Book #60: A Guide to the Birds of East Africa

Title: A Guide to the Birds of East Africa
Author: Nicholas Drayson

Mr. Malik is a semi-retired widower who likes two things-- the birds of Kenya, his homeland, and Rose Mbikwa, the woman who leads the weekly bird-walks he attends. He's mustered up the courage to ask Rose to a dance when Harry Khan, a playboy who Malik has known since their school days, returns to town, intent on wooing Rose, and asking her to the dance. The men, bolstered by their social club, agree to have a contest to decide who can ask Rose, whoever sees more birds in the span of a week wins the right.

I've never been to Africa. I know it's a big place, and Kenya isn't Somalia isn't Botswana. But somehow many of the books I've read about Africa, especially those not written by native Africans, seem to have a similar feel to them-- slightly quaint, slightly slow, slightly sweet, slightly violent, and almost shy about romance and relationships. If you like Alexander McCall Smith's The Ladies' No. 1 Detective Agency series, you'll also like A Guide to the Birds of East Africa. They feel of the same vein, even if their settings are thousands of miles apart.