Have you read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series yet? You really must. And then after you do (because I think it helps to fall head-over-heels-in-love with the brilliant Alexander McCall Smith first), you have to reserve a few short days to read this series, The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom. It includes Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances.
Each book follows the mundane life of the socially awkward German professor, Dr. Moritz-Maria von Iglefeld, whose sole accomplishment was to publish Portuguese Irregular Verbs. He finds himself in all kinds of embarrassing situations, although of course he is never to blame.
Although lacking the depth of the Ladies' Detective Agency series (McCall Smith is still at his best when writing from a woman's point of view), these are still absolutely brilliant. The illustrations are simple, the stories quite ordinary, and the books very short (each one 120-ish pages). They won't take up too much of your time, but are definitely worth every smile they put on your face.
