Every Friday Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader where you can share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading. You can also share from a book you want to highlight just because it caught your fancy.

I’m featuring The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith, an Isabel Dalhousie book, that I’ve borrowed from my local lbrary.

Chapter One:

‘Mozart’ said, Isabel Dalhousie. And then she added, Stinivasa Ramamjan .

Also every Friday there is The Friday 56, hosted by Freda at Freda’s Voice, but she is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. You grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

But then, we can misjudge each other so easily, she thought; so easily.

Description from Amazon:

As a mother, wife, employer and editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, Isabel Dalhousie is aware that to be human is to be responsible. So when a neighbour brings her a new and potentially dangerous puzzle to solve, once again Isabel feels she has no option but to shoulder the burden.

A masterpiece painting has been stolen from Duncan Munrowe, old-fashioned philanthropist, father to two discontented children, and a very wealthy man. As Isabel enters into negotiations with the shadowy figures who are in search of a ransom, a case where heroes and villains should be clearly defined turns murky: the list of those who desire the painting – or the money – lengthens, and hasty judgement must be avoided at all cost. Morals, it turns out, are like Scottish clouds: complex, changeable and tricky to get a firm grip on; they require a sharp observational eye, a philosophical mindset, and the habit of kindness. Fortunately for those around her, Isabel Dalhousie is in possession of all three.

I’ve read some of his other Isabel Dalhousie books and enjoyed them. So I’m hoping to enjoy this one too. I really like the gentle pace of these books and what I find so fascinating is that whilst not a lot actually happens, a lot goes on in Isabel’s head.

What do you think, does this book appeal to you? What are you currently reading?