How to Attract the Wombat

How to Attract the Wombat

by Will Cuppy

Blurb:

A survey of the animal kingdom in which the nocturnal and tunneling wombat is awarded the greatest praise.

Will Cuppy was something like the Larry David of the mid-20th century. From his perch as a staff writer at The New Yorker , Cuppy observed the world and found a great deal that annoyed him. This collection of essays on animals includes “Birds Who Can’t Even Fly,” “Optional Insects,” “Octopuses and Those Things”, and “How to Swat a Fly,” which codifies the essentials in ten hilarious principles. And three essays on wombats. Perfect reading for the perplexed, befuddled, and perpetually irritated.

My Reaction:

I found these humorous essays better than Cuppy's book about historical figures (The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody)—but less enjoyable than How to Be a Hermit.  Good for light reading, especially if you want something that can mostly be consumed in short bites.  

If you're the type who reads P.G. Wodehouse, I'd give this author a try.  

Of All Things!

Of All Things!

by Robert Benchley

(Cobbled Together) Blurb:

This is a collection of humorous essays by Robert Benchley, an American humorist who worked as a columnist and film actor. Best known for his many years writing essays and articles for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, and his acclaimed short films, Benchley's style of humor brought him respect and success during his life, from New York City and his peers at the Algonquin Round Table to contemporaries in the burgeoning film industry.

My Reaction:

I don't believe I had ever heard of Robert Benchley before reading this, though I've since learned more about him (such as that he's the grandfather of the author of Jaws) and watched one of his short films (How to Sleep, which is available for free on YouTube).  I think I saw his name on a list of authors to read if you like P.G. Wodehouse, so Donald and I gave this freebie a try between other books. 

It's been months since we finished it, but I think my impression was that it was amusing in spots, but that it felt more dated and less funny than Cuppy's How to Be a Hermit.  Cuppy's book is the more recent of the two—published in 1929, while these essays by Benchley were published in 1921—but the choice of subject matter make the more recent one feel fresher and more relevant (to me) than a mere eight years' difference should make.  

For example, one of these essays relates the process of college football fans gathering to listen to the progress of a game being played at a distant stadium.  But because this was before radio broadcasts of sporting events, the events of the game were communicated via telegraph, with an announcer relaying the play-by-play.  There's a great deal of confusion and mistakes, and the whole thing feels bizarre and far-removed from the modern experience.  (Some of the essays are less severely dated than this, but this one stands out in my memory more than most of the others.)

Anyway, it's been too long since reading it for me to make many more comments.  I'd consider reading more of the author's work. 

The Sundial

The Sundial

by Shirley Jackson

Blurb:

Before there was Hill House, there was the Halloran mansion of Jackson’s stunningly creepy fourth novel, The Sundial. Aunt Fanny has always been somewhat peculiar. When the Halloran clan gathers at the family home for a funeral, no one is surprised when she wanders off into the secret garden. But then Aunt Fanny returns to report an astonishing vision of an apocalypse from which only the Hallorans and their hangers-on will be spared, and the family finds itself engulfed in growing madness, fear, and violence as they prepare for a terrible new world. For Aunt Fanny's long-dead father has given her the precise date of the final cataclysm!

My Reaction:

Hm.  I think there's a reason this is one of Jackson's "forgotten" novels.  

I started reading this one on the Kindle, but after a while, it was obvious that I was having trouble making progress with it, so I switched to audio format.  That helped me finish it, but didn't really make me like it all that much more.  

When you start reading a "lesser-known" novel by a famous author, it can be difficult to come to it with a completely open mind.  After all, it's a pretty safe bet that it's not going to be a huge crowd-pleaser, else it wouldn't be lesser-known.  Sometimes you may be pleasantly surprised, but in this case, maybe not.  There are some amusing and creepy moments, but I had a feeling early on that the end would be disappointing, and I can't say that I was wrong.  I just feel like shrugging, unfortunately.  

I'm not sure if I'll ever bother with the remaining of the "lesser-knowns" that I've yet to read.  Revisiting one of the stronger novels might be a better bet, if the mood strikes me.

How to Be a Hermit, or a Bachelor Keeps House

How to Be a Hermit, or a Bachelor Keeps House

by Will Cuppy

Blurb:

Humorous memoir by a socially-challenged book reviewer living alone in a shack on an island off Long Island, New York, in the 1920s.

My Reaction:
I had never heard of Will Cuppy until we found him on a list somewhere, recommended to fans of P.G. Wodehouse.  We started with The Decline and Fall of Practically Everyone, which we thought was funny in parts, but could have been better.  (You really need to know more ancient history than either of us do to get a lot of the jokes.)  

I believe it was in the afterward for The Decline and Fall that we read that Wodehouse himself was a fan of Cuppy—specifically, that he read How to Be a Hermit multiple times a year!  I don't know if that's true, but it was a good enough reason to try it ourselves, and I'm glad we did.  I found this book much the more entertaining of the two, and while I won't make an annual tradition of reading it, I certainly wouldn't mind returning to it at some point.  

If you're a fan of Wodehouse, I do think you might enjoy this—if what you love about Wodehouse is his ability to turn an amusing phrase.  If intricate plotting is what you're after, then no, you won't like How to Be a Hermit.  It really has no plot.  It's just a loosely linked collection of essays about his life as a "hermit" in the 1920s.  The majority of the essays relate to food in some way, or that's how it seemed to us as we read our way through them.  

I always find it amazing how much the same the human experience remains across time.  Admittedly, the 1920s aren't ancient history, but 1929 (when this was published) is nearly a century in the rearview mirror!  So many of the things he wrote about here had me nodding along in agreement.  There might be some differences (his medical book compared to our "Dr. Google"), but the results are the same (anxiety and convincing yourself that your minor complaint is a symptom of any of a dozen serious diseases).  

Because we'd already read a brief outline of Cuppy's life, certain elements of the book took on a darker, more melancholy tone that they otherwise would have had, thanks to an awareness of what lay in his future—but putting that to the side, this was a fun read.  I'll be interested to try more of his work!

The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody

The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled 

by Will Cuppy

Blurb:

Ever wonder what Nero did before he began fiddling about in Rome, or wanted the bare facts about Lady Godiva? Maybe you've found the story of Lucrezia Borgia a bitter pill to swallow, or wanted the straight skinny on corpulent King Henry the Eighth, but you haven't the stomach for stuffy history books. Now these and twenty-two more of history's most famous personages are brought brilliantly to life, in this collection of unfailingly accurate yet undeniably hilarious biographies. You'll laugh while you learn about the very real people behind the legendary names, including why Montezuma was so vengeful, and why Catherine was so Great. You'll even finally lay to rest the rumor that Charlemagne was called "Chuck" by his friends.

My Reaction:

Donald and I read this one together to fill in the gaps between 372-Pages books.  I think one of us found it recommended on a list of "if you like this, try that" books/authors.  It's been a while since we read this (because I've fallen out of the habit of updating this blog in a timely fashion), but from what I recall, we thought it was amusing in parts, but also maybe a bit less funny than it could have been if we were in on more of the jokes.  I guess we just aren't big enough history buffs to get some of the references.  Anyway, it was something different to try, and we're now reading something else of Cuppy's and enjoying it more than this—so if this doesn't quite hit the mark with you, either, some of his other work might be more to your taste.  

Love Among the Chickens

Love Among the Chickens

P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

The farcical tale of Jeremy Garnet, an author and an old friend of Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, an erstwhile chicken farmer. Upon meeting Ukridge for the first time in years, Garnet finds himself enmeshed Ukridge's new and struggling chicken farm. Garnet soon falls in love with a girl living near the estate as he struggles with the farm and with Ukridge's bizarre business methods.

My Reaction:

Donald and I read this together—a new-to-us Wodehouse book.  

Wodehouse wrote this short novel when he was only 25, and I've just learned that it was his first work written for an adult audience.  I think it's clear that he hadn't yet reached his full maturity as an author when he penned Love Among the Chickens.  It doesn't have quite the same polish and charm as his best works—but there were still plenty of laughs, and his wit shines through time after time.  

It's good to know that there's still more Wodehouse to enjoy for the first time!

Friday's Child

Friday's Child

by Georgette Heyer

Blurb:

When the very eligible Viscount Sheringham, or "Sherry", proposes to Hero Wantage, she is overjoyed. Saved from life as a governess, she begins social climbing, but so naively that Sherry fears drastic action is required, or she will ruin them both.

My Reaction:

The blurb both over-simplifies this novel and makes it sound more dramatic and serious than it really is.  If you're familiar with Georgette Heyer—or at least her works I've read so far—you'll know that her Regency novels are light and fun.  This one is no different, though I did find it took a little time to get going.  After a promising beginning, the story seems to stall out and advance only slowly.  There was too much about fashion, home decor, and diversions of the time for me, personally.  I enjoy the odd book set in the Regency period, but in my opinion Regency references and minutiae are best in small doses, and I had my fill and more here!  Fortunately, things eventually begin to happen again, and I enjoyed the novel much more after that.  

Sherry's friends steal the show here, and as many other reviewers have indicated, there are some real flashes of P.G. Wodehouse-style wit in some of the conversations.  

Jeeves in the Offing

Jeeves in the Offing

by P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

Jeeves is on holiday in Herne Bay, and while he’s away the world caves in on Bertie Wooster. For a start, he’s astonished to read in The Times of his engagement to the mercurial Bobbie Wickham. Then at Brinkley Court, his Aunt Dahlia’s establishment, he finds his awful former head master in attendance ready to award the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School.

And finally the Brinkley butler turns out for reasons of his own to be Bertie’s nemesis in disguise, the brain surgeon Sir Roderick Glossop. With all occasions informing against him, Bertie has to hightail it to Herne Bay to liberate Jeeves from his shrimping net. And after that, the fun really starts.

My Reaction:

It's been a while since we finished this one, and it's already beginning to dim in my memory... I'm sure we'd read this before (partly because we own a nice, hardback copy that we bought ourselves), but all these books tend to run together in my mind.  

From what I remember, this was a good one, but not one of the very best, since Jeeves is away for much of the book. Still, a fun read!

(Shared read with Donald, as usual for Wodehouse.)

Aunts Aren't Gentlemen

Aunts Aren't Gentlemen

by P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

The curious case of the Maiden Eggesford Horror

When the doctor advises Bertie to live the quiet life, he and Jeeves head for the pure air and peace of Maiden Eggesford. However, they hadn't reckoned on Bertie's irrepressible but decidedly scheming Aunt Dahlia, around whom an imbroglio of impressive proportions develops involving The Cat Which Kept Popping Up When Least Expected. As Bertie observes, whatever aunts are, they are not gentlemen.

A classic - the last book written by Wodehouse featuring Bertie and Jeeves.

My Reaction:

Another re-read together.  I enjoyed it, though I do think I preferred the Jeeves & Wooster book we read before this one, Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit.  Still, plenty of good laughs, as always!  You can't beat Wodehouse when you're feeling in need of something light.

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit

by P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

When Bertie Wooster goes to stay with his Aunt Dahlia at Brinkley Court and finds himself engaged to the imperious Lady Florence Craye, disaster threatens from all sides. While Florence tries to cultivate his mind, her former fiancé, hefty ex-policeman 'Stilton' Cheesewright, threatens to beat his body to a pulp, and her new admirer, the bleating poet Percy Gorringe, tries to borrow a thousand pounds. To cap it all, Bertie has incurred the disapproval of Jeeves by growing a moustache. Throw in a disappearing pearl necklace, Aunt Dahlia's magazine Milady's Boudoir, her cook Anatole, the Drones Club Darts match and Mr and Mrs L.G. Trotter from Liverpool, and you have all the ingredients for a classic Wodehouse farce.

My Reaction:

We needed another in-between book, so we chose to re-read a Jeeves & Wooster book.  I never have anything specific to say about these (because I don't bother to take notes), but I do love them.  They're perfect for light reading—the literary equivalent of your favorite cuddly comfort blanket.  You can wrap yourself up in them for a while, enjoy some good laughs, and forget your worries for a moment.  

Ring for Jeeves

Ring for Jeeves

by P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

The only Jeeves story in which Bertie Wooster makes no appearance, involves Jeeves on secondment as butler and general factotum to William Belfry, ninth Earl of Rowcester (pronounced Roaster). Despite his impressive title, Bill Belfry is broke, which may explain why he and Jeeves have been working as Silver Ring bookies, disguised in false moustaches and loud check suits. All goes well until the terrifying Captain Brabazon-Biggar, big-game hunter, two-fisted he-man and saloon-bar bore, lays successful bets on two outsiders, leaving the would-be bookies three thousand pounds down and on the run from their creditor. But now the incandescent Captain just happens to be the former flame of Rosalinda Spottsworth, a rich American widow to whom Bill is attempting to sell his crumbling stately home...

My Reaction:
This was a shared read-aloud with Donald.  We needed something to fill in the gaps between 372-Pages books, and Wodehouse seemed like a good choice.  We selected one with "Jeeves" in the title, at random, and ended up with the only one without Wooster!  (I believe we've read them all before this, but it's been a while, and to be honest, they tend to blur together in my memory, so we didn't know which was which.)

The lack of Wooster was a little disappointing, and this isn't Wodehouse at his very best, but it's still not bad.  I think we had some good laughs along the way.

The Naked Clone: A Nick Nolte Mystery

The Naked Clone: A Nick Nolte Mystery

by Conor Lastowka, Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett, and Sean Thomason

Blurb:

This hilarious mystery was written serially by the minds behind RiffTrax, with each writer picking up where the last left off.

There’s trouble in Hollywood.

Big surprise, Sheepdip, there’s always trouble in Hollywood. But for Yours Truly, Nick Nolte, private dick, actor, entrepreneur, collector of exotic and often dangerous commodities, and People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive (1992), Hollywood is a filthy, decaying, half-empty swimming pool, and I’m gonna dive in head-first.

Someone’s kidnapping Hollywood bigwigs? Hell, I wish I’d thought of it first. Clones runnin’ amok from Pismo to Tijuana? Sounds like fun, hand me a gun. A dame in distress willing to hire me for a sack a’ quarters? I’m in. I’ll even put on my best shirt for the job, which is easy, ’cause it’s my only shirt. A diabolical plot to mess with the space-time continuum and take over Tinseltown, maybe the whole damn world? I’m on the case. I might get distracted, or black out a few times, or both, but I won’t stop till I bring in these evil peckerknobs and win the heart of the femme fatale…

…Sorry, blacked out there for a minute. Maybe an hour. Maybe a day—look, who’s counting?

So strap in, Shortpants, it’ll be one full-throttle, mind-twisting, weirdass ride, and I got the wheel. Just hand me that bag a’ pills and that can a’ Sterno and try not to scream so damn much.

—Your Pal,

Nick

My Reaction:

(Donald and I read this together to fill in gaps between 372-Pages podcast episodes.)

This is one crazy ride.  I can recommend it for hardcore Rifftrax fans, but if someone unfamiliar with Rifftrax were to read it, they'd be baffled.  Considering that it wasn't really planned out like a normal novel—and that it was passed along from author to author, chapter by chapter—I don't think it would be fair to critique the plot as I would with a typical book.  There were some laugh-out-loud moments, and I think that's the most you can ask of something that's essentially a strange writing experiment.

I do wish there were some sort of key or something at the end to indicate which person wrote which chapters.  We speculated about that as we read and would've been interested to check the accuracy of our guesses.

Horrorstör

Horrorstör

by Grady Hendrix

Blurb:

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör is designed to retain its luster and natural appearance for a lifetime of use. Pleasingly proportioned with generous French flaps and a softcover binding, Horrorstör delivers the psychological terror you need in the elegant package you deserve.

My Reaction:

This was my first time reading anything by this author, and it was a shared read-aloud with Donald.  I happened across it on Goodreads; the idea of a horror story set in an IKEA was too intriguing to pass up.  Since Donald is Swedish, I thought he might be interested, too.  

I didn't know exactly what to expect, but I guess I was picturing very mild, even goofy horror.  Something like a slightly more adult version of Scooby-Doo, maybe.  It started out kind of like that, but then it turned into more traditional horror.  Unfortunately, that part of the novel wasn't really to my taste. 

There is one genuinely creepy scene where people are trying to navigate the empty store and simply can't find their way around.  That's my kind of horror.  After that, when the scary stuff is actually there in the flesh and starts inflicting torture and blathering on and on, I basically lost interest and just wanted it to be over.  On a positive note, it did get a tiny bit better again at the very end.   

The catalog format is clever, and I did like the humorous IKEA references.  I've never worked retail, but I can see how the book is tailored for those who have or do.  Still, I think suggesting (even in jest) that working retail is akin to being imprisoned and tormented is extremely silly, to put it mildly.  

I feel the novel as a whole lacked polish.  There are major plot points that are never fully explained (such as why the police couldn't find the store for so long), and it lagged a lot in the middle (again, the horror-heavy part).  Still, I'm intrigued by the blurbs/titles of some of the author's other books, so I'll probably try another.  

A Pelican at Blandings

A Pelican at Blandings

by P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

Blandings Castle lacks its usual balm for the Earl of Emsworth, as his stern sister Lady Constance Keeble is once more in residence. The Duke of Dunstable is also infesting the place again, along with the standard quota of American millionaires, romantic youths, con artists, imposters and so on. With a painting of a reclining nude at the centre of numerous intrigues, Gally's genius is once again required to sort things out.

My Reaction:

I read this together with Donald, in between "assignments" for the 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back book club / podcast.  (I've yet to read Wodehouse solo, that I can recall...)  

There's not much to say:  It's typical Wodehouse, with just about everything you expect from him.  Maybe it's not one of his very best works, but it's still pretty darn good— clever, light, and funny.  Even at his less-than-best, Wodehouse is the perfect antidote for the more depressing realities of life!  

Gump & Co.

Gump & Co.
by Winston Groom


Blurb:

The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. has gone bust and now Forrest is flat broke, sweeping floors in a New Orleans strip joint, when a fresh opportunity to play championship football puts him back in the limelight—and in the money. But fate turns fickle again, and he's soon out on the road selling phony encyclopedias and trying to raise his son, little Forrest, who needs his father more than ever.

Forrest's remarkable, touching, and utterly comic odyssey has just begun: in store for him is an explosive attempt at hog farming; his own dubious recipe for adding life to New Coke; an encounter with Oliver North of the Iran-Contra affair; and a chance yet again to unwittingly twist the nose of history.

My Reaction:

First things first:  This was another "372 Pages We'll Never Get Back" podcast/book club selection.  Like all the others, it was a shared read with Donald.  We'd both seen the movie before, but never read the first book.  I vaguely remembered having heard that the movie veered sharply from the book, and I had the impression that it wasn't something I would enjoy.  I'm not sure I even knew there was a sequel, but I wouldn't have cared if I had known.  

There's not much to say about this one... It's just boring!  As a native of coastal Alabama, it's vaguely interesting to see Mobile and one or two other local-ish places mentioned in the pages of a book, but the novelty wears off pretty quickly when there's nothing to back it up.  Simply mentioning that a character is in Mobile doesn't exactly paint a picture.  There's zero local color, unless you count Forrest's bizarre, exaggerated accent.  There's no atmosphere of the South, in my opinion.  (And one or two things about this book are rather insulting and annoying to me, as a born and bred Southerner.  These are cheap choices that show a painful lack of imagination and creativity.)  

Then there's the fact that the cover shows Forrest with his young son, so you expect that his son will play a large role in the story.  That's misleading.  Now, it's not that I loved "Little Forrest" or wanted more of the character in the book, but intentionally misleading covers irritate me.  

Nothing about this lived up to my already modest expectations.  The historical references are either dull or depressing, and there's precious little humor to be found in a book that's intended to amuse.  It's a dud.  

I'm sad to say that even the podcast didn't make this read particularly enjoyable.  It seemed to be a struggle to find much to say about it, and-- eh, I'm just glad this one's over.  Time for something different, thank goodness!

The Talisman Ring

The Talisman Ring

by Georgette Heyer

Blurb:

The Talisman Ring is one of Heyer's funniest and fastest-paced romantic comedies, telling the story of a fugitive heir, a tempestuous Frenchwoman, and the two sensible people who try to keep them out of trouble.

Neither Sir Tristram Shield nor Eustacie, his young French cousin, share the slightest inclination to marry one another. Yet it is Lord Lavenham's dying wish. For there is no one else to provide for the old man's granddaughter while Ludovic, his heir, remains a fugitive from justice.

My Reaction:

I always feel that I haven't read that much of Heyer's work, but I've just checked, and I've read at least fifteen of her novels... (?!?!?)  I can't quite believe that!  ...Anyway, while I enjoyed most of the others I read before The Talisman Ring, I don't remember any of those making nearly as strong of an impression as this one has.  I loved it!  

As the blurb promises, this novel is pleasingly fast-paced, once it gets going.  The blurb is also correct in that it is indeed funny-- clever, amusing, and just plain fun to read.  It's a wonderfully witty and pleasant book full of characters who feel like friends by the last page!  

This was a five-star read for me.

(One thing I don't love is the cover art publishers choose for Georgette Heyer's Regency novels.  They're always old-fashioned paintings of random women in Regency-period clothes.  So boring!  Something different would make a refreshing change, but maybe most readers like this style of cover...)

Irene Iddesleigh

Irene Iddesleigh

by Amanda McKittrick Ros

Blurb:

When I went looking for a blurb for this book, I found instead the description on Wikipedia, which described it as "a romantic drama novel. ...  Its publication in 1897 was financed by Ros's husband as a gift on their tenth wedding anniversary.  The plot centers around the complicated love life of a Canterbury lady named Irene.  It is widely considered one of the worst books of all time and has been panned by critics for its use of purple prose and poorly-constructed plot."  I  think that's about as much of a blurb as this one deserves!

My Reaction:

I read this with Donald for the 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back book club podcast.  We'd never have read this, otherwise.  I'd never heard of it before this, either, despite its apparent infamy.  

I rarely read anything other than fairly "fluffy" books for fun, these days, but when I was younger and spent more time reading, I actually enjoyed "classics" and read them recreationally.  I don't have trouble understanding old-fashioned writing, for the most part, but the intros ("fortune cookies", to fellow 372 listeners) to some of these chapters were... Phew.  

Well, to be relatively brief, Irene Iddesleigh definitely deserves its reputation as a very poorly-written book.  However, once you've marvelled over the bizarre, sometimes impenetrable writing style for a few chapters, you start to wonder if it's worth it... Is this all there is to it?  Fortunately, there are some entertaining plot developments a bit further on, to save the day, and the book isn't long enough to have much of a chance to drag.  There are laugh-out-loud moments, but to avoid spoilers, I'll just say that we enjoyed the unintentional humor.  (The podcast makes it fun, too.)  

After we finished this novel, we noticed that the author's self-published volumes of poetry were available to us for free (via Prime Unlimited), so we skimmed some of it, and wow, is it bad!  If you have the chance to read her poetry for free, it's worth a chuckle or two.  (I wouldn't spend a dime on it, though!)

I feel certain that this author wasn't a very pleasant person, in many ways.  For instance, she's strangely insistent that her "hero" is a great man, despite all evidence to the contrary.  Annoying!  And then there's her poetry, which paints even more vividly the picture of a vicious personality.  It's amusing that someone who saw fit to censor herself (dashes instead of the word "hell", for instance) was also wishing that some people's buttocks would be whipped with hooks.  If you self-righteously chortle over the idea that So-and-So (some lawyer who angered you) is surely suffering eternal damnation in the fiery pits of Hell, I don't imagine God cares much whether or not you write out the actual word. Somehow, I don't think God is smiling approvingly, so why bother with the falsely conscientious, "Oh, no, I would never curse!  Heavens to Betsy!  How crass!"  (Still, I can't deny I laughed at her over-the-top, bilious hatred of the lawyers of her acquaintance!)

Nothing Serious

Nothing Serious

by P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

This book contains further stories of members of the Drones Club and several adventures related by the Oldest Member of the golf club. Many old friends reappear - Bingo Little and Mrs Bingo, Freddie Widgeon, Ambrose Gussett, Agnes Flack, Horace Bewstridge and many more. It includes: "The Shadow Passes", "Bramley is so Bracing", "Up From the Depths", "Feet of Clay", "Excelsior", "Rodney Has a Relapse", "Tangled Hearts", "Birth of a Salesman", "How's That, Umpire?" and "Success Story".

My Reaction:

(This was a shared read-aloud with Donald, like all P.G. Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett, and 372-Pages books.)

We read this one in bits and pieces between books and reading assignments for the comedy podcast book club 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back.  As always, P.G. Wodehouse doesn't let you down, and you feel happier after reading than you did before.  (Well, I do, at least.)  It's an uplifting, stress-busting soul-tonic in text form!  

I believe our favorite story in this collection was "Birth of a Salesman", the one featuring Lord Emsworth, but I also particularly enjoyed "Success Story".  The golf stories were better than I would've guessed, given that I know little about golf (and care even less).  However, after a while, the gimmicks and framing device were wearing slightly thin, so I was glad that the last few stories moved on to other subjects. Still, on the whole they were good.  (They really aren't "about" golf.  You don't need to like or know much about the sport to appreciate them.)

I wouldn't say that this collection is Wodehouse's finest work, but they still hit the spot when you're in need of a little humor, and the title is a perfect description of his writing as a whole.  

Service With a Smile

Service With a Smile
by P.G. Wodehouse


Blurb:

The final Uncle Fred novel marks his return to Blandings Castle to relieve Lord Emsworth's woes: a nagging secretary, prankster Church Lads, and a plot to thieve his prize-winning sow. Uncle Fred must serve up his brand of sweetness and light to ensure that everything turns out very capital indeed.

My Reaction:
(Shared read with Donald.)

We started reading this one months (no telling how many months) ago, then set it aside to keep up with whatever 372-Pages book was going at the time. Somehow, we never got around to picking it back up again, until the past week, when we wanted some light reading. It was still on my Kindle, so we picked up where we left off.

It didn't take long to remember enough of the story to feel that we weren't completely lost-- and honestly, with Wodehouse, the humor and style of the language itself is much more important (for me, at least) than the plot. I don't think this is one of his best, but it still had us laughing again and again.

As always with Wodehouse, this little novel left me in a better mood than it found me. I need to remember this the next time my spirits need lifting!

My Immortal

My Immortal
by Tara Gilesbie


My Blurb:

This Harry Potter fanfic follows the trials and tribulations (and the bizarre wardrobe choices) of Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way, proud goth and vampire, after she enrolls at Hogwarts. She meets all the most notable characters from the Harry Potter universe, but you won't recognize them, because in this fic, none have any depth or retain any of their canon characteristics/personality traits-- to the point that most have been transformed into vampires and have even been renamed to sound more "goff" for this hilariously bad exercise in wish-fulfillment.  It is a truly epic example of the Mary Sue. 

(Or IS IT?!?!)

My Reaction:
(This was a shared read-aloud with Donald.)

It's another 372-Pages bookclub podcast selection!

Once we began reading this, I realized that I'd started it years before after seeing it mentioned online. I didn't get very far back then, but this time around, I loved every poorly written sentence.

I simply can't believe that this could possibly be "real". There's no question that there are some staggeringly terrible writers out there, but this... this is probably too outrageously, entertainingly awful to be true. Some of the malapropisms are just too, too perfect. (Tom Bombadil, anyone?) And the way that characters can do absolutely anything "sexily"... It's just not possible that this could be real. (Right?)

Anyway, I suppose it doesn't matter whether or not it's actually "sincere", so long as the author and her audience enjoy(ed) the experience. We laughed and laughed while reading-- and having the podcast to go along with it is just the cherry on top!