Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 15

How not to pray (by Jeff Lucas)

(Amazon UK link) It’s almost ten years since I read Jeff Lucas’s little book ‘How not to pray’, which is subtitled  ‘A fresh look at prayer’. I’ve liked everything I’ve read by Jeff Lucas, so decided it was time for a re-read.
The introduction is very reassuring to ordinary people like me who find it difficult to get around to much praying, other than when some potential disaster is looming. Jeff Lucas, in his typical wry style, says that he tends to run in the opposite direction when faced with a...

The Chalet School does it again (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link) I’m slowly re-reading the lengthy ‘Chalet School’ series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, at a rate of around ten per year. I’ve just finished the 32nd book in the original series, ‘The Chalet School does it again’. I last read it in 2014. It’s not one I reread extensively when I was younger, and I had forgotten most of the story. 
The book takes place in the second term for the Swiss Oberland branch of the Chalet School, and follows directly on from ‘The Chalet School and Barbara’, which ...

The Italian matchmaker (by Santa Montefiore)

(Amazon UK link) Every so often I visit a church book fair, and pick up a few inexpensive novels that look interesting. I often try new authors, basing my decisions on the blurb on the back, and also, more frivolously, on the appearance of the front cover. One book which I bought - over four years ago! - is ‘The Italian Matchmaker’. I had not heard of the author, Santa Montefiore, but I thought the cover of the book attractive, and the outline on the back sounded like my kind of book.
It’s taken m...

Gut reaction (by Gudrun Jonsson)

(Amazon UK link) I happened to notice, when I was editing this blog, that I had found Gudrun Jonsson’s book ‘Gut reaction’ quite helpful when I read it in 2007. So I thought it worth a re-read. There has been a lot of research into gut health in recent years, and I was interested to know whether this book, published in 1988, was still relevant. 
Apparently the author is a biopath who trained in Copenhagen but, at the time the book was published, was practising in London. I’m not entirely sure what...

Adrian Plass and the Church weekend (by Adrian Plass)

(Amazon UK link) The book ‘Adrian Plass and the Church weekend’ is the sixth and final volume in the ‘Sacred Diary’ series by the real Adrian Plass. I last read this a little over ten years ago and had entirely forgotten what happened. So, as I have recently re-read the rest of the series, finishing ‘The sacred diary of Adrian Plass on tour’ in September, I was looking forward to reading this one again.
The events in this book take place at least seventeen years after the last one. In ‘..on tour’ ...

The O'Sullivan Twins (by Enid Blyton)

(Amazon UK link) I loved the St Clare’s books by Enid Blyton when I was a child, and reread them regularly as a teenager. So I was delighted to discover in the summer that my seven-year-old granddaughter had discovered them on audio books and was listening to them regularly. At the end of August I re-read ‘The Twins at St Clare’s’, the first in the series, and very much liked the nostalgia as well as the story.
So a couple of days ago I picked up the second in the series, ‘The O’Sullivan Twins’, w...

Evening Class (by Maeve Binchy)

(Amazon UK link) I’m gradually re-reading most of my Maeve Binchy collection, although I’ve missed out a few of the earlier ones which I hadn’t liked as much as her later books. I’ve just finished ‘Evening Class’, which I last read in 2006. I had almost entirely forgotten the plot, and had not remembered any of the characters. But I knew that I liked it very much, and hoped I would not have changed my opinion eighteen years later.
I’m pleased to report that, once again, I thought this an excellent...

The Late Mattia Pascal (by Luigi Pirandello)

(Amazon UK link) I had never heard of Luigi Pirandello. He was an Italian writer, best-known, apparently, for his plays. He was born in 1867 and his novel ‘The Late Mattia Pascal’ was written in 1904. It was allocated for this month’s local reading group, and I acquired a translated copy of this book for my Kindle. I didn’t realise at first that it was published 120 years ago. As I read the first few chapters, I vaguely thought it was set in around the 1950s. 
The novel is told in the first person...

Putting away childish things (by David A Seamands)

(Amazon UK link) I know very little about the late David A Seamands, other than brief biographies online. He was a missionary as a young man, and then ordained in the United Methodist Church, where he worked as a senior pastor and then as an advisor. At some point we were given his book ‘Putting Away Childish Things’, and when I first read it I thought it excellent. I read it again in 2007 and, similarly, felt that his ideas and principles were very sound. 
I decided it was time to read the book a...

The Bell Family (by Noel Streatfeild)

(Amazon UK link) I have been reading and re-reading books by Noel Streatfeild for over fifty years. But it wasn’t until about ten years ago that I managed to acquire a copy of ‘The Bell Family’, which had been reprinted in paperback form. I couldn’t recall ever having read it before. Now, a decade later, I couldn’t remember anything about it, so it was definitely time for a re-read.
The book is about a family who live in London. It was first published as a contemporary novel in the 1950s, and my e...