classic

Book Review: Murder on the Links

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Murder on the Links
Hercule Poirot #2
 by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

When Poirot is summoned to France by a man that is already dead when he arrives, he attempts to detangle a twisty mystery. This story threw me a couple of times. At least once, I thought the mystery was solved, only for it to take another turn. I don’t know if that’s because I was listening to the audiobook and maybe missed something or if they were intentional twists. There were so many potential answers to the mystery that seemed to be real and then were later shown to be false, though, that I’m certain I will look back on this story and either not be able to remember who the actual culprit was or remember it wrong. I’m also not a fan of the insta-love trope that happens with Hastings in this book. It’s a bit of a stretch to believe that this woman made such a big impression on him in the small interaction they had, though it weirdly seems to be a common trope in fiction written in this general time period.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Hugh Fraser and thought he did a great job. I don’t know that I’ll read this entire series in the end, but I certainly plan to keep going.

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Book Review: The Secret of the Old Clock

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The Secret of the Old Clock
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #1
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

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

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys were household names in my house growing up, though for some reason, I didn’t read much of them. Maybe they felt dated to me even then, but now I’m ready to see what I missed. While, yes, Nancy’s life is shown to be a bit too perfect in this series opener, it somehow feels about right for the time period. I also don’t think I really ever realized that these books were intended for pre-teens, 9-12-year-olds, rather than older teens or young adults like I assumed, considering the age of the main character. In that light, the not-terribly-deep mystery makes a little more sense. I do like that Nancy’s desire to find the missing will is driven by her compassion for those who are in need and had been promised part of the inheritance, but it also seems to me like she just can’t help but want to solve the puzzle. I can understand why Nancy was a role-model for young girls for decades, why the series lasted for so long, and why it even inspired a lengthy series of video games (many of which I’ve played). Laura Linney was a great choice for narrator, as she brings the smart, young, wholesome young woman to life quite well. I don’t know that I’ll have the endurance for 100 books, but I do plan to continue the series.

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Book Review: Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown

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Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown
by David A. Adler

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

My now-adult son read some of the Cam Jansen books when he was young, and I remember him quite liking them. I had never read any, so this was my first Cam Jansen book. I have to say, I understand the appeal. Though this is written for kids, the mystery is engaging—not too easy or too hard. And Cam Jansen herself is an interesting character, with her quirk of making a camera sound whenever she wants to store or recall a memory (hence her nickname: “Cam,” short for “Camera”). Set against the backdrop of a circus, this illustrated book would definitely be a fun early mystery for young readers.

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Book Review: Henry Huggins

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Henry Huggins
book #1
by Beverly Cleary
Read by Neil Patrick Harris

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

This book might be a bit dated, but Henry and Ribsy are a fun duo. In the intro, Beverly Cleary explains that she wanted to write a story that wasn’t all grand adventures, travels, heroics, etc. for the regular boy, and I think she did a great job of that. Certainly most of what happens in this book wouldn’t be remotely possible today, which is kind of sad, but that makes books like this all the more classic and worth reading. No surprise that Neil Patrick Harris did a great job narrating the book, and I believe I will enjoy visiting a simpler time as I listen to the rest of this series in the coming weeks.

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Book Review: The Outsiders

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The Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Classic YA coming of age fiction

I read this book in 8th grade, and I remembered a few things about it, mostly that I liked it more than most books I read for school back then. Reading it again as an adult, decades later, I was not thinking about theme or symbolism, but reading just for the enjoyment of it. I have to admit that I’m pretty far removed from this culture, not just because it’s set so long ago, but also because I’ve lived in a pretty sheltered, rural area all my life, especially as a teenager. Still, I enjoyed the simple writing style, the characterization, and the dynamics of the main group of characters. I felt for Ponyboy and Johnny in their no-win situation and in this culture that gave all of those on the high and low extremes of the social classes the feeling of futility and inevitability. My daughter, who is also in 8th grade right now, is reading this book for school, and I look forward to discussing her thoughts when she’s done. While the culture may have changed, I’d imagine that the overall idea of the clashing between the “high” and “low” classes, or other extremes of society, still happens plenty, especially in places with higher populations. The idea that “things are bad everywhere” and that people can strive to change their circumstances is still relevant to today. I’m glad I re-read this book, and though I don’t necessarily like the idea of over-analyzing literature for school, I think it’s still a good book for teens to read.

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Book Review: The Summer of the Swans

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The Summer of the Swans
by Betsy Byars

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade classic

I read this book as a kid, though I couldn’t tell you what age, and have thought of it many times over the years. My memories of it had mostly dwindled to there being a mentally handicapped boy who gets lost and whose watch, which is very important to him, has stopped working due to not being wound. Why those are the points that stuck, I don’t know, but I think there was something poignant about this 10-year-old with the mind of a toddler. Reading it again now, because my daughter was going to read it for school, I find that it has a different tone to it than I remember. Charlie being lost isn’t really the main plot so much as his older sister, Sara, gaining some maturity. Yes, Sara is self-centered, but in a way that I would say is completely normal for her age (13-14) and her situation—besides the handicapped younger brother, Sara, Charlie, and their older sister Wanda live with their aunt, since their mom died and dad has another family. In the end, it’s clear how much she loves her brother, even though in day-to-day life, she might get annoyed with or tired of him. How many of us can’t say the same thing about people in our lives who are dependent on us? My daughter enjoyed the book as well (she’s 13), and while this book may not be as action-packed as today’s middle-grade books are, I think it is a nice look at a simpler time and an uncommon family dynamic.

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Book Review: The Mating Season

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The Mating Season
Jeeves #9
 by P.G. Wodehouse
Read by Jonathan Cecil

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Classic British humor

This book isn’t bad any any means, but for me, after listening to the entire series up to this point, it’s too little Jeeves, too little new, too little funny. There are still funny moments here and there, and certainly Jeeves perpetrates some kind of scheme to solve a problem, but overall, the fact that the main conflicts continue to involve friends of Wooster who have some kind of romantic entanglement that has run into trouble makes the stories feel a bit tedious. Wooster is yet again forced to bend over backwards to try to avoid an engagement with a woman who assumes he’s pining after her. Maybe this situation is normal for this culture and time period, and maybe other people find it funny, but it mostly just makes me roll my eyes. In the end, though I have been enjoying my first time with Jeeves, I plan to put an end to it here. I know I’ll re-visit this world in some way again, but I don’t know if I’ll re-read the first half-dozen or so or continue with the series after the rest aren’t as fresh in my mind. 

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Book Review: Hatchet

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Hatchet
Brian’s Saga #1
by Gary Paulsen

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic middle grade adventure

I remember reading the story of teenage Brian stuck alone in the wilderness for several weeks when I was a kid, though the only parts of it I could recall were that the plane went down into water and that at some point he dove into the water to try to salvage supplies from the plane. When I read it again recently because my daughter read it for school, I remembered a lot more of the challenges Brian faces. The reader easily roots for Brian to solve the next problem, to overcome the next hurdle. He has setbacks and moments where he contemplates giving up, which make the story all the more realistic. On top of it all, he’s reeling from a divorce caused by a horrible Secret that he’s kept buried, and while his dangerous situation tends to overtake that trauma, it’s always there, waiting to creep in during his weakest moments. Overall, the story is engaging, and when a potential major issue happens near the end of the book, I found myself groaning and shaking my head for poor Brian.

My only gripe with the book is the author’s style, which involves a lot of repetition within sentences and paragraphs. Though some might be seen as showing Brian’s mental state, it started before the plane even went down, so I think it’s purely a style choice, and one that I don’t personally care for. Otherwise, though, I think this book is still great for pre-teens and teens to read, maybe with parents for pre-teens.

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Book Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles

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The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Hercule Poirot #1
 by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

This is the first Agatha Christie book I’ve ever read, and now I’m wondering what took me so long, especially since I’ve been a fan of mystery books all my life. I think when I was younger, I figured older books would just be boring, but as an adult, I definitely appreciate the simplicity of books written or set in historical time periods. Though I think the narrator, Hastings, needed more development as a character, Poirot is an interesting detective-type character, and I look forward to getting to know him more. I had some theories about the mystery, though I don’t know that the clues to the true answer are really given to the reader. Poirot plays things pretty close to the vest, allowing Hastings, who acted as his sidekick, to go down quite a few wrong paths. Though some say it’s not the best idea to start with this book if you’ve never read any in this series before, because Christie was still figuring out who Poirot is or for other reasons that might keep someone from liking the series enough to want to keep going, to me, that just means it’ll get better from here. And though Poirot may have over-explained after the mystery was solved, I enjoyed the story overall. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Hugh Fraser and thought he did a great job. I’m looking forward to continuing on in this series!

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Book Review: Joy in the Morning

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Joy in the Morning
Jeeves #8
 by P.G. Wodehouse
Read by Jonathan Cecil

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Classic British humor

If I could forget a lot of what I had read in previous books in this series, I think I would have enjoyed this installment a lot more. The problem is that the problems that arise around Wooster tend to not be different enough to be interesting. A friend’s engagement is in danger, so Wooster takes it upon himself to help them reconcile. A woman he doesn’t care for randomly decides that he must want to marry her, so he finds himself engaged, despite his utter lack of desire for such. And he’s too much of a gentleman to say, “No, thank you,” so he has to plan some scheme to get out of it or, oops! He might just find himself married! I will say, at least, that the intricacies of how some of these mostly unrelated messes are twined together so that one solution can somehow fix them all is usually clever enough to provide some fun while I’m listening. And Wooster’s trademark humor, combined with Jeeves’s straight-man wit, still makes me laugh, even amongst the feeling that we’ve “been there, done that.” Jonathan Cecil is a great narrator for these books (though I still miss Kevin Theis).

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