What a lovely tribute to P. G. Wodehouse.

I have read all the Jeeves & Wooster books, but that was many years ago. I enjoyed most them, but they got a bit repetitive after awhile. Bertie would get in a scrape, become engaged to an annoying female, and Jeeves would save the day. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

Faulks did a lovely job of rounding both Jeeves and Bertie out in their last “adventure” here. I really enjoyed the side characters as well. He got the tone of the dialogue right because I could hear Stephen Fry as Jeeves reading things out loud.

I won’t spoil the plot or details, but I think fans of the books would enjoy this unless they were super-canonical and particularly about details. I really liked the ending and I definitely enjoyed this novel.

Read January 19th, 2015.

In my eyes, this is a fairly typical Kingsolver novel. It features strong female protagonists and characters, a connection to or metaphors with the land, and a quiet and satisfying ending.

I keep reading Kingsolver’s books because I find her characters to be well drawn out. They are often similar women, but the words and their thoughts seem realistic. They are human. They aren’t perfect, but I often want to be their friend. They have tragedies and in this one, the protagonist is surrounded by it. She makes the best of it with her baby girl Turtle.

These novels aren’t exactly feel good because of the emotional and mental realism of the characters. I can rely in Kingsolver ending the novel with hope and a good resolution. Her endings are not flashy ones. They are candid yet important endings for the characters.

I will continue to read her novels though my favourite book of hers is the nonfiction Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I didn’t really love The Poisonwood Bible as much as everyone else. I do relate to Kingsolver’s ethos with the land and being connected to both people and it.

Read January 12th-13th, 2015.

This novel is a gem. It has well drawn characters, action, romance, poignancy, great diction, and it’s just delightful. The story is of a chef who is kidnapped by pirates.

My best friend is a library technician, but I read more than her. She saw a post at her library’s book recommendation board. She said the main character and narrator is similar to the Crane brothers from “Frasier,” a show we both love.

Indeed, Owen Wedgewood does remind me of Frasier Crane with a dash of Niles, but that is just the surface of how fun this book is. It has interesting characters and lots of history points. In fact, the climactic moments of this novel take place in the South China Sea, in the Pearl River Delta, and in Macau which are places I am very familiar with.

The writing is elegant as befitting the narrator who is a master chef. Brown is great at historical fiction and adventure, but he’s a great food writer as well. This novel was almost written for me especially with the character development and romance that happens toward the end.

Sad and tragic things happen in this novel, but it’s not swept under or made mawkish. The writer has a deft touch. Furthermore, I love the vocabulary of the novel. I had to refresh my memory and look up a few words. I really enjoy that as I love words, and I find most novels don’t challenge my vocabulary anymore. This one does and it’s splendid.

If you enjoy pirates, food, and history, I’d highly recommend this novel. This was a great reading start to the new year.

Read January 3-4th, 2015.