Why I read the book: Things were busy — I had the flu and Tim and Jonathan were bringing their families for a visit. I was looking for something light and remembered this book being very funny.

What the book was about: A parody of swashbuckling books and movies. Captain Ben Avery is giving charge of a crown for the king of Madagascar. On the ship with him is Vanity Rooke, the admiral’s daughter, whom Ben falls in love with. Also aboard is Colonel Blood, a rogue who looks out for himself. The ship is beset by pirates and the crown is taken. Avery and Blood are left on an island, but they escape and rescue Vanity. Avery pursues the pirates and retrieves the six pieces the crown was broken into. Hair-breadth escapes, double-crosses and all sorts of adventures ensue, but in the end, Avery regains the crown, wins Vanity (and the Spanish Duke’s daughter and Sheba, the female pirate). Blood makes it through without changing his ways. The parody is funny, but not quite as funny as I remembered it. It was also more ribald than I remembered it.