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Book Review: Carry On, Jeeves

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Carry On, Jeeves
Jeeves #3
 by P.G. Wodehouse
Read by Kevin Theis

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic British humor

After getting past the stories in this collection that I’d already listened to (though with a different main character), I think I enjoyed this collection a little more than the other two so far. Though I have to admit that, while at first I thought it was great that one of the stories was written from Jeeves’s perspective, I found that I didn’t like that story as much. It was still interesting to get his perspective on the schemes he gets up to for Wooster and his friends.

I now wish I’d read this article sooner, as it recommended newer readers to skip My Man Jeeves, since the stories in that collection featuring Reggie Pepper as the narrator were re-written with Wooster and Jeeves in this collection. Because I didn’t want to listen to the same basic story again, I skipped them this time, but I do think I would have appreciated them more if I’d read them here for the first time. That’s just a little PSA to anyone else new to the series. If I do re-read any of these someday, I’ll definitely skip My Man Jeeves, or at least the Reggie Pepper stories. I will, however, probably stick with the Kevin Theis narration, because I’ve really been enjoying it!

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Book Review: The Return of Sherlock Holmes

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The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes #6
by Arthur Conan Doyle

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

I wasn’t all that impressed by this collection of stories. Some of it just felt like it had been done before, others seemed like a bit of a stretch to get to the end. At least one was almost too obvious. I’m not a fan of the cavalier response to the murder of a man in one of the stories, criminal though he may have been. I didn’t even realize why Mary Watson was suddenly gone in this book until I read some other reviews (I thought maybe Holmes’s “death” and return must simply have taken place before Watson was married, since I’ve never really paid much attention to the dates), because it was so vaguely alluded to. I would really have hoped for at least a little more consideration for the loss of the woman whose relationship with Watson came about in a previous book. But I guess the weak ending to the relationship mirrors the weakly shown beginning to it. I’ve come this far, so I’m determined to finish out the entirety of these stories, but I hope to see a return to some of the more interesting and inventive stories of the earlier books.

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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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Book Review: Pride and Prejudice (adapted for younger readers)

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Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, adapted by Fern Siegel

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic children’s, romance

It’s difficult to know whether to rate books like this based on the story or on the adaptation. I gave the original book 4 stars and liked some aspects of this book better. It does a great job of cutting through the old-fashioned language and getting to the heart of the story. In this case, “telling” instead of “showing” both shortens the length of the story and explains what might otherwise be difficult for younger readers to comprehend or follow.

However, I had some issues with feeling like the book left something out now and then. A couple of times, the text seemed to refer to something that hadn’t been explained in the first place. I could remember it, if vaguely, from my reading of the original book, but it seemed to have been missing from the adaptation. For that reason, I gave the adaptation 4 stars. Overall, I like the idea of this story, but it just seems a little too…I don’t know, maybe bloated? for me. Still, I do think this adaptation more than adequately makes the classic accessible and would recommend this book for children around 8-12, with the extra note that with younger kids, it might be helpful (and enjoyable) to read it with a parent or older sibling/friend.

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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 Ingalls 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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