The Forgotten Affairs of Youth, by Alexander McCall Smith

Isabel Dalhousie, the Edinburgh-based philosopher who edits the Journal of Applied Ethics, is not everyone's cup of tea. Her niece, Cat, is usually irritated with her. The former chair of her editorial board, Professor Lettuce, can't stand her. And quite a few fans of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series—at least among those who leave comments on Amazon—are less than enthusiastic about his Isabel Dalhousie novels.

Nevertheless, Jamie (Isabel's fiancé) and Charlie (their toddler son) adore her. Grace (her housekeeper) is unswervingly loyal. And she has a small cadre of diehard followers like me who will drop anything to read the newest installment in this series, which now numbers eight books. I'm guessing that most of these followers recognize a kindred soul in the constantly ruminating philosopher. Perhaps, like Isabel, they consider the moral implications of every possible deed, done or undone. Maybe they identify with her observation that "so much that went through our minds was odd in one way or another: unexpected, unconnected, unimportant; mental flotsam swilling around with sudden moments of clarity and insight. A hotch-potch of memories, plans, dreams, random bits of silliness: the very things that made us human."

I mean, how can one not appreciate a woman who, when the server asks, "And have you decided?" responds, "About the nature of reality? Or about lunch?"