I had to rid my computer of a worm this afternoon, and while updates to several virus protection programs were scanning all my files, I curled up with Sophie and my knitting on the couch. I worked on the three-block pattern pullover sweater. I keep working and working and still haven't finished the back. Anyway, Sophie and I listened to The Sunday Philosophy Club on CD. I was so lucky to get it from the library--it's so hard to get new books, especially new sound recordings.

I was so at peace. My snoozing pooch at my side, the needles and yarn in my lap, and the quiet struggles of Isabel Dalhousie, the philosophical heroine of Alexander McCall Smith's new mystery series. This is the first I've read of Smith's books; I think I was drawn to it because of the Edinburgh setting. This is no fast-paced thriller, but a gentle ride through a picturesque landscape with interesting characters and a mildly puzzling mystery. Very soothing for the nerves, even if a young man does fall off a theater balcony in the first chapter. I didn't find out until the middle of chapter 9 that Isabelle is in her mid-40s. The reader helps to lend this impression, since she is an older sixtyish woman. But Isabelle does lead rather a subdued life for a single contemporary woman. Yet I'm enjoying the book immensely. I was sorry to have to go back to the computer!