A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson

3 stars
R- 2 maybe... the innuendo is fairly subtle

Cute enough story, but there's really not a lot to it. Not a ton of plot, not a ton of character development. Lots of birds, though.

I've heard a lot of comparisons to The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, and I would agree. It has the same kind of slow meandering storyline.

The narrative style is fun and chatty, though the narrator takes several random detours. (Which sometimes amounted to the narrator tacitly agreeing that what the characters were doing wasn't all that interesting.)

Mr. Malik is an almost well-developed character. His competitor (for the right to ask a lady to a ball) is not quite as developed. The lady? Not developed much at all.

All in all, it's a short, quick cute story. I would never have picked it up if it weren't a Reader's Choice, but it wasn't bad.

It would make a good relaxing read for this crazy back-to-school season!