feels moralistic or preachy. Mma Ramotswe's eminently sensible approach to unravelling the intricacies of her clients' lives is certainly one of my favourite aspects of this book, as well as the unexpectedly elegant and just downright quirky anecdotes with which McCall Smith peppers the prose – for instance, the woman's husband who 'died of burps'.
With two more books in the series, I might have to go back for just one more.

#1: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It – Michael E. Gerber

So I had high hopes for this book, having heard SOOO much about it in business circles, and to get us off to a good start for 2009. But I have to say, I wasn't that impressed... Gerber's basic concepts around the entrepreneur, manager and technician and establishing a turnkey business make sense, and it seems to set out a fairly clear structure for following the model he proposes, but I didn't like the case study he used – I found it a bit confusing and cringe-worthy. Anyway, as most business books are not known for their literary merit, I guess the true measure of whether it has been worthwhile will come down to whether the model actually works for us – and that will require some work over the next few weeks (and quite a lot of it, by the look of it).
Fortunately I've got a few works of fiction on the go at the moment too so it's not all dry and dull.