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Book Review: Ramona the Brave

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Ramona the Brave
Ramona Quimby #3
by Beverly Cleary
Read by Stockard Channing

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic

Oh my goodness, the things this little girl does…I don’t know if Beverly Clearly followed a kid around for weeks, observed her own children, or remembered her own childhood for these books, but man, I’m constantly amazed by the real insight she puts into these stories. Ramona has such a rough time in first grade, I almost wish she was a real kid that I could put my arms around and tell that she is seen and she is understood. The owl episode, especially, made me wish for her sake that she could really explain her thoughts and decisions. I knew the moment that new room was announced, it would be a source of contention between sisters as to who would get it—it’s 100% accurate. And then Ramona’s unhappiness building up until she just had to get it out has hilarious, and then very touching, consequences.

Stockard Channing’s narration is pretty great, too, and I recommend it for anyone who might be interested, young or old.

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Book Review: Little Town on the Prairie

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Little Town on the Prairie
Little House #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s historical classic

Though the Ingalls family lived in town during the long winter of the previous book, this one really brought out the character of the young town. Moving there for the winter again, just in case it were to turn out as harsh as the previous, Laura and Carrie deal with a school teacher who maybe needed a little training to know how to deal with kids (good, bad, any kind, really—she wasn’t great with kids), the townspeople come up with a variety of ways to entertain themselves through the winter, and Laura catches the eye of a certain farmer boy. Though there is still some focus on the Ingalls homestead and their work there, the book takes a turn as winter comes on, and it’s quite the change of pace after that. Also, thanks to much work and sacrifice by her loved ones, Mary goes off to college partway through this book, which adds to the different dynamic. It’s a good reminder that life keeps moving on and things change, sometimes for the worse, but even when it’s for the better, it can be bittersweet.

As before, my enjoyment of the book was greatly enhanced by the audiobook narrator, Cherry Jones, who does a fantastic job. If you’ve ever considered reading this series, or have already read it and have occasion to listen to the audiobooks, I say do it!

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Book Review: My Man Jeeves

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My Man Jeeves
Jeeves #1
 by P.G. Wodehouse
Read by Kevin Theis

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic British humor

I thought it was difficult to figure out a good order in which to read the Sherlock stories/books, but man, this seems more complicated. I had read in advance that some of the stories in this collection would have a completely different protagonist, but that didn’t make it less confusing when a story far into the collection was indeed focused on Reggie Pepper instead of Bertie Wooster. Perhaps the publisher could put in some kind of warning note, especially considering that it’s not clear that the narrator is different until a few pages into the story. Pepper is sort of like a combination of Wooster and Jeeves, yet not half as clever. He comes up with schemes himself, unlike Wooster, who relies on Jeeves, but Pepper’s schemes seem to fail more often than not. It was quite a return to the “old familiar” when I got to the last story, which brings us back to Wooster. 

Another comparison I can make to the Sherlock stories—it really might be wiser to read Wodehouse’s short story collections over a period of time, rather than all the way through, as they can start to all sound really similar. There is a sort of narrative thread running through the different stories in the other book I read (The Inimitable Jeeves), and there may have been a bit of that here too, but it certainly doesn’t help that it was broken up by the unrelated stories. Of course, I don’t follow my own advice and continue to read each Sherlock short story collection all in one go, so I’ll probably end up doing the same here. Maybe on a future read (of these, not the Sherlock books) I’ll spread it out more, because I do think I’ve enjoyed them enough to want to come back to them in the future. On the other hand, by the time I’ve read all there is to read, maybe I’ll have had my fill. Either way, I plan to continue with the Kevin Theis narrations if possible, as I read more about Jeeves and Wooster.

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Audiobook Review: The Hobbit

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The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Read by Andy Serkis

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Classic fantasy

I read The Hobbit for the first time 2 1/2 years ago and reviewed it then. I have not listened to the audiobook narrated by Rob Inglis, but I did listen to his narration of the LotR books. As I prepared to go through the series a 2nd time, I decided to try out Andy Serkis’s version, and I am so glad I did!

There are a couple of points that I want to make. It’s no surprise that Andy Serkis does a great job with the different voices for different characters. Though I’ve only seen the movies based on this book a small handful of times, it seemed to me that some of his characters sounded similar to how they did in those movies. It may have been a coincidence (excepting, of course, for his portrayal of Gollum, which is just how you would expect), but Thorin sure did sound like Richard Armitage. Considering that this audiobook came out several years after the movies, I did go into it wondering how much from the movies might seep into it, and since my favorite thing about the movies (which were otherwise just kinda okay, to me) is the music, I was thrilled to hear a few familiar melodies in Serkis’s narration.

I know Inglis’s version has long been a classic narration for some, and I don’t feel qualified to compare them, but I will say that Andy Serkis has done this book justice. It’s well worth listening to, whether you’re an old fan of Tolkein or a newcomer (or somewhere in between).

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Book Review: Ramona the Pest

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Ramona the Pest
Ramona Quimby #2
by Beverly Cleary
Read by Stockard Channing

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic

Cleary seems to have some great insight into the mind of a child; though it’s been a long time since I was Ramona’s age in this book, I can definitely remember having some of the same thoughts and feelings she has here. Her ups and downs are so realistic and make me wish her parents would see her more, while knowing that they’re normal and understanding why they’re not always fully aware of what’s going on with her. The very end of the book, the culmination of Ramona’s trouble at school and her love of making cats with her Qs, made me so happy! I liked the first book in the series, but this one definitely tops it!

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Book Review: The Long Winter

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The Long Winter
Little House #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s historical classic

I expected this book to be slow and boring, but it was anything but. In fact, I think this might be tied for my favorite book in the series. Through blizzard after blizzard, the story is interesting and even exciting at times. I really liked the perspective of the Wilder brothers being thrown in from time to time and was fascinated to read about some of the things the Wilder family had to improvise in order to have just enough food and heat. I was glad to have warm weather when I started listening to this book, though it did get cold again, which added to the frigid feeling the book gives.

As before, my enjoyment of the book was greatly enhanced by the audiobook narrator, Cherry Jones, who does a fantastic job, and being able to hear Pa’s fiddle, thanks to Paul Woodiel. If you’ve ever considered reading this series, or have already read it and have occasion to listen to the audiobooks, I say do it!

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Book Review: Runaway Ralph

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Runaway Ralph
Ralph S. Mouse #2
by Beverly Cleary
Read by B.D. Wong

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic, fantasy

I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first, I think because Ralph starts with the motorcycle and spends the first little bit of the book just trying to keep it from his family. Then he begins to yearn for freedom, so he doesn’t have to share his motorcycle. I mean…I get it, kinda, but mostly I just feel like he’s being selfish and spoiled. Granted, he has dozens of siblings and cousins and would easily spend all night giving them rides and not have time to ride it himself, and it’s clear that his mom and uncle, who forced this on him, don’t get him at all. But I still didn’t care for his attitude.

It was interesting to watch poor Garf, a kid who isn’t happy with his circumstances either and acts out in different ways, from Ralph’s perspective. I liked how the camp leader lady is portrayed—that she clearly cared about Garf and trying to help him come out of his shell and not hate being at camp so much. It’s a nice change from kids’ books where adults are so often terrible people at worst or apathetic at best. Overall, not as charming as the first, but not bad.

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Book Review: The Inimitable Jeeves

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The Inimitable Jeeves
Jeeves #2
 by P.G. Wodehouse
Read by Kevin Theis

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic British humor

After hearing family members talking about this series/author for years, I finally gave it/him a try. I don’t know if I started with the right book, since this seems to be one of those kinds of series that is published in a weird order and has short stories, and novels, and I don’t know what else. It was a good introduction to Jeeves and Wooster, and though I don’t always fully get British humor, I did enjoy it for the most part. Some parts of the story made me think that sitcom writers (mostly older sitcoms) may have gotten some ideas from this author.

I decided to go with the audiobook, because I thought it would help to hear the British accent, and while at first I wasn’t sure about Kevin Theis, he grew on me, and I liked his interpretation a lot by the end. I plan to continue on with him, if I can get his versions.

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Book Review: Beezus and Ramona

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Beezus and Ramona
Ramona Quimby #1
by Beverly Cleary
Read by Stockard Channing

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic

I’m pretty sure I read some of the Ramona books when I was younger, though this one wasn’t familiar. When I first started listening, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Stockard Channing’s narration, but it grew on me along the way. Now to the story…I totally felt for Beezus in these little vignettes—not because I had any kind of a similar situation when I was a kid, but because if I had, I would definitely have felt the same way as Beezus did. I found myself wishing often that the mom was a little stronger in how she handled the things Ramona did. Often, Ramona simply doesn’t understand that she’s done something wrong or why it’s wrong, but that doesn’t mean she can’t learn.

I appreciated how Ramona comes to understand that just because she doesn’t always feel love for her sister doesn’t mean she’s a bad sister. And though the main theme of the book is Ramona’s…obnoxiousness, I liked that Beezus had some little wins in there. Overall, a fun book with some good nostalgia in it.

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Book Review: By the Shores of Silver Lake

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By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s historical classic

This book was a little faster-paced than the previous ones in a way, with the bustling railroad workers nearby, the steady stream of homesteaders filing past them, and the short time living in town. There are some exciting surprises and some heart-stopping moments. After all of the moving they’ve done, I feel for Ma here and hope for her said that Pa’s promise to settle down won’t be broken. I wish more and more that I’d read these books when I was younger, but I’m glad I’m reading them now.

As before, my enjoyment of the book was greatly enhanced by the audiobook narrator, Cherry Jones, who does a fantastic job, and being able to hear Pa’s fiddle, thanks to Paul Woodiel. If you’ve ever considered reading this series, or have already read it and have occasion to listen to the audiobooks, I say do it!

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