We read books for so many reasons. We read to educate ourselves. We read to challenge ourselves. We read to explore new ideas and feelings. We read to think thoughts we've never thought before. We read to visit places, people, and times we'd otherwise never be able to. We read to escape the present. We read to bask in the beauty of the written word. And sometimes we just want a good story, the sort you tell over dinner with friends or the sort that makes a comforting bedtime story, no matter what your age.

These books don't really educate. They're not high literary fiction (whatever that is). They do amuse you. They do introduce you to characters you're glad to have met. The writing is enjoyable. And sometimes they even make you think. But mostly they're stories to be enjoyed for the story's sake. The characters are the jewels of the books, and almost the whole reason to read.

This book, the third in the Corduroy Mansion series transcended the success of the first two. It was funnier, deeper, more believable and more human. I don't know if this is because it's actually better or because I listened to the audiobook. Books always sound more intelligent when read by someone with a British accent. (I highly recommend reading the Harry Potter books this way.)

But I'm not sure that's it. I think McCall Smith really hit his stride here in figuring out the heart of his characters, and I think that's what made it a better book. Parts of it were laugh-out-loud funny and parts of it were deeply thought-provoking. It also takes a certain amount of cheek to decry authors who use deus ex machina tactics to change a character's whole personality and then use the Large Hadron Collider the way McCall Smith did. But I feel like he did it consciously, just to tweak us.

I was sad about the ending; it felt rushed, and we didn't get to see some of the scenes I'd hoped we would. But I still highly recommend these books. It's nice, every now and then, to just read a calm, non-histrionic book about decent human beings.