Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 15

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (by Deborah Moggach)

(Amazon UK link) We first watched the film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ in 2013, and loved it. So when I saw the book on which the film was based, at a church book sale, I decided to buy it. I hadn’t heard of Deborah Moggach, but my edition of the book showed some of the cast of the film, and I thought it would be interesting to read the original novel. Apparently it was originally published with the title, ‘These Foolish Things’. 
I bought the book nearly four years ago and it sat on my to-re...

The Copper Beech (by Maeve Binchy)

(Amazon UK link) I’m slowly re-reading most of my collection of Maeve Binchy novels. I collected them over many years, and some of the older paperbacks (acquired second-hand) are starting to fall to bits. That didn’t stop me from reading ‘The Copper Beech’ over the past couple of days, however. I last read it in 2008 and hadn’t recalled what it was about, or any of the characters in it. It’s over 400 pages long, but I finished it much more quickly than I had expected to.
It’s written in a style th...

The Growing Summer (by Noel Streatfeild)

(Amazon UK link) I discovered Noel Streatfeild’s writing when I was about nine or ten, and have collected most of her books over the years. I’m re-reading them currently, interspersed with other books, and have just finished ‘The Growing Summer’. I last read it in 2015. 
I remembered that the plot involved four children going to stay with their Great-Aunt Dymphna in a ramshackle old house in Ireland. I also remembered that they were expected to look after themselves, including cooking and cleaning...

Duplicate Death (by Georgette Heyer)

(Amazon UK link) I’m glad I decided to re-read Georgette Heyer’s crime fiction novels. I’ve just finished ‘Duplicate Death’, which I first read in 2008. All I could remember was that a nasty murder took place during a Bridge party. I had forgotten all the characters - and, checking back, it appears that I didn’t particularly like it last time, though I didn’t dislike it either.
This time I was prepared for a large cast of characters, and kept a note of them as they started to appear. The first cha...

In my Sister's Shoes (by Sinéad Moriarty)

(Amazon UK link) From time to time I pick up interesting-looking books at a local church book sale, inexpensively. When I saw ‘In my Sister’s Shoes’ by Sinead Moriarty, nearly three years ago, I decided to buy it. I had read one of this author’s books before, and while I didn’t love it, I thought it was quite a good story. 
It’s taken me all this time to get around to reading this novel: I have a lot of books on my ‘to read’ shelf, and I do a lot of re-reading too. But it looked like a light, easy...

Joey Goes to the Oberland (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link) I have been re-reading the lengthy ‘Chalet School’ series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer over the past few years, as I have done regularly since my teenage years. In May I re-read the 28th in the original series, ‘Changes for the Chalet School’, where it was announced that the middle and senior part of the school would be leaving the UK and relocating in the Swiss Oberland. 
I’ve been travelling, without my books available so I have only just read the next in the series, ‘Joey goes to the...

Songs of Willow Frost (by Jamie Ford)

(Amazon UK link) As with so many of the books allocated for our local reading group, I had not heard of the author, Jamie Ford. I bought the book ‘Songs of Willow Frost’ earlier in the year from one of the online second-hand stores. It was going to be September’s choice for the group, but was moved to August. I was travelling, so unable to attend the meeting; but as soon as I got home, I decided to read it anyway. 
The book is mainly set in 1934, featuring a Chinese American boy called William Eng...

Mistress Pat (by Lucy Maud Montgomery)

(Amazon UK link) In the Middle of July I reread ‘Pat of Silver Bush’ by LM Montgomery, on my Kindle. It was pleasant reading, if not particularly exciting. But I was pleased to note that the book I had downloaded, probably from Project Gutenberg, wasn’t just the first book. It also included ‘Mistress Pat’, a sequel which I had not been able to find in paperback form. It’s hard to find second-hand, and very expensive new. 
So now I have it on my Kindle, I was eager to read it while I could still re...

A Long, Cool Rain (by Linda Seed)

(Amazon UK link) As with many of the free ebooks I have downloaded for my Kindle, I had never previously heard of the author, Linda Seed. But, back in 2018 I was willing to try almost anything if it looked interesting. So I acquired ‘A Long Cool Rain’. It said that it was the first of a series about the Delaneys of Cambria. It’s a fairly common idea for Kindle authors to offer a first book free, in the hopes that readers will then want to buy subsequent books in the series.  
Occasionally I have d...

Northanger Abbey (by Jane Austen)

(Amazon UK link) It’s twenty-five years since I last read Jane Austen’s ‘Northanger Abbey’. As a teenager it was probably my favourite of her books. It pokes gentle fun at the gothic terror of some popular novels of the era, and has a rather naive (though likeable) heroine. I have twice watched an excellent TV adaptation of this novel, the last time just four years ago, but had forgotten much of the detail of the novel.
So, as I had it on my Kindle, I thought I would read it on a couple of recent ...